Spring

Primroses in All Saints Churchyard 

Spring

A sleeping world emerges to new possibilities,
weakening winter's icy grip,
and birdsong and bleating lamb
announce to all the promise
that in due season
creation bursts into life.
And whilst leaves that fell in winter
lie upon the ground,
soon to feed the earth,
in nature's wondrous cycle
of death and rebirth,
within the tree is a stirring of new growth.

                                         prayer reflection  by John Birch with his kind permission  faithandworship.com 

Together

I have been struck by conversations that I have had over the last few days. And I have been amazed at the new ways that everyone has of living together though apart at this time. 
One pair of grandparents told me about the highlight of their day which was to read the grandchildren a bedtime story on Skype. As one read, the other made the sound effects. They delighted in being able to see the children's faces and hear their chatter afterwards. 
Another described - rather differently! - how he poured out a small glass of beer and phoned a friend he would normally meet in his local and they would have that pub chat that they enjoyed. Others, speaking on the phone for the first time to people, as part of our church phone chat realised how many interests they had in common, or learned new facts such as Euclidian geometry!

This icon depicting the three angels who visited Abraham reminds us that we are never alone, even when we feel isolated God is with us.

A prayer remembering God is with us

Lord God, thank you that you are always with me.
You are with me in the day and in the night.
You are with me when I’m happy and when I’m sad.
You are with me when I’m healthy and when I am ill.
You are with me when I am peaceful and when I am worried.
Today I am feeling (name how you are feeling) because (reasons you are feeling this way).
Help me to remember that you love me and are with me in everything today.
Amen.

Beyond our Vision

Today it is 40 years since Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated. This prayer, often attributed to him, reflects the way he lived his life and is very appropriate for us at this time.

A FUTURE NOT OUR OWN

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime
only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise
that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No programme
accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives
includes everything.

That is what we are about.
We plant a seed that will one day grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations
that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation
in realising that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace
to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

*This prayer was composed by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw.

Hope in a time of challenge.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
   Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
   to the voice of my supplications!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
   Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
   so that you may be revered.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
   and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
   more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
   For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
   from all its iniquities.

                                Hope in a time of challenge.

The Psalm for this Sunday, Passion Sunday, sits alongside the passages from Ezekiel and John about life coming afresh to the valley of dry bones and the raising of Jesus’ friend Lazarus, speaking of the overwhelming hope that we can have in God. Psalm 130 is a prayer that shows that it is especially when we are in “the depths” that God hears our cries. I wonder whether this is because we are more likely to call on God when we are in greatest need? We rarely think about and it certainly doesn’t appear in the psalms, that we might cry to the Lord from the mountaintops! 

The idea of “the depths” conjures up an image of a hopeless, dark situation in which we feel trapped. The writer of the psalm also says “ my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning” reminding us of those nights when we thought that it would never end, we were so sleepless, or we were anxious over the health of someone we loved or we were to learn the results of an important test. We wondered, we felt worried about a difficult situation, the kind of experience that St John of the Cross called la noche oscura del alma, the long dark night of the soul? This is what it means to watch for the morning, to wait, longing, aching, hoping, for the Lord.

In many ways this is the situation that we find ourselves in at this time, longing for the virus to be overcome, that we can once again leave their homes, return to normal life and worship together in Church, so my prayer is that we can remain hopeful, holding onto God’s love, letting it fill our hearts and that the light of his presence can shine through that long dark night and lead us into a closer relationship with one another and with God’s kingdom.

Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world.
Grant that by faith in him, who suffered on the cross, we may triumph in the power of his victory.

Thinking Church in our homes

It's a very strange feeling not to be able to worship in Church at the moment. Somehow the rhythm of the week feels very different and with all of us being encouraged to stay at home it's all rather quiet apart from the phone ringing, the bird song and the distant sound of the occasional car. Even the sound of children playing at school has stopped.

Yet it is with good reason. We are isolated by the virus, but God is with us. There is beauty, goodness, hope and let us be confident that we are held by the Lord, our rock and our fortress even - and especially - in the hardest times.

       Our church building still stands, but we are the Church, and we can and must continue to pray, to reach out, to care from our homes or in volunteering where appropriate. 

Heavenly Father, in this time of uncertainty and isolation, hold us all in your unfailing love and help us to be signs of hope to others, in Jesus' name.