June 2010

I have been reflecting on the news headlines and on some of the many situations that are reported and this will be an election free letter. They are a mirror of what goes on, to a greater or lesser degree, in people's lives - including those of Christians.

So here are the results of my reflections: If I break a leg it goes into plaster and you can all express your sympathy by signing it! If I am in a wheelchair I will be overlooked - 'does she take sugar?' If I am blind I will have a white stick and I will be escorted across the road whether I want to cross or not!

BUT if I am deaf then I am treated as if I am stupid; if I have a mental illness then I am ignored because they can be dangerous; if I am bereaved I am avoided because people are just too embarrassed to know what to say.It's just the way we are.

What about our moral and spiritual lives? There are those of us who have made moral mistakes in our time; society reacts differently depending on the problem: If I am convicted of theft then I pay the penalty the courts dictate but what then? No one will employ me. If I am convicted of fiddling my tax - most people will say - 'what a shame you did not get away with it!' It's just the way we are. Most of the time most of us are able to keep our faults hidden - most of the time few, if any, know of the battles that go on in our lives, we have developed masks that hide. I sometimes think that in the Church we can avoid saying how things really are, it goes like this - 'How are you?' and the reply is always 'Fine, thank you'. None of us tell it how it is, none of us say how we really feel because it might well be a conversation and friendship stopper! Yet so many of us are hurting and in pain, sometimes it is guilt, sometimes it is hidden illness, sometimes it is broken relationships and the list goes on… It's just the way we are.

BUT IT'S NOT THE WAY WE ARE MEANT TO BE.

In Galatians chapter 6 verse 2 we read 'Carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.' The Church should be the one place where we can be truly open and know that we are loved and accepted unconditionally, a reflection of God's acceptance and love. Perhaps creating a safe space with people we trust is an on-going challenge, but we must do it, in order to become whole people. John Wesley's class system had an 'in band' code of practice, meaning anything shared was to be kept within the group. They confessed to one another and supported and built each other up. Are you interested in setting one up/Time for a bit of honesty I think!

May our God bless you

Jackie

May 2010

Dear Friends,

Sometime ago I was sat in a coffee shop and I saw an elderly woman lose her footing outside and fall. It was an awful thing to see and many people rushed to help her and see if she was all right. The first thing that many people attempted to do was to try to help her to stand up. It thankfully turned out that she was ok.

I always wonder about that. We mostly hate seeing other people in pain and we do our best to quickly get them back on their feet again so that everything is as it should be. It's normal, because even my own nature is: when something is broken, to attempt to fix it - the toaster, the picture frame, or even my own life. I usually hurry on to the mending process, because, like many people, I can't bear to see things, or people, broken. It is probably a very natural human reaction to brokenness, and is found even more so in the church. I, and others, usually don't like to see things out of order, slowing down, dying, or sick. It's quite a dilemma we're caught up in really.

Out of our natural concern for people we try to fix it for them, we hurry to pray, or "do something" to make it better for someone we care for. We do it especially to members of our own family. It's completely understandable. And yet, I question this kind of reaction in myself, the "fix-it" mentality. Why can't I bear to see things, or people, or myself not fixed? What stops me from just letting people simply be where they are at that time? What is it in me that wants to be the "repair person", whether by act, prayer or thought? Is it because I cannot deal with my own brokenness that I cannot look at the brokenness of others? I guess, at least if I so am busy helping others, caring for someone else, praying for another person, I do not have time or energy to sit with my own sorrows, my own pain, my own emptiness.

The reality is, Jesus did not heal everybody. Jesus did not come to fix the world. Mostly Jesus came to sit with people in their pain and brokenness. He knelt down beside tired feet and listened to the stories of their pain and struggle. He was not quick to mend every broken person he saw. Indeed, the story of the incarnation and the cross is all about a God who is present in pain, not aloof from it. Ours is a God, who does not simply dish out blessings from the safety heaven, but a God who is fully engaged, on a human level, with people in their own situations.

Sometimes, we can help people mend. But sometimes, perhaps, we need to let them be. Sometimes we need to simply sit with them in their pain, unable to help, unable to do or say anything.

The next time we fall, perhaps we just need a few moments to gather our thoughts, assess our own damage is there is any, and be allowed to just sit, even if it makes other people feel uncomfortable.

May our God bless you this week

Love

Jackie

April 2010
This article appeared in the April edition of Good News for All

l 2010

Dear Friends The last few months have shown us all that, despite the grandest of hopes and the best of intentions, the long term effects of the economic downturn is still with us. The effects of a shrinking economy are reflected on our high street, where more shop premises now lie empty though there is hope that some of the empty units in Golden Square will be filled again soon. And they’re played out most painfully in homes and families where redundancy and repossession are real threats.   There is, however, one cycle that has been decisively broken – and this not by any feat of fiscal prowess or political acumen. For God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves: the terrible, damning tragedy of human violence and alienation has been addressed once and for all upon the cross. The crucifixion of Jesus exposes the human tendency always to seek out and identify someone upon whom all our indignation and anger can be vented – someone whom we can blame. And the punishment of this victim, it is supposed, will restore calm to the community. So Jesus was chosen to be this victim, to bear the brunt of our anger.   Yet his death was not the final word: for Jesus rose in power on the third day, overturning the judgement that had been laid upon him and declaring that in him healing and restoration are to be found. In the risen Christ, the victim returns not to exact revenge but to breathe forgiveness; and the Cross shall forever stand, not as the place of condemnation, but as the sign and standard of God’s boundless love. This same love which reached across the chasm of crucifixion, was then poured into human hearts in the coming of God’s Spirit at Pentecost. And we who affirm this love, are summoned to demonstrate it also in our lives: love that is no mere feeling or attitude, but love that is measured and constituted by its deeds. So let us learn how to serve, and in our lives enthrone him; each other’s needs to prefer – for it is Christ we’re serving. This service is ever present as we approach a period of questioning and decision making in local elections and a general election (Though at the time of writing this, the general election has yet to be called).  We have a responsibility, yes to ask thoughtful and challenging questions of parliamentary candidates, but also to show God’s love as they offer themselves to be public servants.  May we pray for all involved and for ourselves that we may use our God given right to vote responsibly. That we may as the prophet Micah reminds us: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”. Micah 6:8 May our God bless us Jackie

March 2010
This article appeared inthe Good News for All magazine March 2010

Dear Friends

I always feel quite excited when the signs of spring begin to appear. There is a delight in the prospect of new life re-emerging from the cold earth. The greyness of winter and dark cold days and nights hopefully disappear and things all around us change.  The daylight is longer and there is something about the spring that makes me feel optimistic about life. It can lift our hearts. And so as we approach spring it is filled with the mixed emotions of our Lenten and Easter season.

Lent begins on 17 February and Easter Sunday is 4 April. Lent indicates a season of wearing purple stoles, removal of flowers in some churches, hymns and songs on themes perhaps of sin and penitence. Lent or spring which is my preference – well I looked it up in the dictionary – coming between the words lens and lentils the Old English word Lencten means spring. Wow! Lent and spring meant the same thing, perhaps we people of Modern England have misunderstood what Lent is about. We treat Lent as though it was a spiritual winter.  

What would happen if we treated it, instead, like emerging spring? Spring reminds us of new life and promise – summer is on the way. Lent too is full of promise. A promise that we – you and I are forgiven. The promise of the love of God who loves us always, in all seasons and that promise fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus. New life new birth. In lent I always look positively – don’t give something up, take something on, is my own personal preference.

What changes should there be in my life? Changes in my spiritual life and commitment to God, changes in the quality of my relationships, changes in the priorities of my life? What do I want my life to be? I want to be filled with the ever new life of God’s Holy Spirit. I want my life to be …………………………... There’s a lot of work to do then, a lot of changes to be made!

So this year shall we see lent as though it were spring – filled with excitement, wonder and anticipation? Lent, spring, Easter, resurrection and new life. All things for us to celebrate. May our God bless you Jackie



February 2010

This article appeared inthe Good News for All magazine Feb 2010

Dear friends,

In the middle of a green lawn are two pieces of coal, a half-eaten carrot, an old scarf and two twigs lying in a puddle. What’s this about? What’s happened here? Is it just an accident? Did these things come together by chance?

This month all partnerships within our circuit are invited to share their findings from the review undertaken since November.

As a central partnership we have asked opinions on how we work as a partnership (Bold Street and Latchford) through a survey, one to one conversations and an open meeting. We have asked if we should remain as partnership, we have sought what our priorities ought to be and the findings of these conversations will be shared at the meeting in February and subsequently with both churches. 

Have you solved the conundrum? On the site of the bits ‘n’ pieces in the pool of water, a proud snowman had earlier stood. (I say ‘proud’: to me, all snowmen look imperious!) The sun’s now out. It’s melted all the snow! And the carrot that had been the snowman’s nose is now food for passing animals.

Given the large amounts of snow we have seen in the last month, it may well be that you’ve been building your own snowman. This year, we’ve been seeing plenty of them. There have been igloos too! Schools were closed and this has allowed some children for the first time to experience the delights of the snow. The first time of snow-crafting, snowballing, sledging and sliding. Treasured memories for our young people.

Winter snow has brought us other stories to tell too. Inevitably, there are those whom we know who have suffered a fall. The ice on both pavement and road has been treacherous. Some folk have been able to stay in, even as I have heard, for ten days at a stretch. Others have had to try to get to work, only to get stuck in traffic, or to turn again for home. Meetings and services have been cancelled. We have had to adapt and change what we have done and through it all we have telephoned, visited (when enable) and supported one another. What a sign of partnership and of working together.

This year then, we’ve had a winter! We reflect on our winter experiences and we hope now for a Spring! Of new birth, new life and of fresh growth and experiences. However we work as churches we work for the glory and praise of God and not for our own.

We will always encounter seasonal happenings. They’re not accidental events! Enacted before us is growth, grace and new life. Before our eyes is repeated the story of the inexorable success of supreme power of the created world and order changing and developing – we too experience the same – we change, grow and develop and our God remains constant with us. Encouraging, challenging and supporting us in snow and in spring God is constant.

So Bold Street and Latchford, in partnership together, or with another church we move forward seeking God’s fresh vision for new life and new birth in Christ and in ourselves.

May Our God bless us

Every blessing

Jackie