Dear All,
Have you ever embarked on a project which you thought straight-forward, only to discover some way into it that it was far from straight-forward?
This was certainly my experience rebinding a book at home following the flour, water and tissue paper method…say no more! When it was described to me, the process sounded so simple. But it got messy. The job is completed and the book sort of works, but it is not very pretty.
What will become of Brexit, I wonder. A project we have voted as a country to go through with. Sounded so simple at one stage. But is evidently very complicated and messy.
The month of November starts with All Saints Day and a note of confidence as we sing ‘O when saints…come marching in!’ Then a few days later we are into Armistice Day and remembering the end of World War One and all the losses suffered on every side. At the end of the month we look forward to Advent and in our frailty, we are given a message of new hope.
With all the comings and goings of boldness, optimism, followed by disappointment, lack of confidence, and coming through to a new sober assessment of ourselves and our situation, what can we learn?
A conclusion I draw is that the Christian Year reflects our human condition and points to God. So in the cycle of the year we learn to reflect, and ask ourselves: ‘What is truly reliable?’ ‘Who is truly reliable?’
Martin Luther wrote a famous hymn based upon Psalm 46 ‘Eine Feste Burg ist unser Gott’ (A mighty fortress is our God). Both the hymn and the Psalm are worth a read, as well as a listen to JS Bach’s Cantata BWV 80 of that title.
Peace to you in this season of reflection,
Charles (Rector)
