Looking back - and forwards…

(From the November issue of our Parish Magazine)

November can be a difficult month. The weather gets steadily worse. The days get shorter and darker. The leaves fall off the trees. The leaves need sweeping up - which is even worse! A sense of desolation can seem to set in. All that on top of the uncertainties of pandemic, failing supply chains and fears for the economy.

Some of the things we do in church at this time bring home still more the sense of our frailty and fragility. The Commemoration of All Souls is so important because it reminds us that our departed loved ones are in the hands of God - but it’s nevertheless a reminder of loss which we feel so deeply. Remembrance Sunday goes further into that sense of loss, even while we look with thanksgiving to those who have sacrificed so much. We can’t escape our mortality. And it’s important to acknowledge this. Don’t just say, “Cheer up, it’ll soon be Christmas.” That’s true! - but first we have to recognise our true vulnerabilities, failings and needs. Only a readiness to face the diagnosis can bring us the healing which is human wholeness.

This is the time of year when we can be reminded that the reality of hope is something more than simple optimism. The UN Summit on Climate Change, COP26, isn’t based on a belief that somehow we can muddle through and everything will work out in the end. It’s the recognition that we are all part of the problem - so our responsibility is to work together to do something about it

For us as Christians that’s why our worship so often begins with the Confession of our sins. Not to wallow in a sense of unworthiness - but to recognise what holds us back, and then to accept the forgiveness which will allow us to move on. As Christians we have a real hope. In the Gospel readings for the last two Sundays after Trinity, Jesus asks people who come to him, ”What do you want me to do for you?” James & John respond with unrealistic ambition. The blind beggar, Bartimaeus simply admits his need. He is the one who receives healing and a new hope. Told to go on his way, he realises that the direction he needs is to follow Jesus. So what do we want? Where are we going?              

Martin Jackson