Parish news insert I wrote for Trinity Sunday:
The news this week seems to have only gotten worse. It reinforces what I
mentioned last week that it is absolutely vital that we stand together as
human beings, leaning on each other and offering each other love and
support.
This is backed up by our second reading this Sunday, in which we're told
to agree with one another, to live in peace and the God of love and peace
will be with us.
A poem that I have received a lot of inspiration from this year, is one
written for the Holocaust Memorial Day.
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Pledge for National Holocaust Memorial Day 2008
Everyone has a right to be free,
Where there is no freedom for others,
There is no freedom for me.
Everyone has a right to be different,
Where there is no respect for difference,
There can be no respect for me.
There is HOPE for a safer future if I protect liberty,
If I RESPECT others,
Others will RESPECT me.
© Roger Cliffe-Thompson, Liverpool Poet
With warmest blessings,
Andy
Wednesday 21 May 2008
Trinity 1 - why worry?
My column for the parish newsletter for Trinity 1:
Our gospel reading for this morning contains some great advice, which I
only wish I could follow.
Worrying is what I do - it's not a preferred pastime, but one which I have
become rather good at over the years.
However, I like to think that I've gotten a little better at recognising
those things that aren't worth worrying about, or that worrying about will
not actually make any easier.
For example, last week I worried a lot about what to preach on Trinity
Sunday, but when I discovered on Trinity Sunday that I was in the vestry
at St. Mary's and my sermon notes were in my study at home, I didn't
really worry at all. The one I could do something about, the other not.
Perhaps that's a good place to start - worry only about the things that
are worth worrying about. Perhaps we should do less worrying and more
planning.
I think there is great wisdom in recognising when worrying will not
actually help a situation at all, and in knowing how to let go of those
worries. Worrying about your speed in a traffic jam, worrying about
whether or not you'll have a job in 5 years, worrying about whether we'll
have sunshine over the weekend, worrying about whether or not someone
likes you - I could go on and on ? these are all examples of futile
worrying.
However, to stretch the metaphor a little, what we can do is try and avoid
heavy traffic routes, or keep performing well at work and looking for
opportunities to add more skills to our CV's, or have a plan B in case it
rains, or work to earn someone's trust and friendship - these are all
perhaps ways in which planning can be beneficial, while worrying can't.
That way there SHOULD be less to worry about, but I know that that's not
always the case, either. Being absolutely in control is not often
accompanied by low stress levels.
I guess this is a prime example of a delicate balance that we only really
begin to learn about with experience and the wisdom that age brings.
And there I was, worrying about getting old!
Our gospel reading for this morning contains some great advice, which I
only wish I could follow.
Worrying is what I do - it's not a preferred pastime, but one which I have
become rather good at over the years.
However, I like to think that I've gotten a little better at recognising
those things that aren't worth worrying about, or that worrying about will
not actually make any easier.
For example, last week I worried a lot about what to preach on Trinity
Sunday, but when I discovered on Trinity Sunday that I was in the vestry
at St. Mary's and my sermon notes were in my study at home, I didn't
really worry at all. The one I could do something about, the other not.
Perhaps that's a good place to start - worry only about the things that
are worth worrying about. Perhaps we should do less worrying and more
planning.
I think there is great wisdom in recognising when worrying will not
actually help a situation at all, and in knowing how to let go of those
worries. Worrying about your speed in a traffic jam, worrying about
whether or not you'll have a job in 5 years, worrying about whether we'll
have sunshine over the weekend, worrying about whether or not someone
likes you - I could go on and on ? these are all examples of futile
worrying.
However, to stretch the metaphor a little, what we can do is try and avoid
heavy traffic routes, or keep performing well at work and looking for
opportunities to add more skills to our CV's, or have a plan B in case it
rains, or work to earn someone's trust and friendship - these are all
perhaps ways in which planning can be beneficial, while worrying can't.
That way there SHOULD be less to worry about, but I know that that's not
always the case, either. Being absolutely in control is not often
accompanied by low stress levels.
I guess this is a prime example of a delicate balance that we only really
begin to learn about with experience and the wisdom that age brings.
And there I was, worrying about getting old!
Wednesday 7 May 2008
Pentecost Parish News Insert
Here's a column I wrote for this week's Parish leaflet:
The news this week has been rather sobering. We have heard about tragic loss of life inBurma / Myanmar , the ongoing election nightmare in Zimbabwe , the surprise eruption of Chaiten Volcano in Chile
In our first reading today one phrase leapt out at me … "they were all together in one place" (Acts 2:1). It reminded me that there is strength in numbers. It also reminded me of the African phrase of "Ubuntu", which is roughly translated as "I am, because we are" … a sense that a community and a society is only as strong as its individuals, and that each person is responsible for the well-being of the community which – naturally – includes them. So that every act that an individual performs for the benefit of the community benefits them too – albeit indirectly sometimes, and every act that an individual performs that harms the community harms them too.
We are reminded, too, in our second reading that "just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ" (1 Cor 12:12), which this morning I would like to use in the context of community again.
It strikes me that, with the scale and number of disasters we are seeing now, what we really need to be doing as humans, is supporting each other and standing together. Not judging each other on nationality, gender identity, faith, creed, political affiliation, income bracket, accent, ideologies or any other such thing.
It is vital that we become a people that focus on our similarities, celebrate these, and support and act for the good of each other. I believe it is when we begin to do that that we see true transformation of communities and individuals, and the Spirit of God can truly begin to work and to renew.
Happy Pentecost
The news this week has been rather sobering. We have heard about tragic loss of life in
In our first reading today one phrase leapt out at me … "they were all together in one place" (Acts 2:1). It reminded me that there is strength in numbers. It also reminded me of the African phrase of "Ubuntu", which is roughly translated as "I am, because we are" … a sense that a community and a society is only as strong as its individuals, and that each person is responsible for the well-being of the community which – naturally – includes them. So that every act that an individual performs for the benefit of the community benefits them too – albeit indirectly sometimes, and every act that an individual performs that harms the community harms them too.
We are reminded, too, in our second reading that "just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ" (1 Cor 12:12), which this morning I would like to use in the context of community again.
It strikes me that, with the scale and number of disasters we are seeing now, what we really need to be doing as humans, is supporting each other and standing together. Not judging each other on nationality, gender identity, faith, creed, political affiliation, income bracket, accent, ideologies or any other such thing.
It is vital that we become a people that focus on our similarities, celebrate these, and support and act for the good of each other. I believe it is when we begin to do that that we see true transformation of communities and individuals, and the Spirit of God can truly begin to work and to renew.
Happy Pentecost
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