Brothers and Sisters
I wonder how many years it has been since you last read the Narnia books; that wonderful fantasy series that begins with “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” set in wartime England where four children are evacuated to a house in the country and discover a different world accessed through the back of a magical wardrobe? It was of course, written by C.S. Lewis and is therefore as theologically sound a fantasy series as you are likely to find and the wonderful dedication reminds us that although we may outgrow fairy-tales, we also grow back into them at some point. If you have not read it recently, it would be a lovely way to while away some lockdown days.
In “The Silver Chair” C.S. Lewis says this: “Crying is alright in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do.” As we continue to travel hopefully towards a post-lockdown world, while grieving for the lives of over 100 000 people in this country and over 2.2 million deaths world-wide from covid-19, we are encouraged to pray. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have suggested that Christians in this country might commit to specifically covid-related prayer at 6pm every day this month and certainly, whether or not that is a discipline you wish to hold, we will all be praying consistently for the needs of the country and the world in this crisis.
I often wonder what happened to Lazarus after he returned from death. Surely, life would have been different. Surely, he couldn’t just have carried on as if nothing had happened. Would he have felt joyful to be given a second chance? Would he have felt that he had a responsibility to live the second part of his life more fully, more joyously, in a more God-centred way? We are not told. Still, it seems to me that he would have taken this new lease of life and lived it with all the joy and all the love and all the faith that he could muster.
In the face of our faith and hope, tempered with the grief of what we are witnessing, well-meaning people will tell you “It’s okay to not be okay”. I would go further. Faced with the death of his friend, even knowing what he was going to respond by calling Lazarus back to life, Jesus wept. I would suggest that we need to not be okay and that if these times are not affecting us adversely then we are refusing to process them. Some of us will be able to remain fairly upbeat and some will suffer attacks of depression and anxiety – we all deal with things differently because we have all lived different lives in different bodies with different chemical make-ups. C S Lewis was right on both counts: “Crying is alright in its way” and also plans must be made, hopes must be allowed to stir and then we must decide what to do. Grief does not last for ever, but let’s not fail to grieve when it is called for. It is a part of loving and we should allow ourselves to experience it on behalf of the world in such times.
God bless
Vicci
The Sound of Music Lent Bible Study
Last year, when we went into the first lockdown during Lent, some wag put "This is the Lentiest Lent I have ever Lented" on Facebook and it was shared by thousands of people with whom it resonated. As we think about entering Lent once more, we have not really left those initial feelings behind. There is a sense in which, however hard we tried to celebrate and mark the passage of the Church year, we have been in the desert since last March. The Circuit staff felt that this was not the time to embark upon a Bible Study that addressed some of the more traditional themes of Lent but that instead we needed something a little more uplifting, something that resonated with living through difficult times but held out hope, joy and Julie Andrews! This year, the Lent Bible Study has been written by the Circuit Staff and will look at songs from one of the most popular musicals ever, linking them to major Biblical themes and allowing us to meet together over Zoom to reflect on climbing mountains, remember favourite things and wonder if somewhere the hills are still alive with the Sound of Music. Join us on Ash Wednesday and subsequent Wednesdays in Lent (not the 3rd of March) at 7:30 for an hour of fun,song, Bible Study and prayer.
Prayers for the Nation
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby invites everyone to join him at 6 pm each day during February. Please follow this link: https://www.churchofengland.org