Brothers and Sisters
“I am the resurrection and the life” says the Lord.
“Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.”
“God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble.”
At every funeral service I take, I speak these words as I walk in front of the coffin to the front of the church. They are not just a clanging cymbal, signifying nothing, but an eternal promise of the love of God.
This week, with the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh bracketed by funerals for members at Windsor I have been reflecting on the importance of private grief and communal grief. Private grief is what we need to heal from loss; it is the price we pay for having loved. Communal grief is something different and particularly so at this time when we have lost so much.
As we start to come out of what we all hope will be the final lockdown, we will come out into a world that is grieving. The loss we mourn will be people, opportunities, endings or beginnings that weren’t effected well, jobs, finances, relationships, mental health – a huge litany of loss.
Revelation 21:4 says this: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
For we who are still living in “the old order of things” it is hard. Let us not add to our difficulties by imagining that we should somehow pretend it is not. But let us also travel hopefully for there is comfort, there is love, there is much hope and strangely enough, it is in daring to share and speak of our grief that we both give and receive the strength and the grace for the day.
God bless,
Vicci
ALOUD!! Sing aloud, play aloud, it's all allowed!
The new singing and ukulele group for 6 - 12 year olds starts on the 15th of May at 4 pm. Lasting one hour and including a short break for snacks (hooray!) this group will meet fortnightly and have fun singing and learning to play the ukulele. Bring a friend, bring a smile, bring a ukulele (if you have one - we've got spares) and prepare to have a great time. This is a drop and go session which will be led by Vicci and Kim who have up-to-date DBS checks and loads of experience working with this age-group. Come along and give it a go!