Hi friends,
As I write this, on Thursday the 17th of February, it is a rare sunny day in a week that has been dark, wet and VERY windy. I’m afraid the weather for the rest of the week doesn’t look much better, but I am happy to enjoy this day even if it’s the only nice one we get this week!
This Sunday’s gospel reading is Luke’s account of Jesus calming the storm. When I woke this morning and saw that the storm had cleared, I did smile as it seemed to relate so closely to this Sunday’s reading. Although I am at St Luke’s this Sunday, I’m sure this will be reflected on and explored further in our 8.30 am and 10.30 am services. However, it has caused me to reflect on whether I take the moments of stillness after the storms of life to pause and appreciate, to be thankful to God and simply rest and be in those more consistent, calmer moments. If you’re like me, you might be looking ahead to the next challenge, or anticipating what else might go wrong, rather than enjoying the present moment.
We are also finding this true for our pattern of worship at church. You probably have heard either I or Becky say, this is a time of ‘consolidation’. As we continue to move forward and recover from the pandemic, we wish to establish a pattern of worship that is consistent and allows you, if you are in the throes of a storm of life or not, to come and gather together and experience God’s presence through word and sacrament. During the pandemic, Becky and I felt like God was saying to us to be generous with scattering seeds; meaning to provide lots of new or different opportunities for us to meet with God. As we feel we have done this and as we have felt God’s affirmation in the new and previous ways of worship and gathering, we now want to allow this pattern to establish and embed. Just like the seed analogy, it is now time to allow the seeds to grow, develop which often happens deep in the soil where we cannot see the growth happen.
And of course, we are in the church liturgical season of ‘ordinary time’, a season before Lent to allow the things we learnt over Advent and Epiphany to grow, deep within us. A season to simply ‘be’, to appreciate the stillness and consistency of our liturgy, safe in the knowledge that God is working and with us in our ‘being.’ Like taking a big breath on a sunny day in the middle of a stormy and windy week.
This Sunday is a Eucharist service at both 8.30am and 10.30am, celebrating and focusing on how as a church with an Anglo-Catholic tradition we worship God. Something I believe deeply is that we are a better, fuller representation of Christ when we can come together to worship- no matter what age, or preference, we are richer and a fuller body of Christ when you can come and worship. We also continue to love and serve our families in our Parish with Bears and Prayers on Wednesday 23rd February. And we are also preparing for our next 4th at 4 gathering on the 27th of February- a new expression of gathering at St Martin’s which celebrates and seeks to provide a space for those who want space to talk, to be in conversation with others about the everyday questions that matter. This gathering is also a space for those who might be exploring faith, have no faith or just want something slightly more informal than our Sunday morning expressions.
So, whether you feel like you are right in the middle of a storm or not, I pray you will be able to take a minute, a day, to appreciate and be thankful- even if it is for a brief moment. I pray you to know that God is working in our stillness, growing and breathing life on things that are deep within us where we might not be able to see the fruit yet.
Look forward to connecting with you over the coming weeks,
Laura