Dear friends

I wonder if like me you have noticed a shift in the rhythm of the week, now that the schools have broken up? For those with school age children this will be obvious, of course! I vividly remember how much I used to love the schools finishing, just to change the routine, the demands of the school run, the rushing around to after school clubs, encouraging homework to be done, getting uniforms washed in a quick turnaround ... I know this is the "best of" what happens with a change of routine, and for many families the school holidays are so much more challenging for endless reasons, and that not all homes are places of sanctuary, rest, or even safety. 

I don't have children living at home now, so in theory nothing changes for us with the summer holidays, yet I notice still a change in rhythm - lighter traffic on the roads, quieter in the garden without the lovely babble of the preschool in the church hall garden (!), and a shift in the congregation pattern on Sundays where from week to week different people are away on their holidays.

In a part of the world where the seasons seem to be blending more and more, it is good to have different rhythms in our lives. People often speak of change as a negative thing - although I know there are also many who thrive on change. Yet God's creation moves in seasons and rhythms, and throughout scripture we are reminded of the way creation can help us understand the work of the kingdom - what we notice in a fig tree, the ways in which seeds are sewn and planted, the time of the harvest, even from the Old Testament, the writer of Ecclesiastes telling us there is a time for everything...

We were reminded in Morning Prayer this week of the importance of waiting, indeed that often meaning is in the waiting, rather than rushing through to find solutions, or to move something on that seems to taking time.

I'm also reminded that for many the summer months allow a time of recreation - which of course also means re-creation.

I am going to try to be fully present in this different rhythm, to notice what is different, to embrace the "shift", and to discover what God might reveal as a result.

I pray that whatever you are doing over these coming weeks, whether hoping to go on holiday (and we pray that you have smooth travel if that's the case), whether staying at home but trying to find spaces for recreation, or whether you're just trying to cope with whatever you are facing, you will find meaning and purpose in the moment and you will experience God's presence in the present.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday, if you are able to join worship. 8.30am as ever will be a simple said service of Holy Communion. At 10.30am we will have a service of Holy Communion with hymns. Whilst we won't have the choir and organ, we will have recorded hymns to join in with - so we will be making a joyful sound, just as we are invited to do in scripture!

With all good wishes, as everBecky