Scripture and Reflection: Sunday 6th November and for the week ahead:Scripture:'Wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace'. (James. 3.17-18)Reflection:The world is not short of examples of unwisdom – folly, stupidity, obstinacy, extremism… But as we think of those folk we love and admire, then we home in on the sort of wisdom James writes about ‘full of mercy and good fruits’. This week’s Collect is a prayer for more wisdom in the world:Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all: govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. David Harmsworth
Reflection: Sunday 30th October - All Saints' Day - and for the week ahead:Scripture:‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:27-31)Reflection:Someone needs ‘the patience of a saint’ we sometimes say, and may be referring to the qualities and actions that Jesus is recommending to us here, and which can seem impossible! Who is that good? This week the Church celebrates both All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Both in different ways taken up with thoughts of those who have gone before us. Not that they were all saints, of course. Far from it, in some cases. But even the saints were not always so saintly. Because saints are not all dead, holy people, so much better at being good than us. The saints, the way that word is used in the Bible, are just those who are trying to live God-centred lives, doing what God wants from us, which in its simplest form can be expressed thus: Do to others as you would have them do to you. That simple, and that difficult. Revd David
