Dear friends,

Writing about time, Albert Einstein wrote, “There certainly seems less of it about than there used to be.”

Quite often people comment that as they get older, time seems to fly by. For me, I don`t think helps working in a school. The Christmas term always eems long and then after that we hurtle to the summer holidays. It feels like one minute ago I was looking at the long summer holiday and now I am back at school. Having seasons and celebrations in the Church Year also makes things pass more quickly, one minute we are celebrating Lammas, then it`s harvest, we say Farewell to the Year 6 children and then have our back to school service. Next thing it`s Advent then it`s Christmas!

I only have to look at Nathaniel to see how fast time is passing. One minute we were dropping him at Antrobus School for his first day and now we are looking at Universities. I am having to prepare myself for him leaving home, which quite honestly I am in complete denial about.

Time is so precious that we need to treasure each moment – as the great Abba song says “ Slipping though my fingers all the time, I try to capture every minute. Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture and save it from the funny tricks of time” How often do we wish we could freeze the picture?

Quite often we read of the rising star who rockets to celebrity and then crashes and burns – having gained everything the world holds dear, fame, money fast cars, they have found it empty and meaningless.

I was reading the Book of Ecclesiastes the other day. It is only 12 chapters long and it speaks directly to that person. It starts by saying that everything is meaningless, wisdom is meaningless, pleasures are meaningless, toil is meaningless. It is a great book to read if you want to find some meaning in life.

It is thought that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes and at the end he writes “Fear God and keep his commandments-for this is our whole duty.” Wise advice indeed.

If you don`t want to read all 12 chapters, just read Chapter 3, which you will no doubt recognise.

There is a time for everything,

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to kill and a time to heal

A time to tear down and a time to build

A time to weep and a time to laugh

A time to mourn and a time to dance

A time to embrace and a time to refrain

A time to search and a time to give up

A time to keep and a time to throw

A time to tear and a time to mend

A time to be silent and a time to speak

Quite often we need to know when we need to do those things. When should we speak, when should we stay silent? When should we keep, when should we throw away?

All of us are in different times in our lives, different seasons, we may be dreading the next time or season or are looking forward to embracing it. Whatever time of life we are in, whatever season, however we are feeling, we have one guarantee and that is that God is right next to us.

With love

Christina