From Rev'd Louise

Monthly reflection

April 2026 Welcome

On a very wet evening in early February this year, I received a phone call from a police officer, telling me that there was a homeless person in the porch of one of the three benefice churches, asking me if I knew, and if I had given permission for them to be there. I replied that the person was very welcome to sleep there, and I was glad they had been able to find some shelter from the weather. I asked the police officer to let them know that they were welcome to sleep there and that I was keeping them in my prayers. Later on that same evening I received a phone call from the person concerned, thanking me.

As I thought about this homeless person, and as I prayed for them, I found myself reflecting on the life of Jesus. I am saddened that anyone should think that my permission - or anyone else’s – is necessary for a person to seek shelter in a space that belongs to everyone, and should be very obviously a place where all are welcomed. I was also embarrassed that the person concerned felt the need to thank me for ‘permitting’ them what should already be theirs anyway. And I reflected that Jesus, the person that all our churches have been built to honour, began his earthly life as the child of a couple far from home, seeking shelter for the night and who, before he was two years old, was a refugee fleeing for safety to a foreign land.

We know very little about Jesus’ life between his infancy and the time when he began his three year public ministry before his crucifixion. But we do know that those three years of public ministry were spent as a homeless rabbi, wandering from place to place, and telling a would-be follower, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ [Luke 9: 58]

Jesus also taught that our love for God is lived out through the way in which we treat those around us, particularly in how we treat the most vulnerable and needy. In the parable of the sheep and the goats [Matthew 25: 31-46], Jesus speaks of those who ‘inherit the Kingdom of God,’ as those who fed him when he was hungry, clothed him when he was naked, and cared for him when he was sick or in prison. When they asked when they had done these things, the King in the parable [God] responded, ‘Truly, I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

My prayers this month continue to be for the homeless and needy seeking shelter among us, and for all like them. And I pray too that our communities may be places where all are always welcomed, whoever they are.

If you would like to sign up to receive a weekly reflection, or to receive the regular newsletters from churches and Christian groups across Hope Valley, please go to https://mailchi.mp/2c07821b33f6/sign-up-for-ponder-and-pray or https://mailchi.mp/cbb9a512a36e/hope-valley-christians-newsletter or email me on [email protected] and I can sign you up.

March 2026 Me or us?

I’m guessing that most of us will be able to look back on times when we have valued being on our own, and times when we have valued sharing with others. And both can play an important role in personal lives, our faith journeys, and our community lives.

Culturally, we tend to have a very much more individualistic attitude to life than many around the world, so ‘personal space,’ or ‘doing things my way,’ tend to have a greater importance for us than for many cultures. I remember many years ago, an Indian telling me of his first visit to the UK, in his forties. His host showed him to his room, and left him there, inviting him to come downstairs when he was ready. He explained how he felt absolutely terrified, as in all of his life up to that point he had never been in a room alone. And I remember an African on a course I attended, explaining how he could not tell us what he thought about something, as he had to discuss it with his community first, and he would then share with us the view of his community.

Christian scripture and Christian spirituality, have many examples of the value of being alone. The gospels tell us of how Jesus often went off on his own to pray, and his public ministry began with a period of 40 days in the wilderness, wrestling alone with the temptations that he would face. Throughout Christian history, Christians have sought out solitude as a way to encounter God more deeply through prayer or meditation.

But even though solitude has a treasured place in scripture and tradition, Christianity has always taught that we belong to one other; we belong with one another, because we all belong to God. Our times of solitude are not instead of community; they are to equip us to live better in community. The apostle Paul uses an image that has become well known; the image of all those who seek to follow Christ as being ‘one body,’ made up of lots of individual parts, each with their own particular characteristics and needs, yet all dependent on one another and only able to function fully and effectively when they function as ‘one body.’ When one part of the body suffers, Paul teaches, the whole body suffers, and when one part of the body rejoices, the whole body rejoices.

My prayer for us all this month, is that we would all make space, individually and together, to reflect on all those, near and around the world, who are connected with our lives in any way – we might begin by looking at the food we eat or the clothing we wear and finding out more about where it came from, and what impact it has had on others along its journey to our plate or our wardrobe. And my prayer is that we would all draw closer to one another and to the God who is God of all.

February 2026 Lent - Draw near

This year Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, is on Wednesday 18th February. I’m guessing that many people know that Lent is 40 days long, and comes before Easter. But what Lent is all about may be a mystery, and certainly means different things for different people.

I remember growing up knowing that Lent was a time when you gave things up, without really knowing why, and mostly seeing Lent as an opportunity to kick-start again those New Year resolutions that had fallen by the wayside. I still remember my confusion when I discovered that Lent is only 40 days long if you don’t count the Sundays, because some people believed that you shouldn’t give things up on Sundays, which to my teenage self felt like cheating!

As I gradually discovered more about the Christian faith that I claimed for my own as a teenager, I learned that the Christian Church understands Lent as a period of reflection on our faith, a time of reflecting on how well the way we live actually reflects the values we believe in. So while giving up things that are self-indulgent or that distract us from the most important things in life might be part of Lent, it doesn’t have to be. Modern churches are far more likely to focus on the reason behind Lent, and to encourage people to focus on things that help us to live in a way that reflects God’s values of love and care and justice.

This year the Church of England is encouraging people to share together some resources called ‘Draw Near.’ Throughout the six weeks of Lent, these resources help people to focus on values and activities that are important to living as a Christian; sharing worship, sharing prayer, sharing the Scriptures, sharing Communion, sharing service and sharing the Good News. There are ‘40 acts’ activities for individuals and families to share throughout Lent to help a focus on ‘Doing Lent Generously.’ For example, on Ash Wednesday we are encouraged to ‘Make a helping hands poster by tracing your hand on paper and writing or drawing five ways you could help someone this week. Colour in a finger each time you achieve one.’ I know that I am looking forward to this year’s Lent focus on the simple things that we can all do to help us live well with one another, to help us build Christ-like communities of caring, and I am looking forward to the activities!

So this year, I invite you to do two things; I invite you to consider joining me in using these resources, and I invite you to find someone else who is also ‘keeping Lent’ – either using these resources or some other way, and to talk together about what Lent means to you. And my prayer is that God will bless us through all that we do this year to ‘Do Lent Generously,’ and will use our thoughts and our prayers and our actions to bless others.