‘Something Important’s Missing…’ A friend e-mailed me the following delightful story…“One day, a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided that the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; he concluded that it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening, and cried horribly.Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down.As the farmer’s neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped over the edge of the well, and happily trotted off!Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up –simply shake it off, and take a step up! REMEMBER THESE FOUR SIMPLE RULES TO BE HAPPY:1.Free your heart from hatred – Forgive.2 Free your mind from worries – Most never happen anyway.3. Live simply, and appreciate what you have.4. Give more, and expect less.”*********************************************************************************I must admit that I do like that story! Not only is it a message of great encouragement about not giving up in the face of adversity, it could be said that it is indeed quite ‘biblical’ in its outlook – especially the ‘four simple rules’.Nevertheless, it seems to me that there is something important missing from this story, something which the Christian Church has just been celebrating in recent weeks – namely, the presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit! The ‘donkey story’ in its present form could too easily convey the idea that when all the troubles of life get on top of you, you have to climb ‘out of the pit’ by your own strength and power alone. If that had to be the case, it would bad news for all of us! But, the truly Good News is that we don’t have to cope with all the hassles and challenges of everyday life using only our own resources, for God has sent his own Spirit into the world (often pictured as a dove) which desires to live in us, and give us strength and power to draw upon for dealing with all of life’s daily struggles! PERHAPS THE MAIN QUESTION IS… HOW HAVE I ALLOWED GOD’S SPIRIT TO LIVE IN ME, AND LOOK TO HIM AS MY STRENGTH AND POWER? IF YOU HAVEN’T, IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO START – YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID!!Your Vicar and friend, John
“A Most Special Invitation for Each of Us”When a friend invites us to join in an event which has special significance for them, enabling us to share more fully in their life, it is a wonderful expression of their appreciation and love for us……and that is especially the case when Jesus, the presence of our living, loving God ‘in the flesh’, invites each of us to ‘come and follow him’ (the very same personal invitation he gave to the fishermen who became his earliest followers), offering us the opportunity to ‘come and see’ for ourselves how the living God is revealing his own awesome presence, power, purposes and promises in the events of Jesus’ life and ministry. This personal invitation especially includes journeying with Jesus through Holy Week (24th – 31st March), and our churches in Alrewas, Fradley and Wychnor most warmly wish to welcome you and your family to join in with the various special services and activities hosted by each one (details available in each church’s section in this edition of Parish News)…..Come and experience the first day of Holy Week – Palm Sunday (24th March) – as Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem is retold in story, movement and symbol (with palm crosses for all) …enter into the awe and wonder of the crowds which celebrated Jesus as King, but had no idea what that might mean for their own lives……what might it mean for ours? On Maundy Thursday (28th March), join us at All Saints Alrewas as we gather from all three villages to enter into the experience of Jesus’ ‘last supper’ with his disciples, and Jesus blows his disciples’ minds as he reveals completely unexpected insights into God’s presence and power in their lives….and ours too! This moving Communion Service will include symbolic ‘handwashing’ for those who wish to partake…….……as we remember Jesus being betrayed by one of his very own and his disciples abandoning him out of fear for their own lives, from 9pm to 12am a ‘Night Watch’ will continue in All Saints, with opportunity for candle-lit personal meditation and occasional readings – you are warmly invited to ‘drop in’ and stay for however long you wish, as we prepare for the world-changing events the next day…On Good Friday (29th March), you are invited to participate in a variety of services and activities which help us to experience the awesome depth and costliness of God’s love for our world, and for each one of us personally, as the events leading to Jesus’ death are retold in story, song, activities and experiences for all agesFollowing an eerily quiet ‘Holy Saturday’ as the painful reality of Jesus’ death sinks in, we sincerely hope everyone will join in our churches’ joy-filled celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection on EASTER SUNDAY (31st March) as we celebrate the life-changing victory of God’s love!We sincerely hope you will accept this personal invitation to join in the wonder of Holy Week, and experience afresh the amazing presence and power of God tomake all things new….including me and you, and our lives now and eternally!Vicar John
Join in a Life-Changing Journey….. The six week long Christian season of ‘Lent’ invites each of us to join in a very special ‘journey with Jesus’ as he lives out the final stages of his earthly ministry, revealing God’s amazing sacrificial love for each one of us – and, indeed the whole of creation - by the giving up of himself to an excruciating death on a Roman cross. In my experience, a great many people associate the Christian season of Lent as a time to intentionally ‘give up something’ you personally enjoy (reflecting the traditional ‘Lenten fast’ by abstaining from certain foods), to heighten our appreciation of what Jesus experienced for our sake. For all who find this a valuable practice, I warmly commend it to you…..But it’s important to add that, whether you embrace this practice or not, Lent can and should be a special time in which each one of us is invited and challenged to engage in deeper and richer opportunities for reflecting, learning and growing as human beings so that, as we journey with Jesus to the cross, our daily attitudes, choices and actions may also experience an amazing, life-enhancing transformation beyond our wildest dreams! May I take this opportunity to invite you to join in any - or indeed all - of the following local opportunities which everyone in the communities of Alrewas, Fradley and Wychnor are most warmly welcome to participate in during the upcoming Lenten season:Ash Wednesday ‘United Service’ at All SaintsParish Church, Wednesday 14 February, 7:30pmThe ’40 day’ Lenten journey begins with this important day, with the use of ‘ash’ on our foreheads reminding us of our mortality and our ultimate dependence on God for life in all its fullness, and Holy Communion to fortify us for the journey ahead!You are most warmly invited to continue this life-changing ‘journey with Jesus’ by joining in this year’s Lenten Discussion Group opportunity which is being offered at All Saints Parish Church on Wednesday nights beginning 21st February through 27th March (7:00 to 8:30pm, with free refreshments ), featuring the acclaimed BBC series ‘Tales from the Madhouse.’Eight arresting monologues, from award-winning actors including Helen Baxendale, Tony Robinson and James Cosmo, win our empathy as we gradually recognise them as players in a universal story….for, lurking in these stories, hidden in a crumbling asylum, are ‘eyewitnesses’ of Jesus: people like the Centurion, the thief on the cross, and Judas the betrayer.In a series of powerful and thought-provoking short episodes, their motivations and private worlds are laid bare; we glimpse the moments when they brushed with someone who intrigued, galvanised, even astonished them. In meeting Jesus, they each touched the light –but, seven of these eight returned to the shadows…..the result is a series of gripping tales which dig deep down into their lives, and ours too – if we’re daring enough to join them on this journey of discovery!Of course, the season of Lent culminates with the observance of Holy Week (Sunday 24th through Saturday 30th March), including special worship opportunities and events focussing on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday in the churches serving our three communities, and culminating with a glorious celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday, 31st March……… further details about all of the special opportunities during Holy Week 2024 will be offered in next month’s Parish News, so please ‘stay tuned’! With every blessing, Vicar John
“The Most Precious New Year’s Gift of All” The most precious gift you will receive this New Year, which God graciously offers to each of us, is - quite simply - the gift of time. Now, God doesn’t give us this gift in one big lump sum, which would be totally overwhelming and unmanageable (after all, 31,536,000 seconds in one year is an overwhelming lump sum, by anyone’s measure!). Instead, God gives it to us by means of a very special type of ‘bank account’, which is wonderfully depicted in the following (anonymous) reflection entitled Sands of Time: If you had a bank that credited your account every morning with £86,400, that carried no balance over from day to day, allowed you to keep no cash in your account, and every evening cancelled whatever part of the amount you failed to use during the day, what would you do? Draw out every penny, of course, and use it to your advantage! The fact is, each of us has such a bank, and its name is TIME. Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night, it writes off as lost whatever of this we have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance, and it allows no overdrafts. Each day it opens a new account for us; each night it burns the balance of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposit, the loss is yours – there is no going back. There is no drawing against ‘tomorrow’. It is up to each of us to invest this precious fund of hours, minutes and seconds in order to get from it the most out of today. Wow! Just think – for every day in the coming New Year, God will credit us with 86,400 seconds to spend. What a tremendous gift! In our pressurised daily lives, we often say, ‘There just aren’t enough hours in the day’ to get everything done. But, given the gift of 86,400 seconds each day, the question is not actually ‘whether we have the time’ (we do!), but rather – in 2024, how will we choose to use the time we have ‘in the bank’ each day of our lives? Will our daily use of those 86,400 seconds include not only work, but also time for play and refreshment? Will we spend enough of our time not only with (or on) ourselves, but also with cherished family members and friends, and joining in the life of our local community with all it has to offer? And what about our response to the one who so graciously gives us each and every moment of our existence – what portion of our time will we give to God each day, and each week, through private prayer as well as public worship and community service, so that – being truly aware of his amazing gift of time to us - we live out every moment of our lives with a tremendous sense of wonder and joy?My hope and prayer in this New Year is for each of us to ‘empty the time bank’ every day, using each moment wisely and thoughtfully - in the service of God, in meeting the needs of those around us, and in developing our own gifts and aptitudes as persons wonderfully crafted in the very image of God! Your Vicar and friend, John Allan
