Christmas is coming!!!!!! Please help us make it a really special one here in Norbury.Can you help bring the community together for Christmas in Norbury?· We are looking for individuals, groups and businesses to provide and/or decorate a tree to display in our Church.· Alternatively, you might like to sponsor a tree.· There will be a prize for the best decorated tree.· The proceeds of the Festival will go toward the maintenance of our lovely 14th Century Grade I listed Church.Theme: Christmas Songs!We would like you to provide your own tree, in a secure container. We would love you to decorate it to represent your chosen Christmas Song. The tree doesn’t have to be a traditional one, you could make it from any materials you may have to hand, which you might prefer as a different option. Ideally, battery lights would be best but we could provide electricity if needed. There will be refreshments served in Church on both daysIf you would like to take part in the Festival, please can you let us know as soon as possible. We will then contact you with more details for the trees, timings of the Festival and arrangements for setting up.We would like to be the first to wish you a very Happy Christmas! Best wishes from Norbury Church Council Tel: 01785 284463 Email: stpetersnorbury@gmail.com
There are so many voices in the world today, it makes me wonder which one should we should listen to. On top of our inner often negative voices of doubt and fear, there is also a cacophony of external voices on the news, television and social media feeds. We can live in dread of what tomorrow can bring, we can fear what is going on in the world. Wars and famine are raging, as well as freak weather systems wreaking havoc. We (well, certainly I) can feel totally impotent and vulnerable. Politics is polarised, news readers and media folk chomp at the bit to get a scoop on the 24-hour news feed. Should running a country and our lives be about sound bites and PR? Being a good speaker helps, in fact, having a voice that engages the people has been important even in biblical times. Moses wasn’t a confident speaker, and he called for someone to speak for him, and his brother Aaron took that role. Moses spoke to God; God spoke to Moses and Aaron spoke to the people. People were amazed by Jesus too. They said that he spoke like one with authority unlike the religious leaders of the time. Jesus also spoke in parables, telling stories to get his message across, I suppose you could say that he made himself relevant. But is having a voice, a charisma, the only thing that matters? I wonder what words of wisdom these people would have for us today. Certainly, wars and famine were not uncommon in biblical times, to be honest, I wonder whether there has been a century or even a decade in the history of humanity without a war going on somewhere. I am reading a book called “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”1. It talks about slowing down, simplifying our lives, not falling for all the talk but getting down to basics, what life is really all about. Jesus in his thirty-three short years lived a life. At every turn he cared about the people in front of him, he wasn’t swayed by the latest political regime, he cared about the individual, those who were rejected, with no place to turn, those with not enough money to get by, the vulnerable, the elderly, those who were sick. He gave them his time and attention. He wasn’t in a rush. He took time. He prayed. He laughed. He wept. He made a difference. What are we rushing to? I wonder if we stopped and noticed those around us - our partner, our family, our neighbours - I wonder what kind of difference that would make to this world we are living in. Sarah Smith 1 Cromer, John Mark, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, 2021, (London, Hodder & Stoughton)
As I have sat and reflected, there is one word that keeps popping up, and that is change. September sees the change from metrological summer to metrological autumn. But we do not need to be told this, as we can usually spot this from the changes to our environment with the leaves on the trees starting to change colour. The leaves of our oak tree have started that process already. Also, the nights draw in and it gets darker earlier. But change is more than this, it is said that change can be for the better or indeed for the worse. Most of the news reports show change of one sort or another, but mostly for the worse. Our newspapers and media news show us dramatically the change that people throughout the world are having to cope with and first up it is coping with the change brought about by conflict and war, with Ukraine and Gaza usually at the forefront. The lives of so many have been changed through the destruction of their homes, with some being displaced time and time again. They also have to face change because of the loss, or injury to loved ones and of course in Gaza, change because of the lack of basic commodities such as food and shelter. But there are still other places where conflict and war are happening but these do not hit the headlines as much. Then change is brought about due to nature and how some interact with it, change and suffering because of wild fires in America and southern Europe. People are faced with change due to health issues and many more things in this country too. I preached recently on the text of Luke 12.32-40, where we are told to build up treasure in heaven, as where our treasure is then that is where our hearts will be. The distractions of the 21st century will abundantly take our mind away from our vocation to follow God’s will. But in essence the rest of the passage is about readiness, being ready for when God calls us to do his work. Ready to help people and this will usually be when they face change due to one thing or another. We can’t be fully prepared for this as we will never know what the various situations we are called into will entail, but we need to be ready all the same.Finally, the people of the Benefice face change as the next round of advertising for a new Rector is now live. We hope and pray that we are successful and find a new Rector, but we do not know what changes this may bring about for our parishes, churches and indeed people. We hope and pray that in this instance it will be a positive change allowing us to grow in faith and strength to do God’s calling and minister to one another’s needs and the needs of the world. John Underhill
