AREA LETTER FROM ONE OF THE AREA STAFF TEAM – APRIL 2023 In March St Peter’s church is holding their Forest church with the theme of Hope. It’s a word that we so often use when we are looking forward, hoping for something which is always something positive. At this time of the year Spring is trying to arrive as we see the carpets of snowdrops, the crocuses are out and now it’s time for the daffodils and then tulips. Soon there will be bright green buds on the trees and the birds increase their morning chorus. After the long dark nights and the cold we can look forward with hope for the warmer weather, the sun shining and the our mood improves, we feel so much brighter, perhaps ready to do something new. I remember John Cleese in Clockwise saying ‘ it’s not the despair, I can take the despair, it’s the hope I can’t stand.” Don’t we all live with hope, hope for warm sunny days, hope that our children and grand children will grow up to be happy and contented? But then there is the hope that maybe will never happen when we set our sights too high. When we are tempted by all manner of things that we really don’t need. Jesus was tempted but he knew that he was God’s beloved son in whom God was well pleased. Do we realise that as part of Gods family he is pleased with us?! As Easter comes around, we are reminded of the suffering and death of Jesus and then his resurrection on Easter Sunday. At St Peter’s we remove the seven symbols of Lent and replace them with posies of flowers to symbolise the hope we have as followers of Christ. Hope is a blessing, we can always look forward with hope for the future and endeavour to be part of the future by taking part, not sitting back and hoping things will just happen, we have to work towards our hopes, work to make our hopes happen. Easter signals new life in Christ, hope for the future. Let’s be those Easter people. Peace and prayers Maggie Maggie Hatchard, Reader for the Uttoxeter Area of Parishes.
Area Letter for March 2023 from a member of the Area Staff Team.I am often intrigued by natural phenomena. In the early 2000’s I was given a gift for Valentine’s Day. A ticket to board a plane at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, late at night, to be taken to explore the Aurora Borealis – The Northern Lights. It was spectacular seeing such beauty and amazing colours. It looked like the sky was dancing, in tune with our maker. At this time of year I love looking outside or being outside late afternoon. Watching the flock of birds moving like synchronized swimmers or a well-choreographed dance troupe, dark flowing against the white clouds. Listening to the gentle beat of the wings as they fly over me, and the gentle rustling noise as they all flock into the waiting trees for cover. Isaiah writes ‘Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows’ (60:8), I wonder if he is referring to ‘starlings’!When birds, usually starlings, fly together and swirl in a mesmerizing, coordinated ever-changing pattern – this dazzling dance is called a murmuration. What a word! In the twilight, the dance begins with a few birds, but gradually other starlings arrive, then more and more, until they all join together in one massive flock. Their movements create incredible patterns, streams, circles, trails. As they twist and turn in tight formation, amazingly they swirl but never collide.A murmuration has been described like this: “Each starling in a flock is connected to every other. When a flock turns in unison, it’s a phase transition. At the individual level, the rules guiding this are relatively simple. When a neighbour moves, so do you. Depending on the flock’s size and speed and its members’ flight physiologies, the large-scale pattern changes. What’s complicated, or at least unknown, is how criticality is created and maintained.” Psalm 50 v11 says: ‘I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine.’What music did they hear? Who leads them? Who taught them such grace? I am amazed at the Creator’s wonders found in nature. The bird murmuration, and the dancing colours in the night sky of the Aurora Borealis. Do you have a favourite natural wonder?Scientists don’t fully understand the how’s and whys of murmuration. A mystery. Maybe God is dancing with them and remains unknown, there but unseen. I wish we as humans could work together like these birds. Too often we are more like chickens, scraping only for ourselves, ruffling another person’s feathers so we feel better or superior. I know I can’t change the whole world, but the optimist in me believes if I keep my eyes on Christ, maybe, just maybe, a small movement will grace the sky and inspire others to join in the cosmic dance, led by God. God turns. He takes the lead in this dazzling dance. My role is to immediately follow. Are you joining me?BlessingsMargaretRevd Margaret Sherwin, Area Rector UAP.
Every day that I am in the Area Office, within St Mary’s Church in Uttoxeter, I start work with 2 or 3 minutes in the chancel of the church, looking at the altar and offering my day to God in prayer. And I always finish with the Lord’s Prayer – from which the sentence on this image comes…..”Lead us not into temptation”. This image was on the wrapper round part of a newspaper at New Year and it caught my attention. I wondered what it was doing on an advert for an alcohol-free beer called Lucky Saint in dry January! Is it OK to have part of the Lord’s Prayer on an alcohol-related advert? Who thinks that Christians in the UK look like the virtuous but tempted nun in the photo? Actually, how many people looking at this advert will even know that it’s a religious image being doctored? Oh, so many questions! To which I’m sure I don’t have the answers, but I did ask them of myself and therein is the challenge. We are all tempted, maybe not by alcohol, but by a bargain online, or the possibility of a better job, life, house, car, relationship …. the list is endless. Christmas may be packed away by now, but it was full of temptations, buying one more treat, one more present, having one more chocolate, or can or bottle! Jesus knew that we’d be tempted, which is why he taught the disciples of 2000 years ago how to pray about temptation. If you’re not sure, do look it up in the New Testament of the Bible, in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 6, verse 9 onwards. Jesus also knew that there are always consequences to giving in to the temptations, spending too much, eating or drinking too much, and wanting too much. When we are jealous or envious of what other people have, we can become bitter. In the Old Testament, Moses brought the Ten Commandments from God to the people, and he taught us not to “covet”, desire or crave other people’s possessions. So as Christians we are encouraged to pray to God for strength to resist the temptations, to be thankful for what we do have and to be willing to give and to share with others. I resist some of those temptations by not browsing online too much, giving away the boxes of chocolates and biscuits, and only have alcohol at the weekends. And by asking God our Father to help me to be less envious of others, and more grateful for all that I have got, every day. What works for you, what do you do? Lent begins on February 22nd this year, and it is the season in the Christian church when we remember that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, before he began his amazing adult ministry of teaching and healing. If you know you are tempted in ways that are damaging to you or others, why not have a go at changing the way you deal with it for Lent? By Easter Day on April 9th you might feel less tempted, and feel better about yourself in some way. Asking God to help you is a great place to start, because you too can be a “Lucky Saint”! With love Lesley Lesley White, Area Coordinator and PA to the Area Rector.
I have had a bad habit for most of my adult life of storing the necklaces that I wear most often in a small tray. My carelessness means that I can pick one up only to get a cluster hanging together, entangled. Either I stop and sort them out, untangling the mess with patience or impatience, or I ignore it and wear another one, only to come back later to the same problem or a broken chain. It seems to me life is rather like that too! Plain sailing for a while, working well and then along come stumbling blocks that eventually need to be tackled and untangled to move forwards again, or we find ourselves suffering from the pain of broken connections from which we need to try to recover. Consciously or subconsciously, January seems to be the time when many of us think to tackle the perceived existing stumbling blocks of our life, perhaps making resolutions or coming to a specific decision which we will act on during the year. After Christmas the church celebrates the glorious news of God’s son coming to earth – known as Epiphany. The season gives us chance to reflect on the significance of the birth of Jesus and to look at our journey onwards. Included at this time is the story of the Wise Men who followed a star to seek Jesus, bringing gifts signifying his future – gold for a great king; frankincense for a holy man; and myrrh for death. They journeyed in faith and with hope for the ushering in of a new era of God’s work on earth. But they had stumbling blocks to overcome – finding Jesus and encountering King Herod who wanted Jesus dead for a start! They had to find resilience to tackle the everyday reality without being put off from their overall aim. They kept going in faith. Their reward was to come into the presence of Jesus with their gifts, to experience the joy of discovering their saviour and to travel onwards to spread the good news of his arrival. However tangled we feel things are for us this January we can follow the Wise Men’s example and travel in faith, building up our resilience by acknowledging God’s present of love and hope and remembering we do not journey alone. God is there waiting to hear us and support us now and in the future. Happy New Year Stephanie Goodwin UAP Reader
