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
2022 Area Letter for December from one of the Area Staff Team; How quickly time moves on! The last Area Letter I wrote, was in February, right at the end of the Christmas season as we celebrated Candlemas. Yet here we are in this Advent Season, preparing for another Christmas! It is Autumn going on Winter, with long days of darkness, of chill and of putting on thicker clothes and coats to keep us warm. The central heating is on and fires lit to cheer us! But who doesn’t like taking a walk, kicking the fallen leaves, underfoot!? However, I don’t like these dark chilly deary days, much preferring the long warm days of summer light and colour. In the darkness of this season, we can become a little gloomy in ourselves too. Gloomy not just because of the dark dreary days, but also because of what’s happening both in our own lives and in the world; of all the events taking place and of the precarious economic outlook, making us think of what we can or cannot afford, especially in this season of excess. We cannot but be affected by circumstances, both near and far. These can test our resolve and our faith. Of course, all this is nothing new; with the exception of climate change, much of what is happening around the world has happened before in one way or another. All these things can be a real distraction for us making our Advent preparations and celebrating once again the coming of God into his world on that first Christmas Day. It can be difficult to reconcile all this, with what’s going on. Thankfully God knows what he is doing! It is no mistake that God comes to be with us, in the form of a helpless poor baby. The scriptures describe him as Emmanuel (God with us) who comes at the darkest time of the year. It is this helpless baby, who came to bring light, life, healing and wholeness to all the dark places of the world and to our lives. It is precisely because of this, that in whatever circumstance we may find ourselves, we can and should rejoice in God’s wonderful gift to us in his Son Jesus Christ. Christmas is a time to remember, to give thanks, as well as to give and to receive, and to celebrate in the most special and precious ways with those we love and those around us. We are called to be that light shining for Christ. To be that special gift to all whom we meet. I do like that Christmas is a celebration of the ‘Light of the World’ coming among us, to be with us, to experience what we experience, bringing hope for today and tomorrow; God’s love shining in the darkness. Yes, it is a season of excess, but rather than material excess, it is a celebration of an excess of love, freely given to all who put their trust in Jesus, the light of the world. May He be your light, your love, joy, peace and your hope as you journey on. Blessings and peace Charles Rev Charles Dale, minister with PTO across the Area.
Area Letter from one of the Area Staff Team – November 2022 Dear friends, Every year in November, the village in which I lived as a child, held a firework party on the community playing fields. We would all wrap up warm in woolly hats, scarves and mittens (I remember it being much colder back then!) and drink tomato soup from polystyrene cups. Then, we would watch the huge bonfire and feel its heat before the highlight of the night, the firework display. In reality, I’m sure the rockets and roman candles weren’t very impressive, but they were enough to spark in me a lifelong love of fireworks and bonfire night. I have been to many 5th November firework displays since but none quite compares to the live, silent, extravaganza of whizzes and bangs on the breakfast Radio Two program of the late, wonderful, Sir Terry Wogan. Perhaps you remember it too? He would describe passionately every sparkle, flash and tumbling cascade of colour going through his head. In an article for the Telegraph in 2011 reflecting on the shows Wogan commented “There were begrudgers who complained about the lack of parking and toilet facilities, and burnt-out fireworks on the carpet around the radio, but I like to think that there are some who remember, with a sigh, the solace of fireworks on the wireless”. Funny, the things we remember! The Christian faith is a “remembering” faith. Every week as we break bread and drink wine together we follow Jesus instruction to “do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) We remember that God has made himself near to us. And in November we add to our remembering. From All Saints Day (1st Nov) to the first Sunday of Advent (27th Nov) we look back over our history as Christians and as a country and reflect on the lessons the past can teach us. We are inspired by the lives of the saints and humbled by the sacrifice of those who gave their lives that we might be free. More specifically, our annual “Remembering Services” this year sneaking into some churches on October 30th may give us the space to bring our memories of those we love that have died, to God. In the longer hours of darkness and in the absence of the sun’s warmth we have a place to stop, light a candle, wrap up warm and remember. Our Remembrance Day Sunday services on November 13th might also hold more poignancy this year as we remember back to the pageantry displayed by our Armed Services during our late Queen’s funeral parades. Remembering is so important and what better way than to remember with others. God our Father As we remember those who have gone before us this November Give us the comfort of knowing that they have gone only as far as you and you are very near. Amen Yours, Jules Rev Jules Walker, Interim Team Vicar, Uttoxeter Area of Parishes.