Thought for the day Unconditional loveI have always been a cat lover and had cats since childhood. After my last cat passed away following a long life of chasing birds and bringing home the odd dead thing, I went through a period of really missing having a pet around. A year or two went by and I decided that I would bring the subject up with my husband and after a lot of persuasion he agreed to go down the route of having a dog.We went to several dog homes and finally chose a Jack Russell called ‘Sadie’ from the Dogs Trust in Loughborough. When we saw her, she was quivering in a corner and looked like she could do with a loving home.Little did we know that she was a bitey, snappy and fearful creature who had never been loved and knew nothing about how to play. 3 years later she is a loving softy. This I think is because we gave her a lot of love and attention and she in turn learned to trust us. I believe that we all want love and attention and Jesus tells us to love each other. Whether we are humans or animals, we are at our best when love is shown. I now have a dog that follows me everywhere and enjoys human company. What a change! I am never sure what I want in life is really what I need. My dog Sadie’s story is what I really needed at the time, and probably still need as there are times when I feel down and she really picks me up, giving that unconditional love.God is able to do that in our lives, giving us love unconditionally if only we put our full trust in Him. I know that God’s love for me is unconditional – even more than Sadie’s love.Pauline Cummins
Thoughts for TodayFrom the real world, sublime and challengingRio de Janeiro 1 – and the Sugar Loaf Mountain – Sweet….Salvador gave us a first taste of Brazil in all its diversity. After a three day sailing we arrived at dawn in the Guanabara Bay of Rio de Janeiro. It was the Portugese explorers who named the place ‘River of January’ as it was discovered on 1st January 1502.The extraordinary statue of Christ the Redeemer appeared out of the clouds and said ‘Hello and Welcome!’ The granite and quartz Sugarloaf mountain beckoned us from a height of 1290 feet. Two cable car rides took us first up Urca Hill (now connected to the mainland by reclamation) followed by the three minute last leg in the bubble car to the summit of Sugarloaf. The photo shows this last leg.Sugarloaf? The name emanates from Rio, and there are many mountains around the world so named. The 17th century practice of transporting refined sugar by ship in clay conical moulds resembled a ‘Sugarloaf’. As we looked over to the ‘loaf’ we were greeted with the sign ‘Where brands meet people’. At our destination we also shared the ‘loaf’ with the Marmoset monkeys.The slogan had me thinking of where advertising leads us? I was looking for soft brown sugar the other day, along with flour of any sort. Every time I see sugar now I think of the ‘loaf’. The essentials of life have taken on a new significance in recent times. Brands have taken a back seat. I left the supermarket empty-handed and sugar-free on that occasion! I have since sorted it out with patience. We are so used to immediate supply of so many commodities. The history of sugar supply is ancient, a rare commodity and it was transported many miles before sugar beet factories came about in Britain.I used to take in the aroma of the British Sugar factory in Newark-on-Trent when I was a young man ‘on the beat’ there.We human beings enjoy sweet things, but of course nothing in excess.The prophet Jeremiah mentions sugar cane in the Lord’s words “What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land?” (Jeremiah 6:20)We remember what gives us sweetness. Very often it is words of encouragement, affirmation and forgiveness. These may be from family, friends or strangers, through whatever platform of communication - enriching sweetening and transforming us.Thank you Rio for your insights from the ‘loaf’…as the sweet words from Proverbs (16:24) inform us “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body”.Rio 2 next time from Christ the Redeemer…..…….Blessings! Edward and Jane
Today we hear once again those famous words from Thomas; “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hands in his side. I will not believe.”Fair enough, you may think, well done Thomas for saying out loud what we and the disciples must all have thought at the time. I think that all the disciples needed a certainty about whether Jesus was alive and the fact that Thomas was absent when he first appeared gives them another opportunity to require that proof, that concrete physical proof as it were.Once again Jesus offers the opportunity for the disciples to reach out and come to him. Scripture doesn’t say whether Thomas actually puts his fingers in the scars, or his hand into the spear wound, but this is a direct command from Jesus and tradition has assumed from Jesus’ words that Thomas did take this step. In the painting by Caravaggio, which is on our service sheet today, we graphically see Thomas’ forefinger entering the gash in Christ’s side. Indeed Christ is guiding Thomas’ fingers into the wound with his left hand, while his right hand pulls back the tunic that covers his chest. Christ’s calm expression contrasts with the intense and surprised reactions of Thomas and the other two disciples (the figure on the left is most likely Peter with John next to him). The dramatic tenebrist light further accentuates the moment in which Thomas encounters the bodily wounds of the risen Christ. Caravaggio’s figures, are painted in earth tones, and are meant to be representative of the common man. This painting by Caravaggio is most wonderful, he uses common people to show us this holy moment, no halos or angels bathed in light, just common folk, bathed in light and shade as is our life and in a very theatrical form, with simple and torn clothes. there’s a thought to ponder?Notice the light on Thomas’ forehead, which gives us the insight that man receives enlightenment by Christs’ reflected light. Notice too that Thomas is almost scientifically examining Jesus’ body, Christ not wanting to withhold anything from him, that too should speak to us today.This picture does seek to answer the questions we all have thought, from time to time. For me, it helps me navigate my thought processes, we must have the confidence to “ask, seek and knock” as Jesus says in Matthew 7:7In doing so the door of understanding, of enlightenment will be opened to us and out of this enlightenment we can then, like Thomas, say. “My Lord and my God.!” Whether Thomas makes this response on behalf of the whole group of disciples or it is his own personal insight is not easy to tell. What is true is that group of believers is growing, first Mary Magdalene, then John and Peter, now Thomas.But for each of them it is only the start, for revelation is only a beginning; how you make it live and breathe in your own being is what counts. Thomas took his new found knowledge of Jesus into his heart and carried it across continents into the heart of India. Christ was his fuel for the journey, indeed the truth that Thomas told still lives on in India to this day. This Truth told then now lives with us; Where will we carry it, to our neighbours, our nation or perhaps even to our enemies?One thing for sure is, this truth we cannot, must not and shall not keep it to ourselves.Jesus Christ is risen.He is risen indeed, Alleluia.Let us Pray.King of glory, while we doubt, we fail, we turn away, yet your faith in us remains strong.May we experience that divine strength coursing through our souls and bodies and minds, so that our doubts may become the source of new knowledge, leading us to see you more clearly and be drawn into the heart of your love for all creation.Amen
St Catherines Burbage & St Peters Aston Flamville VE Day ServiceAddress 8th May 2020At a cabinet meeting on 9 April, Churchill decided that there could be a day of celebrations to mark the end of the war in Europe, and hoped that it would be known as VE (Victory in Europe) Day. Shortly thereafter, the public, commercial, and religious institutions began to prepare for, and the press (including the Christian press) to report in expectation of, this long-awaited day. It eventually proved to be Tuesday 8 May 1945, midway between Rogation Sunday and Ascension Day.Besides celebrations in Europe, there was also a powerful sense of what peace might mean after nearly six years of war, and what opportunities and challenges it would present. By the middle of April, the Church of England had decided that there should be a dedicated day to mark deliverance and give thanks to God for victory. All church collections that day would be for Christian work in liberated Europe. Gifts received could be earmarked for a specific country or continental denomination, or else allocated by the reconstruction committee of the World Council of Churches, pending Treasury approval for sterling to leave the UK.Germany had already requested one million Bibles, and English, Swiss, and American theological books, because the Nazis had denied the occupied countries access to the latest scholarship.The Roman Catholic periodical The Tablet announced on 5 May that whenever VE Day occurred there would be Benediction with a Te Deum in all churches and chapels. A votive mass of the Most Blessed Trinity was likely to be held the following Sunday, and a special collection taken for the Catholic European Restoration Fund.On May 7th, General Jodl signed the instrument of surrender at General Eisenhower’s headquarters. All fighting was to cease by midnight on 8 May. Only a matter of hours before this, at 7.40 p.m., the BBC interrupted a piano recital to announce that the next day would be VE Day and a holiday.The ships in harbour ushered in the day with three short blasts and one long one — the Morse code for the V-sign. Searchlights did the same across the sky. Among the first signs that peace was returning was the first weather forecast to appear in the press and on the BBC. It promised “bright intervals”, but warned of a large depression approaching.The opening moments of that morning was fresh, followed by a sunny afternoon, when temperatures rose into the 70s.The ringing of church bells, an ancient symbol of community spirit and celebration, had mostly been banned throughout the conflict. Now the bells were heard throughout the land, drawing in worshippers in abundance.From our Old Testament reading, the Israelites in Zechariah’s time were subjects of the Persian empire, post-exilic Israel lacked national autonomy. They lacked a Davidic king ruling from the throne in Jerusalem. Though the temple was eventually rebuilt, this second temple lacked its former glory so that those who had seen Solomon’s temple wept at the sight of it (Ezra 3:12; Hag 2:3). Understandably, the post-exilic community struggled with discouragement, doubt, and despair as they wondered if God’s promises of future glory would ever become a reality. Into this situation God sent the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi to speak powerful words of challenge and comfort to his world-weary people, words which are just as relevant and powerful for Christians today. In our Old testament reading the prophet Zechariah hears God say words that were both refreshing and hope filled, the old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem and the streets shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. The Apostle Paul says equally encouraging words in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians that it is through Christ we are reconciled with God. The old ways are gone and everything has been made new. I love the plain speaking of this passage taken from The Message: “Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.21 How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.”So how wonderful and amazing it must have been to finally hear that war is over, that young and old can go into the streets and celebrate this new world. The world that we are now living in 75 years later. We owe the greatest debt of thanks remembering the lives lost, lives lived in fear, to the brave, the selfless deeds, the men and women who defended our liberty.Out of VE Day came an extraordinary new world. This post-war age is not perfect as the discrimination of certain groups still occur, but it is thankfully not tolerated by the masses. Personal autonomy, political freedom and just basic human rights are now afforded to the vast majority of people. We are living in extraordinary times and extraordinary events create extraordinary people. Let us be Gods people today.Pauline Cummins
