The Revd Writes… In the normal course of events, it is only after a funeral has taken place that the real process of coming to terms with loss begins to unfold. Anyone who has lost someone close to them knows that what follows on from the initial funeral ritual of publicly grieving and celebrating a life that was loved is long days of feeling empty and disoriented. A normal span of grieving and readjusting to life that is now unquestionably different takes many months, not weeks or days, to work its way through the human heart and psyche. Our common human experience is that it takes time and space for us to come to terms with such change. Grieving the loss of someone you have loved deeply triggers for many people an emotional trauma, a strong feeling of being left, and even abandoned, alongside profound thinking about the meaning of life itself. Where to now? How will I manage in the future? Do I want to? The loss of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will continue to cause a period of solemn reflection for a great many people for months to come. For some who struggle with depression and low mood at the best of times, the negative impact on general mental well-being would not be surprising. An official national period of mourning behind us means that we must now do our best to muddle through the changes on our own. For some it will be important to continue to verbalise what this loss means, finding words with which to articulate a new sense of direction and purpose will not necessarily come easily. The need for gentle patience and quiet understanding from others will be important as together we look to the future. At some point on the horizon there will be a coronation. Seventy years is a very long time between coronations and is not something many of us have witnessed before. Those who are able to look back on fond memories of 1953 will be able to both reassure and excite those of us for whom this is going to be entirely new. The Coronation of King Charles III will symbolise a new chapter in the history of our country. Traditionally we measure time in accordance with the reign of our monarchs. Our Elizabethan Chapter is now closed, and we must look to a new beginning. The prospect of a coronation brings with it an opportunity for local authorities, parochial church councils and others to celebrate by instituting projects by which the whole community benefits. Now is the time to begin to formulate plans and think creatively about how we mark this important occasion. Even in straightened times, it is sometimes right to ‘make a splash’. Now is the time to contemplate funding and fundraising in order to ensure that this next coronation will be one we will remember and will in turn become a reference point for our children’s children. God Bless You. And God Save The King. Revd Mark Bailey
The Revd Writes… “O thou who changest not, abide with me…” We will soon be seeing a new prime minister taking up office. We will be getting used to a new name, a new personality and doubtless, a new broom will be sweeping the offices of state. Some will welcome the changes whilst others will feel disappointed. Whatever changes are introduced there will be winners and losers. Change by its very nature “cannot please all of the people all of the time.” (John Lydgate 1370 -1451) Sometimes change is brought about after a long and protracted debate involving careful and sensitive negotiation. Such changes are usually introduced slowly over a period of time with the hope that everyone onboard ship will pull in the same direction and that any disagreement will be amicably resolved along the way. Such changes are achieved more by evolution than revolution with most recognising that what is being brought about is for the common good and in the best interests of a country or organisation etc. At other times change occurs as a reaction against an event. Such change tends to be more upsetting and destabilising and results out of a loss of control, leaving feelings of being overwhelmed. Twelve million people have fled their homes as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Such widespread change across Europe will take a number of years to stabilise as consequences for individuals and their families in re-establishing themselves unfolds. Such catastrophic change is unwelcome and disturbs the equilibrium of everyone. A further change can sometimes be brought about when an individual makes an error of judgement. A politician who fails to abide by expected ethical standards slips from grace and is removed from office by those charged with taking responsibility for holding the boundaries. Similarly, a child who bullies others is, quite rightly, removed from the group and placed on the naughty step to reflect on unacceptable behaviour. The withdrawal of an individual changes the dynamics within the group, the group reconfigures, changed. And then there is the old English proverb that “a change is as good as a rest.” Sometimes a break from routine, be it job, hobby or the daily round of existence, benefits from the opportunity of doing something differently or stopping altogether. The holiday season will see for many of us a change that will allow for recharging of batteries and having mini adventures away from the everyday normal. In all of this the human psyche benefits from some set reference points that give a grounding that remains unchanging whatever changes are going on around oneself. It is this ‘unchanging’ that the vicar and hymn writer Henry Lyte was pointing to when he wrote his famous hymn Abide with me shortly before he died in 1847. Whatever challenges of change you are currently facing, big or small, know that we are all part of the same human family and that we journey together. This God-given constant is forever unchanging and means that whoever you are, wherever you live, or from wherever you have travelled, we abide with each other - always have done and always will do – facing the changes together. God Bless Revd Mark Bailey
The Revd Writes… A year after Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne, published in the official souvenir programme for her Coronation, the Poet Laureate, John Masefield wrote, May the fair Spring of her beginning Ripen to all things worth the winning Seventy years is a long period of time over which to reflect on how well one has done in pursuing a vocation. For many, the joyous celebrations taking place in our village communities over the long bank holiday weekend will be a moment to recall particular memories and events from within the Queen’s life that have connected with our own. She is after all only human, a woman, made of flesh and blood, has children and grandchildren, has suffered life’s ups and downs and knows what it is to grieve. She also knows what it is to laugh and to poke fun at the ridiculous. All of this she has shared not just with those within her immediate circle, but she has shared with all of us over her long reign. When Elizabeth II inherited the throne, she did so as one very vulnerable human being. And it is that vulnerability that has endeared her to her people. Monarchy is a deeply religious institution. Our own Christian tradition goes all the way back to King David and Solomon in the Old Testament and the understanding that monarchy is a vocation ordained by God. It is ultimately to God that the monarch is answerable. This understanding is one to which the Queen has always held. It has helped her keep a sense of proportion in her own role and in all that she undertakes. In her Christmas Address in 2002 she said, “I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning. I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God…” There is no hint of omnipotence here, only a strong sense of duty. Doing one’s duty for the cause of right and the sake of others is the hallmark of both the Queen’s life and reign. Often when events have left our country feeling unsteady and shaken, the Queen’s steadfastness has given us as a nation a capacity to endure. Queen Elizabeth’s humanity expressed in her vulnerability and her purposeful sense of duty are two traits for which, during this Platinum Jubilee, we give thanks to God. Such traits have enabled her to bring us together and at crucial times in our recent history to unite us when all else would divide. This is the true purpose of monarchy, to bring people together. Enjoy the party! God Bless & God Save the Queen. Revd Mark Bailey
The Invasion of Ukraine In the Old Testament story in Exodus, we have Moses coming down from Mount Sinai and he holds in his hands two tablets of stone on which are inscribed the Ten Commandments. We are told in the narrative that what has been written down is what Almighty God himself has spoken to Moses. Everything from ‘You shall have no other Gods before me to Thou shalt not commit murder’ is inscribed by the finger of God himself on the tablets of stone. In other words, this moral code is carved in stone, it is to be permanent, and it is sacrosanct – it is of God. The moral code is given by God to his people because first and foremost it is good for them. It sets out the basis on which the Israelite people can learn to live peaceably together. The importance of a code of law on which all can agree becomes the cornerstone for the twelve tribes of Israel being able to come together as a united people, working together in the name of God and enabling each and everyone to flourish. This principle of a code of law is a means by which people live and work together for the common good and it is fair to say that it has not always been easy or straightforward, but it has been vital not least in the post-Second World War era, and since the establishment of the United Nations Organisation in 1945, in helping to preserve world peace. I am not suggesting here that the United Nations Organisation has always been successful in maintaining world peace but rather that the principle of a code of law has come to be valued and accepted as normative in civilising human relationships. The journey across the centuries for this principle has been hard-won. Since 1945 we can say that an international code of law has come into existence by which all states are measured in their response to each other, and it is to international law that different governments should refer when wanting to resolve their differences. This is a sacred biblical principle. The rule of law is one given by God himself to help humanity in its quest to live peaceably together and as a tool with which to reach, admittedly sometimes difficult, judgements and decisions. When one state ignores the rule of law, as we have seen this week with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, then that state can only be described as participating in uncivilised behaviour which is both damaging to the victim and damaging to the perpetrator. The capacity for a bully in the playground to share in meaningful relationships with others becomes diminished. As a result of Vladimir Putin and the Russian government’s action in invading Ukraine, the Russian people themselves are now less able to share fully in the life of the human family. And it is their loss. And it is our loss too. Ultimately, this aggressive behaviour diminishes the Russian people themselves and in consequence, means that as a people they are less than God wants them to be. No one plays with a bully. Bullies cannot be trusted and are damaging to others. In the primary school playground, teachers take the appropriate action to isolate them until such time as they are able to recognise that their behaviour needs to be reformed and this need for reformation is one which they have to recognise for themselves before they are allowed to return to the playground as an equal. The consequences of breaching international law by Russia for the Ukrainian people is horrifying to watch and none of us can be less than empathic and generous in our response in wanting to help those who are directly caught up in the fighting. The cost of the sanctions that have been imposed will probably affect our own standards of living. We must not complain. Any difficulty we must endure as an economic cost of isolating Russia must be borne cheerfully. It is the least we can do to support our Ukrainian brothers and sisters. The Archbishop of Canterbury has rightly labelled Russian bullying behaviour as ‘a terrible evil’ and he is right to do so. This war can never be declared by Russia as a godly act. It is a breach of all that God desires for his people, not least the Russian people themselves and it grieves his heart in the same way that it grieves our own. Our ongoing prayer must be that Vladimir Putin and the Russian Government recognise the error of their behaviour, that the place of international law is restored, that peace will once more prevail in the sovereign state of Ukraine and that the Russian people will once more be able to become full members of the human family. This must be our prayer and our hope in the days and weeks that follow. Revd Mark Bailey 27th February 2022
