<strong>When God sighed</strong>I was reading a passage of scripture the other day when a word jumped off the page at me. It’s only one word, and not a very big one at that. It is a word that I didn’t remember seeing before, but it hit me square in the face. I found it in Mark 7: 31-35. Jesus is presented with a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. Jesus took the man aside and looked him in the face. Knowing it would be useless to talk, he explained what he was about to do through gestures. He spat and touched the man’s tongue, telling him that whatever restricted his speech was about to be removed. He touched his ears. They, for the first time, were about to hear.But before the man said a word or heard a sound, Jesus did something I never anticipated.He sighed.One might have expected a clap, or a song or a prayer. Even a ‘Hallelujah!’ but the Son of God did none of these. Instead, he paused, looked into heaven, and sighed. From the depths of his being came a rush of emotion that said more than words.I’ve never thought of God as one who sighs. I’ve thought of God as one who commands, weeps, calls forth the dead...But a God who sighs?I have begun to wonder if this word caught my eye because I have done my fair share of sighing recently. I have sighed at the ever-increasing numbers of those who have died because of Covid. I have sighed as I have watched doctors and nurses cry because of the pressure they are under. I sighed as I watched protestors storming Capitol Hill. I sighed after I realised, I had spoken wrongly and harshly to my son.No doubt you have done your fair share of sighing.Of course, there is the sigh of relief, a sigh of expectancy, and even a sigh of joy. But that isn’t the sigh described in Mark 7. The sigh described is a hybrid of frustration and sadness. The apostle Paul spoke about sighing: he said that Christians will sigh as long as we are on earth and long for heaven; and that the creation sighs as if she were giving birth; even the Spirit sighs as he interprets our prayers (Romans 8:22-27). All these sighs come from the same anxiety; a recognition of pain that was never intended, or of hope deferred.When Jesus looked into the eyes of this man, the only appropriate thing to do was to sigh. ‘It was never intended this way,’ the sigh said. ‘Your ears weren’t made to be deaf, your tongue wasn’t made to stumble.’ In a strange sort of way, this sigh brings me comfort, because in an indirect way, God’s pain is our comfort.For it is in the agony of Jesus that our hope lies. Had he not sighed, had he not felt the burden for what was not intended, we would be in a pitiful condition. Had he simply chalked it up to the inevitable or washed his hands of the whole mess, what hope would we have?But he didn’t. That holy sigh assures us that God still groans for his people. He groans for the day when all sighs cease, when what was intended to be will be. <strong>Martin Breadmore, Archdeacon of Dorking</strong>
The coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement of the Archbishop of Canterbury's visit to our diocese last year.But Lambeth Palace and the Diocese of Guildford have been working on agreeing a suitable weekend for the Rt Reverend Justin Welby to fulfil his visit later in 2021. At the moment the potential weekend for his visit is September 24-26. We will confirm these dates and where he will be visiting once we know.The special emphasis of the Archbishop's visit will be on mission and evangelism.
Even though in many ways life is simpler in an extended lockdown, it can make some things more difficult to deal with and lead to tensions and pressures that are harder to get round and resolve. Whether it is trying to care for an elderly relative, getting to see a doctor or dentist, or maintaining friendships and relationships - the inability to talk face to face and connect in person, other than by electronic means, can lead to frustrations, misunderstanding and leave us feeling isolated. As I was struggling with some of these things last week my daughter shared this family WhatsApp message about my six year old granddaughter:Merry was on a whole school assembly on Google Classroom when the Headteacher’s feed dropped out. The Deputy Head asked if any of the children want to pray. <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Merry put her digital hand up straight away and prayed.</span>“Father God, thank you for our school. Thank you for all that we have and all that we get to do. Help us remember your love is so high we can’t get over it (long pause),and so low we can’t get under it (long pause),and so wide we can’t get round it!Jesus you have wonderful love. Amen.”It sometimes takes a childlike confidence and faith to remind us of what we already know. That whatever the situation, however unfamiliar we are with the circumstances and however isolated it makes us feel, we have a God whose love and resourcefulness is bigger than any of the unfamiliar lockdown challenges we face. As the psalmist says in Psalm 108 v 4: “For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds”. It just requires us to have the faith to sometimes stop striving to resolve the situation alone, to put our “digital hand up” and to pray - to the one who has wonderful love! Peter Coles, Diocesan Secretary
