February 2018
Father Bob writes
The plethora of bugs, viruses and infections that have been around since the start of the year seems to have affected a lot of us. I have been wrestling with them since before Christmas – and the end still does not seem to be in sight. The effect of the various medications and the illness means that January has disappeared in a bit of a blur and all sense of time has slipped! Christmas feels another world away and it feels like we are rushing headlong towards Easter already. In fact, Christmas is but 4 weeks away and Easter is still 10 weeks off, it is strange how our perspectives can be affected.
This year the season of Epiphany is rather squashed – we moved from the Epiphany (the visit of the wise men) on Saturday January 6th to the Baptism of Jesus on Sunday January 7th. 30 years disappeared in 24 hours – the only help for me was the Book of Common Prayer Readings on the 7th were the story of Jesus being lost in the temple aged around 12 ….so there was some gradual development! We then have just 4 Sundays before we start counting down to Lent (4th February) for Ash Wednesday to be on February 14th (sadly, Saint Valentine has to step aside this year, although the card manufacturers do not seem to have recognised this!). So the year rushes on and on – have not even mentioned Pancake Party (February 13th) and, of course, Panto (February 17th) – and there is never a dull moment.
The problem is of course we end up being carried along and simply moving from one thing to the next, dealing with the challenges we face (bugs, work, social life, relationships etc) and not pausing long enough for breath. One of the things I have been very aware of this last month has been the importance of giving space to breath – I have valued my inhaler and breathing exercises, and been very aware of the struggle when breath is not easy to get. So with all of us we need to ensure we give ourselves times to breathe and pause.
Lent is that vital time for us all to pause and reflect and ensure we have the resources and spiritual life to help us with our daily lives and all they bring with them. Lent gives us the opportunity to give a priority for a while to prayer, reflection and time spent with God – and to create some valuable space for us to do that in. In one sense, the time for us to review our breathing exercises and what we need to help us – as I have learnt with my inhaler and exercises in January.
This Lent we will be inviting you to use the material produced by the National Church – ‘Love Lent: Let your Light Shine’ and details of how you can do this at home, at Church, in small groups and at our services will be available soon. We are delighted that Revd Angela Tilby will be with us for Ash Wednesday to set us on our way, and in Holy Week Revd Belinda Davies will lead our evening meditations around this topic and at Saint Mary’s Canon Peter Leonard will join us as our Preacher for the Triduum.
I hope that you will be able to create that much needed space and together we can ‘slow down’ just a little as we enter Lent once again!
Father Bob