Monthly Message from the Rector
Here are some of the recent letters that the Rector has written for the magazine Amber News.
January
Dear Friends,
The new year will see many beginnings. For children and young people it will mean a return to school and college, with the opportunity to learn and discover new things. For the business minded it may provide the opportunity to expand into a new area, although nothing is certain in the present tough economic climate. For some it will bring new life, while for others it will be a time to adjust to life without a loved one. For all of us it will mean change.
Further afield we should hope and pray that this new year will bring peace and stability to countries like Afghanistan and economic security to the global economy.
Perhaps one problem we shall all face is unrealistic expectations, sometimes of ourselves, often of others and more especially from those in high office whose special position gives them greater responsibility and influence.
However, one important thing we can do is to recognise our own and other people’s fallible, but equally God given humanity. We are all fairly frail, we make mistakes, but we can all call on the grace of God to be at work within us – to begin again.
In this new year may you know the new beginning that can be God’s gift to you in your life.
Yours sincerely, Ralph
December
Dear Friends,
At the heart of Christmas is a story - the story of a baby born in a stable. But there is nothing remarkable about that. I can’t believe Jesus was the only child born in Bethlehem that night, even if he was the only child born in an outhouse.
We celebrate Jesus’ birthday not because he was born of a virgin, nor because he was recognised by the shepherds of the field, nor because oriental kings gave him expensive presents. We celebrate Christmas because Jesus became famous. His fame arose not from his humble beginning, but out of his death and resurrection. We celebrate Christmas because in time it became clear that in Jesus God dwelt in a unique way. In Christ, God has revealed that he is with us – experiencing for himself what it is to be human.
Oh, it takes some believing. In the modern world we are preoccupied with the realities of life – the state of the economy, the interest rates, the mortgage and whether our jobs, homes and family are secure.
But some realities cannot be grasped in that way. The gospel writers tell us a story of mystery and miracle, of God coming to us. The story is expressed by poetic symbolism because its reality, mystery and miracle can only come to us when we make room for it. This Christmas make room for God –‘give him your heart’.
Enjoy Christmas, enjoy God.
Yours sincerely, Ralph
November
Dear Friends,
A little over two months ago many people from around the world commemorated the events of 9/11. There is no doubt that the 11th September 2001 has gone down in history as one of the darkest days of modern times. Books have been written about it, and several television programmes have been made charting the events that led up to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC.
The third millennium began with panache and optimism. It captured the world’s imagination, and I think there was genuine hope it was going to be different. But if the dawn of the new millennium began with a gilt edge then the opening pages of the twenty first century soon became rather dog eared as the suffering which had been so much part of the last century began to be matched by a new generation
Today there are fewer and fewer people who have first hand experience of the events at the beginning of the last century. For example, the first successful powered flight was one small step for humankind on the road to air travel. But in its own way it was every bit a giant leap for humankind, as was the first man on the moon.
We live with the consequences of the past far longer than we do with the events that caused them. Two world wars have changed the world and for the last sixty plus years we have grappled to come to terms with their legacy.
Coming to terms with the past can help us understand the present and motivate us to work towards a more stable future. Together with the encouragement that ‘those who have never made a mistake have never made anything’ we can continue to heal the wounds of the past that still hurt.
For this purpose, a service will be held in each of the four parish churches of Ashover, Brackenfield, Handley & Wessington. In an act of remembrance people from each of the parishes will be remembered, and in the silence that follows the context in which we remember them will be brought to mind.
On the 11th September 2001 we were reminded again that we live in a dismembered, torn and broken world. On the 13th November 2011 we shall once again confess that fact, and in a small way seek to put back together some of those who have been lost and broken in our fragmented world. We shall re-member them.
Yours sincerely, Ralph