From Revd Tom Benson
Dear Friends,
As our long, hot Summer with its hose pipe bans and wasps moves into Autumn with rain and cooler, darker evenings we can see the grass turn green once again and the shrubs begin pick up. All of this might give us something of a sigh of relief and it serves to remind us that humankind doesn’t have everything sewn up neatly, that the world and its seasons continue onwards. I often find a comfort in that sense that there is a flow, a pattern to the world that we can sometimes lose sight of – especially in such turbulent times as these.
Once again, we have our Harvest services and our Remembrance services all of which give us time to reflect on events before we start the hectic Christmas preparations. On the 31st of October, the 1st of November and the 2nd of November we will be holding services of Remembering in our churches. These are a time where we invite you to come, remember and give thanks for the life of loved ones that have passed away. When we lose someone that we dearly love the world can seem to carry on without us, we can feel under a lot of pressure to ‘move on’ and it is very often a lonely time. These services aim to be a space to acknowledge our loss, give thanks for the lives of our loved ones and pay our respects. There is no time limit for grief so everyone is welcome whether your loss is recent or not.
The times of the services are :
Friday 31st October Awbridge 7pm
Timsbury 7pm
Saturday 1st November Michelmersh 3pm
Farley Chamberlayne 3pm
Sunday 2nd November Braishfield 3pm
King’s Somborne 3pm
I do hope that you have a joyful and settled Autumn and see you soon.
God Bless, Tom