Thought for the day 3rd of April:Set Your CompassWe live in a world of political sound bites and adversarial politics. This has led many to become cynical about political processes and to see the process of government as a necessary evil. The Covid-19 pandemic has bought into the limelight those key workers on whom our quality of life, maybe even survival, depends. We rightly praise the activities of NHS workers and those in the care industry. We are enthused by the overwhelming response to the call for volunteers and by local initiatives, which are bringing communities closer together.Meanwhile, politics goes on as normal –or does it? Whilst we may not have formed a government of national unity, political bickering has almost ceased. The nation elects a government to govern, and the present crisis requires strong, clear, incisive leadership. Imagine sitting at the centre of government; the sheer number of inputs coming into the policy-making discussions. Health, economics, security, legal rights, international obligations, not to mention the daily ongoing series of daily crises, described by Harold MacMillan as “events dear boy”. Politicians take input from technical experts and civil servants but the policy decisions are for the political leaders to take.Perhaps we should suspend our normal cynicism and instead pray that in the coming weeks and months our senior politicians draw on their judgment, wisdom and compassion and navigate us safely, in good health and financial stability, through these uncharted waters. Being reminded of these verses in;New King James Version 1Timothy 2:1-4Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.Let us Pray:A Prayer for the High Court of Parliament, to be read during their session.MOST gracious God, we humbly beseech thee, as for this Kingdom in general, so especially for the High Court of Parliament, under our most religious and gracious Queen at this time assembled: That thou wouldest be pleased to direct and prosper all their consultations to the advancement of thy glory, the good of thy Church, the safety, honour, and welfare of our Sovereign and her Dominions; that all things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavours, upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations. These and all other necessaries, for them, for us, and thy whole Church, we humbly beg in the Name and Mediation of Jesus Christ our most blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.Mike Davies
Thought for the Day 2nd April 2020IT'S ALL A MATTER OF TIMEIn 1995 the satirist Peter Cook died, a man who I am not sure I would have personally liked but he could be very funny. When I was young his style of comedy was very prevalent and, in my opinion, he was marvellous. One of the most famous of his “Beyond the Fringe” sketches was when he was sitting on the park bench as E.L. Whisty. He said “Yes, I could have been a judge, but I never had the Latin, never had the Latin for the judging, I just never had sufficient of it to get through the rigorous judging exams.”How many of you “have got the Latin”? Not many I expect, but many of our words are derived from Latin and many little phrases come into our everyday lives. Have a look at your clock and there is a good chance that you will find “Tempus Fugit” on the face. It means, in Latin, time flies, and it most certainly seems to especially when we do not want it to. Time is a most precious gift of God which we only get once. We can look backwards on our lives and learn from our mistakes as well as our achievements, but we cannot have that time again. Making the best use of our time is very important, and nowadays we have so many opportunities to do different and exciting things. Well, we will have again when this horrid Coronavirus is killed or cured. But if we believe that we should o’offer our lives’ to God, then we must be prepared to give him some time, as well as other gifts. Give time to God with time in prayer, the reading of the Bible, through attendance at Church and service to the community.At a school assembly some years ago I asked what week it was and a boy put his hand up and said “It's SATS week”. I was expecting the answer “Christian Aid Week”, but to an 11 year old the most important thing on his mind were his exams. Peter Cook as E.L. Whisty, had trouble with rigorous exams and all of us get tested at times and sometimes fail.I have failed one or two exams in my time and have felt pretty devastated. So many thoughts go through your mind concerning why you did not do enough revision or just did not work hard enough during the year or perhaps answered the wrong questions. But, whatever the verdict, you cannot have that exam time or the whole year again. Live for today but give time to God.Remember the words of Jesus “Do not worry about tomorrow, it will have enough worries of its own” (Matthew 6:34). This year will be a very worrying time for young people who should be taking exams. People who are good at exams might feel cheated of their opportunity to excel and those who are terrified of exams but do really well with course work will be feeling lucky, and of course teachers will perhaps relish a little bit of god like power. There will be a good few pupils who will be wishing that they had given an apple to the teacher rather than teenage cheek.With time on your hands perhaps you could say some prayers for all the youngsters at school, college or university who are worried at this time.Fr. Terry
Thought for the day 1st April 2020Recent thoughts for the day have emphasised, and quite rightly, the perils facing the world today, its possible causes, its ramifications and what is the best way forward.I have recently started to read the Bible in chronological order and and one of the things about which I read, and to which I did not pay particular attention until today's events concentrated my mind, were the numerous references to the catastrophic consequences that God would wreak on the world, should the Israelites fail to obey the commandments given to Moses, or indeed should they choose to worship any god other than Himself. Indeed even doubting the Lord and complaining to Moses and his successor Joshua, would incur his displeasure with the same consequences. Luckily confession of their sins with the appropriate sacrifices would restore God's love for his chosen nation. Although I am assured by those better qualified than myself, that too much credence should not perhaps be given to these writings, as much time and rewritings have passed and considerable historical evidence and investigation, does not necessarily support these writings. However, I believe that there is no smoke without fire and we must ask ourselves the question, that as a previous writer has mentioned, are we, as the worlds population and all God's children, responsible, through our sins, for the present situation? And should we not all, every last person on earth, seize the golden opportunity that will be within our grasp when this crisis passes, to confess our sins and determine to live by the laws and commandments, written so firmly in stone, and obey and love the Lord, our Saviour. I wish every one of you all the best, good health and the necessary strength of spirit to come through this awful time.God bless.John and Bernie.
Thought for the day 31st MarchAt the moment I feel well with no sign of Covid 19, but I am suffering like a lot of people from empty diary syndrome. I have some work to do and newspapers and books to read, but I have been a Priest for 34 years and inactivity is hard. This time does however give me some space be philosophical about life in general and how we should live our faith.When we remember our childhood we often remember the stories we were told or the books that we read. I hope that this will remain so although I do find it hard to comprehend this computerised digital world that we live in. We all know that if we want to know how the latest computer or phone works we have to ask someone less than 20 years old. However I often think that the world today is looking far too much into the future without living in the here and now, whilst trying to learn from the lessons of the past.I remember my childhood stories of Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Christopher Robin and all their friends in Hundred Acre Wood. They are innocent stories of childhood adventure with a degree of moralising but they are tales of the here and now, not the future and not the past. For that is where their readership lives, young children have very little past to remember and they have far too much to try to get to grips with now to worry about the future. When we get a little older we do get interested in the future and what we are going to do with our lives. Youngsters get pressured from an early age to decide what examinations they should take to guide them along a career path. When we get a lot older we tend to live a lot more in the past, as the future becomes more worrying.In the Bible, Jesus does a large proportion of his teaching through stories (parables) and he tells people that they must receive the kingdom of God like a little child. So much for our constant desire to be grown up and serious, and we should also take heed of Jesus when he tells us not to worry.What a lesson for us all at this time of national and world emergency. We are not to worry, but that does not mean that we should in any way be reckless. We must do what we are told to do by our government and the authorities and with God's help we will come through this situation looking at our lives in a new way.Winnie the Pooh is just as old today as he was when he was first published in 1926 and will remain so. I have to admit that my spelling has never improved with age, so I will finish with a sentence from Pooh - “My spelling is wobbly. It’s good spelling but it wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places”. Live in the now.Fr.Terry
