Dear friends,As we approach the end of the year and enter into December, I often find myself thinking about Mary. I imagine what she must have been feeling as she drew closer to giving birth. We often marvel at Mary for her obedience to God. Sometimes when we think about the word obedience we think about passivity. But Mary’s obedience to God was far from passive. Her decision to speak those words - ‘Behold I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word’ (Luke 1:38) - those words took grit, they took courage, they took faith. I remember my pregnancies. I remember the feeling of awe and amazement and thankfulness at the precious gift I had been given with this new life growing within me. But also, I remember the debilitating sickness that was certainly not confined to the morning! I remember the joint pain. I remember the sense of being out of control with all the changes happening. Mary, surely, would have experienced similar things as she carried Jesus Christ to term. She had been given an incredible gift. And a mixed blessing. And she said yes.During Advent, as we wait, as we prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus Christ into the world - yes, I think about Mary. I think about her acceptance of the greatest gift of all, and the mixed blessing of her life within the acceptance of that gift. The uncertainty she faced as a pregnant unmarried woman. The way she was forced to wait upon the will of her future husband to decide her fate. The fear of giving birth in a time where many died in childbirth. The realisation that she would have to take a long and arduous journey whilst heavily pregnant. Indeed, at this time of year, I think a lot about Mary. And I think about her yes.Our lives in this broken world are full of mixed blessings. We are awestruck at the precious gift of waking up each new day, and yet we are exhausted; we sing our gratitude for the saving power of Jesus in our lives, and yet we still experience suffering; we put our hope and trust in our God of all love and we know the blessings He brings, and yet we feel fearful; we bring in God’s Kingdom day by day as we walk with Christ and carry out our small acts of radical and counter-cultural love, and yet the world waits for the full redemption of all things in the coming Kingdom. We are human. We live in the now and the not yet, we live in the mixed blessing.Life is messy, complicated, contingent, finite, inter-related. Humanity and human life are a complex web of mixed blessing. And it is into this humanity that God steps. Our God is not a God who takes a broom and from a great height sweeps all the problems under the carpet. Our God is a God who picks up a cloth and kneels beside us as we wipe. Our God is a God who takes the dirty cloth from our hands, looks into our smudged and tear-stained face and tells us that He will wash it all clean. Our God is a God who enters into our humanity, experiences the mixed blessing of human life with us, suffers with us, dies for us and rises to new life to save and redeem us and all things. Our God does not sweep suffering under the carpet. Our God takes suffering up into God’s very self and turns our tears into laughter, our mourning into joy.As we wait in the stillness of Advent, this is the gift we wait to unwrap at Christmas. Christ is the greatest gift we could ever receive. And Mary said yes.As we approach the end of another turbulent year in the life of our nation and world, as we journey through December, and through our first Advent and Christmas season since Revd Caroline has left our Team, we may all be feeling the mixed blessing of life. We may be excited at the celebrations to come, or we may feel trepidation; we may be surrounded by family and friends, or we may be alone; we may be eager to buy gifts and write cards and take part in all the Christmas events and services which will be coming up, or we may feel overwhelmed and unequal to the task; we may be joyful or we may be grieving. We may feel all of these things, or none. But as we wait and prepare this December, however we might be feeling, let’s take time to pause, to find some quiet and stillness amidst it all - to remember Mary and to remember her yes and to remember all that her yes meant for her and for us. And in our life of mixed blessings, of fear and hope, of suffering and joy, of loneliness and connection - let us remember that what we wait for and prepare to celebrate this coming Christmas is the God who steps in and who says let me hold and enfold it all, let me make it new. And let us say yes.I pray that this Advent, we will all be able to find those moments of stillness, and that we will all be able to experience the anticipation and excitement of preparing our hearts and lives to receive, once again, the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ.With love in Christ,Revd Holly
"You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth." Luke 1:14. The Mothers' Union wishes every family a peaceful and blessed Christmas.Rosie represented our branch of MU at the Autumn Gathering in Broad Chalke and brought back our copies of the "Window "magazine which is a newsletter for MU in the diocese of Salisbury, reporting on the varied activities of the different branches. Virtual Babies were included in this edition (this has been a major area of support for our own branch)On Wednesday November 6th we joined All Saints Mothers' Union for their Patronal Festival. Revd. Margaret Davies was our speaker and led us in a thoughtful time of thinking about; "WOMAN." Throughout the bible there are many references to WOMAN but who was she? Very few examples of any with a name to identify her. Revd. Margaret related several examples to see if we could recognize them ( which, of course we could). Throughout history women have been considered of less importance than men and are still treated very badly in many places today. Our founder Mary Sumner was, of course a woman and through her, and all the work which Mothers' Union continues to do throughout the world, great efforts are being made to recognize the value and contribution women make to their communities. The Literacy programme has been significant in this and made everyone realize what a valuable asset women (with names) can make to society.We thanked them for our usual welcome with tea and cake afterwards which was shared with other visitors. During December, we have our Christmas lunch at Beckington on December 5th and Mere Carol Service on Tuesday December 10th at 12 noon. We look forward to another busy programme in 2025. Enid Holbrow.
Vision: – To see a Church and Community holistically transformed in Maridi and beyond. Mission: Maridi Diocese exists to reconcile people to God, with one another and promote social - economic activities in the Community. Values: Faithfulness to the word of God; Informed and skilled human resource; Promotion of teamwork, transparency and accountability; Promotion of partnership and networking with other churches and Christian organisations both locally and internationally. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, ‘Rejoice’. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4: 4-6 Give thanks for….. - The partnership we share in the Gospel of Christ - The work of the Mothers Union in Maridi and throughout South Sudan, always ready to reach out to those in need and supporting single mothers and their children. - The growing number of students at Chaima Christian Institute (CCI) - A very good response to the annual ‘Maridi Lunch’ and generous support shown by those who came. Pray …… - For the wife of Revd Eli Bangisa Paul (acting principal of Chaima Christian Institute) who is recovering from an operation to remove an Ovarian Cyst - Revd Eli Alfred and Revd Gerusoma Tito are both studying for a bachelor’s degree in theology in Africa Renewal University in Uganda, so as to be able to tutor in Chaima Christian Institute. Please continue to keep them in your prayers - For the building of the second Kitchen house for the students at Chaima – especially that inflation won’t adversely affect the purchase of materials - For the Theology students being ordained on 8th December 2024 – their future ministry in Christ’s service - for staff and students as the term closes at the end of November for the Christmas break – for their good health and wellbeing. For quality time with their families. - For Bishop Moses and the responsibility that he carries and for family life. Continue to pray for - Stability and peace for South Sudan and good preparations for the elections which have been deferred from 2024 - The Episcopal Church of Sudan operating from Port Sudan. For Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo and his flock. - For the many displaced persons and refugees, for humanitarian aid to reach them.
"Lord Christ, your saints have been the lights of the world in every generation. Grant that, we who follow in their footsteps may be made worthy to enter with them into that heavenly country where you live and reign for ever and ever. Amen" (MU reflections for November.)Sheran Harper has been our World-Wide President from 2019 until 2024. Summing up her journey she said, "Called and Chosen for this Season of Change". "Soon after the historic Worldwide Council 2019 in Rwanda where 70 global leaders met to listen to God for direction, the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic hit the world. The impact was tremendous, but it also signalled the birth of something new for Mothers' Union. Sheran held firmly to Isaiah 43:19. "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up: do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland" We are part of "Change" in Mothers; Union both in our own diocese as well as nationally. We must be ready to review our priorities and build up our reserves.Mothers' Union has a major campaign at the moment entitled "Illiteracy Doesn't Make Sense"480 million women around the world cannot read or write! This is something we take for granted but, not being able to register the birth of a child, read a medicine bottle, open a bank account or gain independence, is something the campaign hopes to change and transform their lives.Our branch meeting for October at the home of Peter and Janet Likeman was an informal gathering where we caught up with each other's news ( holidays etc.), heard from Jocelyn news received from the diocese of forthcoming events which we hope to attend and report on in further magazine entries, received menus and details of our planned Christmas lunch from Veronica and Jenny, asked everyone to think and bring to the AGM in January ideas for next year's meetings, outings etc. We then had a "Just Desserts" quiz with well-known puddings to be unravelled from anagrams. Most of the anagrams sounded more delicious than the answers!We ended our meeting with prayers and notice that our next event is the Autumn Gathering on the 19th October and our Deanery Patronal Service at All Saints Westbury on Wednesday November 6th at 2.30pm. We thanked Janet and Peter for their hospitality and departed for home in brilliant Autumn sunshine. Enid Holbrow.
