Saturday 1 August 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Happy Swiss National Day! I hope you can enjoy the day and find time to relax and celebrate in some way.

I hear that all has gone very smoothly in my absence. I am extremely grateful to our Archdeacon Adele for taking the services while David and I have been away, to Archana for preaching last Sunday, and to Hector and others who have worked hard to organise the services online. David and I have had a very refreshing holiday and we enjoyed exploring more of Switzerland. I was also very thankful to be able to go on retreat this last week, to find more time to reflect and pray. But it is also good now to be back and I look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow.

For the service tomorrow, it looks like we will be able to fit everyone into church (just!). I will be presiding and David will be preaching. The service will also be online from later today.

You can book seats for next Sunday here. Or you can ring or email the office. Please try and do this by Wednesday if possible. There will be a service in the church and another service in the hall (if necessary).

We all know that our Christian lives and experiences can go up and down. Sometimes things can be very challenging and difficult; at other times we can be surprised by a deep sense of joy and peace. Of course, God's love remains steadfast and secure no matter what our experiences are and we need to remind ourselves of that. Nevertheless, it is good to be surprised by joy from time to time! Below is a poem about joy in prayer by Malcolm Guite which struck a chord with me on my retreat. Although sometimes we may face very hard times and such joy may seem very distant, there is a deep joy in God's presence and one day we will live in that joy forever.

Joy

How does she come, my joy, when she comes walking
over the wasteland and the empty waves?
She comes unbidden between sleep and waking,
she comes like winter jasmine on cold graves,
she comes like some swift wind, she fills my sails,
and on we surge, cresting the wine-dark sea,
the fine prow lifting, as my vessel heels,
the tiller tugs and quivers and I'm free
of all the land's long cares. As that brisk breeze
sings in the thrill and tremor of taut stays,
so my heart's rigging, tuned and taut as these,
sings with the wind that freshens into praise.
For when Joy comes, however brief her stay,
she parts my lips and I know how to pray.

With love in Christ,
Helen