Thoughts

The month of June sees us at the halfway point in the year. It also marks the middle of summer and has the longest day of the year. It is full of hope for long, warm and bright sunny days. Yet, for many students and children it also marks the beginning of the exam period. It could be important milestone exams or just end of term exams. I seem to remember grudgingly doing the exams when the weather was at its finest. I was never very good at exams and was easily distracted by what was going on outside and what I was missing out on. It always seemed very unfair to be stuck in usually a hot unventilated gym or hall at the hottest time of the year. I wanted to be outside playing games and having adventures.

There is sometimes a conflict between the different phases in life. Although we are halfway through the year, we are also coming to the end of the school or academic year. It also means that the long holiday over the summer is also just around the corner and about to begin. For students, teachers and parents there is a sense of longing for a change of pace and a new rhythm of life over the holidays. It is interesting to remember the long summer holiday comes from families needing to earn a living picking crops and harvesting. They would take the whole family including children to work on the land. It was hardly a holiday but rather strenuous, hot and backbreaking work which was all hard manual work. The long summer academic holidays are often a source of envy for people who get only four to six weeks off during the whole year not just over the summer period. 

We are often drawn to make a comparison between our lot in life and how we perceive others are faring. It is interesting to me that I often seem to notice that people are doing better than me or having an easier time than me. I seldom think to myself that I am very lucky with what I have, and have to do. To my shame, I easily forget that there are so many people around the world just or only just existing, whilst I live a very comfortable, easy and safe life.

This year the end of the Easter season, Pentecost, slips into the second week of June. It is almost halfway through the year. It is more mid-summer rather than the end of spring and the beginning of summer. It changes the feel of this year, particularly as we had a hot Easter Sunday with record high temperatures. You might be mistaken in thinking Easter was a summer event! Yet regardless where Easter sits, early or late, warm, hot or cold it is surely a reminder that God is working for us without us asking for help. It is often the case when we acknowledge that we need help that then we can really change. Our world is changing all the time and we still need God’s help to change us and others.

Rev. Martin Wood. The Rectory, Church Lane, Cheriton Bishop EX6 6HY 01647 24119 (Tuesday to Sunday) revwood163@gmail.com

May is blessed with two bank holidays, early and late spring bank holidays. It gives many people a few days off work. This can lead to a holiday week being taken. Holidays are important in breaking our usual routine. This allows us to set what we want to do at a time of our choosing. For me not looking at the diary and clock, worrying what and where I should be is important to me. Holidays were originally connected to religious festivals. As you may be very aware, Easter was celebrated much later than usual this year. This means that Ascension Day is also very late this year, Thursday 30th May. It only just makes it into the month of May and sits at a time when you might expect Whitsun. You will have to wait a couple of weeks for Whitsun. If you can wait till 2038 Easter will be at its latest date. Then both Ascension Day and Whitsun will both slide into June.

Ascension Day is a mixed blessing. Having thought that Jesus was dead he suddenly returns from the dead on Easter Day. It was a moment of great joy and celebration although there was still plenty of confusion and doubt. Then for him to leave again forty days later and not return again, you might think that people would be really upset again, it might feel like a second bereavement. Yet what is recorded in the Bible, is quite the opposite. We are told that the disciples are going to the temple praising God each day. We need to ask what has changed for the disciples from being completely lost and dejected. You have to believe that the big change was what Jesus did to restore the disciples. The most obvious thing to realise is that Jesus meets the disciples in their greatest point of need. It is often the same experience for people when they have almost nowhere else to go they find they can find strength and support from God. After Jesus’ death, it seems that people wanted to go back to their old life. Jesus finds them and brings them back together. He is not critical of them for lack of faith and understanding. It is very clear that he told them many times what would happen to him. Yet the disciples chose not to listen or not to believe. You might think that this would be held against them and exclude them. Jesus offers restoration and new hope. This is not often our experience as we are often easily condemned and rarely feel forgiven. Jesus also gives the disciples a purpose, to go and tell people about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

We sometimes lose direction and feel alone and forgotten. Jesus reminds us that God never gives up on any of us. God can help restore and redirect us to where and what we should be doing. The hardest part is to admit we need help and ask for it.

Rev. Martin Wood. The Rectory, Church Lane, Cheriton Bishop EX6 6HY 01647 24119 (Tuesday to Sunday) revwood163@gmail.com

The month of April encompasses the second half of the season of Lent, from after Mothering Sunday to Easter day on 21^stApril. It is almost twenty days as the Sundays of Lent are not part of the Lenten observance or fast. The midpoint of a journey is always important because you start to get nearer to your goal rather than your starting point. After the midpoint, it is usually quicker to go on than to turn back. Easter and Holy Week suddenly draw closer.

As the name Holy Week suggests, it is a religious observance which lasts a week. The idea is to follow the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. It starts off with Palm Sunday (14^thApril) which remembers the people welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem with great joy. There is a sudden change of mood as the clouds gather around Jesus as the plot against him thickens. On Maundy Thursday (18^thApril) we remember Jesus at the Last Supper with his disciples and Judas Iscariot betraying him to the Jewish authorities. Good Friday (19^thApril) remembers Jesus wrongly accused and found guilty by the Roman governor. He was executed by crucifixion on a cross. He was hastily buried in a borrowed tomb. On Easter day (Sunday 21^stApril) the tomb was found empty and Jesus was seen alive. 

The journey through Holy Week is often a harrowing time. The events of Jesus’ last earthly week echo some of the events of our lives. We can become isolated and challenged for sticking to our values and beliefs in the face of popular opposition. There are times in our lives where people conspire against us, usually to make our lives more difficult. We try to explain to our closest friends our concerns and worries and they fail to grasp the full significance. We are wrongly accused of things we have not done and are sometimes wrongly found guilty. It is very easy to put ourselves in the position of the victim, but it is much more difficult to place ourselves in the position of the perpetrator. We easily forget that these are the things we have done to others consciously or unwittingly. It is these dark parts of our lives which we are called to bring to God for forgiveness. The events leading up to and including Good Friday speak to us of all that is wrong in us, and the world that we live in. There is no denying that we need salvation!

Easter Sunday presents us with two gifts, that of hope and new life through the resurrection. The hope has always been part of the promise of a relationship with God. The new life through resurrection is a change in the way we view our lives and heaven. Jesus gives both proof of this new life and the grace to receive it. Yet, this is frequently outside of our own experience and this makes this new order so much more difficult to believe. It requires faith rather than proof; this is quite a stumbling block for many.

March seems to bring new energy to our year. It often feels that January is still in the shadow of Christmas or perhaps even paying for Christmas! February feels like glimmers of hope and changes. But in March it really starts to change, in terms of light and day length. As we move past the 20^thMarch the days become longer than the nights and it should, in theory, start to warm up as we approach summer.  As it warms up, the trees and plants spring back into life.  In the early calendars, March and spring signified the beginning of a new year.  There is a sense of the movement from the death of winter into the new life of spring.  You can see why people regarded spring as a new beginning.

From a Christian perspective, March sees the beginning of Lent. It starts on Ash Wednesday on 6th March. The ash in Ash Wednesday refers to the sign of the cross made in ash on the forehead of a person wanting to show a turning away from wrongdoing and coming back to God. Where does this originate from?  In the Old Testament, several characters like Job and in the story of Jonah, the King of Nineveh wear sackcloth and ashes as a visible sign of turning back to God. The use of ashes is only recorded in the 10^thand 11^thcentury for admitting the penitent in readiness for baptism or for readmittance into the church at Easter.  By the middle ages,the Season of Lent was seen not about getting ready to join the church but as a focus on Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins and our renewed commitment to living the Christian life.  It was at this time that the whole church, not just new or returning disciples, used Lent as a time to prepare for Easter. We are encouraged to prepare by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word. I would encourage us all to try and get realigned with God and use this time of getting ready to adjust our lives into God’s way. 

This year Mothering Sunday and British Summer Time coincide on the last day of March. This has two significant consequences, firstly it marks approximately the midpoint of Lent, so you still have three weeks of your Lenten observance, keep going you will be just over half way to Easter. Secondly, if you are making breakfast in bed for Mum, you will have to remember to change your alarm clock and get up an hour early! It is sometimes all about the sacrifices we make for someone else that we love that is really important. Jesus leads the way in self-sacrifice and he points us back to God’s love for us.

Rev. Martin Wood. The Rectory, Church Lane, Cheriton Bishop EX6 6HY 01647 24119 (Tuesday to Sunday) revwood163@gmail.com

Easter is in late April this year. It is the fifth latest date for Easter. If your birthday is on 21^stApril, the last time Easter landed on your birthday was 1957. However, if you live long enough there are a few Easter birthdays to come in 2030, 2041 and 2052! Then it will be nearly another fifty years until you see Easter on your birthday again; make the most of these four Easters. Back to the pancakes: because Easter is later, Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) is on 5^th March. The date of Easter is a moveable feast and everything else has to try and fit around it, which is often easier said than done. Take for instance the school term. The spring term can be very short. This year with a late Easter, the term is twelve weeks long, two or three weeks longer than usual. Consequently, the first half term of the summer term is just five weeks long with three bank holidays to fit in.

In the church year, it often feels that Easter comes hot on the heels of Christmas. When Easter is as late as this year, there is a gap of a month between the end of Christmas and the beginning of Lent. The church calls this ordinary time when there is no special season. On the face of it,this does not seem very interesting. Yet writing this article between Christmas and New Year, when I have been busy and pressurised by work, the idea of a quieter simpler time is enormously appealing. We can only stretch ourselves beyond our normal capacity for a short period of time. Doing anything excessively always results in some form of damage. If we ignore the warning signals, we start making bad judgments, forgetting important things and often becoming ill. Our lives need to be accentuated by highlights which encourage and enthuse. We have to endure the low points in our lives. For most of the time,our lives should be normal and balanced. Too much of the good stuff can be exhausting and make us complacent. Too much of the bad stuff can make us feel low, withdrawn and lead to depression and illness. Life has, for the most part, to be lived normally. What is normal? This is a cause of great debate but I think we know what is right and good for us and we should aspire to get that balance. As part of normal living, there needs to be a good spiritual dimension. We need to keep the lines of communication open to God. God is not just there for a crisis and important times. It is just as important to share our small worries and simple thanks on a daily and regular basis. It is important to develop a real relationship with God and include Him as an integral part of our everyday lives.

Ordinary time reminds us that we need to cultivate a good and healthy lifestyle that incorporates a real spiritual dimension. A little and often works so much better than crisis management.

Rev. Martin Wood. The Rectory, Church Lane, Cheriton Bishop EX6 6HY 01647 24119 (Tuesday to Sunday) revwood163@gmail.com

I am always a little surprised how early Christmas decorations appear, they have drifted into November. When I was growing up, the Christmas decorations went up a week before Christmas. We always seemed to be behind everyone else’s decorations. By contrast, the decorations disappear very quickly within the twelve days of Christmas. I am not sure if people have become tired of the space that the decorations occupy and want their home back to normal, or perhaps the old wives tale of a year’s bad luck if you fail to get them putaway still holds some power. Whatever the reason, the long expected and awaited Christmas is very quickly put away and boxed up for another year.

Now, try to remember your best Christmas present. I do realise it was last year but it is still only a week ago! Try to remember who gave you such a thoughtful and special present that you really wanted. Now imagine taking that present putting it in a box, sealing it and putting it away for next Christmas. The present is so special that you decide to use it only at Christmas every year, that way it will never really get used or ever wear out. What kind ofreaction do you think you might get from such a generous present giver?It may well be the last present you receive from that person!

My point is that thestoryof Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, however,if he just gets born and that is all that happens, it is just a short story and not life changing. But that is not what happens, there is a whole life to be followed and engaged with. Yet, it seems people are happy to celebrate a birth and ignore the significance of the life that follows. The birth becomes important because of the significance of the life lived by Jesus. As we follow Jesus’ life, it brings a new perspective to the ordinaryworld that was around him. Everyday events and experiences took on new significance as Jesus encountered life. At the heart of this Jesus lived an ordinary existence,nota privileged sheltered life. He encountered people in desperate need, often cast out from their community. Jesus met their need and reintegrated them back to their families and communities. He was equally eager for people to encounter and engage with God. Through Jesus,we get glimpses of how God sees the world and how God seesand cares for us.

People thought that God had forgotten them and did not care. But the opposite was true, God was there waiting for them to find their way home. Unlike the person who gave that special present that you put away for next year, God will keep trying each and every time to engage and find us. It is more a matter of whether we have forgotten about God.  Perhaps we put him away until Christmas next year or there is an emergency we cannot handle. That is not a healthy way to encounter Jesus.

Rev. Martin Wood. The Rectory, Church Lane, Cheriton Bishop EX6 6HY 01647 24119 (Tuesday to Sunday) revwood163@gmail.com