Dear Brothers and Sisters
My Colour Sergeant at Sandhurst was a very kind man. He always tried to give some positive feedback even when my level of achievement didn’t warrant it. I was pretty awful at drill. I did eventually manage to pass off the square but as he said to me, ‘Padre we know that you can count, and that you can tell your left from your right. It’s just that you cannot do both things at the same time!’
I suspect that most of us have had several moments this year when we have felt that we were not up to the mark. Carefully made plans have faltered due to ‘you know what’. We have been tired, maybe even a bit grumpier than usual. Most of us haven’t really felt ourselves this year have we?
When I read through the gospel reading for Sunday about the slaves and the talents I found myself straightaway identifying with the slave who hid the one talent. I think it is a common reaction to this parable, we can all feel that we could have done better, especially if we feel a bit more tired than usual, a bit more anxious, as so many of us are just now. But on my second reading I noticed something important. That slave buried his talent because he knew that his master was a harsh man, reaping where he did not sow, and gathering where he did not scatter seed. And he was afraid of him.
Our Lord and Master isn’t like that at all. God never gives us more to deal with than we can manage. We sometimes feel he has, then we remember to ask for help, and to take it, and then things seem better. Jesus as the Americans would say, ‘has our back.’ He doesn’t judge our performance, our ability, our success. He just loves us. As we come towards the end of this Church year it is good to remember that. God loves us. Hold on to that. We don’t need to know anything else.
It looks pretty certain that the next time we can worship together will be on 6th of December. Over these next few weeks I won’t be celebrating Holy Communion at home in the Vicarage. Instead at 10am. each Sunday I will use a simple Service of the Word. A copy of this along with the readings and prayers for this Sunday is attached to the email which has brought you this message. If you would like to join Charlotte, Becky and myself, in spirit, at 10am. that would be wonderful. Alternatively use the service material at a time that best suits you.
There are lots of other alternatives for worship on Sunday. The National Church of England Service continues to be online and other services can be accessed via radio and TV. Locally both Otley and Ilkley parish churches have services available on YouTube. The Daily Hope phone line can be accessed on 08008048044. For those with smart phones the Church of England Time to Pray app is still free to download and use.
Many of you found the Church of England’s ‘Prayers for use during the coronavirus outbreak’ booklet very useful during the last lockdown. I still have some available. Please let me know if you would like one.
I hope that you are finding the Prayer for the Nation material I sent out last week useful. It is good to have a focus for our prayers each day and to know that we are praying at the same time as others across the land.
So for the next few weeks we will have a different format for the Bulletin with readings and prayers on a separate sheet. Normal(ish) service will resume as soon as we are able.
God bless you all.
Stephen