Reflection from Michael Tonkin 30th March

Reflection from Michael Tonkin 30th March

by | Mar 30, 2020 | Front Page

“  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

   A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

   A  time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”

Well known lines from Ecclesiastes 3.  It is probably true that for many of us the coronavirus, and the effect it is having on our lives, has given us  some time that we did not have before.  One must start by applauding those thousands and thousands of people who have put themselves forward as volunteers in so many different ways to help the many overstretched services that are trying to cope with this deadly virus. 

One of the other very useful ways, Carolyn and myself have found to fill this time, is by corresponding, by phone, email or FaceTime, with family and friends around the country, and even further away, letting them know how we are, and more importantly finding out how they are coping during these difficult times.  It would seem very appropriate that our Gospel reading from John told us of Jesus’ visit to see his good friend Lazarus, and his sisters Martha and Mary, on hearing that Lazarus was unwell.  Even more striking in this story is the very open emotion, “Jesus began to weep”, that our Lord showed on the apparent death of Lazarus.  Sometimes in the Gospel stories it seems that Jesus is uncaring about his family, yet that could not be further from the truth, for Jesus’ whole being is to bring love and healing to all he meets, as he does to his friend Lazarus.  Yet Jesus is also critically aware of the path his Father has set him on, and nothing, or no one shall divert him from it.  So we move ever closer to the culmination of that path, to Good Friday, the cross and the joy of Easter Day.

There is, as is written in Ecclesiastes, a time for all things and there will be an end, when we are out of the clutches of this deadly virus, and it is to be hoped and prayed, that when that time comes, we remember to stay in touch with those whom we love and hold dear, perhaps a little more often than we have done in the past.

Amen.

Reflections and prayers 3

Reflections and prayers 3

by | Mar 28, 2020 | Front Page

“ Out of the strong came forth sweetness.”  The saying that is on tins of Lyle’s Golden Syrup.

The saying as I am sure most of you will know is borrowed from the Book of Judges and the story of Samson, another good tale well worth returning to!

Why do I mention it here, you may ask?  Well, last night at 8pm from all around our neighbouring flats people, young and old, came out of their homes on to their balconies to clap for all those who are working for us in the National Health and elsewhere.  This I know was repeated throughout London and the rest of the country, as has happened in many other countries across Europe.

Out of the strength of dedication of these workers, who are literally putting their own wellbeing on the line on a daily bases, came this outpouring of love and thanks and ‘sweetness’ for what they are all doing for each and very one of us.

Paul wrote at the end of 1Corinthians 13, “Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.”

If there was ever a greater time for faith, hope and love, then certainly that time is now and the one word I would add to those three is  ‘thanks’, thanks as was shown last night to those who battle on against all the odds.

This prayer was quoted by King George VI in his Christmas Day broadcast of 1939.

“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: ’Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’  And he replied: ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be better than a light and safer than a known way.’  

Amen.

Michael Tonkin

27.3.20