Sharing some thoughts

from Helen Today we celebrate candlemas, it is the day when we remember Jesus being presented in the temple. In our gospel reading (Luke 2:22-40) we heard that Simeon in the temple recognised Jesus as the One who would not just bring light but was light. In thinking about this reading I thought about the fact that there are times in life when there are things that you just should not talk about. For example, Brexit. Well, that’s happened but for a very long time it was a bad topic of conversation. It wasn’t seen as polite to talk about anything that could start an argument, such as politics, sometimes religion. When I was born my Dad phoned my great-aunt to tell her the news. Her response … “well, Heather (that’s my Mum) could still die.” Just what you want to hear. In our gospel reading today (Luke 2:22-40) we heard of things that new parents would not want to hear. Mary and Joseph did the correct thing by taking Jesus to the temple. I am sure it must have been quite an exc

In the film ‘Shadowlands’ about the life of the author C S Lewis there is a scene after his wife has been diagnosed with an incurable illness where she says to him, ‘The joy now is part of the pain then’...  As with so many scenes in our lives emotions can be mixed…  For them, the diagnosis of the illness had jolted them into realising their real feelings for each other – they had practically taken on new lives filled with love and a great deal of laughter. Yet in time this joy would only add to the pain of grief – this is the pain of love, but it’s not a pain we would exchange for never having known that love.  In his earthly life Jesus felt the pain of human love – he knew the cost to himself, as well as the pain of those he loved, but that was the pain of his incarnation – that was the pain of becoming one of us in order to save us.  There’s a meditation from an American author called Max Lucado which says,  ‘God chose to reveal himself through a human body. The ton

There are lots of things in our readings today and perhaps one of the important themes is the idea of being invited to ‘come and see’. It’s what John the Baptist says in a way to some of his followers to whom he is pointing out Jesus. It’s what Jesus himself says to his new followers and it’s also what Andrew says to his brother, Simon… It reminds us of the importance of inviting people – of the fact that nothing can beat a personal invitation for doing something whether it be inviting people to a social event or out on a date or to join a club… or of course, to take a closer look at Jesus… And today I want to think primarily about the idea of being called and what we are called to be and the Collect today offers a hint to start – ‘Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new; transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory…’ In our relationship with God we are called to be new people, tran

From Helen  Today marks the second Sunday of epiphany. 2020 is definitely underway. The lights and decorations are down from Christmas, the weather isn’t great. I heard of a group of people talking about the new year and rather than say, “happy new year” they said, “well, let’s see what the year brings then ...” to be honest I feel as if people are tired and down and it isn’t that long since one of the biggest celebrations of the year. Christmas wasn’t that long ago, we were all happy then, or at least there was excitement and happiness around about us. This morning I have set myself a challenge. That challenge is to lift the blues, and to keep the celebration of Christmas going. I remember in one Church one of the rooms where the Sunday school met was a good room for storage. This was all well and good, until the children queried why there was still a Christmas tree up on St.Davids day. I commented that we should celebrate the good news of Jesus’ birth all year around