February, '22 Letter
Hi All
As our Dec/Jan newsletter was a double issue, I hope the New Year has gone well for you so far. At the Wembley FA Cup Final the old hymn abide with me is sung. One of the verses has these words ‘change and decay in all around I see.’ I was visiting someone the other day, we were talking about the impact the pandemic has had, on so many people’s lives. In our conversation they said, ‘Being as old as I am I don’t think life will be like it was, I won’t know normal again’ The world has and still does face enormous challenges, some of which impact on us personally, others seem a world away and issues like global warming seem too big to handle.
So the hymn sounds quite true today, change and decay in all around I see. Yet that’s not the end of it for the next line says ‘O Thou who changest not, abide with me.’ I have become increasingly aware (maybe it’s an age thing), that each day of life I have is the greatest gift I have. Because I am still breathing I feel I have a responsibility to live that life well.
Jesus said, ‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ It has been said many times, yesterday is past, tomorrow is a dream, today is the present – that’s why it’s a gift. So each morning may we see, that in this day we have, we have so much to live life for and I pray you will find within it, the reality of a unchanging faithful God. The God who I believe is the giver of life and who longs to be there in the midst of the life we live.
And until next time may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.
Andy