There is always a balance to be held at times of remembrance – a balance between holding tight to precious memories and letting go in order to move on. Our traditions and cultures bring structure for the former; our ever-changing world demands the latter.
November is a month for remembrances, with the traditions surrounding the memory of Guy Fawkes attempting to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 starting it off, and then the national ceremonies remembering our war dead around Armistice Day. They are quite contrasting celebrations! Guy Fawkes wanted to get rid of the king and government, whereas on Remembrance Sunday watch the King, the Royal Family, and all our former Prime Ministers lay wreaths at the Cenotaph. What a difference 400 years makes!
In our churches even 40 years has made a difference! We hanker after the glory days at church, when our Sunday Schools were bursting and we needed extra services to accommodate all the people wanting to attend. We hold fond memories of church weekends away, or day trips to Blackpool, or the flower festival. It is hard to carry on while holding these memories, often carrying such sorrow as numbers dwindle.
Perhaps, as we think more about mission plans across our circuit, our first step is to acknowledge the past, giving thanks to God for all that was good about it; and then to move on in faith. The future is always more scary than the past: by definition we don’t know what will happen! Yet we read in Hebrews ‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’ (Heb 11.1) Our faith is placed in an unchanging God who loves us without end, in God’s son Jesus who died that we could be free, and in the power of the Holy Spirit to move and guide us in the way of truth.
Whatever the future may hold, God is there even before we are, making clear the paths and showing the way. We need to trust God! We are creating new memories, that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will hold tight in their hearts. We will find God in new places that will probably surprise us.
God spoke today in flowers,
and I, who was waiting on words,
almost missed the conversation.
Ingrid Goff-Maidoff
