QuillHoward Writes

"Lives driven by the Seasons"

Our lives too can sometimes seem to be driven by the way the seasons come and go with these endless cycles of rebirth, growth, decay and death”

By now summer is just around the corner. At this time of year, we are blessed with long days (and hopefully fine weather) and we also have our holidays to look forwards to.

The fresh green of new spring growth makes June such a really beautiful month. And yet, almost as soon as summer has begun, at the end of this month the days will begin to shorten again and foretell the autumn and winter that is to come.

Our lives too can sometimes seem to be driven by the way the seasons come and go with these endless cycles of rebirth, growth, decay and death. This month brings with it some services which are part of our spiritual cycle.

On Sunday June 12th, we will have 12 more young children who will join with us in the Eucharist. They are moving another step further along their spar- ritual journeys, experiencing for the first time the spiritual food which we receive in communion with Christ and with each other

A week later, on Sunday 19th June, four adult members of our Church will be confirmed by Bishop Mark. They will experience the presence of the Holy Spirit and commit themselves to serve Christ throughout their lives.

But what of us who are just present at these events? How do we react to these times when others are moving through these spiritual “rites of passage?” I believe that these moments are also gifts of God to us, who, by our presence, witness the spiritual progress of others.

Let me give an ex ample. As a church musician, I have attended literally hundreds of weddings, but each one is an opportunity to renew my commitment to my own marriage vows. In the same way, these events in our Church are a time when, as we witness to the spiritual growth of others, we should remind ourselves of our relationship with God and take stock of where we are in our own spar- ritual journey.

As both these two services are annual events, we can look at how these areas of our own lives have developed in the last year.

When our children are admitted to their First Communion, it is an ideal time to review our own pattern of Eucharistic worship. As we look back at last year, we can ask ourselves how regularly we have received the sacrament and also ask how much we have grown in Communnion and fellowship with those with whom we share bread and wine.

Similarly, at the Confirmation Service, we can ask how much we have let God’s Holy Spirit strengthen us in our faith journey. As members of Christ’s body, we can ask ourselves how much our commitment to supporting his Church by offering our time, our talents and our money has grown in the last year. We must answer these questions honestly, under the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit, because He has promised to lead us into “all truth”.

It is the Holy Spirit who has the power to change our lives and bring us to a greater knowledge of God’s love. Just as the Holy Spirit binds the Father and the Son together in unity, the same spirit will bind us together in communion with Christ and each other and strengthen us as we carry out the work that God has given us to do.

I pray that we will all support these occasions with both our prayers and our presence. The candidates at both these services need that support in order to mature as Christians, just as we also need the support of each other, as week by week, we share in Christ’s body and blood and continue to grow in grace.

Whilst our earthly seasons are cycles of rebirth, growth decay and death, the Christian seasons carry us continually forward as we grow in faith, until finally that faith will give way to life in the presence of God and each other in the new Jerusalem.

May God bless us all as we journey on in faith,

Howard.