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St Mary's
Church
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Vicar: Fr. Paul
Christian The Sunday just 2 days after Christmas brought a real treat for, having taken services at Lydden and Temple Ewell, it was hurriedly out of the cassock and off in great company to Twickenham to watch Harlequins and London Wasps play rugby. It was wonderful!
Before the kick off (marked by an incredible explosion of fireworks), and at half time, two X Factor runners up entertained the record crowd of almost 77,000. But it was the game that brought us all to life and although ‘Quins (who we were noisily supporting) lost by just one point, somehow it didn’t matter too much. Having so excitingly come back into contention at the tail-end of the match, the enjoyment factor had been tremendous and I found myself humming Manfred Mann’s ‘The Mighty Quin’ for days after. However, after the demands of the ‘Holy Season of Christmas’ and the unwinding of a super afternoon, there was another reason for satisfaction as the bullish former England and Harlequins player Brian Moore was quick to point out in the national press. For police presence had been minimal whilst alcohol had been freely available in the ground, there had been no segregation of the fans whatsoever in the happy and totally trouble-free crowd and (my observation) unbelievably for these days, not once did I hear someone swearing loudly, and as a matter of course, down their mobile phone!
‘I don’t believe it!’ cried Victor Meldrew as he saw his world crumbling around him, and maybe there are things that make us feel the same. ‘I don’t believe it!’ we say when it feels that no one cares anymore and that oikishness is victorious. ‘I don’t believe it!’ we say when things more personally can make us feel the same. Yes, we may be very especially loved, but if we are sensitive (and generally I believe only boring people are not) just one person’s unpleasantness towards us can cloud so much and so many blessings.
Mindful of the sadness and problems that are ‘part and parcel’ of life and of those for whom they are acute at this time, my great afternoon at Twickenham not only provided a welcome break for a moment from the demands of life, but served as a reminder to try to look beyond the clouds to the potential and possibilities of the new year and to accept the responsibility of each and every one of us to do this.
I hope this simple prayer by the Francisca, Brother John Charles, helps earth these thoughts a little.
For all the possibilities ahead in this new year,
make us thankful, O Lord.
Give us wisdom, courage and discernment
in the face of so much chaos, despair and fear.
Help us to see how, in our circumstances,
we can contribute towards peace, faith and love.
And give us the will to translate our desires into action.
With every blessing for the remainder of 2010
Fr. Paul
