Dear friends,
As I sit writing this letter to you the sunshine is streaming into the office window, the garden is bursting with life and we have just shared the Eucharist. I can only feel gratitude and joy for the blessings that are here, both in the moment and when remembering the past month. Reflecting on May we have enjoyed fellowship with our usual Soup and Sweet, held our Discussion Day (Living our Faith), attended a joint service with St Mary’s for Christian Aid, had an Ascension Day service, a baptism and enjoyed my birthday jollifications. You will be able to read about some of these events from different people in this magazine. What blessings of community, sharing and being together these have been. I sit in a warm glow of wonder and awe at what God has given us to enjoy. I can only think that such events give us a glimpse of what complete `fullness of life’ might look like.
Of course, at the same time, I am very conscious that this is not the case for all. There are many in our locale for whom May has been another difficult month, there are some in our congregation who are battling health issues, and we know that the world community is still divided and anything but peaceful.
These two aspects exist side by side. They always have been and, until God’s Kingdom is completely established on earth, always will be. Jesus must have been acutely aware of the tension, as he healed and spoke to those who suffered. The disciples also lived in it as they navigated their way into a new world of living in the Spirit. And we still live in it as we enjoy our moments of joy and face our times of challenge.
As we move into June we will celebrate our Patronal festival (June 4th) – one of my favourite days of the year. I love the fact that we are a Holy Trinity Church – and stand as a witness to the mystery which underpins all and which, I find, becomes more and more important to me as I get older. The Trinity is the life-giving dance … the eternal flow between Father, Son and Spirit. The Father expresses the awe and wonder which we feel at transcendent moments, close to nature, close to the beyond. The Son gives us the meta-narrative into which we place our own lives, our joys and sorrows. The Spirit is the flow between us, the community, the fellowship, the connection as well as being the hard nudge into new life which we so often need. Three in one and one in three. Such mystery and yet such reality.
Whatever is happening to us at the moment or will happen to us this coming month, we know that all is rooted in God, all is held in the Godhead … and because of this we can be confident that all shall be well.
with love, Liz
