Easter excitement, and my fare-well to you

Every day we should celebrate the amazing good news that Love is stronger than death, that Truth always trumps lies, that God surprises us by revealing his awesome self in ways which can touch us deeply in the ordinary things of life. Easter is especially dedicated to all Jesus gave us in example, forgiveness, zest, humour, and humanity.

He's our rock, and source of energy. He's reliability, and adventure. If you want boring stay put. If you want excitement follow him.

I leave you in God's good hands, with a real sense of excitement for your future. After 40 years 'vicaring' I need a complete change, and will be enjoying retirement opportunities to write as Elder Adok. I'm really looking forward to another evolution of God's faith in me as I return to civistreet.

Link an inkjet printer I've had different colours to work. You've been very patient putting up with me for over 23 years. There have been phases during that time when I've been part of teams that: designed, built, and thrive in the Church Rooms; trained curates to become vicars; assisted C of E Churches in the borough through new appointments, joys, and sadness; evolved the Community Angels; but most of all being part of our gorgeous communities next to the sea.

Fare well, and may God bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you, and may he give you his peace, his wisdom, his strength, his love, and his laughter. And may the blessing of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit rest upon you always.

Take up, not give up!

The privilege of serving local communities lets me see how we are ticking. The second and third 'lockdowns' have seemed harder to bear than the first. At one level that's not logical because the first was largely an unknown open-ended challenge, whereas 2 and 3 were/are shorter with more of the same. Landing on the moon in 1969 was not exactly straightforward, so it's hardly surprising that coping with a pandemic has its problems!

https://all-free-download.com

Perhaps it's the feeling of going backwards; progress is often 3 steps forward, 2 back, 3 forward. Unrealistic expectations have been dashed; a normal Christmas reduced to a day, with strong guidance to avoid mixing at all. It could be that we've had a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, but are still in dark dank conditions.

So how about treating yourself this Lent instead of giving things up. We've had to give up so much! I'm not arguing we overdose on chocolate, rather bathe in what's wholesome. Here are some examples. Observing nature unwrap the seasons from a similar viewpoint each day.

www.bbc.co.uk

Research has shown that watching programmes about fellow creatures lifts our mood; I find short extracts just before turning in put life in perspective. Surely respect for nature is our top priority, beginning with each other, the challenge of global warming, and reuse/recycling so that we don't exhaust our supply of raw materials.

Covid has made me less patient with myself. I'll be taking up the Lent challenge of giving more time to what energises me: observation, music, creativity, friendships, exercise, beer!?

May God bless us as we spoil ourselves in order to be better at spoiling others!

Certainty & surprise

Adventure is a mix of certainty and surprise. If everything is predictable, well why bother with such boredom? Going out totally unprepared would be crazy too. Perhaps the mix is illustrated by a 'toss a penny' walk. Stick you coat on and take a coin.

Go out your front door, and then toss the penny to decide whether to turn right or left. At the next junction do the same, and so on. These walks have the capacity to get tedious very quickly, for example you might end up in a cul-de-sac or find yourself going round in circles [bit like our Covid challenge!], you could find yourself completely lost; on the other hand they can take you where you've never been before.

What we need is a balance between certainty and surprise. Many have told me how difficult having hopes raised only for them to be dashed at the last minute. They have also spoken of discovering better priorities, and new relationships with neighbours and nature. It is realistic to believe certainty will increase this year.

Jesus gave very practical advice about worrying: take a day at a time, and keep things in perspective. [Matthew 6.25-34 has more]. You might ask what this means for me as I near retirement in April.

Well, this last year we have certainly gained new perspectives with worship on-line being as important as in-church. More follow Facebook than attend church, but it's an amazing privilege to be safely with others.

I am making preparations to write my third novel [the first only took 18 years!], another couple of children's books, and publish these Views through Hiss Farm Concepts. It will be great to have quality blocks of time without interruption, but I will miss the huge privilege of being with you through thick and thin.

So it's more adventure for all of us. Bring it on!!