March 2010
The Clergy Letter
Dear Friends,
As you read this magazine we will have entered that period in the Church year called Lent. Traditionally, Lent has been about abstinence and denial but it is also about reflection and renewal. It is about giving God time, focussing our minds on Him, excluding that which affects our relationship with Him and trying to rectify that – it is about looking to the future. In the February magazine I was very pleased to see quotes from Ecclesiastes, one of my favourite parts of the Bible - very under-read and underestimated I might add.
So, I thought I might recommend you read and reflect on it through the Lent period. It has a ‘world-weariness’ to it, yet this strikes a chord in our own time and goes to the heart of what I believe to be a major blight of the 20th and 21st Century – perfectionism. Everything we do has to be perfect - in some parts of the globe, some cultures dispose of those of our fellow human beings who are not seen as perfect. There are many within our society and indeed in the Church who see the step towards euthanasia as a correct one. We live in ‘enlightened’ times but what are we storing up for ourselves if we go down this route? What are we storing up for our children if we push them to be perfect in all they do whether at school or in their leisure activities? We desire everything we see and then more in a mad drive for acquiring all that will make our lives complete. We demand success – failure is not an option. It is madness and the bizarre thing is that we know perfection is an impossible state to achieve, yet it doesn’t stop us trying to achieve it; this is the vanity that is spoken of in Ecclesiastes.
Lent was a time of great trial and despair for our Lord and a testing of His vanity. It is only when we get to a point of real emptiness in our lives, when we experience moments of sadness, loneliness and despair, when our lives can seem so vain that we might just hear the message which Ecclesiastes has for us. This Lent read and reflect on it and you will get to the very last verse of the book that says, ‘For God will bring every deed into judgement … whether good or evil.’ That’s it - a small sentence but a life shaking one as it means that whatever has happened in your life, it has not gone unnoticed by God. Ecclesiastes embraces all this, understands it, and with an air of resignation, puts it all into perspective, restoring a balance and equilibrium so needed in our lives. John McQuarrie the theologian said that the power of the Bible is that it is able to produce from its depths, new truths all the time. Reading Ecclesiastes is, at first read, not necessarily a joyful one, but stick with it and let it speak to you. I will be interested to hear what you think.
May you have a fruitful Lent,
Every blessing,
Andrew