‘Choose Life’
At the end of his life, Moses gathered the people of Israel together and addressed them (Deuteronomy Ch. 30). He urged the people to remain faithful to the covenant God had made with them, and promised them that they would flourish as a people if they did so. Moses offered them a choice: obedience or disobedience; prosperity or adversity: ‘I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him’ (Deut. 30: 19-20).

‘Must we? Should we? Can we? Shall we?’

At a meeting of Diocesan Synod on 25 November, the Diocesan Board of Finance announced proposals to reform the way in which mission in our Diocese is funded. This may sound dull and technical, but please do read on: this is important stuff and raises some huge questions for us.

Whether it is ‘Dry January’, ‘Veganuary’, ‘No Mow May’, ‘Movember’ or some other programme, we often come under pressure during a particular month or season to change our behaviour in some way for the better. Diets, de-tox, ‘wellness’, fitness: the list goes on.

If ever you have found yourself wondering what life is all about, here is a short but profound thought from Caryll Houselander: ‘Sometimes it may seem to us that there is no purpose in our lives; that going day after day for years to this office or that school or factory is nothing else but waste and wariness. But it may be that God has sent
us there because but for us Christ would not be there. If our being there means that Christ is there, that alone makes it worthwhile’

‘Things will soon pick up’; ‘Why don’t people come to church anymore?’; ‘it never used to be like this’; ‘Where are all the children?’; ‘What is going to happen to us?’; ‘Who will take over when we are gone?’

Deanery reorganisation...