Colour Supplement

Articles by Christians around the world

Sunday 4 February 2007

Trying to connect you

A message for February from

Katharine Smith, Reader at St Andrew's Church

Friend:          Where did you go to school?

Me:               In London - Westminster

Friend:          Which school was that?

Me:               Grey Coat Hospital.

Friend:          We have a friend who taught there in the 1970s.

The friend turned out to be someone who had taught me “O” Level Religious Education.  I had a great respect for her and was thrilled to discover this connection.

This conversation happened at a party where it turned out that guests who didn’t know each other, or hadn’t spent time talking to each other before, were discovering many unexpected and varied connections.

One friend realised that the lady doing the catering was someone she had been at college with thirty years ago.  Other friends discovered that they had connections, through parents and grandparents who lived in the same village in another county.

Reflecting ourselves

There’s something about finding a connection with another person that’s exciting and it can bring people together in a way that might not have been possible before.

Perhaps we see in the other person a reflection of ourselves or something we are familiar with and understand.  There’s recognition and a sense of identifying with the other which can overcome differences between us.

Christian Unity?

I’m writing this just before the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and wondering how we can achieve unity in a church that has so many denominations which in turn have so many divisions.  I look at our Church of England and wonder whether the cracks that are forming are actually going to split us into different parts. 

During preparations for the Taunton Christians Together United Service I’ve had conversations with members of other churches and discovered connections that bridge the gaps that divide us.  Certainly I had to rethink my assumptions about another church and was glad to – we were more of one mind than either of us expected!   

Honesty

I recently had another conversation with someone about honesty and how God can work with our prayers and with us when we’re honest about our feelings and wishes.

Imagine what might have happened if Adam and Eve had tried honesty. 

God:     Where are you?

Adam:  I was afraid because I was naked so  I hid.

God:     Who told you that you were naked?

Adam:  Eve and I ate the forbidden fruit and everything changed. We’re so un- happy and sorry, please forgive us.

Can we be honest about our differences and in humility own up to getting it wrong and causing hurt to those we reject or shun?

Thought for Lent

Perhaps this Lent we could take time to discover the connections between us and other faiths, us and other churches, us and other members of our congregations.  Then we could use those connections to build a stronger Christian community in Taunton.

Honesty and openness – these are the things that will connect us and unite us in the love of God which is surely the greatest connection we have in our lives.

With my love and prayers

Katharine 

P.S.  Does anyone else have connections with Mersea Island in Essex? – just wondering!