Be the people you've become

A farewell letter from our Vicar, Revd Julian Smith - December 2006

 

It’s December and the winter darkness is well and truly upon us.  It’s dark in the morning, dark in the evening and, when the storm clouds roll in, dark for most of the day too.

 

The Church’s Year seems to mirror the changing cycle of the earth’s seasons.  November, we’re adjusting to the clocks having gone back, getting used to cold spells (a hint of winter to come?) and, this year, to fierce storms, high winds, heavy rain and thunder. November at Church reflects something of this – it’s a time of memories and memorials, of nostalgia and remembering, it’s about All Saints and Souls, Remembrance Sunday and St Andrew’s-tide.  It’s a time to make us stop and think.

 

Stop and think

To stop and think, before we plunge into a new year on Advent Sunday and begin our journey, with Mary and Joseph, towards Bethlehem, Christmas and beyond; a journey we continue with Jesus to the Jordan, into the wilderness, then to the Sea of Galilee; a journey that nears its end as Jesus and the disciples make the long, slow journey to Jerusalem and the Cross.

 

In the odd moments I’ve been able to stop and think – usually at 3am – my thoughts have been about change.  I’ve never been a party animal and have always been sanguine at the prospect of the new year beginning; the date may change but the mixture of life is as before.  The real value of a new year may be that it draws a line under the past and allows us to begin again, to move forward and to change.  To be the people we’ve become. 

 

The last eighteen months have seen many changes at St Andrew’s, not least a clearer focus on our role as a Parish Church, “Serving God in the heart of our community since 1881”.  I suspect that some of you may be fairly sanguine about these changes;  the product has been re-branded, but the mixture is as before.  But I hope that Advent Sunday will offer us all a fresh start.

 

It is much easier to change when we move to a new job, than to change when we stay put.  For example, I need to change the way I operate on Sunday – to stand less and to sit more.  Margery reminds me constantly of this, but I know it’ll be easier to achieve as part of a totally fresh start.

 

Journeying beyond Christmas

The journey to Christmas and beyond is a familiar one, but by God’s grace it can be very different this year.  If we can be the people we’ve become, then we’ll see the journey through new eyes, hear the stories afresh and be touched by God.  The journey does not end at the Cross, or even at the empty tomb.  The journey continues as we write our chapter in the never-ending book of the acts of God among his people.

 

Thank you for the privilege of sharing the last 10 years; thank you for the love, understanding and compassion.  May God bless you as you continue to write the St Andrew’s chapter in God’s book and, with his grace, be the people he has made you.

 

With my love and prayers

 

Julian

  

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