Light a candle

Due to the concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in Britain churches have been asked to cancel services and activities for the time being. Christian leaders of all denominations have responded to the new situation this will create for our churches with a call to prayer and action this coming Sunday.

At this challenging time we are asked to pray for our Government and nation, for each other and especially for those working in our health and emergency services.

As a sign of solidarity and hope in the light of Christ that can never be extinguished Christians are asked to place a lighted candle in their window at 7pm on Sunday March 22. As we take our first steps towards learning to 'be the church' in our changing times this seems a good way to express our desire to be together while unable to gather for worship.

Patrick's Prayer

St Patrick's Day will be a rather muted affair this year. Cities across the world have taken the decision to cancel their parades due to the spread of the Coronavirus. For the Christian community the shift of focus away from excessive consumption and noisy celebration could be a welcome change.

In these troubled times St Patrick's prayer for protection could be a good place to begin praying for ourselves, our local communities and for the wider world. The words of this modern version are from the Northumbria Community.



Christ as a light illumine and guide me.
Christ as a shield overshadow me. 
Christ under me; Christ over me;
Christ beside me on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all powerful.
Christ as a light; Christ as a shield: 
Christ beside me on my left and my right.

A taxing business

Four weeks in post. Budget six months overdue. Financial markets in turmoil due to the coronavirus outbreak. Rishi Sunak's promotion to Chancellor of the Exchequer might seem something of a poisoned chalice. Whatever the proposals it contains Wednesday's budget statement will be a triumph over adversity.

Budget Day has a long tradition in Britain. Images of the Chancellor of the Exchequer leaving 11 Downing Street for the house of Commons with red box in hand are standard. The parliamentary event has traditions the origins of which are lost in the mists of time. All this to inform Parliament and nation of the plans the Government has to spend tax revenue in the year to come. Budgets are an exercise in public accountability.

Taxation is a hot issue. It was no different in the time of Jesus. Tax collectors were seen as greedy and dishonest. Working for the Roman authorities made them unpopular with their own community. They were treated with suspicion and contempt simply because of the work they did. Zacchaeus was shunned by the people of Jericho. In Capernaum, Pharisees took exception to Jesus eating at Matthew's house. In the eyes of the religious establishment tax collectors were sinners to be avoided at all costs. Jesus saw it differently, meeting them where they were and calling them friends.

Twenty-first century finance and fiscal policy is a complex business. Those who work with other people's money are often treated with same suspicion and contempt that first century tax collectors met with. Are we, as followers of Jesus, willing to meet them where they are and learn to call them friends?

The Flying Scotswoman

One of Britain's best known rail services has been rebranded. For the month of March, passengers travelling between Edinburgh and London will board The Flying Scotswoman. A visionary rail operator has taken this step to encourage more women to consider a career on the railways. To mark International Women's Day the southbound service at 5.40 yesterday was run by an all female crew.

International Women's Day aims to celebrate the achievements of women while calling for greater equality worldwide. The day serves as a reminder that although much progress has been made over the past century towards equality for women and girls there is still some way to travel.

Christian churches are sadly not in the forefront in the journey towards equality for women. It is clear from the New Testament that Jesus accepted women as equals. Luke names Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna as key members of a larger group of women who supported Jesus in his ministry. Women were the first witnesses to the resurrection and were sent to share the good news with the other disciples. Several women were among the leaders of the early church. Paul worked alongside Pricilla and Lydia to name but two. Despite all that the Christian community today continues to restrict the full participation of women in many areas of worship, work, and witness.

International Women's Day this year calls us, female or male, to be 'each for equal' and suggests that 'an equal world is an enabled world'. With those claims in mind, perhaps during Lent this year Christians might reflect on the possibility that where inequality for women persists 'disabled' churches are unlikely to be fully functioning in the way God intends.

Now the green blade rises

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain;
Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain.
Love lives again, like grain that sleeps unseen;
Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain;

Jesus touch can call us back to life again.

Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been;

Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.

John M.C.Crum (1872-1958)

Spring officially begins in a little over two weeks. Across the country daffodils are already appearing. Trees and shrubs are producing new growth. The grass is green and growing. Soon it will be time to mow the lawn. Gardens that a month ago seemed lifeless now speak of the hope that winter is almost at an end. All around nature mirrors the promise of God that neither death nor the difficulties of this world have the final word. As we wait for Easter we do so in confidence, knowing that all that seems dead and bare in our lives will be brought to life when love comes again.

Pancake Day

Pancakes for lunch today. Being away from home on Shrove Tuesday doesn't have to mean missing out on the best part of Lent. Today's Leap Day seems a good opportunity to celebrate Lent in style. After all, Lent is a day longer in this Leap Year.

The foundations of Lent lie in the gospel accounts of the devil tempting Jesus. Fasting during Lent is based on Jesus' refusal to alleviate his hunger by turning stones into bread. Traditionally, Christians intending to observe the Lenten fast cooked pancakes on the day before Ash Wednesday to use up some of the foods they would be denied during the forty days of the Lenten fast.

The notion of Lent as a time for giving up things we enjoy persists in today's secular world as a result of an emphasis on this one aspect of the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness. The link between fasting and spirituality continues in many Christian traditions.

While in the wilderness Jesus battled more than the single temptation to use his power to feed himself. Both Matthew and Luke record two further tests that relate to the ministry Jesus would exercise during his earthly life. Forty days of isolation and temptation were a time of preparation for Jesus as he began his life's work.

Lent in its fullest sense is a season of opportunity rather than six weeks of obligation. Pancakes on a Leap Day are just the start.

Forty days and forty nights

Given the weather in Britain so far this year the forty days and forty nights of Lent seem more likely to resemble the Days of Noah than to mirror the Wilderness experience of Jesus.

Widespread rain and high winds have made this February the wettest on record for over 250 years. Daily news reports show both the damage done and the distress of those for whom this current inundation is not their first experience of flooding. Having made what preparations they can, they now watch and wait in fear of what will come next.

The ancient story of Noah tells of a similar experience. Noah, his family and an assortment of  animals sat on the ark and watched as the flood waters rose around them. But the waiting wasn't over when the rain finally stopped. It took months for the waters to subside and even longer before it was safe to leave the ark. Eventually, life on the outside was once again possible. A rainbow appeared and a new covenant between God and humanity was established. Noah and his family gave thanks to God and began the task of starting over. Noah's story is one of challenge and change.

We cannot know how long it will take for the floods to subside in the worst affected parts of Britain. Like those living through this challenging time we watch, we wait, we hope and we pray for a change in the weather. And perhaps, as we begin our Lenten reflection on the lives we live as people of faith, God will challenge us to consider how changes in our lives might contribute to creating a world in which life without fear of flood is possible.