Rector’s Weekly Letter

Dear friends,

Many of you have said to me that you’re glad that it is during the Spring that this terrible crisis has hit us and I agree. For me, though, this is not only because this season brings better weather, longer days, birdsong and blossom to lift our hearts. It is because Spring is the traditional time for giving the home a thorough clean. This means that I can justify to my family all the hoovering and dusting, emptying out of drawers and cupboards, I’ve been doing during the last few weeks! I can’t deceive myself, however. I know that cleaning and sorting is an activity I turn to when I need to feel in control of my life. We all respond to uncertainty and danger in different ways but we can choose not to allow fear to possess us, driving us into the darkness of anger or despair. Henri Nouwen wrote about the way faith in God enabled him at difficult times in his life to move from the House of Fear to the House of Love. God doesn’t keep danger from us, he says, but knowing that we are loved and are called to love can make us unafraid and enables us to live life to the full no matter what our circumstances may be. When Jesus says, ‘Make your home in me, as I make mine in you’, he is offering us is a place right in the midst of our anxious world where we can be free to notice the suffering of other people and to respond with compassion.

It’s not easy stay close to the One who said ‘Do not be afraid’ in difficult times such as these when our regular pattern of worship is broken. But we can still pray for each other and encourage one another. If any of you would like to meet on-line to reflect on Archbishop Justin Welby’s excellent series of short videos, Exploring Prayer, please let me know on rector @ stmarysdunblane.org . They can be found at www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/exploring-prayer. You don’t need to be a regular member of St Mary’s to be involved. Everyone will be made welcome.

With love to you all,
Nerys