Dear Friends,
In a week when the Catholic Church announced the new Pope, my attention was drawn to this week’s reading in Acts that tells of Peter, miraculously raising Tabitha from the dead.
I was immediately struck by how far Peter had come in his life and mused on how often he might have thought the same.
Humble beginnings, a fisherman called Simon, one might imagine tough and hardworking, an all-in kind of guy, yet his story also tells us he had moments of weakness, impulsiveness and vulnerability…and yet, Jesus chose him, named him Peter, ‘rock’.
A new name, a new purpose, a new future. That’s a lot of change in this one man’s life.
I wonder then about our own life journeys. How our upbringing, family, education, relationships, life experiences shape us. How faith melds this together, refines these experiences in a way and then changes us, our purpose and our future.
I wonder how your faith has changed you? How will faith change the future you?
Do you have any ‘stepping out in faith’ moments? When looking back you think how did that happen! A moment or direction of travel perhaps, shaped and fuelled by the Holy Spirit?
I get a sense, with a new vicar joining us soon, new vicar posts being filled locally and the deanery’s commitment to children families and young people, that a new energy, inspiration and focus is starting. Pentecost vibes for sure.
So I wonder dear reader, are we ready to embrace what is heading our way…change? Are we ready to step out in faith? To step up and be the Easter people that we are called to be and embrace the opportunity’s the spirit reveals to us?
As Lance Corporal Jones said ‘Don’t panic!’ I know not all of us feel comfortable with change. But know that the spirit will, I believe, fit us for the road ahead.
With God, all will be well.
We are and will not be alone.
Love,
Julia
Julia Jones, Churchwarden