November 2022 Blog by ALM Deborah Bithell
Parish Letter – November 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters
As I sit here writing this letter the nights are beginning to draw in, yet it is only September. Big coats are beginning to be worn and we are debating whether or not to put the heating on, such is the fear of using precious energy.
In addition to the above we have recently lost our beloved Queen Elizabeth II. The whole country, commonwealth and beyond mourned this amazing lady’s life. She truly did embrace her faith and relied on it throughout her life. As always at the end of something there is also the beginning of something new, and we now have a King, Charles III. What a daunting task he has to face. And yet haven’t we heard about this before when our Lord Jesus Christ died and then followed the resurrection. What a wonderful sacrifice was made.
This winter I fear many of us will have to make some sacrifices. A phrase we’ve heard a lot is ‘heat or eat’. If we take this at face value will we be able to donate to those less off than ourselves? How will our foodbanks cope if this is the case? And those they serve. It can be quite terrifying for most people, particularly those in our society who are most vulnerable; the elderly, the young, those who are sick. Will our faith sustain us?
We only need to look in our bibles to see that the difficulties we face have been faced before, in one form or another. Was anybody poorer than Lazarus? Or the widow who gave her last few coins? Yet like our Queen and her son both had faith.
Trust is something else we learn from the bible. Trust in the Lord with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5-6). Can we do this? Certainly we know our faith and trust we will be tried this winter.
We are lucky in this country in that we have access to free education, free medical care, access to a dentist and freedom to worship. Do we ever really count our blessings, or do we become bogged down in the minutiae of life.
As we approach difficult times I pray that we can all pull together and help each other in times of trouble. This is the legacy our Queen has left her son, our country and beyond with. Let us share the faith she had and trust in the Lord with all our hearts. God bless
Deborah - Authorised Lay Minister