In life it seems that nothing is black and white; there are always things that crowd in and cloud the issue. Before ordination I was a buyer for an engineering company, and weighing up information about price, delivery and contractual details was never straightforward and there were always issues that made any decision more difficult than it seemed. It was only through experience and skill of judgement that hopefully I was able to make the right decisions for the company. The same is true for the daily decisions we have to make as it is never as straightforward as it at first seems.
When it comes to the repair and maintenance of our church buildings it comes in very useful to have that background knowledge to hopefully make the right decisions in appointing contractors to carry out any work that needs doing. Along with the Churchwardens I hope that we make the right decisions for our buildings and the events that we put on for our communities.
Contrary to that, having a faith in the Christian way of life is different inasmuch that Jesus said that “Whoever is not against us is for us”– in other words there is no sitting on the fence; you are either for or against. God welcomes all people regardless of background, culture or whatever has happened in our lives before, as God is a forgiving God. On Sunday we celebrate Candlemas, when the church remembers the presentation of Jesus in the temple by his parents – as was the custom of the day in Israel. I hope that we can all present ourselves to God as a servant and proclaim a faith in God.
I wish you God’s peace.
Revd Graham
