07/01/2024

It has been a hard Spring and early summer for many, with cold and wet weather dampening not just the garden but people’s spirits too. There are signg of summer, and we can only hope that soon we will be outside more. Light and the chance to be outside in warmer weather is important for us all, but more so for those who are for reasons and sickness or isolation kept inside by poor weather, a chance to experience the world, and a change from our four walls. With much that is happening in the world people are understandably apprehensive and fatigued by bad news and dismayed by media images of the lives of those caught up in some of the world’s terrible upheavals. As we continue to hold them all in our prayers, we pray that the arrival of summer might lighten everyone’s hearts and allow us to find some time to rest and re-charge. The bible offers a message of hope in difficult times, but never pretends hope is easy. For us summer may bring welcome rest and relief, but we know too that for many around the world it will make no difference to their present troubles, perhaps in the heat make things worse. Hope though sits in the framework of time, and hard as it sometimes feels, we remain hopeful in the promises of God, He who sent His Son with a message of peace, justice, mercy and love. The world needs this hope as much today as ever, and pray that those who need it most find all that God wishes for them.