April 2013

Rectory Ramblings

One of the things that fascinates me about the expression of the Christian faith is the way in which it varies in practice according to where it finds itself. Not in the fundamentals of faith and teaching of course – but rather in its outward expression. Should you try to take a snapshot of a typical Anglican in this world you would probably find that his or her Church was Black and Charismatic, for example, with a style of worship that might horrify some of us in Stone!

Now that is nothing new. Whereas the first Gentile Christians undoubtedly imported some of the Hebrew expressions of the Christian Faith, they also had things which had to be interpreted. There’s a good example of this in St Luke’s re-telling of the story of the paralysed man, lowered down through the roof by his friends: Matthew and Mark tell the story as of a Palestinian mud roof, but Luke talks about tiles being taken off, as in a Roman villa

At Easter we tell the story of the Resurrection: but because it is so earth-shattering a concept, there are few words that can really express it. In consequence we tend to use figures of speech: we speak of the chicken hatching from the egg – and the allegory of new life in the signs of Spring around us. Of course none of these are good enough – no-one expected Jesus to be raised from the dead as the chicken hatches out or the tree bursts into New life

But the allegory of Spring is a strictly Northern hemisphere then! If we lived South of the Equator then Easter would chime in with Autumn, not Spring – and when I had the chance to talk to a South American Christian once it was fascinating:- Christians there do sot equate Easter with New life but with Hope! They see the Resurrection event as something that gives hope of good things to come, even though the world around them is dying back in its cycle.

Hope! – a much neglected Christian virtue. Not the vague hope that something will turn up of course – but hope in God. The God that shatters all the norms of scientific observation can be trusted to do something good for us in the future. We are not given to despair, but to Easter Hope and Joy

So I wish you a very happy Easter: but not a vague fluffy one, but one based in the firm reality of all that has happened in Jesus. May the God of unexpected Joy and Hope thrill you as we celebrate together!

Ian Cardinal

Intercessions

Easter Greetings

A big thank you to everyone whom I hope will be tramping the Streets with the Parish Easter Card. I know this makes a big difference to us and is very much appreciated by the folks that receive them through their letterboxes

But second can I wish all the Readers of the magazine a very Happy Easter Season. May the God of new possibilities continue to excite us as we journey on together!

So Many thanks

To everyone who has been involved with the Bell renewal project. There was a moving service on Feb 24^th led by the Bishop of Stafford – and then some of us were privileged to hear the first notes from the Bells as they were rung on Tuesday 5^th March. What a joy! Thank you for all your hard work.

And more thanks

To those builders at Aston, and everyone who has been working hard to keep the Church functioning at Aston. It is now certain that the works will actually enhance the building and look quite beautiful in its gleaming new paint! Again, some hard work gone in and so many thanks to everyone; We look forward to the rededication service later this year