November 2009 Vol. 31 No. 11

Dear Friends

We have 'done' Harvest and we are just about to 'do' Remembrance. This is the time of year when the church's seasonal calendar offers us a clear framework of thought; as we move from thanksgiving (for Harvest) through remembering to the waiting (in Advent) in readiness for the joy of the Incarnation. I am aware that in rural communities the reality of the harvest is much more visible with locally produced potatoes, garden-grown apples, and homemade jams. It makes the thanksgiving more immediate and more relevant.

We are now entering the 'Kingdom' season of the church's year. This is time when we remember and give thanks for those who have gone before us. All Saints Sunday gives us an opportunity to remember those who have died, as we ponder on the mystery of the 'Communion of Saints'. We hold special services for those who wish to remember their own departed loved ones, and light candles in their memories. We take part in Remembrance Sunday observances as we acknowledge the part played by those men and women who offered their lives in the service of their country during times of war.

This is the official remembering. But often, those memories that are treasured the most are the private ones. Those thoughts that remember small acts of kindness, often unasked for, but given as a gift. Many people sent me cards, both before and after I had major surgery, but the one I treasure is a tiny red card with a heart on it, which read inside 'remember you are loved'. In the Bible, Jesus was aware of this. There is a story in the gospels of a woman breaking an expensive jar of perfume and pouring it over Jesus. His disciples were horrified at the apparent waste. She had poured out the equivalent of a year's wages for 'nothing'. But Jesus saw beyond the act to the love in that woman's heart and said that her act would be remembered. And it has been. You can find the story in Mark's gospel (Chapter 14: 3-10). We do not know her name - some have hazarded guesses at who she was. But we know what she did, and it has been remembered.

And we do well to remember. 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'.* We can and do learn from our mistakes. But let us also remember with gratitude those lessons learned from the past both from our own experience and the experience of other. Let us remember with gratitude those who died in the service of others. Let us remember with grateful thanks the lives of those known to us that we have loved. And as we remember and give thanks let us look forward to what lies ahead. We wait for the coming of the Christ child - God's greatest gift to us. Let us look forward in joyful antici[pation to God's goodness to us.

With my love and prayers.

Claire

* from 'Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense, Scribner's, 1905, page 284.