St Mary's Church, Mudford
February 2025
This month's message comes from our new Rector, the Reverend Richard Horner
Dear all,
Moving house, they say, is one of life's top five stressful
experiences. I’ve been moving into the Rectory in Marston Magna,
and it certainly is hard work, but a small compensation is that it
provides a rich seam of ideas about what to write in this newsletter.
Selfishly, I started the unpacking process with my study. I got
everything into its proper place; bookshelves, desk, filing cabinet,
biscuit tin, etc. Last of all I found the box with all the electronic
stuff it, and I carefully laid out in the correct position my computer,
keyboard, screen, back-up drive, disk drive, printer and speakers.
This took some time because arranging your desk is one of the
greatest procrastinatory strategies for avoiding what you really
ought to be doing.
Anyway, the task was eventually completed and there were all
my bits and pieces neatly laid out ready for me to use. But when I
sat down to switch on I discovered a major problem. All the
computery bits were there – but none of the wires. No power leads,
no printer cable, no USB connections. The devices sat neatly on the
desk in their allotted places, but they might as well have been on
separate planets for all the use they were. Without cables and
connections, hundreds of pounds worth of electronic equipment is
useless.
"And you know what", said the Vicar, "that's a bit like life".
What makes our lives worthwhile is the connections between us.
I've already seen this in action in the few days since I arrived here.
Just as a computer can’t function without its connections, so a
village can’t function as a community until connections between
people have been put in place. But it doesn’t just happen. We make
strong connections between ourselves by working at it. We do it by
being interested in other people, and not just talking about ourselves
all the time. By using our imagination to put ourselves in another
person’s place and seeing the world through their eyes. By
celebrating other people’s successes and standing beside them in
their sorrows. By accepting that some people are different from
ourselves and learning to value and enjoy that difference.
Anyway, you know all this. Since I arrived, I've been
overwhelmed by the warmth of the welcome I've received - thank
you - and I'm enjoying being drawn in to the connections that bind
us together. Please introduce yourselves to me when you see me
around in the villages. I'm hopeless at remembering faces and
names, so you'll have to do it more than once, but please persevere.
And just before I leave this analogy all together, let me wring
one more drop from its limp form. The electronic bits and pieces
on our desks need not only the wires that connect them to each
other; they also need a cable that brings power from outside as
well.
When God came to earth in the human form of Jesus of
Nazareth, he said, “I have come so that they may have life, and life
in all its fullness.” That is my prayer for you; and it is both my
conviction and my personal experience that the truest and greatest
fullness of life is found by those who seek to follow Jesus.
So, I'm here to encourage and help you to do that; but also for
anyone at all who believes themselves to be on a spiritual journey,
however far from God you may think you are. Wherever you are
coming from and going to, our churches are here for you as a
source of strength; of power; of encouragement and inspiration.
Without an external power supply no device can function for
long, whether it’s me and you, or whether it’s the computer on my
desk, so thank goodness my cables and leads eventually turned up.
Look after yourselves - body, mind and spirit. And look after the
connections between us too.
With all good wishes,
Richard
richardtherector@hotmail.com