We live in changing times.
During the last year I have conducted several funerals of people who have been well into their 9th decade of life and have reflected with their families as to how the world has changed for better and for worse. The wife of one man who had died said something very interesting which I have not been able to get out of my mind. She had been telling me about the wonderful 68 years of marriage that she and her husband had experienced and laughed as she said "We look at the past through rose tinted spectacles - the future is only a fog through which we have to find our way." She continued to tell me that life had not been that easy for them, how they'd had very little money, never had holidays, had to count every penny etc. "BUT" she said, taking a deep breath, "I wish I was starting out now - I think these are wonderful times to live". It was so nice to hear someone say something positive about the times we live in! I think it's really important that we remember that although times might be hard they are better for us than for many.
We can't turn the clock backwards or forwards - although I am aware that we will have done the VERY thing the night before this meeting! So we come to serve God as we are with a history - a history of rights and wrongs; a past of strong and shaky discipleship; a chequered past that is called life. There is a sense in which we can long to stay with the familiar, to cling to the comfortable and predictable, to hold onto the past, however painful that might be and to find our security in a world of our own making. It's easier to look back because we know what happened; the future is a fog but God calls us into the future to move on, to pray, to reflect and to change.
The process of change is always difficult and we all approach it in different ways. In our own church life the biggest thing that is happening are the talks with St Lawrence's. I want to stress again that these are talks about whether we want to form an LEP with them - that decision has not yet been made; there is much to pray about and much detail to work out and legal processes to go through. Some people, I know, think that we are moving too slowly but the legal processes demand this and we are anxious to consult widely and really want to know your opinions. I ask you to pray about the whole situation, to try not to look back and give the past too rosy a glow and try not to be put off by the fog! There are lights to guide us and whichever direction we take there will still be fog!
Thank you all for your support through the last year which has been one of great change for me as I have taken up the role of Deputy Chair of District of the West Yorkshire District of the Methodist Church and I pray you will all know the blessings of the Easter Season.    God bless, Ruth