Reflections from the Chair - February

15th February 2021

Watch this reflection here: http://bit.ly/RFTFeb-YouTube

In the beginning, before time, before people, before the world began,

God was.

Here and now, among us, beside us, enriching the people of earth for the purposes of heaven,

God is.

In the future, when all that we know has found fulfilment,

God will be.

Not denying the world but delighting in it, not condemning the world but redeeming it, through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Sprit,

God was, God is, God will be.

Earlier this week I was planning an October Chaplaincy Gathering with colleagues and we were reflecting on the theme and title of the day.  We considered:

Havens from the storm

Weathering the storm, finding peace / seeking hope

If you have a good title then please tweet it to @revmikehaslam.

It was hard to decide on a title and theme, because it’s impossible to know where we will be in October.  Indeed, we have no idea where we will be after half-term, or at Easter.

That uncertainty, the need to plan everything on at least three differing models, is just a tiny part of the challenges of the maelstrom of grief and fear and tragedy, within which we are living at the moment.

It can he hard in such times to keep hope, and yet hope is there. 

What are the signs of hope for you?

For me, this week, I have seen hope in a member of staff, whose dormant questions of faith have been awakened by the presence of a newly appointed chaplain.  I saw hope when I heard from a community secondary school where a chaplaincy was created for the first time in April 2020.  The head teacher said that the chaplaincy and chaplain are now indispensable; they couldn’t imagine not having a chaplain.

What are signs of hope for you?

I believe that we also have a deeper hope in the God who was, and is, and shall be…

The God who is with us, among us.

As we hold on to hope, as we nurture and express it for our communities and for ourselves, as we care, I hope that we can also care for ourselves.  I hope that we can rest, and sleep and find refreshment this half term. And be refreshed by God and is, and shall be…

Holy God, in Christ you made all things new.

Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,

and in the renewal of our lives make know your heavenly glory.

Amen.

Watch this reflection here: http://bit.ly/RFTFeb-YouTube