MEMORY Memory is a strange thing, isn’t it? I say this following on from a conversation I had with my grown-up children recently where we were reminiscing about family life when they were much younger. I was remembering one particularly difficult winter when I had three children under the age of ten, a husband whose job demanded extremely long hours of him, my own job which required me to work night shifts and the struggle I had to hold on to my sanity! To my mind, it was one of my toughest times and I commented to my children that I wasn’t a particularly good mum then as I was permanently tired and grumpy and that I was always moaning at them. They looked at me as if I was mad!!! “What are you on about, Mum” exclaimed my youngest. “Don’t you remember when we had that massive storm and when you came in from work late at night, we were all awake and crying because of the thunder? You and dad got out all the blankets and sheets in the house, moved all the furniture around in the lounge and made a den downstairs for us to sleep in. Each of us had our own little ‘cave’ and you and dad slept in there with us - it was the best night EVER”!!! There then ensued a very animated conversation about this warren of caves that Colin and I had constructed and it seemed that I was the only one who had viewed it as a last desperate measure to get even a couple of hours sleep before the school run in the morning, even if it did leave the house looking like a tornado had hit! It appears that my desperation had turned me into a hero! The same memory viewed from different perspectives. It reminded me that each of us can only hold on to our own personal recollections of times and events and from them we form opinions which can influence us for the rest of our lives. If, however, we seek out other perspectives on the same story, we can often see things we had previously missed, gain insights that hadn’t occurred to us and have a less narrow view on the events that unfolded. 2 This year, on Sunday 11th November, we mark the centenary of the end of World War 1. One hundred years since the end of the war that was thought to be the war that would end all wars. Of course, there is no one left alive who can recall first-hand the events of that war but their memories, shared and passed on to each generation, endure to remind us of the cost of war and to influence our thoughts and actions in the future. For many of us, we will never have known the horrors of war nor do the younger generations have any relatives to recall the memories first-hand. How then can they hope to understand the bravery, fear, courage and self-sacrifice of the generations before us, especially in a world that increasingly glamorises violence? How can they understand how fortunate we are to live in this country and to empathise with other countries that are in the midst of conflict? If lessons are to be learned, peace to be cherished, repetition avoided then it is vital that this generation remembers and passes on that knowledge. Our history, our past, our memories are important for the sake of our future, for a wider perspective - ‘Lest we Forget’. With love - Ginni
Reflections Blog
TALENT At the time of writing, at the end of August, Ginni was off on her summer holidays. Well-deserved of course following a busy period culminating in successfully achieving her challenge of taking the Horse Blessing Service sitting on a horse. Well done to horse and rider as well as the other 22 horses that attended. Indeed, following this success, it was rumoured that she went off on a fortnights pony trekking holiday. Ok, maybe that bit is fake news! As I write this what is sadly not in dispute in the news is the endless revelations of child abuse that are again coming to the fore with the Pope’s visit to Ireland. Such terrible historic disclosures are not restricted to the Catholic Church as the Anglican Church also has an awful burden of guilt. Clearly, we all share a responsibility to rebuild trust in our church and as an important part of that many of us have been undertaking our safeguarding training on line and through attending courses. The training has been put together very thoughtfully and is well-presented given the sensitivity of the subject matter and the challenging role the church has in helping both the abused and the abusers. We are all better prepared to fulfil our roles in rebuilding trust by making our churches safer places in the future. We must give particular thanks to our safeguarding officers and pray that they are given the guidance they need in such important roles. Time to move to a more upbeat subject. As we work on our church in Great Wymondley and move to the next stages in our master plan, at each point that we hit a tricky situation I have been very grateful for the ideas, practical support and initiatives that come forward from within our community. This makes me realise what a wonderful breadth and depth of talent we are blessed with within our benefice. I am reminded of the parable of the talents, indeed talent which means our natural ability is derived from the parable, where Jesus teaches us that we must use our gifts wisely. If we all heed the lesson of the parable that we must use our talents and abilities, as well as our wealth, in God's service, with the enormous talent we have we can look forward very positively to the ways in which we can enrich our churches and communities. In my role as Churchwarden in a church under renovation I would not surprisingly highlight a quote from Exodus “Let every skilful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded.” We must also of course compliment Reverend Ginni on her many talents, including now horse riding and the one that I am very aware of as I write this PAX preface, that of delegation! Looking back to what I said in May my hopes have only partially been fulfilled. Certainly, the rain stopped and the sunshine came out but with such enthusiasm that I fear the crops have suffered. However, as we hold our Harvest Festivals throughout the benefice I am sure that we will be able to give thanks to the talented farmers and growers who have made the best of our Mediterranean summer to grow and harvest our crops. Best wishes for the autumn season - Paul Harding
