Wisdom and foolishness.

Dear friends,

It is difficult to know where to look; the broken remains of the city of Mandalay; the devastation in Gaza; the death and destruction ongoing in Ukraine; the economic tsunami sweeping across the Atlantic. Yet we have been here before. In many ways all we are seeing is a return to normal service; it was the peace that was irregular. Gaza, and Ukraine are, by virtue of their geography, forever the jam in a superpower sandwich. Taxation (and tariff) will always go through cycles of misuse – whether by greedy kings, manic emperors, desperate governments or brutal dictatorships. Natural disasters shock, but are soon forgotten. Can you tell me when the Turkey earthquake was?

The deeper malaise affecting us  is however more than just the sum of these existential calamities. We intuit that big wheels are turning, but cannot fathom them. The international order is changing; we are moving from a period when it was widely accepted that there was a moral duty to act cohesively for the betterment of all, to a time when the world’s resources are to be treated as a great buffet, where only those with the sharpest elbows will get a place at the free for all.

The joker in the pack is the global hegemony of the technology companies; who do not need walls, because they are already monitoring our purchases and our relationships. The connectivity promised by technology is a Pandora’s box; a better life for those who can pay for it but her tantalising offer just increases the alienation and unhappiness of the poor, who see, but can’t touch. One thing is certain – in any period of shock, or change, (whether inflationary change, climate change, political change, war, famine, or plague) it is the poor who suffer the most.  The question is begged – in amidst all this monstrous foolishness, where is wisdom to be found?

Worship Services for Sunday 6th April

9.30am Family Service at St John’s Stoke Row with Mr Peter Ferguson

11am Morning Prayer at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon with Mr Brian Turner

Midweek zoom service: Wednesday Evensong at 5.00pm  410 935 129

Worship Services for Palm Sunday 13th April

9.30am Morning Prayer at St John’s Stoke Row with Canon Kevin Davies

11am Holy Communion at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon with Rev Romey Poston

Thank you

What we can do, in the face of multiple disasters, is to care for our community. Elbows are better when working to the benefit of others as well as ourselves. Thank you to those of you who volunteered on Saturday to help clean up the church and churchyard. Thank you to those of you who gave flowers and made Simnel cake for mothering Sunday. A beautiful spring weekend was our reward.

There won’t be one of these from me next week as I will be on leave. Advance notice for Holy Week services is below – do join us at Stoke Row on Maundy Thursday, and in the school hall on Good Friday morning. Checkendon School’s end of term service is an Easter themed holy communion, which is tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday 2nd) at 2pm. Everyone is very warmly invited to join the school, and to share in our worship and praise. There will be tea and hot cross buns afterwards, if further incentive were needed. Just turn up, as you wish.

Maundy Thursday 17th April. Team Service at St John’s Stoke Row, 7.30pm The Communion of the Last Supper

Good Friday 18th April. Easter Activities for all ages at Checkendon School Hall. 10.30am

Finally, there is a little river in Cumbria that most of you wont know. It is called the Gelt, and it runs down from the Pennine Fells to meet the river Irthing a little way outside Carlisle. You can walk in the shallow sandstone gorge cut by the Gelt through woodlands not far from the village of Hayton. It is quiet and tranquil, and the running water is beautiful. The video in this recording of the Lord’s My Shepherd reminds me of that place, and assures me that even in times of trouble there remains beauty and love in the world, whether hundreds of miles away, or close at  hand. May the Lord hold you close, as the Passion of our Lord draws near.

Your Rector, Kevin Davies.