A lifetime of freedom

Dear friends,

It has only been in very recent years that we have been able to “satellite view” the earth that we share, and look down at things from above from the comfort of home. For those with eyes to see, this gives not only a window into the present, but also one into the past. Former airfields from the last war give themselves away by their triangle of ghostly runways; some have changed their use, becoming industrial or science parks; some have been ploughed up, some have been built over. But their sheer number reminds me that to wage a war takes everything; not just from individuals, but from a nation. The whole pattern of economic life had to change in the interests of victory; everything one took for granted (food supply, utility supply, the patterns of employment, government borrowing to name a few) was suddenly measured by a different scale. How much for freedom? Post 1945 we have lived in an era of “the VE dividend”, when the will to peace amidst like minded nations determined never to allow war to triumph again has for an interlude outweighed the natural human bent towards sinful pride and greed. Today the threats we face from the latter are growing and multifaceted: Russia seeking territory; China seeking infrastructure and intellectual property; islam seeking power and control; even some old friends are in danger of being led away by the lure of riches. It is becoming clearer that if war does indeed take everything, then, peace, too, cannot be less costly. Peace and freedom take work, resources and attention, from all of us, all the time. Let us not drop the ball.

Worship Services for Sunday 11th May

9.30am Morning Prayer at St John’s Stoke Row with Mr Peter Ferguson

11am Holy Communion at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon with Canon Kevin Davies. A thanksgiving for VE Day.

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

Team Council meeting

There will be a meeting of the Langtree Team Ministry Council a week today – Tuesday 13th May, at the Old Stables, (St Mary’s Church room) Whitchurch on Thames, at 8pm. There is parking onsite. Your Team Council consists of representatives from all the churches of the Team, and is responsible for the “recruitment, resourcing, and retention” of your clergy and lay ministers. While your church council sets the vision and direction for your church, the Team is the way that we work together and share our resources, and our stories. It is our bulwark against wider economic and other pressures.

In most of the south east of England we are occasionally reminded of the legacy of war when a bomb is dredged from a river, or dug up in a field. Not so the people of Sheerness, on the north Kent coast, who live with the wreck of the SS Richard Mongomery a little way offshore, where she ran aground and then cracked her hull open, in 1944. She was carrying a full load of munitions for the ongoing battle of Normandy, and it is estimated that over 1400 tonnes of high explosives are still onboard, too dangerous to safely remove, and too much to safely detonate. All that can be done is that a wary and regular official eye is kept on the wreck. This seems to me to be a fairly prudent model for us today; in unstable situations that are liable to blow up, attention needs to be “wary and regular”.

Pray for peace, in our time, and for those that work for it, in truth and hope. Pray for those for whom the loss of family or friends in wartime is still something raw. Remember those who continue to fight for their freedom in Ukraine. Give thanks to God for the gift to you of freedom and peace. We ask for the resolve to use these gifts wisely and well, for the benefit of all.

In a week when we are rightly being reminded of both the glory and the tragedy of war, let’s take a moment to remind ourselves of what it was all for. Here’s Rutter’s Gaelic blessing, sung by Libera.

Your Rector, Canon Kevin.