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This Month's Message

Harpley, My Life is my Message." Mahatma Gandhi

      Joy Smith

      Licenced Lay Minister

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 2024

Dear Friends
As I write this the sun is shining and everywhere there are signs that Spring is on the way, lighter days and hopefully not too much more wet days, the fields and gardens are still full of water, but the buds are coming out on the shrubs and soon the leaves will start forming on the trees.


In church we are now in the season of Lent and by the end of this month it will be Easter.

The year seems to be disappearing fast but perhaps it is time for us all to slow down - the season of Lent is a time for us all to stop and take time to look at out lives.

In Marks gospel Jesus, just after his baptism in which he hears his Fathers voice confirming who he is, is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness and is tempted.

Having watched Simon Reeve’s programmes titled “Wilderness” it is amazing to see that we still have places in our world where nature is still allowed to be free.

But all that is changing. We are pushing out much of our natural world through greed and self-gratification, we need our wilderness places to help us focus on our own lives.
Wilderness can seem a very frightening place, a place we would not choose to go and yet many of us can feel “in the wilderness”, lost, hopeless, wandering through the wilderness and unable to see that “promised land”, a place where all our needs are met.

Yet Jesus experienced that, he was tempted like us, and he knows our weakness and frailty.
 

We often give up something for Lent, like chocolate, coffee or wine to help us to focus on giving to people in need, (but we can do that during the year as well) it might be something you would like to do this year, look at what you could do without and put the money towards a charity or when shopping put something in the trolley for the food bank it is a simple thing to do but can mean a lot to someone in need.
Then by the time we come to the end of the month, Easter will be here a celebration of what Jesus has done for all of us, and I’m sure we will all enjoy the celebration with perhaps a little chocolate!!!


We hope to you have a reflective Lent and a very Happy Easter from all the Ministry Team

Joy Smith Licensed Lay Minister

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