Dear Friends,
(And yes, it is a different font – I discovered it by accident – Segoe Ul. And so, it’s good bye, for now at least, to Comic Sans MS. But please don’t think I’m trying to convey a subliminal message by doing this. Don’t try to read ‘between the lines’ just read the lines themselves!). I’m writing this having just eaten more than my fair share of pancakes. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent. The meaning of which has been subverted, even corrupted by the invitation to ‘give up something for Lent’ – usually something trivial, or trifling – as an end in itself. In reality, it is a time to be set aside during which we seek God’s help to rid our lives of any distraction that would prevent us from properly entering into the celebration of Easter Day. It is very easy to be distracted. Indeed, given the time we are presently living through, we would probably give anything to be distracted from the daily grind imposed upon us by lockdown. And yet as time goes on, I am finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on any one particular thing. ‘I’ve started, so I’ll finish’ – the much-loved catchphrase made famous by Magnus Magnusson & Mastermind – I find impossible. This letter, which I sat down to write a while ago now, will be ‘punctuated’ by various distractions, all of which have proven to be very welcome distractions. And its not just ‘other things to do’ that provide the distraction. My mind wanders off into places that, even if I did have the complete freedom to go anywhere, I could never actually go to. ‘Fantasy Island’ is very real right now!! ‘We read to know we are not alone’ is a quotation attributed to C.S. Lewis in the film, Shadowlands’. To which we could add any other medium such as radio, television, film theatre etc. A good ‘book’ draws us into itself. Hogwarts, Middle Earth, Narnia wherever. As we read, it is as if we are ‘relocating’ in our minds so that even if we are ‘alone’ we are not because we have a cast of characters for company. It is why reading, cultivating a passion for reading, is so important. Reading should never be allowed to become a ‘lost art’. (At this point, I should, as a minister make the obvious point that no Book does this better than the Bible, and that is why is it is vitally important for our own spiritual well being that we develop the habit, the discipline, of reading a Bible story every day, but that’s for the pulpit on Sunday). I have just finished binge watching series 7 of ‘The West Wing’ – I’d already seen series 1 to 6 – and just as with any good book, I found myself totally absorbed as the drama unfolded. I was there, right there. My favourite character, the one with which I self-identify more than any other is Toby Ziegler, played by Richard Schiff. Toby had revealed state security secrets in order to save the lives of stranded astronauts. As a result, he was sentenced to prison, a fate which he was determined not to avoid. As the final episode unfolded, President Bartlett signed Toby’s executive pardon and he was spared a punishment he knew he deserved. Watch it for yourselves, its great TV, and its free courtesy of ALL4. Anyway, that is Easter for us, in a nutshell, the signing of a pardon, none of us deserves. However distracted we might be, our God, ‘neither slumbers or sleeps’. Never distracted…