I have almost forgotten how many weeks it is since we started lock-down. We have had so much time on our hands that we have almost forgotten what to do with it all. One thing we all share in this challenging time is that we have to wait. We wait outside supermarkets, nicely spaced out. We order books or cases of wine online and have to wait for their delivery. Wait, wait, wait. For Christians who are used to going regularly to church where they sing hymns with others, break bread with others, say their prayers with others, listen to the scriptures with others, this has been a very hard time. We were only just into Lent (itself a hard time, no flowers in church, purple hangings, giving up things) when the lock-down started. The wait seemed eternal. When would Easter come? Finally Easter did come and the hymns on our website were suitably jolly but we were still waiting in lock-down. This time of waiting seemed to stretch way over the horizon, on and on and on. Now Ascension Day has come. Jesus, our risen Lord, has ascended to heaven, telling us to wait for the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Forty days of Lent, forty days from Easter to Ascension Day, ten days from Ascension to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost/Whitsun. ‘The Stature of Waiting’ is a book by Canon W H Vanstone, which had a great effect on me as I went through the selection process for the ministry. It was well over a year between the first of my interviews and the letter from the Bishop to say I had been recommended for a selection panel, which finally took place a third of a year later. Vanstone shows how Jesus seemingly passively accepts his arrest, torture, mocking, crucifixion, but it is, in fact, a time of waiting. On Easter morning he bursts from the tomb. The waiting is over. Vanstone shows us how to be more Jesus-like and accept that there are times when we have to wait. They are given to us that we may be more effective when they are over. This year the waiting has gone on much longer than usual, much longer than we feel we can bear. Let us draw strength from our Lord’s example. Let us, through prayer and study, those Zoom sessions with friends and families, those phone calls to neighbours, the thousand different ways we have found to use this time for growth, try to be more Christ-like. When the waiting gets to us, we must remember the Crucified One and draw encouragement from Him. There is a wonderful verse in the 40th chapter of the Prophesies of Isaiah (v31) - ‘Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.’ Say this verse over and over to yourselves. Grow strong again in your love for Our Lord and for one another. Pray for one another - and pray for me too that I may stay strong and patient. John
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AuthorCanon John Green Archives
May 2021
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