March 2011 Letter

 As we enter into Lent together, our eyes turn towards Easter in hope

The start of Lent and the date of Easter are late this year. So late that we have to hold our APCM before Easter in order to fit it into the legally required time frame (must be held before the end of April). So, our APCM will be on April 10^th after the 10am Sunday Service – fair warning to you all!  And I know that most children will be going back to school straight after the Easter Bank Holiday Monday – which will feel most strange. It also means that I’m writing to you about Lent in the March edition of Shore Line instead of February – weird, eh?!

Because this year, the Orthodox and Western churches celebrate Easter together on April 24th – edging towards the latest it can be. And this means also that as we start Lent we are able to enjoy the signs of hope – the daffodils and bursting buds on the trees and bushes – even as we start the 40 days of discipline. How will this make it different for us from a year like 2010 when Lent and Easter were so early we barely had time to finish the great celebration of Christmas and Epiphany before we moved into the preparation for sorrow?

 It’s often said that our experience of the depths of despair in Passiontide and our sharing of the discipline of the desert in Lent are artificial creations – because we already know the end of the story – the joyous ending of Easter Sunday that Christ’s followers could not know, even though he’d hinted to them enough times.

But isn’t that what Greek tragedy was all about? Everyone knew the story already – the ending was already firmly fixed in people’s minds – but it was the exploration of the human condition, of the human mind and emotions, of the way relationships can be affected by situation, that distinguished a mediocre play from a brilliant one. So it is with Lent. Each year we are encouraged to make Lent a special time for ourselves to learn more about God, and our Christian life – to prepare. Easter is the greatest Christian Festival – the first to be fixed firmly in the Christian calendar, even though the date is a matter for dispute – and so we should work and get ready properly for its celebration.

What will you do this year to make it special? One of the ways of marking Lent can be to give something up – a pale shadow of the great discipline of fasting that our Western churches have lost touch with. Or, on a more positive note, to take something up that will focus us on the importance of Christ in our lives:-

• You could join a Lent Group to share and deepen our faith – you’ll find information about the course we’re running this year “Exploring the Void” in the church and here in Shore Line
• You could take up reading the Bible for a set period each day during Lent – there are some wonderful Bible Reading notes you could try to help you with this – speak to Sally or Gail
• You could buy or borrow a particular Christian book in order to explore an aspect of your faith in greater depth – again, there are some fantastic books circulating around our congregation at the moment that you could borrow – do ask around, or visit one of the Christian book websites (eg www.eden.co.uk)
• Or you could think in greater depth about the imperative to include the marginalised in our community – is there something YOU could do to make a difference? To help us this year, Shoreham Churches Together are running a series of Talks at St Peter’s about marginalised groups and a final meeting when we can talk about our response and what the Bible tells us to do.

Just because we know there is a happy ending around the corner to be celebrated with rejoicing on Easter Sunday doesn’t mean we shouldn’t focus right now on the hard parts of our faith: the fact that Jesus DIED for us in order to make humankind’s relationship with God right; the need to show in our lives that being a Christian makes a difference; the knowledge that the Good News of God’s love for us doesn’t mean we won’t suffer. We can see the promise of hope in the green shoots and spring flowers around us – don’t be fooled! Hope and the promise of joy do not rule out the need to be firm in our faith and honest in our approach to God. We will often fail, but the God of mercy will be there to lift us up. May your Lent be blessed and your Easter filled with joy – but don’t anticipate the ending before it gets here!

With love …..Gail