Dear Friends,
November has always been a time of festivals and celebrations marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of Winter. We also enter a period of remembrance in the Church’s year, culminating in the Remembrance Sunday services in our churches on 13th November. We also should use this time of year to continue to remember our loved ones that have passed into God’s loving care. Often taken over by the feast of All Hallow’s Eve. (Halloween if you want to think of it like that – an American import by the way, there are two specific days of observance that we should engage with during this remembrance season:
All Saints Day (1st November) celebrates the lives of those who have experienced the regular favour of God in so many ways by good deeds, acts of faith, miracles etc. This day provides an opportunity to give God thanks for that grace and wonderful manner in which those lives have been shaped leaving an enduring touch on us, families and friends. We should be encouraged by the work of the saints and their continued impact on us. Did you know that via our weekly Zoom services on Thursdays and Sundays, we remember and often learn more about these Saints? It might be worth a try – see the online and phone links on the Headlines pew sheet.
All Souls Day (31st October) Remembered in our Parishes’ Memorial services on the 30th October (see below), this day of observance allows us to remember with thanksgiving before God those who have died – those personally known, those who gave us life, made sacrifices for us and who nurtured us in our faith. For our parishes, and if the magazine gets to you in time, please join us for our Parishes’ Memorial and Thanksgiving Services at MADRESFIELD CHURCH on Sunday 30th October at 4pm.
I don’t want to be a party pooper, but for those that remember Halloween/All Hallows Eve please remember those that may be vulnerable or scared by the door knocks, tricks and costumes. Try to balance the “trick and treat” with a candle or a burst of light to mark the truth that Christ’s light still burns through the darkness. Or try a white pumpkin or a cross carved pumpkin on your doorstep.
We then come to Remembrance Day commemorated at Powick Church each and every year on the nearest Sunday to the 11th Hour, of the 11th Day of the 11th Month with our friends from the Royal British Legion. This year’s service will be officiated by the Revd Canon Peter Nokes for me, as I am away for a family significant birthday. There will not be a church service at Callow End, but the community will gather at 3pm for wreath laying at the war memorial. We shall remember them. We explore at these services the theme of memory, both corporate, personal and individual, as we confront the ongoing issues of war and peace, loss and self-sacrifice, memory and forgetting.
Another characteristic of November is the shorter days after the clocks go back an hour. Do you respond or react differently to the change in the Greenwich Mean Time and longer nights? For some, they experience what the NHS describes as “SAD” or “Winter Depression” because the symptoms are usually more apparent in the winter than the other seasons. My advice in such cases is first to always see your Doctor (or General Practitioner). S/he can carry out an assessment to check your mental health. S/he may ask you about your mood, lifestyle, eating habits and sleeping patterns, plus any seasonal changes in your thoughts and behaviour and provide the relevant support. If you are able to take part in any local community events, that is just as important: and there are a few coming up in November as we start discerning God’s call on our parishes and the future size/shape of Church ministry. Meeting others, talking about the exciting and mundane things also matters. Why? We’re social beings, and we are not meant to live in isolation.
There is another aspect to light and dark nights, according to the 5th chapter of 1 Thessalonians: “For (we) are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night”. We become light emitters bringing love and kindness into our community in the midst of darkness. Francis of Assisi said: “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy”. Children of the light and of the day positively impact their communities and surroundings. We plant love, we pardon, we become light and bring joy within challenging environments. Chances are – you are already doing these things and ought to be congratulated. So, thank you! However, if we are yet to do these things, we have a chance from today to make a difference in someone’s life across the Parish.
All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Remembrance Day are key markers for our faith and for coming together in the life of our Parish community. Let us strive to do that, this month and always. Stay blessed and loved. Rev Gary