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Masks, they come in all shapes and sizes.
The wearing of masks has produced an interesting array of colours, styles, and textures. From the simple disposable masks to the professionally produced face hugging polyurethane models, from the simple piece of t-shirt material to the beautifully made multi pleated, multi-coloured models produced by the Sewing Belles. Each reflects in some way the personality of the wearer. Some are worn all the time, some only in buildings, and some hang limply under the chin!
Masks protect but they have also shown how much we rely on interaction and reaction in our relationships. It is said that the eyes are the window of the soul, but a smile speaks a thousand words. Just as so many looked forward to being able to be together again in fellowship and community in worship, now we look forward to the time when we can see if someone is happy or sad, engaged or disengaged, by being able to see their face, unmasked from material but also we pray from fear, self-doubt, pain and suffering.
We all wear masks at times and have done so all our lives. Fear can make us conceal our true feelings, self-doubt can make us be what we are not, pain can lead us to bury ourselves away, and suffering can lead to loneliness and despair. Yet so many of us hide behind a smile or an ‘I’m OK, thanks’, the pretence being a mask as surely as the cotton face covering is.
The Covid-19 pandemic has helped so many of us reassess our lives, helped us realise what is important and what is not. When we come out from behind our physical masks, I pray that we will all be more aware of the feelings of others, more open to allowing others to know our feelings.
God sees behind our masks and loves what he sees.
Rev Sarah
We continue to prayer for Dereck and Angela, Clive, Derrick, Judy, Judith, Margaret and any who are in need and those who have recently died and their loved ones Prue Johnson-Cadwell and Sylvia Newall.
Lord God,
your Son left the riches of heaven
and became poor for our sake:
when we prosper save us from pride,
when we are needy save us from despair,
that we may trust in you alone;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Here is the link to Alistair’s All Age Service for this Sunday
To be a Pilgrim….
This Sunday we celebrate the Patronal Festival of St James, Patron Saint of our church in Birdham. It is therefore appropriate that Susan Monks, Churchwarden at St James, will be offering the Sofa Service this week, and joining me for the outdoor service on Sunday morning.
The theme for the service at Birdham will be Pilgrimage, a journey of discovery and a search for meaning. Does that sound like Lockdown? How many of us have discovered new things about ourselves, about our faith, and about our world, that we would never have found if we had continued to go about our daily lives as we did before? Many of those who worked so hard to keep us safe, and fed, during the pandemic have found new meaning and fulfilment in their work and their lives, and we have found a new appreciation of what they do.
The hymn ‘He who would valiant be’ ends with the line – I’ll labour night and day to be a pilgrim. I pray that we all live our lives as a journey of discovery and a search for meaning, because that is how we grow, in faith, hope and love. I have been on some amazing Pilgrimages to some amazing places, but you don’t have to go to a holy place, you don’t have to shut yourself away, to be a pilgrim, you can do it every day, in being open to others, to the world around you, and to God.
Rev Sarah
We continue to prayer for Dereck and Angela, Clive, Derrick, Judy, Judith, Margaret and any who are in need and those who have recently died and their loved ones Prue Johnson-Cadwell and Sylvia Newall.
Merciful God,
whose holy apostle Saint James,
leaving his father and all that he had.
was obedient to the calling of your Son Jesus Christ.
and followed him even to death:
Help us, forsaking the false attractions of the world,
to be ready at all times to answer your call without delay;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and forever. Amen
Latest Guidance from the Church of England
New guidance from the Church of England strongly recommends that face coverings should be worn when inside a church building for an act of worship. In light of this advice, and in order to protect each other, we would ask that anyone attending a service inside one of our churches wear a mask if possible.
