Letter from the Clergy - July/August 2010

Tomorrow, I'm going on holiday with my two daughters, their husbands and my five grandchildren!  This year has been very special for us because in January, Jake was born and in April, his cousin Gregory came along.  Jake has one older sister, and Gregory has two! 

All the children are cherished and loved as individuals, their personalities are developing and they are all so different - and they are loved for the people they are.

The older children are getting used to sharing their parents with a baby who needs lots of attention and cuddles, and sometimes they find it a bit difficult.  So, in different ways, they have been testing their parents' love for them.  Many of you will have experienced this in your own families, and you may agree that patience is a key element in helping the children to adjust to the new situation.

On a much less happy note, I am writing this just a few days after the terrible events in West Cumbria.  The Media is full of theories as to why Derrick Bird went on his murderous rampage, and the truth is that the real reasons may never be known. However, one thing is clear, that his first victim was his twin brother. For Christians, the story of Cain and Abel comes to mind from the first book of the Bible - Genesis.  Sibling rivalry is as old as time.

In our human relationships, we have to learn to deal with jealousy, resentments and anger, because if we don't, they can become a destructive force to ourselves and to others. 

Our spiritual relationship can sometimes be undermined by our own insecurities.  Very often people have asked, "How can God love me?" "How can He have enough love to go around?" We may not understand how it is possible that God loves each one of us equally - our human experience of love is just too narrow - but nevertheless, it is the truth.  The words of the Prayer of Thanksgiving at our United Service on Trinity Sunday sum it up:

Christ recognised our weakness,
and was still ready to die for us.
He knew we deserve nothing, yet he gave all.

His body was broken, not for the few,
the special, the elite,
but for you, for me and for many.
His blood was shed, not for the perfect,
the righteous, the holy,
but for you, for me and for many.
Take and eat not because you must
but because you may;
because Christ loves you
and invites you to love him.

It is an act of faith, but we can choose to believe that "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son..." and in doing so know that there is no need for sibling rivalry or jealousy, and we can rest in His love.

Rev. Marilyn Ilyas
Team Rector