Churches February 2024

Thought for the Month

Written articles can, on the surface, be factual, storytelling or intensely emotional, but looking back on ‘Thought for the Month’ I see within the words facets of the person behind them. 

Often in life we don’t take time to scratch beneath the surface of another person. This can lead to prejudice and misunderstandings; it puts barriers up and we miss out on what that person may have to offer to us individually and to the world around them. Getting to know someone takes time; we need to engage with them, to listen, and be prepared to open up ourselves.

We are complex creatures with many layers, we can communicate on a factual level but the way we communicate can reveal the living, breathing, creative spirit beneath, especially so in the written word. My parents’ 60 years of marriage began with letters written to each other in wartime; now people can have a whole other world of ‘virtual friends’ from around the globe, people they have never met but have come to know through technology, perhaps hoping that one day they meet face to face.

People question who God is, whether he exists and, if he does, and if he is as powerful as he says he is, why does he allow ‘bad stuff’ to happen in the world. We find him distant and hard to understand so dismiss him; but have we taken the time to get to know him? We have the Bible; his written word, difficult to grasp in places, seemingly dry and dusty at times, but if we take the time to scratch beneath the surface we find a kaleidoscope of history, stories, drama and the most beautiful poetry ever written, a story of love from beginning to end. 

This is His letter to us. Every answer to every question is found there, past, present and future. It is the blueprint of humanity; our instruction manual; our letter from a friend; our letter from home. But we need to read it. With open hearts and minds the words can come to life as God reveals himself. 

We are between Christmas and Easter and reminded that, through Jesus the Son, God came to meet us face to face. He promises that one day he will come again. 

Meanwhile we have the story of his relationship with us; his promises for now and for the future; and His declaration of love, in black and white, the most compelling read ever.

Lesley Smith, Longhorsley Mission

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