Readings:
Nehemiah 8: 1-4a, 8-12;
Ps 119: 9-16;
Colossians 3: 12-17;
Matt 24: 30-35

Collect:
Merciful God,
teach us to be faithful in change and uncertainty,
that trusting in your word and obeying your will
we may enter the unfailing joy of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Reflection

I don’t know about you but sometimes I find my patience running thin, I get irritable and grumpy with everyone.  This is particularly the case when I’m stressed, tired and fed up.  I’m sure I’m not alone and we all have those days.  If you can, you find ways of letting those closest to you know how you are really feeling. Having a safe place to share the stresses and anxieties of life is so important.  If you can’t share, you end up bottling it up inside you, putting on your ‘I’m fine’ face, and can make yourself ill.

With life in so much turmoil at the moment it’s harder and harder for people, we see people getting irritable with each other both nationally and locally.  More people are struggling with their mental health as they find themselves alone, unable to interact with people, the pressures of life just getting too much.  How we can support one another becomes a question that I am often asking myself but struggling to find the answers.  Not helped by the fact that those who are really struggling manage to hide it pretty well, even from their nearest and dearest.  I came across an image of two heads – on the outside saying “I’m fine” but on the inside a whole list of things that was going on, pressures, demands, worries, self-confidence, you name it – this simple picture struck home and reinforces to me that none of us really know what is going on in someone’s life as all of us have an outside persona – “I’m fine” approach.

As I reflect on Paul’s letter to the Colossians, I’m finding myself thinking that here in these few short verses is a way for us to try and be better people together.  It begins with that wonderful phrase ‘As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved…’  I wonder how often you feel you are one of God’s chosen ones?  I wonder how often you feel that you are holy and beloved?  When you’re feeling down, so often you hear all the negative things; the criticisms, the complaints, the ‘I should have done better’, ‘I’m no good’.  However, you are beloved! You are holy! God has chosen you!  Just think about those words for a moment.  

These words bring me a great deal of encouragement and strength.  They show me that for some reason God has chosen me, despite all my faults and I am beloved.  I often have to remind myself this, particularly if I’m having a ‘bad day’, and it helps.  The same sentiment appears many times throughout the Bible some of my favourites being Psalm 139 ‘I am fearfully and wonderfully made…’ and the words from heaven at Jesus’ baptism ‘this is my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased…’ 

You and I are God’s beloved children and we are given the things that we need to encourage and support one another to be those people God has created us to be.  Paul continues to encourage by saying clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience and above all love.  I just love this image of getting dressed in these garments for its these qualities that help us to understand one another better so that we can be honest with each other about how we are feeling, we don’t have to put on an outside face. 

Paul goes on to say that we should bear with one another, and if we have a complaint then forgive each other.  It’s this phrase to ‘bear with one another’ that really hits the nail on the head for me.  None of us are perfect and none of us knows what is going on for someone else so we need to bear with one another and if there is something to complain about, bring it to that person in love and forgive them as God has forgiven you.

So during these next few uncertain and stressful weeks and months, let us learn to be more understanding with one another.  May we bear with each other and with love in our hearts May we build each other up and affirm that we are God’s beloved children.

Mike Morris