September 2003

Time to Change

When Don Sinclair went to find out about having a Christmas tree competition among the local schools to enable some interaction between us and them at Christmas, he came back with a surprising finding. The teachers said "good idea! but unfortunately in our classes we have Hindus, Moslems and Christians to do this would cause division in the classroom." Our world has changed! In this changed world we need to even more careful about the way we live and act toward each other as a Christian community. People notice far more what we do rather than what we say. They notice if we live in peace or squabble and fight.
In this time of change, as we come together at St Johns for services of worship, there are all sorts of feelings. Some are unhappy, we all like things to stay the same, some are afraid of what the future holds, some differ from others but don?t know how to express that and still remain in friendship, some are suspicious of every ones motives, others are excited about the new possibilities and most are longing to welcome our coming together.

When we let go of our usual habits we then find there are new things for us and old things are freed up.. It is never easy to move into new ways, to just do as we?ve always done seems the tempting option when the road is difficult.
It is just possible that God is leading us to be a community which is better equipped to reach out and embrace our neighbours.
Where ever you stand at present, do not be afraid, have faith, join the journey, and we will all be surprised by the way in which God can work among us if only we allow God to change us.
May God bless you and gather you in peace



Rev. Margaret Anne Low