Minister's Message
August 2019

Dear Friends,

I once said to a friend that people just want to be told that everything is alright. He replied, ‘everything is alright’, and in a way he was right, everything is alright except that such an attitude can often seem to conflict with our reality. I say this because life often seems to be a series of problems that have to be fixed only then to find that the problem either re-occurs soon afterwards or another problem just jumps in to take its place. The world is full of problems as we all know, some problems we can fix, some we can’t. Someone recently said to me that if we could all throw our problems into the centre of a big circle where they could be divided up and shared out it again, we would probably end up wishing that we could just have our old ones back.

On the same question, I wonder if you’ve ever noticed how some people just seem to get through life unflappable and unperturbed whilst others appear to have all the problems in the world? Often, I think, a problem is as big as you make it. Take for example Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees when they complained to him that his disciples were plucking ears of corn and eating them, saying that this was unlawful, it was not allowed on the Sabbath. Jesus’ answer was that there was a truth, greater than the Temple and that truth was that human need must come first, human need must come before religious ritual, for God had said that, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’. Jesus said that, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” In simple terms, Jesus was telling the Pharisees to get their priorities right. If you want freedom from worry, you need to get your own priorities right. You can begin by being kind to yourself as well as to others and don’t try too hard to impress. Take it easy and just be yourself.

My best wishes as always,

Bob.