If you weren’t there on June 12th, I hope you have at least seen the video – and given some money! It was an amazing experience in all sorts of ways, not least being led into St Peter’s when I was blindfolded! Let me tell you a bit about that. I have walked into the church I guess on average 4 times a week for 11 years – over 2000 times – in normal sighted mode. This was different.

Sitting outside the church I asked to be blindfolded, and used the first thing that came to hand – my black preaching scarf! (There could be a parable there somewhere – put on your official garments and lose your perspective – Andy and Jonathan watch out!). I was then led by an experienced sighted guide into the building.

That was scary! I knew roughly where the door was, approximately where the steps were, but still managed to be tense and edgy. And I still managed to walk straight into the table at the bottom of the stairs! [A note here - how to pray for our VI friends and neighbours - life for them contains more tension, more unknowns, and more physical accidents, so their bodies take a pounding, and wear and tear becomes a real issue.]

Then up the spiral staircase, one hand on the right-hand outside wall. All going well – until we walked past a window recess, and suddenly the wall wasn’t there any more – more scary moments. Oddly, though, from then on life was fairly easy, because I had done the same route 5 minutes earlier, with my eyes open, so knew what lay ahead. And not being able to look over the parapet was an advantage, in one way, as I couldn’t see how far it was to drop! And then safely down, which was amazing.

Back to the top (this article, not the tower). The poster has these words on it “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). Too easily we rely on what we can see around us, whereas we are called to put our trust in, rely on, the unseen truths of what God has done for us in Christ. I think I understand just a little bit more now of what this phrase means.

Walking by sight comes “naturally” – walking by faith means placing our hands in someone else’s grip, and trusting our lives into their hands! Thank God that “He who called us is faithful” and we can trust Him. (2 Thess 5:24)

This has come back to mind because – see elsewhere on this sheet – I will be abseiling later this month, and having theorised about it, I am now faced with a reality check! Can I convert my assertions into action? And two things immediately link in my mind with matters about my Christian discipleship. Firstly, can I trust myself into other people’s plans, preparation and expertise?  And secondly, do my actions fit with my words?

We all know that having been called by God into His family, we are immediately interconnected with others – the church. And part of the growing into maturity that is in our Ephesians series (see Eph 4:12,13) is about relating and trusting. In some small way we get a taste of this each Sunday service – we place ourselves into the hands of the service leaders, the musicians, the preacher. I will be placing myself in the expert hands of the staff of “Taste for Adventure” – I’ll be fine! Learning to trust is part of our growth in faith.

And we also know how easy it is to talk about our spiritual life, our prayers, our Bible study, our lives of service. But we also know that a close examination of our actions will not necessarily confirm what we have proclaimed to be the case! Watch me on June 12th to see how I manage the height of the tower, by all means. But please also be prepared to examine yourself to see if you words and your actions are consistent! And if you need resources to reflect with, re-read James’ (the Bible one, not James Mercer!) epistle.

First – and you will find the details elsewhere – we will have appointed churchwardens and elected new PCC members. From the paperwork I have seen in advance there will be several “old” faces, and some new ones, in the completed team – which is perhaps how things must be in an organisation such as the church – continuity through the on-going service of  “old” friends, and change through inviting “new” members onto the team. Let’s pray that we get the best out of both!

Second – and we will announce the outcome as soon as we can – we will have appointed the new headteacher for St James’ School, to start in September. And clearly here again there will be continuity, with the eight classroom teachers going on with their tasks. But there will inevitably be change as well, as the new headteacher brings new skills and new insights to help the school develop. In theory this should be a winning combination!

The third may not, in calendar terms, actually happen after the other two, as the date is clearly in God’s hands – the arrival of our first grandchild (due April 23rd). And here too there will be continuity – in genetics and therefore possibly in character – and change (a good thing too I hear some cry!). No doubt you will hear more about this change as the weeks go on!

Continuity and change; old and new; I love the words of Jesus in Matthew 13:52, where he tells us that the treasures of the Kingdom are both old and new. May that be our joyful experience as we continue to celebrate the resurrection together.

All this happening as Easter approaches is brilliant, theologically. Just as our beautiful county is so green because of the seasonal cycle, so our spiritual life can benefit from due attention to the liturgical “seasons” and their significance. Almost as soon as April starts we  are pitched into the depths and the heights of God’s grace and mercy and love – and as we read in Ephesians 3 and Psalm 139 we can never reach the limits of that love.

We see the depths of our human sinfulness, and the thoroughness of God’s plan, and the strength of Jesus’ obedience to His father’s will, as Jesus on the cross becomes sin for our sake. And we see the heights of glory and share the excitement of triumph revealed in the empty tomb and the startling but thrilling resurrection encounters.

And somehow, just as the new life of spring is more glorious because of the darkness and icy coldness that proceeded it, so our new life in Christ is shown in more glorious colour when we see  the death and darkness from which we have been delivered. And our hearts cry “Alleluia!”

You see, on the last Sunday before Lent, Quinquagesima in the Prayer Book, the set epistle reading is the whole of 1 Corinthians 13. So in 1999 and in 2021, and also this year, the set reading for St Valentine’s Day is all about love!

This set me thinking about the motivation for the Lent disciplines I and many others adopt – what is the motivation for the choices I make? It might be that I want to spend less on food, and give more to charity – a good cause! It could be that I want to spend more time in prayer and less in watching TV – again surely a good thing. It might be that I wish to learn to exercise some self-control, and challenge myself to be more patient – plenty of scope there.

But 1 Corinthians 13 makes it clear that any and all of these without love are worthless, and achieve – nothing! Being driven by “the desires God places in my heart” is without doubt a godly purpose. But might it not be even richer, more in keeping with this amazing chapter, to ask that the love of God draws us into actions, that His love fills our intentions, that His love informs our choices? Then our Lent disciplines will produce good fruit, to God’s glory.