Clergy Letter

As the months go by, brides and grooms will have more people allowed at their wedding services, more opportunities to reconnect with distant and lesser-seen family members and friends. Clubs and societies will have more opportunities to reconnect with one another in physical meetings together, and even if they’ve managed to continue to meet online or by other means, there is a particular comfort and reconnection involved when it comes to “in the flesh” meetings. Our churches are gradually blending online and “in the flesh” acts of worship as more of us are vaccinated and feel comfortable coming together for Sunday worship, reconnecting physically as well as spiritually. We do need to take care that we don’t overlook those who won’t be experiencing this reconnection: the housebound, or people whose disabilities or infirmity makes a physical getting together impossible. But we have learned this past year and more how much we miss when we cannot meet “in the flesh”.

That is an experience I am taking into Easter with me this year. In Jesus we see God reconnecting in the flesh with us. God is not abstract, but is as flesh and blood as you or I. This is why the symbolism of bread and wine as Christ’s body and blood has been so deeply resonant with people in all times and places, and remains at the heart of the life of the Christian Faith. They are a reminder as we eat and drink that connection with God isn’t an abstract concept, a meditative state to be entered into, or simply a matter of experiencing a holy feeling (though all those aspects of spirituality are beautiful and enriching parts of the human experience). Meeting with God is about real life. It’s about flesh and blood. If we separate the spiritual from the physical, we miss the point: God is with us in the day to day, in the flesh and blood of daily life; in the messiness of human relationships; in our politics; in our work; in the business and economic life of the world; in our social life; in our prioritising the needs of the vulnerable, the poor and the marginalized; in our care for the planet, and yes, in our churches. But God is not confined to holy places. Rather, we are called to make all places holy by being God’s blessing in the world wherever we find ourselves.

This happens when we choose to connect with God in our daily lives by simply acknowledging God’s presence there, and with humility, invite God to work in us, with us and through us. It involves inviting God into our “normal”, being willing to love and serve others in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, and seeking to walk in the footsteps of Jesus as we connect with others and our world.

This Easter, may you come to know and connect with the risen Lord Jesus more closely, and as you reconnect with those whose presence you’ve missed, pass on that connection by being God’s blessing to them.