By James Woodward
Principal of Sarum College
A fellow train passenger said to me recently, “modern life is perpetually stressed out” as we waited for a delayed arrival. I guess most of us feel that from time to time. There seems to be much to be stressed about! The globalisation of communication with its spurious urgency of emails and information makes the world of work pressing. Combine this with the devastating images of war and the loss of life in Ukraine and the Middle East. Add to this the early days of an election campaign and even the most robust of us might feel rather bewildered and bothered.
However difficult these stresses are they are not likely to shift if we do not give ourselves some time to name them. It might do well to consider what stress looks and feels like in our lives and in our fragile world.
In the American cemetery that lies on the edge of Cambridge, hundreds of graves remind us of our fallibility and failings as human beings. We seem destined never to learn how to build a better world. Around the base of the flagpole you can read these words “to you from failing hands we throw the torch — be yours to hold it high”. It is a constant reminder that we need to be honest about the present moment but also to resolve to create peace and life for love.
We know what human nature is like and that we don’t change very easily. That should not prevent us from shifting and improving our own individual selves. For Christians this depends on faith and grace. At the centre of our faith is the shared remembrance of the Lord’s supper. The death of one for the healing of many. Each worshipping community remembers what God has done and invites us all to make amends for our failures, hesitations and mistakes.
We know that our failures and hesitations and anxieties are gathered under his care. In God’s love they are soothed and can be rebuilt and made perfect in love. This starts with us now. What small act of kindness might you resolve to do? A gift to charity? A call to a lonely neighbour? A letter to someone who might be struggling?
Together we can make a difference in this stressed out world!
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This article first appeared in the 6 June 2024 issue of the Salisbury Journal.
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