05/05/2022

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Janet Fife, retired vicar and one of the first women to be ordained.

Good morning.

A minister asked his congregation for their favourite Bible verses. Most of them cited well-known passages like the 23rd Psalm. The Lord is my Shepherd, or the hymn to love from 1 Corinthians. 13. One woman spoke up: ‘It came to pass.’ There was a pause. ’What’s the rest of it?,’ promoted the minister. ‘That’s the whole thing,’ the woman replied. ‘When I’m having a hard time I say to myself, “It came to pass.” This won’t go on forever.’

Here in the UK we’re surrounded by evidence that ‘crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane.’ Some of us live near an old stately home or the ruins of a castle or abbey. I live in Whitby, where what’s left of the Norman abbey dominates the town.

One of the benefits of getting older is that we can look back at some of the things that worried us years ago and realise they didn’t turn out so badly after all. However difficult life seemed at the time, we coped, and survived, and perhaps learned new skills. Facing a new recession and bigger bills, we may be able to dig out old, cheap recipes and money-saving hacks. At the very least, past griefs and battles can teach us empathy for people going through a hard time now.

In this ever-changing world, what really matters? Governments, jobs, and recessions come and go, but love and kindness last for ever.

St Paul wrote: ‘Faith, hope, love abide, these three - but the greatest of these is love.’ And ‘what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’

Eternal God, Thank you that you are with us through all the changes and chances of this Life.

Amen