Tower and Town, November 2015 (view the full edition)Clergy Letter: NovemberDear Friends, November is the start of winter and the whole month can feel like an animal going into deep hibernation as Summer Time has ended; the trees shed their leaves; birds fly south on their migrations to warmer climes; and to the lay person, farmers are less visibly active as their preparations for winter are completed. For many people perhaps the words of the poem ring true: No sun - no moon! Thomas Hood (1789-1845)
However, for those who live in rural areas, the rhythm of the seasons with its annual cycle of change; of growth and decline; of birth and death, retains its importance in our thinking and our very being. While understanding and appreciating the sentiments of Hood's words, the negativity of its tone does not ring true. For we know that without the die-back of autumn and the restful winter there can be no birth and growth in spring and flourishing in summer. Perhaps it is in the words of the Old Testament book, Ecclesiastes 3:1, that we find a better explanation: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Importantly this sets out the very nature of the world and the practicalities of the changing nature of the times. The writer goes on to list differing ways in which we may spend our time and then, having stated that this is the way God has made the world, he explains that God has made 'everything suitable for its time' and that he has 'put a sense of past and future into our minds'. I believe this is the annual cycle of natural change that we see all around us and it is mirrored in the cycle of festivals and seasons in the Church. Once again, November brings the end of the church year as we complete this cycle and prepare for rebirth. This month we keep All Souls, remembering the dearly departed; Remembrance, the fallen in wars; and the celebration of Christ the King, the kingship of Jesus and the culmination of His being. God bless. Bob Togood |