OVER THE YEARS I have taken great strength and received much help from the Rule of St Benedict. As I prepare to move on to Hereford with Catherine and most of the family I was greatly helped by something I read. It comes from Stanbrook Abbey, that community of Benedictine nuns that is preparing to move on after 170 years. One of the nuns, writing about Mary Magdalene trying to cling on to the Risen Jesus (John 20: 11-17), and about the Stanbrook community moving toYorkshire, says:
In our own search for God, we, too, often mistakenly, think we have found [Jesus] and all too often try to hold on to what we have found, whereas God is always calling us onward to grow in perfect love. The community has begun to empty cupboards and drawers in preparation for our move. Over the coming months each of us will have to let go. We will have to let go of the physical place but cling to the Lord in faith and trust as we put down roots in our new home. Every one of us is discovering how hard it is to let go but also each one of us knows that if we do, new life is born. It is as St Benedict tells us in his Rule: What, dear brothers is more delightful than this voice of the Lord calling to us? See how the Lord in his love shows us the way of life.
I found those words particularly helpful because I know that I am finding it hard to let go and say goodbye. But it is the way in which new life is born, and sometimes we need new life to be born.
My overwhelming feelings are ones of thankfulness and love. Thankfulness for the privilege of being part of things here since 1992, and of the blessings and mercies in my life, and that of my family, and in the lives of people all around me. Thankfulness too for the faithfulness and energy and commitment and prayer of so many people here, some of them now ‘with the Lord’. I shall never forget the saints of St John’s. There is so much for which to be thankful. And I have come, ever more deeply, to love the dear old church, and the buzz of life about it all through the week, and the area -- but above all people -- more than I realized. It’s people who make a place, and in the hustle and bustle of life we don’t always realize how much we all mean to each other until we part. So I’m aware of that deep dimension of love given and received that has become more apparent in these last days.
By mathematics alone I can say that my time at St John’s has been and will remain the longest stretch of my ministry. I will always be proud to have been vicar of St John’s, and will see my time here as the central plank of my ministry. I will always remember my many friends, and be thankful for so many blessings and so much love. Parting will be very hard for me and for Catherine, but we look ahead with confidence and expectation, and St Benedict’s words encourage us: What, dear brothers is more delightful than this voice of the Lord calling to us? See how the Lord in his love shows us the way of life.
With thankfulness, love, and prayers for you all now and in the times to come,
Christopher
