Anticipation and uncertainty
I’m writing this in early June, in a state of anticipation and uncertainty.
First of all, I have an excited anticipation of my 60th birthday party in the Rectory garden, which I invited you to last month. By the time you read this it will all be over, but right now I am increasingly concerned about the weather forecast which is not encouraging.
Secondly, I am joyfully looking forward to my holiday in Southwest Ireland, where I’ll be for the second half of June with my brother and a friend. But the friend has just suffered a serious cycling accident and it is unclear how that will affect the various activities planned. Also I have far too much to get done before I go away.
Thirdly, there is the sense of suspense caused by a General Election.
So, I am asking myself how to live well through this period of anticipation and uncertainty? Well one thing that always helps me is to stay firmly rooted in the present moment, focused on what I need to be doing right now and not worrying about the future or the past.
Another thing which helps me is to trust in God’s love for me. Whether it is sun or rain at my birthday party, I need to trust in God’s love for me, for all of us, and we need to discover what that love is, and work with it. This is true even in a deep crisis, as Pope Francis reminds us, “Crises are moments in life in which we take a step forward. There is the adolescence crisis, the coming-of-age crisis, the midlife crisis. A crisis gets you moving, makes you dance. We must learn to take responsibility, because if we don’t, they become a conflict. And conflict is a closed thing, conflict seeks the answer within itself, it destroys itself. On the contrary, a crisis is necessarily open, it makes you grow.”
So I pray that we can always be open to the new, and find the good in it.
Best wishes, Fr Patrick
Prayer from the CofE’s Evening Service of the Word
In darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us, heavenly Father,
to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.