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Hillside Parish Magazine

February 2010

From the Vicar

It’s Twelfth Night and the supermarket is selling hot-cross buns and Easter eggs! That’s not surprising really, as we sing our Christmas Carols in Advent and head for (or avoid!) the January Sales in December.

Business and advertising are always trying to move us on to the next thing, always wanting to sell us something new, even before we’ve properly unpacked our last lot of shopping - which is already being made to seem out of date. And that can be a real pressure, making us feel behind the times, out of touch, or at least wrong footed, when that isn’t the case.

But complaining about the world isn’t going to change the way it works. Although it’s important to be aware of what is happening around us, because it affects what’s going on within us as well.

Also it’s remarkable how our Sundays have changed in the last twenty years - in response to commercial pressures, sporting events, the changing nature of family life and an increasingly mobile population. For some, the traditional day for rest and family time has become an important day for leisure and activity. But for others, who work in retailing and the services sectors, it is just another working day, part of the 24/7 society which is running twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. So attending church has become just one among the possibilities and opportunities which are now available on a Sunday. The church has found itself taken by surprise, it has always marketed itself on the basis of commitment rather than competitiveness so it is not well placed to “take on the opposition”. But once again it’s no use complaining, although we do need to take seriously what is happening as it is having a dramatic impact upon our congregations and our morale. And it has left us unclear about how we might respond.

The two “isms” of consumerism and individualism impact on the whole of our lives in many different ways. They may offer us short term satisfaction but they can eventually leave us feeling displaced and unfulfilled. A response may be to try to refocus and recentre, to recover that sense of balance and purpose which will help us to make our own choices rather than accepting what is being pushed at us all the time. In the Christian tradition this is part of our praying and it can be extended into a longer period of quiet and reflection which is sometimes called a retreat. This is an opportunity to follow the example of Jesus, who spent time alone in the wilderness after his baptism and before his public ministry. But of course the busy-ness of everyday of life is precisely what makes it difficult for most of us to take that kind of time away!

However there is another way to take part in that wilderness experience of Jesus. The season the church calls Lent, which begins on February 17th, is traditionally a time of prayer and fasting and it offers us support if we choose to refocus and to try to live more simply for a while. Not least there is the sense of sharing that intention with others within the local and the wider church, but the themes and the readings are helpful too as we move from Ash Wednesday through the weeks towards Jerusalem and the Passion of Jesus. The pace quickens from Palm Sunday as the events of Holy Week move us towards Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Cross and we have the opportunity to live in these moments as well as simply to remember them. To come closer to God and to ourselves in these dramatic events. And then on to Easter Morning …

So do take advantage of the opportunities which Lent, Holy Week and Easter offer to refresh your body, your mind and your spirit. It’s not just about saying “No” to the hot cross buns and the Easter eggs until the time is right. But I’m sure that they taste better for the Lenten experience - and that we are better for it too!

With my prayers

Ian Houghton