Letter from the Ministry Team 1July in the past from page 5Gardening against odds9Smile 14Book revue 15Crossword 17Answers 19All in the month of July 20SmileSt James least of all22Bible Bites 23God in science 26God in the arts 27Please note that views expressed in this magazine do not necessarilyreflect the official opinion of the Church of England or the Local Parish.The inclusion of an advertisement in this magazine does not imply theapproval or recommendation of St Martin’s Church.1
A Letter from the Ministry TeamDear Friends,When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hourhas not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tellsyou.” (John 2:3-5)The Church is now in the season of Ordinary Time during which we are invited tofocus on a more connuous reading from the Bible and explore other themes such ascreation and the environment. However, practically, we are living in anything butordinary times! For months we have been adjusting to new concepts such as‘lockdown’ and ‘social distancing.’ Our movements have been curtailed and restricted:our lives have suddenly become very small. The most ordinary things,which I daresay we took for granted, have suddenly became extra-ordinary: wewear masks and gloves when we travel in public; we follow arrows in shops; wekeep our distance around others. Even as lockdown eases the fear of the virusremains: there is still an element of danger around us. So, I was surprised to discovera book by Michael Yaconelli, called Dangerous Wonder. In one phrase hebrings together our current world, and the Kingdom of God as he invites us to reimaginethe term ‘dangerous.’ The author writes, ‘Jesus was a dangerous man.’In other words, Jesus was unpredictable, one minute producing wine out of water,displaying courageous compassion to victims, calming a violent storm, and thenforgiving the ‘unforgiveable’ and turning over tables in the temple. No surprisethat people were in awe of Jesus. The author asks, ‘… shouldn’t those who callthemselves Christians be filled with awe, astonishment and wonder?’ He then invitesthe reader to find the world of dangerous wonder – ‘the place where bothchildren and grownups can find God.’ This place, he writes, is filled with ‘risky curiousity,wild abandon, daring playfulness, quiet listening, irresponsible passion,happy terror, and naive grace.’ In other words, maybe it is time to become a childagain! I find that so refreshing. In some ways, the virus is making us do somethingsimilar – reconsider our lives. Are we not reconsidering how we lived lifebefore lockdown? Are we not reconsidering our jobs? Are we not reconsideringour homes, as we liberate them from the ‘stuff’ that has accumulated over theyears? Why not then, reconsider a lost part of our selves – the child within us?This is what Yaconelli refers to as living the dangerous wonder of faith. Maybe itis simply time to learn to play again. What a brilliant thought in the midst of thisglobal pandemic – let’s play! Yaconelli then asks a series of questions which Iwill leave with you to ponder over:PLEASE TURN OVER2
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