Milnrow & Newhey August 2022

Update from St Thomas’, Newhey
and St James’, Milnrow
Isn’t it funny how the weather affects us?
For most people in this country, the mere sight of the sun
and we cheer up considerably. Our problems seem less and
we tell ourselves that things would be so much better if only
the weather would stay like this. Of course, if it is hot and
sunny for more than a few days we change our minds and
start grumbling about having to work in the heat and not
sleeping well!
Now I know that there is such a thing as ‘seasonally affected
disorder’, a condition that means that some people are badly
affected by the dark days of winter. I had a colleague who
had to move to a brighter part of the country because he
became quite ill working winters in Oldham (no wisecracks about our neighbours, please!).
For most of us we don’t really think about the weather and the time of year when it comes to
our health but I believe we should.
In times past people lived much closer to the land than we do now. Before electric lights and
central heating people would naturally go to bed earlier in the winter than the summer.
They would spend more time outdoors in the summer months and they would eat the fruit
and vegetables that were in season (as well as preserving some for leaner times). There were,
of course, people who suffered from mental ill health then too but not, it seems, to the same
extent as now. It is no secret that fresh air and exercise is good for people’s wellbeing, as is rest
and relaxation.
We are lucky that we are protected from the worst of the weather by modern technology.
Sometimes we don’t appreciate it until we have a power cut, a leak in the roof or we have to cut
back to afford the bills. We need to be careful though. We are seeing the damage we can do to
the environment when we don’t think about it. We waste food and power, we create mountains
of rubbish that we don’t know how to dispose of safely – not on purpose but without thinking
about how our actions affect the world around us.
God created a beautiful world that works impressively well because everything fits together
and we all depend on each other but humankind has become too far removed from the system.
God intended for us to be part of this creation, as stewards and carers of the good things it has
to offer not users and destroyers.
They say the British talk too much about the weather but I think, if we paid a little more
attention to the weather and the seasons and tried to stay part of God’s world instead of just
living off it, we would be happier and healthier all year round.
I hope the weather is to your liking this summer, enough sunshine to play outside (or garden,
or just sit) and enough rain to avoid a hosepipe ban and let’s try and tread lightly on our earth
so there can be many more happy summers in the future.
Revd Janet Pitman
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