Dear family,

We greet you in the name of our Living God, who was, and is, and is to come!

It was such a joy for us to, again, meet with leaders from all over our Diocese via Zoom on Saturday. The speed at which we have all had to adapt to this new reality has been challenging, in addition to the challenges of the season itself. We are so proud of the creativity, compassion and courage we see and hear all around our family and from our Diocesan team. We are so thankful for your grace, prayers and encouragements to us too.

We know that ordinarily we would all be preparing to finish our Lenten journeys together, decorate our churches for Palm Sunday and then take part in the precious pilgrimage of Holy Week, including coming together as family for our Chrism services and celebrating the Easter joy of Christ’s resurrection. Last Sunday I (Justin) spoke of the need to grieve. Yes, God has new things for us, but we must allow ourselves to grieve the losses we are experiencing so that our hands can then be free to receive fresh grace.

As we all work out new patterns for our days, some of us with houses full of the joys and tears of children adjusting to a strange new world, may we encourage us all to find rhythms that will sustain us. Simple checklists can be a real blessing. For example, each day trying to do something physical, something to make you laugh, an act of service, a way of connecting with your community and choosing to draw close to God in prayer. Our Anglican tradition has a deep gift in our daily offices of prayer, which many of our local faith communities are opening to all now through online media. We are also blessed with gifted children and family resources, for example the STRANDZ family faith in a bubble. Work out a pattern that will fit with your household reality, be creative and be persistent!

There is a saying, “what starts as a discipline, turns into a habit and then becomes a way of life”. At the start of this new reality, let us all intentionally choose life-giving patterns. Choose to draw near to God and know that God will also draw near to you (James 4:8).

These words from the Epistle of James come from a broader exhortation to be a people of repentance. This has been our Lenten journey this year: stories of freedom, a freedom that comes from being people who repent and believe. We still believe that God is inviting us to humble ourselves and take time to dwell deeply in the grace of repentance. In this coming week you may want to take time in your house churches to practice and reflect together on these spiritual exercises that help us draw closer to God in this way (This link takes you to the Lent resources page - scroll down to “Practices of Repentance”). Our lockdown is a physical reality but most certainly not a spiritual one!

Family, in this coming Holy Week we will still walk together with Jesus to the cross. We will still know his heart’s humble desire to wash our feet. We will still stand witness to his agony and love. We will still receive the gift of his holiness, his very self, given to us.

May the desire we have for Jesus shape our priorities, shape our characters, shape our lives and shape the pattern of our days now and always:

Jesu, joy of man's desiring
Holy wisdom, love most bright
Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring
Soar to uncreated light
Word of God, our flesh that fashioned
With the fire of life impassioned
Striving still to truth unknown
Soaring, dying round Thy throne

Yours in Christ,

+Justin and +Eleanor