The Vicar Writes

Friday 12th July 2024

Fresh Starts

Revd: Tim Ferguson

The mood of the country is hard to sum up, with a new government voted in with one of the lowest turnouts in recent times. The new government has been busy trying to make a fresh start with new appointments, new policies and a new direction for the country. As a family, we too have experienced new beginnings in Newcastle, trying to get to know the people and the place. As we are beginning to get to know the area, I was reminded that each moment is a new beginning, a chance for freshness, to begin anew. Thomas Merton describes each and every moment and event of our lives are filled with seeds of "spiritual vitality" but they only very seldom bear any fruit because we are not ready to receive them. "such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity and love." (from Thomas Merton's New Seeds of Contemplation)

I find this thought encouraging as well as poetic and true. Each and every moment is an opportunity for me to come home, to remind myself that God's love is here, that I am a Beloved child of God, and that this world is filled with the presence and the love and the power of God. So, on each breath, I can remember it's God's gift; and in each moment I can remember who God has called me to be - not just me, but all of us - God's precious and beloved children. Remembering this truth is a moment of real freedom, peace and joy and can be something to help keep me steady on uncertain days.

Whatever our levels of optimism or doubts about the future of the country under a new government, each moment can be filled with hope as we remember who we are; beloved and infinitely precious because of God's love for us. Each moment becomes a fresh start, or the opportunity for one. It's not an easy habit to build into our lives. I spend most of my day forgetful of God's presence. But when I do remember, it gives me the chance to start fresh; with faith and hope because of God's love in each and every moment given. And so our days can go through this cycle, remembering and forgetting, remembering again and forgetting again many, many times over. But if we want to take the opportunity, and if we remember, we always have the opportunity, no matter how bad things have got, to begin again. This kind of fresh start is a wonderful place to begin, and begin again and again and again.