Rector's Letter

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The Rector's Letter

August/September 2009

The Rector writes:

Dear Friends,

“She is my wife but she doesn’t remember my name,” so read a poster, on the Alzheimer’s Society stand in the library in Saffron Walden. I juxtaposed this tragic reality with the happy, slightly nervous couple that I’d just seen in St. Mary’s for their wedding rehearsal. As I did so, the phrase “for better, for worse” in the wedding vows resonated strongly. Notwithstanding the wonder and joy of romantic love, without some sense of sacrifice, love can seem emptied of its true significance.

In a Christian understanding of marriage, the faithfulness and unconditional love expressed in the vows is a reflection of God’s love for us. A marriage is to be an icon, a picture of love. The ancient virtues of duty, service and devotion are to be incarnate, made flesh and blood in this relationship. Having these traditional values lived out in our midst helps us all to recognise their worth.

For the Christian, the cross brings God’s love into sharpest focus. As Jesus dies, we see God’s sacrifice: the Father’s in the giving of his Son, and that of the Son in laying down his life. The height, breadth and depth of God’s love is shown in this death. Here is a stark but beautiful picture of love.

God’s embracing and amazing love gives us hope when we are faced by our own failures. Marriages do break down for various reasons. Living with the consequences of our own mistakes or what has been done to us by others can be very difficult. Yet forgiveness and a new start are on offer and, despite our fallibility and flaws, it is important that we hold on to the highest ideals and our greatest aspirations for our own good and for the good of society at large.

Saying the long good-bye to someone we love can be heartbreaking. What does the Christian faith offer us in these circumstances? As we watch our friend, our husband, our mother or father disappear from view whilst he or she is still before us, a belief that their true identity, their essential personhood is held in God in some mysterious way gives solace. Whilst grief and profound, premature mourning mark this final travelling together, these emotions can be woven together with hope.

At whatever stage of life, when we face challenges and testing situations, God’s love encourages us to persevere. Attempting to live in response to that love can be extremely demanding but we have the strength to try “because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.”

With love

David Tomlinson

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