January 2012

Dear friends,

When I was appointed as Assistant Curate to this benefice, I learned that Keith was to take a period of sabbatical leave. Time has flown by and that time has now come. Keith has shared with us something of what he is hoping to do during this time. He is going to be deepening his contacts with Arab Christians in Israel and discussing issues around faith, religion and reconciliation. No doubt his experiences will reach into areas which most of us have never entered. Our prayers are with him.

I thought now would be a good time just to think about those three issues in our own lives. What do we mean when we talk about our faith? You may know that, during my working life, I practiced as an Educational Psychologist and so I have developed an interest in just what it is about faith that makes it so important to human beings. Faith is simply feeling that a particular spiritual path is worth following. Many of us have come to the conclusion that the faith which makes sense to us is Christianity that Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, came to show human beings what God is like.

What do we mean when we talk about our religion? That is not really separate from our faith, but it includes the observance of the spiritual rituals which we follow. It does not stop there since the Christian life is lived according to the teachings of Christ. I guess this is a good time to stop and ask ourselves if we really do love God with all our heart and soul? Do we show, by the way we live, that we love our neighbours as much as we love ourselves? I wonder?

When Andrew and I visited Northern Ireland a few years ago, following the marriage of our son to a Roman Catholic Irish girl, we visited the Corrymeela Community. This Community is committed to reconciliation and peace among people of different religions not only in Northern Ireland but throughout the world. They run weekends for young people from different denominations so that the barriers of prejudice are broken down.

I wonder if there are still issues in our lives and in our communities where the issue of reconciliation needs to be addressed? The joining together of seven country churches into one benefice seems a very small thing compared to the huge issues in the wider world but I believe that we can

only live our Christian lives with integrity if we are at peace with one another. I look forward in February to being involved in the worship in all of the parishes in our new benefice and to our moving forward together.

Revd. Marian Bond

Bredgar Vicarage

Omission from Keith’s letter – and apologies

Quote: I also hope to speak to people about their faith and their religion – not the same thing – and about the political realities under which everyone lives. I guess that some inhabitants of the Holy Land will feel that they are there by right, for God decreed that they should be. Others will feel they live in an occupied country, though the Israeli constitution quite clearly says that everyone living inside its borders is equal before the law. Some will feel energised towards liberation – though how so I have to see. Others espouse reconciliation between peoples who have very clear agendas regarding the land. We know that these agendas do not always cohere. Unquote

(My apologies that the words underlined did not appear in the January issue SV)