Dear Friends,

This month sees Liz and I celebrating thirty years of marriage - something quite unimaginable this twenty-five year old all those years ago !  Those of you who have passed rather greater landmarks will, I am sure, readily agree that it is impossible to imagine what we or our partners will be like (or, even more difficult, what the world will be like) decades in the future; yet, despite all that we hear about marriage being on the way out, very significant numbers of people are still prepared to make life-time promises to each other.  I already have a good number booked in for next year.

Marriage is a bit like riding a tandem bicycle - you get on much better together when both of you are peddling, but you can also take the pressure off each other at times; on the other hand, it gets difficult if you want to go in different directions, and it can get quite scary if you haven't learnt to trust each other with the steering and the brakes (especially for the one at the back!).

We have seen so many developments in each other's lives over the years - steps backward, sometimes, as well as forwards - as well as fundamental changes in the nation and the world around us.  We may not have lived through two world wars (as my parents did) but in some ways the changes we have seen are of far greater significance - changes in communications, in immigration and emigration, and latterly in global warming - and who is to say what future changes we and our children will live through ?

All of which can sometimes seem rather alarming.  I am quite sure that the world wars were alarming enough at the time; but curiously, many seem to look back on them with a certain affection !  The Jehovah's Witnesses who appeared on my doorstep the other day (yes, I get them too; and yes, they did realise it was the Rectory) were keen to know if I thought that there were clear signs of our living in the 'end-times', and I was equally keen to point out that there have often been similarities between what is going on in the world and the various prophecies in the Bible about the end of the world - so often, in fact, that a date was set for the great event several times in the last century alone !

Whatever we see around us we should be aware that the end could come at any time (as, indeed, it does for thousands of people every single day), but without setting false fears - or hopes - by pretending we know exactly what the future holds.  We should also be aware that, for those of faith, the end is God - and the Christian God is good.  Therefore, have no fear; that is what our faith is about - not false guarantees of safety, of health, of prosperity, but ultimately of contentment because "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him"  [Rom 8:28  NIV].

This month also sees Liz home from hospital, having had her second hip operation.  After what has been (for her) half a lifetime of pain in her hips, there should be none.  Now that's something to look forward to, and be thankful for !  May there be new blessings in your life too - just look for them, and enjoy them when they come.

Advance Notice:  The Friends of St. James', together with a choir of children from St. James' School and some of the Occasional Singers, will be presenting two musical evenings (by ticket, but free of charge !) in our church at 7 pm on Tuesday 26^th and Thursday 28^th June; the music will be interspersed with a little history of our church, and the evenings will conclude with light refreshment and the chance to inspect the wonderful new panelling in our chancel.  Do come - further details next month.