November 2008

Parish Link [ParishLink] community newsletter serving Kensworth, Studham and Whipsnade, in South Bedfordshire, UK

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Rector’s Letter

Dear friends and parishioners,

It seems that one thing a lot of us are running short of is time.  If you ask someone how they are, you often get the answer, “well, fine; very busy though”.  People are increasingly stressed and stretched, trying to balance jobs, childcare, caring for elderly parents, church and voluntary work, housework and shopping, hobbies and time for ‘leisure activities’…  Grandparents are helping to care for their grandchildren, and a lot of retired people I know tell me that they are busier now than when they were in paid work!

Yet time can also stretch out to an eternity – when you are grieving for someone you love who has died, the seconds seem almost to slow down in a way which becomes unbearable.  In the split

Rev. Nicola Lenthall

Telephone 872 223

seconds when you can see your child falling over and leap towards them time seems to stop.  And in the context of war, particularly of battle, time can similarly stretch beyond the imaginable.

Two minutes in our busy twenty-first century lives is not long.  Enough time for a quick phone call perhaps, or to clean our teeth. Time to load and start the washing machine or to write a cheque to pay a bill. Two minutes of silence is all that is asked of us in November to remember and honour those who gave their lives for our freedom, and who are still fighting as I write to sustain struggling democracies.  Two minutes, which is such a short time; but for those who have lost loved family and friends in active service, also a lifetime.

Please remember those short two minutes on Remembrance Sunday or Remembrance Day; and, if you can, support the Poppy Appeal. Any gift, no matter how small, will be appreciated.

With my prayers and every blessing, this month and always,

Nicola Lenthall

Rector