27th February 2022: Letter from the Locum Minister Rev Marion Paton

Dear Friends,
An examination was being held in Emma’s class at school, and the question was asked, ‘Upon what do hibernating animals subsist during the winter?’ Emma thought for a few minutes and then wrote, ‘All winter long hibernating animals subsist on the hope of a coming spring’.
For two years the world has been subsisting on the hope of a coming spring, the hope that freedom from restriction will come, that Covid 19 will be defeated. And now it seems that those charged with keeping us safe are beginning to think that the spring of freedom from restriction is very close. We hope and pray that they are right, for the very thought of going back to lockdowns for our protection does not bear thinking about.
The church too, has been subsisting on the hope of spring, a spring that will allow us not to wear masks as we worship, a spring that will allow us to be together as we have in times past, a spring that will allow us to do so many of the things we enjoy and have missed, as we praise and thank God for his goodness to us.
But in the church, we also look to another spring, a spring of revival. There are so many people who have, because of all that has happened, had time to consider what life is all about, and have come to realise that it is about far more than the here and now. So as the church, the body of Christ, we who are his people, are being given a great opportunity to share the good news of the gospel and to welcome those who want to explore life in all its fullness, the life that God in Christ promises to all his people.
In the natural world, spring is coming. The daffodils are showing their faces, the sun is rising higher in the sky, and most folk are beginning to feel more positive. Let us not squander the opportunity we are being given to bring others to Christ. After all, that is what Jesus is encouraging us to do in the ‘Great Commission’ when he says ^‘Go therefore andmake disciples ofall nations,baptizing theminthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,teaching themto observe all thatI have commanded you. And behold,I am with you always, tothe end of the age’.
With love and blessings,
Marion