July 2016
How wonderful to be welcoming our new Rector, the Revd Laura Hill, and her family to our Benefice this July 13th. The service for her Installation and Induction as Rector will take place in Leebotwood Church at 7.00pm. Please hold Laura and her family in prayer at this time of change, a time of new beginnings both for her and for our Benefice.
We live in a multi racial, multi cultural world today – it may not always be apparent to those of us living in rural Shropshire. Even here we will be aware of the interest in Yoga, in Mindfulness and in non Christian ways of finding spirituality. I remember when a practising Christian I know began attending a Meditation group run by a Bhuddist. When I pointed out that Christians had been meditating for well over a thousand years, he expressed surprise!
‘Souls of prayer are souls of deep silence. That is why we must accustom ourselves to deep stillness of the soul. God is the friend of silence. See how nature, the trees, the flowers, the grass grow in deep silence. See how the stars, the moon, and the sun move in silence. The more we receive in our silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. Silence gives us a new way of looking at everything. We need this silence in order to touch souls. Jesus is waiting for us in the silence. It is there that he speaks to our souls. Interior silence is very difficult but we must make the effort to pray. A soul of prayer can make progress without recourse to words by learning to be present to Christ. In silence we find a new energy and a real unity.’ Mother Teresa of Calcutta
In the busy and sometimes noisy world in which we live, try to find times when you can be silent and rest in the presence of God.
Every blessing
Revd Caro