Of the great disturbances that have always threatened mankind three, maybe, are familiar to us: flood, famine and war. At a different level are the domestic threats: moth, rust and thieves. A dressing-gown on a peg is a succulent bait for a moth but we know that moths are foolishly overwhelmed by a bright light and will die in attempting to get close to it. We take precautions and fire moth-balls at them – or whatever has now taken the place of moth-balls.
As for rust, we wipe damp spades and secateurs and store them in the dry. Iron and oxygen enjoy the company of water. We keep them apart. But rust is an unforgiving enemy and we can only act belatedly when the under-belly of a car has come to resemble a colander. Welding is the only answer.
Thieves like the dark so we install security lights. Thieves like handbags so, as Mark Twain said about putting all your eggs in one basket, we ‘watch that basket!’ Thieves lust after other people’s identity so they rifle documents we put out for the bin-men. When we remember, we shred documents with personal details.
And so it goes on. What was true of the days when Jesus first spoke about these three domestic enemies is true today. We live in a world subject to these sustained attacks on what we hold dear. Nothing is permanent, with the dubious exception of diamonds. Our lives are brief and our possessions are vulnerable. It is difficult to fault Jesus for his words on this subject and the preference he proposes for safe storage in heaven.
Of course, he was not suggesting that heaven is a storage centre where precious belongings can be safely deposited. Rather, he was suggesting that what is truly valuable – our very selves – is of everlasting worth as against mere possessions. As the telling words of the Book of Common Prayer funeral service go, following 1 Timothy 6.7: ‘We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.’ Kipling’s Tomlinson discovered too late, when he gave up the ghost in Berkeley Square, that he had to give an account of himself; there was little he could say.
See Matthew 6.19-21.
GLAMOROUS TEAM
Leading what can only be described as a glamorous team at Holy Trinity, and St Saviour’s, Knaphill, Surrey, Neil Hopkins, Vicar, backs the Knaphill community fridge. This is a project to eliminate food waste by making quality surplus food available for those who need it. The church is an active all-age fellowship with Senior Stars, those ‘of more senior years’ amongst the beneficiaries.
PURBECK 70
They think in planetary terms in the Isle of Purbeck. Seventy events are planned this month for Planet Purbeck Festival. The Swanage and Studland team ministry led by John Mann will be playing its part. The Team Rector is also inviting parishioners to join a trip to Oberammergau next year, the 2021 event having been postponed. Taking its name from the nearby local stack, the Old Harry Bar is one of Studland’s landmarks.
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