Browning was reticent about his faith but he had a penetrating moment when he said: ‘Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, /Or what’s a heaven for?’ There is nothing quite like this in the Gospels but the tenor of this comment is in harmony with Jesus’ teaching. In the Sermon on the Mount we find: ‘Set your mind on God’s kingdom and his justice before everything else and all the rest will come to you as well.’ And ‘Be perfect’. (Matthew 5.48). It’s almost as though when we attempt to come up with some spiritual principle we inevitably find ourselves coming near to quoting the Gospels.
Browning’s comment is not just for religious people. In Mark 8.34 we find that Jesus, having rebuked Peter for thinking as men think, not as God thinks, called the people to him ‘as well as his disciples’ and told them what it meant to follow him. Being a disciple, it seems, can lead people to misunderstand Jesus and make things more complicated than they are.
We see little or no mention of the Church in the Gospels. Jesus was a man with a message and an example to set – even to the point of execution – and he intended to ensure that his message was understood and available to all. We take this to heart when we remember that a parish church belongs in a real sense to parishioners. These are the people Jesus cared about, probably people who rarely had anything to do with official religion. And patchy though the record of the Church of England may have been in embracing and serving ordinary people it has this yearning at its hart and in its title deeds. It has for instance a Book of ‘Common’ Prayer, not a specialist publication that only church officials can understand but a book for everybody. ‘The common people heard him gladly’, we read.
Browning’s words echo Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9.26: ‘I am no aimless runner’. Our human experience tells us that we can always make that little extra effort -- in studying for an exam, in cultivating an allotment, in training a dog. Browning is not known as a conventional spiritual writer but he reflects human experience. He was on to something when he talked about reaching for heaven.
LEYLAND RUNNERS
St Andrew’s church, Leyland, Lancashire is recruiting for its new running. Runners will cover five to ten kilometres weekly. Open Door on Saturdays offers coffee and cake from ten-12 noon. Its facebook has 827 followers. The Vicar is David Whitehouse.
EXHALL MAGAZINE
Twenty-eight pages keep Exhall people in Bedworth, Warwickshire aware of their lively parish church of St Giles. Editor of the parish magazine is Tina Watkins.
PENRITH PAGES
Forty-four pages of news and view from four parishes in the Lake District help David Sargent, the Team Rector of the Penrith team keep in touch with his parishioners. The editor is Tony Crook. The parishes are planning a flower festival for August.
ACOMB INVITATION
‘If you’re having sex before marriage, go to church any way,’ is the message at Acomb parish church, York. It makes it quite clear what all kinds of activities should not keep one from joining in worship. The church of St Stephen has a simple, harmonious interior. The Vicar is Peter Vivash.
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