Newnham on Severn

From the

‘Spring Cleaned Vicar’……

Well it got to that time of year, when we were becoming the victims of our own indulgence…and decided at the vicarage it was time for a clear out! I got the urge. Which is quite worrying, as it’s usually associated with pregnant females (I assure you this is NOT the case). I pondered why it was that I needed a large roll of bin liners, and several tins of paint? After some thought, the penny dropped. This is the longest we have ever lived in a house since 2002!

In the past, we have moved house before the urge to paint kicked in, and when you move, you automatically have a clear out. It’s good for the soul, and the wardrobes, to get cracking once in a while and get rid of what you no longer need. I like moving house. I like the excitement of finding things that you’ve never seen for ages uncovered by a Pickford’s man in-between his nineteenth cup of coffee and custard cream. I like packing and unpacking boxes. I like the idea of new rooms, empty floors, new neighbours and challenging jobs. I like finding new people, learning new phone numbers and faces, I like new routines…..

The thing is, when you move as often as vicars and their families do, you get used to the constant introductions and same questions. You could (if you wanted) re-invent yourself each time. In my next parish I could be a meat eating, rugby playing uni-cyclist! (in my last parish – I might have been an 8 stone, blonde opera singer….you will never know!) Yes, moving house and all that goes along with it, I find as very good! And yet….something about living here, in 2012, amongst you, knowing you, loving you, finding out about you, marrying you, baptising you and buying you…makes me want to reach for a paint brush, and stay a little longer.

It could be the wonderful next door neighbour…it might be the freshness of the air…or it may possibly be the amazing views that will keep me here for the foreseeable future…but I have a sneaky suspicion it’s God!

Vocations, callings to God’s ministry are random affairs. Vocations call all sorts of people, to all sorts of places, to do all sorts of work for God. For me, the call was to here…and the work? Well, the work is what we are doing together as a community. God’s mission in the world, in the UK, in the Diocese and in our parishes here…is nothing more complicated than sharing good news.

And that I can do by myself…but I can do much more effectively with other people.

This place is special. This place is filled with love. This place is wanting. And if God can work, through the strange vicar that came from the North, in this special, loving, wanting place…then this must be the place I’m meant to be.Having a clear out is good for the soul! Making space, means there is a gap! We can fill gaps with clutter, or with meaningful special memories, new routines and new friends.

This special place did very well on April 7^th. It cleared a space; it made way for a special memory and a new routine. We gathered…an eclectic group of young and old, outside at a Service of Light. Why? Well, only you can answer that one for yourselves. I was there because I was called to serve the people I love…I was there, because I think it’s important to offer opportunities to experience our spirituality…I was there to see the power light can do in a dark place….I was there to welcome once again the risen Christ at Easter…I was there because I live in a special place, with special people, who are wanting special relationships. I was there….for Christ and for You.

My paint brush is washed and back in a box in the garage. My urge has waned. My calling is still to this place. We are God’s people together. Ponder what you might fill the gap with….and let’s clear some space in our lives and hearts to allow a new routine, memory and friend in to fill the gap.

Amen.