The Reverend Esther Foss writes

OCTOBER 2008 - The Letting Go | JULY 2008 - Did you enjoy my Creation? | JUNE 2008 - Awake my soul | MAY 2008 - Pentecost | APRIL 2008 - Love across the galaxies MARCH 2008 - My own Eden ... | FEBRUARY 2008 -  Go for more DECEMBER 2007 - Love lights | NOVEMBER 2007 - Dawn come OCTOBER 2007 - God values? | JULY 2007 - No rock too rough

October 2008

The Letting Go ... 

One of the many good things about living in Bramhall is being so close to Lyme Park. Tinker and I try to get there most days to blow away the cobwebs for an hour or so; it’s where I do a lot of thinking and she does a lot of ball catching (needless to say she is often more successful in her pursuit than I am!) One of the reasons why I love Lyme so much is the way its landscape embraces the changing seasons whilst remaining just as beautiful, be it spring, summer, autumn or winter. Now, as the leaves begin to fall and the nights draw in I find myself seduced by autumn’s grandeur, just as I find a deep peace in the bleakness of winter days and will be filled with hope by the first spring bulbs and their promise of summer. Each season is distinctive, adding to the richness of our experience; each is necessary for the continuation of life. As the gospel of St John puts it; ‘unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies it bears much fruit.’ (12:24) Change is part of God’s creation in the natural world and in each of one of us too.

You’d think we’d get used to it as the years roll on but change is often something we fear rather than rejoice in. And we’re not alone – our Bible is full of folk who set off on the journey towards God with alarm and apprehension; people who didn’t really want to move, feeling unprepared and ill equipped for the tasks ahead of them. Such a one was Abraham (Genesis 11-25) who set out with not a clue where he was headed but through his journey became the father of Israel and one of the supreme examples of faith to the New Testament writers (see Romans 4, James 2:20-6). One of the most amazing things about this Patriarch was that he was seventy five years old when God told him to stir his stumps! He was a man in the autumn of his life, presumably ready to settle down to a bit of p & q – but God had other ideas - a lesson to all of us who think that we may be ‘past it’! His story – which as those who follow God’s call today is also ours – is expressed powerfully in a poem by Bonnie Thurston:

He was seventy five years old and God’s first word to him was ‘Go’.

I think of Abram when my plans go awry when happenstance pries my finger loose from the grasping illusion of control over life.

‘Go,’ God said to Abram, giving no address, disclosing no destination. Taking an unruly family, trusting God to show the way, Abram went. On that wild journey he, too, had fingers pried loose, heard Sarai laugh, learned The blessing comes in the going and the letting go.

Change for the Christian is not to be feared but welcomed as an opportunity to grow in faith, a chance for us to experience the newness of life that our heavenly Father longs to share with us. This autumn may we step out boldly, trusting in God’s unfailing love which is there to be rediscovered and enjoyed through all the changing scenes of our earthly life until the day comes when we will see him ‘face to face’ in the light of the eternal day - heaven’s bliss (which, I’m assured, is even better than Lyme Park!) 

With much love,         

Esther Foss                      

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June 2008

Did you enjoy my Creation? 

What kind of tea bag are you? I was asked to consider this in one of those magazine quizzes. Was I a fruit tea bag, zesty and full of life? Or was I a camomile, calming and soothing? Perhaps I was an Earl Grey, subtle and sophisticated, or did I tend more towards the classic English Breakfast, a good all rounder who is best in the morning? I guess we’re a mixture of all these qualities, but there was one other category which spoke more readily to my mood at the time… and that, I have to admit, was the dried up used tea bag! 

There are times when we just feel exhausted, aren’t there? Like when we return to our normal routine after a wonderful holiday and life feels very mundane. Or when we’ve spent too long doing the things that are not life giving for us without making enough space for fun, or when we’ve had to deal with a particularly difficult situation that has left us feeling drained.  

And why is it that when this happens we often compound our troubles by feeling guilty? After all, we tell ourselves, we’re Christians! We’re called to be salt and light! Well, we know what happens when we stop being salty, or when our light dims don’t we?  

Well, yes, we do. When we feel dead beat and get down in the dumps Jesus comes to us and says, ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’  (Matthew 11.28)  

God does not want us to run around like the proverbial flies. He wants us to enjoy life, and to do so we must take time out to savour the sacrament of the present moment.

There’s an old Jewish proverb which says that when we die we will be asked one question by God; ‘Did you enjoy my creation?’  

Not one of us knows how much time we have on this earth, and it is a sad fact that it’s often only when we are confronted with the reality of death that we truly begin to live, to appreciate the many blessings that surround us. 

So this summer, don’t feel guilty about taking time out to live… and keep on doing so throughout the autumn and the winter months too. Put your feet up and rejoice that God loves you and wants you to rest in his presence.  

Laugh a little more easily; don’t be afraid to cry when you need to. Whatever you do, bless it all just as your heavenly Father does – and rejoice that he loves us whatever we feel like - even if it’s a dried up tea bag! 

Have a great summer!

Esther Foss

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June 2008

Awake my soul 

JUNE IS HERE, and with it comes life and love and laughter once again. The world of nature is displayed in its full splendour. Our souls awaken too, ‘with the sun’, as we ‘…shake off dull sloth and joyful rise, to pay Thy morning sacrifice’ in the words of Bishop Thomas Ken’s jubilant hymn.

As the writer of Ecclesiastes has it; ‘For everything its season, and for everything under heaven its time.’ (3.1) All of us must undergo a period of ‘winter’ in our lives, ‘a time for mourning’ when things we have loved are taken from us, but this is always followed by the promise of spring which is realised in the glory of summer, ‘a time for dancing’.  It is the Easter story which resonates again and again in our world and in us, the resurrection that always comes.

Of course, we know this, but it is a lesson we frail human creatures have to learn many times over in the journey of our earthly existence. We are often timid and fearful in the face of life’s squalls, just as the Apostle Peter was (whose feast day we celebrate with that of St Paul on the 29th).

We all know the story (Matthew 14.24 and following). The disciples were together in a boat when suddenly they saw Jesus walking towards them on the water. They were terrified, thinking him to be a ghost and cried out. But ‘at once’ Jesus spoke to them, telling them not to be afraid.

But that wasn’t enough for dear old Peter – he was going to go the extra mile and walk himself over the water towards his master. And it started off so well, didn’t it? Until ‘he saw the strength of the gale’ and began to be afraid and started to sink. What does Jesus say to him? Nothing at first, because he immediately reaches out to catch hold of him and bring him to safety. But then comes the question - ‘Why did you hesitate? What little faith you have!’

And it is a question that is put to each one of us too. We don’t need much faith – the size of a mustard seed will do (Matthew 17.20) – but we are called to use it, to put our money where our mouth is. Only then can God use us to do his work, just as he did with Peter who despite his many gaffes and failures eventually ended up as the first Pope.

So, this June, why not take a risk and live by faith? Why not celebrate the blessings of life with confidence and hope, because the God who loves us longs to give us more and more. Open your hands and your hearts and see what comes. You probably won’t end up as Pope, but then again, stranger things have happened!

Have a fantastic June,

Esther Foss

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May 2008

Pentecost 

May is the month in which the feast of Pentecost falls. The name literally means ‘the fiftieth day’ because we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles on the fiftieth day after Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 2:1).

What a day that must have been! I guess it began like any other. St Luke tells us that the disciples were together ‘in one place’, presumably minding their own business when ‘…suddenly there came from the sky…a strong driving wind…and tongues of fire’ which came to rest on each of them. 

As a result, these twelve human beings were utterly transformed from a bewildered, directionless group into the founding fathers of the Church; the meeting place of heaven and earth, the gathering of God’s people in which the living presence of Christ resides. That’s how it is with the Spirit. It comes unannounced, among unlikely folk, and changes them. That’s how it was then … and that’s how it is now.   

Do you believe this? Each time we say the Creed we proclaim it to be true. But sometimes we can feel more like the frightened group who ‘locked the doors’ of the upper room for ‘fear’. Sometimes we can feel like all the action has been and gone, and our churchgoing and life in Christ becomes stale and routine, just something for ‘Sunday’ to fill the time between breakfast and the Antiques Roadshow.  

God is much more exciting than this, thank God! When we feel otherwise (and we all do, at times) we need to take time out for the One who is alive, and loves us and calls us to be where he is. We need to unlock the door of our hearts and minds and invite His Spirit in to refresh and renew us, and make of us apostles for the 21st century. That, after all, is surely why we are here. We have work to do; we are called to ‘let go and let God’ take a hold of our lives and, let me tell you, that is exciting stuff! It is what gives us joy and hope and makes of us an Easter People.  

There is nothing boring or colourless about God – He is seriously cool. And when we allow ourselves to be shaped and used and loved by him, so are we! Remember what happens to those who are ‘neither hot nor cold’? (See Revelation 3:16)  

Let us not be lukewarm about God, but rather be set on fire with love for him. The Lord is here, and His Spirit is with us. Alleluia!

Esther Foss

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April 2008

Love across the galaxies 

The clergyman Charles Kingsley (1819-75) wrote that ‘Beauty is God’s handwriting.’ But I like to think of God more as a graffiti artist, spray-painting his declarations of passionate love across the galaxies, unconstrained by the nib of a pen and completely unconcerned about keeping within the lines. I hope that God doesn’t care about doing joined up; I like to think he doesn’t worry about grammar or punctuation or even spelling. Like the love struck fool that he is, I think God’s only aim is to get his message across to his best beloved, in any way that will catch his, or her, eye. 

So how does God catch your eye then?  Because, make no mistake about it, you are the one he’s swooning over. Yes, YOU! You can’t believe it? Makes no odds to him. He’ll do everything he can to let you know. Look around. Look at the blossom on the trees, I mean, really look at it. See how much care, how much tenderness has gone in to making just one, tiny, flower. Look at the stars in the sky, smell the fragrance of your new shower gel, kiss your dog, get swept away by the taste of your favourite dessert. Listen to the sound of God in the birdsong, in the laughter of children, in the voice of a cherished friend. 

Everything that exists in this world is God’s attempt to woo us, if only we open our eyes to see it. God is a gentle and considerate suitor, and will never give up or get fed up, in his pursuit of our hearts. He has, as one writer put it, ‘the patience of a donkey on tranquillizers’, or as another sees it, a love that ‘compels us to come in.’ 

God rejoices in the nine young people who have chosen to respond to him through the sacrament of Confirmation on the 13th of this month. May we do likewise, as we continue on our own journey deeper into his heart until the day when we are completely filled with his enormous, mind boggling, passion. Until then, let’s enjoy the courtship, for that is what makes life divine. 

Have a wonderful April,

Esther Foss

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March 2008

My own Eden

Most of my childhood memories have formed themselves around Easter. The cherry blossom tree that dominated the vicarage garden, the ‘spring madness’ that afflicted the cats and us children alike, the excitement of breaking through the shiny foil of our Easter eggs which we’d stared at with longing all through the long days of Lent. Looking back down the years, I wonder if it really was as idyllic as I imagine. I’m sure there must have been times of upset, but I can’t recall them now. All I remember is the comforting security of a happy family home, where Mum and Dad could answer all the questions I ever had and sort out any problems I could ever encounter. It was my own Eden. 

But of course, it couldn’t last; I had to grow up. I came to understand that Mum and Dad couldn’t solve all the difficulties of life, however much they loved me. I began to see beyond the confines of my own little cocoon into the big blue yonder, a place that attracted and alarmed me all at once. I’d set off on the pilgrimage of my life, the long and winding road back to the God whom I’d known so intimately in the love that surrounded my infant self. And that’s where I find myself today, hopefully a few steps further along, as I write this letter on a sunny February afternoon. 

Because this is what Easter is really about for me: It’s the message of Resurrection. Jesus had to leave his Father and ‘come down to earth’; to grow from a child to a man in order to accomplish the work that was his and his alone. And it’s the same for us. We too have to be free to grow, to take risks, if we are to do the work that is ours, to become the unique person God designed each of us to be. God longs to give us life ‘in all its abundance’ (John 10.10) and he says to each one of us, ‘Go for it! And don’t be afraid, because I am with you and I love you.’ (Isaiah 43) 

God wants us to live, and rejoice and love this world of ours so much that it becomes a new Eden, only this time one we have freely chosen and made together with him. That’s our vocation as an Easter People - to carry on God’s work of creation until His kingdom is made a reality on this earth. In the words of R S Thomas,       

It’s a long way off; but to get / There takes no time and admission / Is free, if you will purge yourself / Of desire, and present yourself with / Your need only, and the simple offering / Of your faith, green as a leaf. 

‘The Kingdom’, Later Poems. Macmillan 1983, p35

May you know the joy of the risen life this Easter and always.

Esther Foss

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February 2008

Go for more

February is often known as ‘fill-dyke’ because of its rain filled days. But it’s also a month of promise, with bulbs and buds bursting forth. This year Lent is early – Ash Wednesday is 6th February – and for many this adds to the melancholy. What’s your Lenten penance?  How will you shape up to self-discipline? Maybe a focus on self denial misses the point. Because surely Lent is a time for life; Jesus calls us to grow just like our bulbs. Rather than having less, why not go for more? More time for God and neighbour, more worship, prayer and Bible study.  

Ash Wednesday remembers Jesus going into the desert immediately after his baptism (Mark 1.12), where he was “tempted by Satan”. Mark emphasises his lonely state, “… and he was with the wild beasts”, yet he also mentions that “the angels waited on him”. Matthew and Luke give vivid accounts of Satan’s wiles and Luke concludes with a telling endpiece, “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4.13). Like Arnold Schwarzenegger, he’d ‘be back’ – at Judas’ betrayal and in the events of Holy Week.  

The moral? That evil is a reality in our world, but that we don’t have to give in to it. However bleak things may seem sin and death never have the last word on our lives. There is always hope. That is the message of Easter because it didn’t end with the cross, and neither should we. 

So, this Lent, why not focus on hope? Self denial is never an end in itself. Who will admire you for having a cold bath every morning and catching pneumonia, or going without sugar and making yourself and everyone around you miserable, or (dare I say it) going to mass with a face as long as a fiddle to curdle the blood of the celebrant and congregation! We don’t read in the Gospel accounts that Jesus was a misery guts those forty days in the desert. Our Lord was purposeful in doing his job as he saw it: we can try to do the same. So be positive, enjoy Lent and what it has to offer, get that zest for life that is God’s gift. If it’s your meat, discipline yourself in some wholesome way, but quietly, it’s between you and God (see Matthew 6.1-18).  We’ll be running a study group, so come along if you think that it will do you good; we have services galore, so try one that you don’t normally attend; there are plenty of opportunities to deepen our faith, so let’s take advantage of them. But most of all may we enjoy a fruitful, life-giving Lent because that’s what it’s all about.

Esther Foss

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November 2007

Love lights

People often remark that Christmas comes earlier each year and it’s too true with the vast array of Yuletide paraphernalia that hits our shops from mid October. There’s good biblical warrant to be well prepared; we all remember the story of the wise and foolish virgins ( Matthew 25.1-13). It goes without saying though, that our most important preparations are spiritual, making space in our lives to receive the infant Jesus, to hold him close and allow him to soften our hearts with his love.  Love is what it’s all about; the love of God experienced in human form as Jesus , and the love of God that flows within our families and friendships.

Love lights up our memories of Christmasses past. I remember Mum baking terrific numbers of mince pies and cakes, wrapping presents with Grandma, Dad in and out, busy with carol services and communions. Our tree went up on Christmas Eve, decorated with the precious wassail cups of Mum’s childhood. The 1950’s fairy doll Uncle Jack bought for her would be carefully placed at the top. After an enormous lunch Grandpa would insist that we did our party pieces, whilst Mum and Dad beat a hasty retreat to do the washing up!

Memories are an important part of our festivities; they show us where God has been in our lives. But Christmas is a time to look forward too, a time when God invites us to grow in our knowledge and love of him, just as he grew from the baby wrapped in swaddling bands to the man who showed us how to live and love. It is this incredible gift that we celebrate above all. As John Betjeman put it; 

No love that in a family dwells,

No Carolling in frosty air,

Nor all the steeple shaking bells

Can with this simple truth compare –

That God was Man in Palestine

And lives today in Bread and Wine.  

Wishing you a joyful and blessed Christmastide,

Esther Foss

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Ocober 2007

Dawn come

November is a time for us to think about endings. We see this in nature as once lush green leaves turn to gold, and in the Church’s calendar as we commemorate the twin feasts of All Saints and All Souls. But it is also a time of beginnings.  

As Jesus tells us in John’s gospel, unless the seed dies it cannot bear fruit (12.24). The decay of autumn points to the new life that comes with the spring. Similarly, our deaths are not an end in themselves but direct us to the ‘sure and certain hope’ of the resurrection, when we will rejoice with all the saints and angels at heaven’s eternal banquet. 

This is certainly recognised in Mexico where the 1st of November is known as ‘The Day of the Dead’, and is a time of life, colour and festival. This fiesta * ‘shot through with lightning and delirium is the brilliant opposite of our silence and apathy, our reticence and gloom.’ It’s a time for whole families to come together and give thanks for the gift of life, to remember with affection and gratitude their loved ones who have gone before, and to party like crazy!  

Graves are decorated with garlands and flowers, sugar skulls are enjoyed by children, banners and ornaments adorn altars; food and drink are carried to cemeteries so that the living and the dead can feast together. The horror of Halloween masks is notably absent. In Mexico there is no need to fear death. It is celebrated as a normal and natural part of life. And so it is for us in Bramhall. For death ‘is not the extinguishing of the light. It is the putting out of the lamp because the dawn has come.’ So don’t be glum this autumn but give thanks to God in whom there are no endings, just Eternal Love that holds all of us in His embrace.  

* Octavio Paz, El laberinto de la soledad as cited by Carmichael and Sayer, The Skeleton at the Feast: The Day of the Dead in Mexico British Museum Press, 1991 

Esther Foss

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September 2007

God values?

The one thing St Michael’s is missing is a church cat (notwithstanding Caspar Scott, the Verger’s dog). Our feline brothers and sisters have much to teach us about the faith. One such moggie is Abner, who belongs to one of our Southern cathedrals. At their harvest celebration he stole the show by placing a dead field mouse at the feet of the Dean, who reverently blessed it with the other, less unusual, offerings! 

Before we brush this story aside as a fanciful tale, let’s think about what it says to us. For me, it shows that God wants and values everything we have to give him. When we come to his altar to receive his very self in the Eucharist we present to him the whole of our lives, the good, the bad and the ugly, knowing that whatever we may feel about each thought, experience and emotion we carry with us, all of it is valued by God. Because he came to earth as a human person, everything that makes us human can become a means of communion with him when we offer it up in his name.  

This is something that seven of our young people will discover in a very real sense as they make their first communion on the day we mark our harvest festival. Some Christians will offer gifts of produce on this day, All Christians are reminded to offer our ‘hearts and hands and minds and voices’ every day of our lives.   

And as is God’s way, all that we offer to him is taken with love and transformed beyond everything we can hope for or imagine. If simple everyday things like bread and wine become his precious body and blood, just think what he can do with each one of us! Let us celebrate this amazing truth this harvest tide, as we pray that we may become all that he dreams for us to be.    

Happy Harvest!

Esther Foss

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July 2007

No rock too rough

Dear friends

July is a good month for many reasons; it’s the season of the seaside with its buckets and spades, ice creams, sun filled days and balmy nights. It’s also a season of saints – in the church calendar we celebrate Thomas the Apostle (on the 3rd), Benedict, the father of Western Monasticism (on the 11th), Mary Magdalene (on the 22nd) James the Apostle (on the 25th) and my own particular favourite, Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (on the 31st).

Saints, the seaside… maybe the two go together hand in hand. I was walking along the beach from Whitby to Sandsend a while ago, taking in the atmosphere and thinking about life when I noticed a beautifully smooth pebble lying in my path. I picked it up and enjoyed a moment just holding it, feeling its contours between my fingers and admiring its beauty. It got me thinking … aren’t the saints a bit like such pebbles?

Not many of them start out saintly! And yet over time they are formed into the likeness of God – smoothed over, if you like, by the transforming grace of His Spirit.  He’s pretty good at knocking off sharp edges - a process that is far from easy, is often painful and takes a very long time! Yet there is no piece of rock that is too rough or too sharp to resist the power of his love.

Well, we are all saints, according to St Paul (I Corinthians 1:2). Throughout our lives God is working on us, with us, in us and through us, sometimes as gently and imperceptibly as a wave’s kiss … other times less subtly! May our prayer be that of Edwin Hatch who wrote in his famous hymn;

Breathe on me, Breath of God till I am wholly thine; until this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine.

Have a great July,  

Esther Foss

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