Little Things

This letter, and the rest of St Michael’s Church magazine, are also available as a pdf on this website.

St. Michael’s Vicarage
Alnwick

Dear People of Alnwick,

None of us has previously experienced such times as those in which we currently find ourselves. At the time of writing this letter it seems that ‘lockdown’ is likely to continue for several more weeks and, as we continue in this restricted way of life, I have been heartened to hear of, and experience, a number of simple, kind gestures – acts of love – which are taking place.

From the amazing achievement of Captain Tom Moore in his fundraising effort for the National Health Service to the kindness of the unknown person who left fresh eggs of the Vicarage doorstep, ‘little things’ can have a profound effect.

Do you perhaps remember, as I do, singing at Sunday School the hymn:

‘Little drops of water, little grains of sand,
make the mighty ocean and the beauteous land’?

The third verse goes like this:

‘Little deeds of kindness, little acts of love,
make our earth an Eden, like the heaven above.’

“Childish doggerel” you may say; and perhaps you’re right. But the essence of the message is valid.

Adversity seems, somehow, to bring out the best in people – just as familiarity breeds contempt.

In a trice, it seems, we begin to value things which previously we took for granted or to which we never gave a second thought.

I have been overwhelmed at the positive response arising from the ‘Spiritual Companion’ we issued for Holy Week and Easter. Telephone calls, letters of appreciation and e-mails have flooded in from people saying how grateful they were to know that they were, in some way, ‘’joined’ with other folk from St. Michael’s in their Easter worship.

Yes, that booklet involved some effort and some expense (‘though a very kind donation resulting from receiving the booklet largely covered the cost of postage) but, in relation to the response it felt negligible.

And so I simply want to say to you this month what many have been saying since the early days of this epidemic: ‘Be kind’.

Being kind, showing love in the simplest of ways can be profound beyond measure – and it is at the very heart of the Gospel.

With every blessing,
Paul.

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