THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
9th August 2025
Greetings,
We are deep into the barbecue season and for most such occasions the weather has been kind. The gentle hum of conversation, the occasional burst of laughter, the clink of glasses and the promise of charred food constitute what has become the quintessential Summer event. And as with many of the good things in life it is not just the event itself, but the anticipation of it that is vital to our wellbeing. Without hope life is nothing but hope itself is easily knocked. Personal worries, familial problems, the state of the nation, the appalling suffering of so many in the world; each of these can challenge or even extinguish hope.
In tomorrow's readings hope is expressed as faith, spiritual trust in God. And Jesus encourages his followers to sit light to this world in which we have no lasting possession. Everything can be taken from us including life itself, but lives that are centred in God will endure eternally in God. The Letter to the Hebrews evokes the memory of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, strangers and exiles on the earth whose lives were sustained by this faith, and Jesus himself speaks of faith as treasure in the heavens that does not fail.
Total and unwavering faith is rare indeed. For most of us, most of the time, our hold on faith is weak and vulnerable, susceptible to the many challenges of life. So it is best to dwell not so much on our faith and lack of it, but on God's hold on us which does not fail. If we dwell on ourselves we become the vulnerable centre of our own small existence but if we dwell on God the perspective is entirely changed. With the author and destiny of life as the focus of life, grace flows freely, and faith and hope abide.
Every blessing,
Charles Booth
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