A letter from the Vicarage – Rev’d Andy Stand

Hi Everyone,

How are you doing? I hope and pray that you are all keeping fit and well.

Some years ago, during my curacy in Bromsgrove, I was involved in helping the young people in the parish lead a number of acts of worship. The first I remember was the culmination of a Lent Group that we ran for the young people and was a reflection upon the Gospel story, using amongst other influences, the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis.

Another one, during Advent and the build up to Christmas, this time, used the Joan Osborne track One of Us, to ask the question, ‘What if God was one of us, … just a stranger on a bus, trying to make their way home’? The young people, being much better skilled in modern technology than I am, produced their own video to be shown while the track was playing in the background. For that worshipping community, at that stage and season of it’s life, the worship the young people led was highly technical, making full use of the technology of the day.

I remember, too that we led a further act of worship, again during the season of Lent, and this time I suggested that as it was Lent, we should lead something that was simpler in its format and tone, something that was not reliant in any way on any form of modern technology; something offering, I guess, a more desert like experience. How successful it was is probably open to debate, but I still think the premise of doing something simple during Lent is good one.

I was reminded of this recently when an electrical survey was being carried out at the vicarage, and necessitated all plugs being pulled out of their sockets; so there was no computer and no broadband for a couple of hours or so. Nor of course was there any power to boil a kettle to be able to offer the engineer a drink of tea or coffee – a case of proper Lenten fasting if only for those few hours!

It just highlights our dependence upon modern technology for many things.

I wonder, how would you cope in those circumstances? Would you be able to embrace the enforced simplicity? Or would you find yourself impatient to get back on-line?

I will confess, that of course I wasn’t completely bereft of technology during the outage, as I did have my iPad with sufficient charge to be able to read some more of the book, I have designated as my Lenten reading this year, a book called Heaven, Your Real Home From a Higher Perspective by Joni Eareckson Tada.

I wonder how are you making space for Lenten simplicity this year? Are you finding it a help in terms of making space for your relationship with God? Is it leaving you wanting the season to be over and done with and unable to wait for Easter morning and the season of celebration and indulgence to begin?

I wish you all a continuing blessed and Holy Lent.

Every blessing,

Andy.