Sunday 5th July, 5th Sunday after Trinity

I’m writing this halfway through this year’s Lifepath, which has me thinking about journeys. The image of the life of faith as a journey is a very ancient one which continues to speak powerfully today, but each of us relates to it differently.

For some of us faith came gradually, like rings growing on a tree, like fruit gradually emerging on a branch, or like a child growing to maturity. It was a story of incremental change, little by little, sometimes barely discernible, but which when we look back at where we have come from turns out to have been a long road.

For some of us it was more like waves on a beach or the cycle of the seasons, alternating peaks and troughs of doubt and trust, knowledge and uncertainty, darkness and light.

For some of us it was a sudden and profound experience rather than a process, a response to a significant life event or a dazzling and perhaps disturbing encounter with a spiritual reality bigger than ourselves.

All of these experiences are different, but all are valid, and all lead ultimately to the same truth. We are all, together, members of God’s family. This morning we celebrate new beginnings for two members of the congregation in their baptisms. Let’s also use the opportunity to thank God for our own journey.

Every blessing,

Roger