From the Rector

Dear Everybody, hello again.

I started my recent holiday by driving to Birmingham, by way of Cambridge.  I was surprised, in the middle of Birmingham, suddenly to find myself on the A47.  So I thought, I could have come here direct from North Tuddenham, all that way on the one road that almost goes past my door.  Save the mental effort.

A look at the map showed me that beyond Leicester the A47 gets much slower, and the road disappears entirely for the last ten miles between Nuneaton and the outskirts of the conurbation.  If I had trusted myself to the road alone, I would still be lost somewhere in Nuneaton, living off garage food and sleeping in the back of the car.

In this month in which Remembrance Day falls, it brings to mind the “road map” for peace in the Middle East, which seems as far away as ever.  I wonder whether the “road” chosen has become more important to some people than the aims.  And we seem lost on the road.  If you want to get to your destination, sometimes the road runs out and you have to go a different way.

Recently, Adam Curle, who started the department of Peace Studies at Bradford University, died.  A convinced Quaker, he believed that making peace could be learned; but also that it must be.  Mediation rather than an armed stalemate brings peace.  Not a wall between people, but communication and a road.

Christian life is more than following a set path; it’s about having something/ someone to help us when the road runs out.  And in all our dealings with one another, whatever our faith, it’s important to remember where we are trying to get to, rather than to stick with the way we have chosen if we get bogged down.  Peace can be built, even if the road isn’t there yet.  There is a way through.

God bless you.         David Head