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Monday 12th July 2010

This weekend, Veronica and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary – our 8th since our wedding in 2002, but I have to say that it is being very much ‘dwarfed’ in Bethany his week by the diamond 60th wedding anniversary of one of our stalwart couples, Pat and John Evans, who met and were married in Bethany when the Church was still located in the centre of Cardiff – of course in 1950 – and the whole of their married life has been spent serving our Church and its community.

It strikes me that all our lives are marked by a series of anniversaries – the obvious ones; like our wedding anniversaries and birthday’s, and the less obvious ones – like that first date, our first day in a new job and our retirement – all of which are days we seem to remember and look back on as time goes by. There are also the poignant and personal ones – like the death of a partner, a relative or a close friend or even a separation or divorce - which are anniversaries which shape us, and mark our lives, in many and varied ways.

Of course anniversaries are all about ‘looking back’ – and perhaps you have no time for reminiscing, and prefer ‘only’ to look to the future – particularly perhaps if your past is marked by difficulties, pain and grief. A word of warning if that though is the case, because I’ve found that you can never really leave the past behind you – it has moulded you into the person you are now – and you will struggle to completely change yourself once again.

Whether or not you realise it, there is also a significant emphasis on anniversaries in the whole of our yearly calendars; which with Christmas and Easter especially – still have strong connections to the Christian story. To me these too are also both ‘amazing’ anniversaries – as we recognise that Jesus Christ – the Son of God – came to this earth as a baby, and then – if that was not enough - grew into a man who was then executed for us – to redeem our lives before God.

With these thought in mind, my suggestion is that you ‘embrace’ the past – as you then look to the future. It is not just the most ‘balanced’ view of life, but also the way we recognise and always remember the ‘amazing’ story of the life of Jesus, and the way his life can impact our own stories – which in his strength can be amazing too – whether we ever reach our 60th wedding anniversaries or not..!

The Lord Bless you

Phil

Thought for the Week Library:
† 08.03.10 - A Prism of Light
† 27.05.10 - World Cup Loyalties
† 27.05.10 - A Hung Parliament
† 30.03.10 - Rushing Through Easter
† 22.03.10 - Church Goes Green
† 15.03.10 - Coming Out of Retirement
† 08.03.10 - In Quiet or Noise?