1st
May 2020
St Philip
& St James, Apostles
Pastoral
Letter No. 10
Fr
Andrew writes:
The Strength to Endure
Is it really May already?
It was in March that our country shutdown and our church closed its doors. Life
has changed for us all.
As the lockdown continues
what might we say of endurance? It is
not a fashionable word, but is one we need to grapple with and inhabit. An
associated word, that is rather more in vogue, is ‘resilience’. Both words point
to the long-term strength needed to withstand a period of trial. A pressing
question also is how endurance relates to hope, the hope we so crave at the
moment?
Endurance is about the
ability to keep on going; resilience is about the ability to bounce back.
At baptism we are not
given a jab of endurance or resilience, but the Christian life - shaped by the
practices of the Eucharist, reflection on God’s word in scripture, pursuit of
the Kingdom of God in ‘justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 14.17)
– does foster wells of endurance and resilience.
We see that endurance
exemplified in saints ancient and modern: as St Paul describes ‘as servants of
God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in
afflictions, hardships, calamities…’ (2 Corinthians 6.4. See also 2 Corinthians
6.4-10; 11.23b-33); St Felicity, St Perpetua and their companions endured
torture and death by mauling of bulls and lions; Terry Waite was held in
isolation as a hostage and recalled psalms from memory to sustain him.
The saints direct their
gaze upon the face of Christ to receive endurance - because he is the one who
in love has endured everything for us already -
‘knowing’ as St Paul says ‘that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not
disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit that has been given to us.’ (Romans 5.3-5)
‘God’s love poured into
our hearts through the Holy Spirit’ is what enables the Christian to endure.
Sometimes that endurance
can feel very elusive; we want it and cannot grasp it. It is then that we come
closest to receiving it in the desolation of our lowest moments. It is in those
moments that we can make the words of the psalms our own, ancient words which
narrate our feelings of loneliness, abandonment and despair. For example:
‘Why,
O Lord do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?’
(Psalm 10.1);
‘Do
not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help’ (Psalm
22.11);
‘My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from
the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by
night, but I find no rest’ (Psalm 22.1,2)
‘I
had said in my alarm, “I am driven far from your sight” But when you heard my
supplications when I cried out to you for help’ (Psalm 31.22).
Such words begin the path
of endurance; we enter into the spiritual journey of those who have gone before
us, and find we are not alone in our anguish.
Likewise, in the gospels
we hear of people pouring out their frustrations and disappointments. The two
disciples on the day of resurrection walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus say
bluntly to Jesus, as yet unrecognised, ‘are you the only stranger in Jerusalem
who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ (Luke
24.18). It’s as if there are saying: ‘are you for real? Don’t you get it?’
It’s like when the
disciples cried out to Jesus on the boat in the storm ‘Wake up. Do you not care
that we are perishing?’ (Mark 4.38)
Jesus asks the disciples
on the road: ‘what things? Tell me’ (Luke 24.19), in other words, ‘pour out
your hearts’. After stilling the storm he asks the frightened disciples, ‘where
is your faith?’ (Luke 8.25). In both questions he is coaching us into finding
endurance and to trust in him and in the faithfulness of God.
Crying out in despair is
not a failure of faith: it is a prayerful cry of faith.
Yes, we want an end to
this isolation and lockdown and we pray fervently for it; we pray for the
strength to endure and to be spiritually resilient, knowing that our strength
and endurance comes from God.
Remember us O God, and
shape our history,
form our inward eyes
to see the shadow of the
life-giving cross
in the turbulence of our
time;
for his sake who died for
all,
Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(Common Worship: Daily Prayer, Psalm prayer
for Psalm 136)
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