By the Revd Albert Cadmore 
(Chaplain & Chairman Great Yarmouth & Gorleston RNLI & Chaplain Norwich City FC)
 
Two weeks into a New Year and no doubt many New Year Resolutions, with all their good intentions have already gone by the wayside.  As I looked back on 2012, and beyond, and forward into the future, rather than make a ‘normal’ resolution, I resolved to take stock of my life and in doing so I thought about some of the people who have helped and influenced me through my life’s journey. 
 
As I look back through the years I often think of the inspirational man who has been the greatest influence on my life.  The Revd Tony Clemens, was Vicar of Gorleston and Chairman of Gorleston Football Club back in the 1960s and 70s.  He was also the inspiration behind the St Andrew’s Festival.  Tony had a real gift of being approachable to all and he was able to communicate his Christian faith not only with words but by just being himself in encounters with people from all walks of life.  Many people will remember him with great affection for the way that, as he served the church, he enriched the lives of so many people throughout the wider community in Gorleston and beyond.
 
Tony sadly died in 1976, but through his influence, I served as a churchwarden at St Andrew’s for nine years, alongside Dr Harold Filmer, a wonderful retired GP, and then Bob Green, who became my closest friend.  Bob was from a well known Winterton fishing family and for much of his working life he travelled the coast supplying coal as fuel for the steam powered herring drifters.  As a young man I learned much about life from Tony, Harold and Bob, and I often wonder how my life would have ‘mapped out’ without their influence.
 
These days, discussion about the church, not least in the Mercury, so often seems to focus around issues like whether Easter and Christmas were originally Pagan festivals, and whether Hitler was a Catholic.  Nationally, we seem to become bogged down in debates about women bishops and gay marriage, and in doing so we often lose touch with the heart of our faith which is about a living relationship with the risen Jesus Christ.  It is a mystery, beyond our comprehension, but it is the basic truth right at the heart of our faith.
 
I often reflect on Jesus’ earthly ministry and am encouraged by the fact that for his first disciples, his closest friends, he chose the ordinary people of his day, the fishermen from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  And as I think back to those Biblical times I am glad that in my Christian journey I have been influenced by some ordinary, yet extraordinary, people from our times.
 
Maybe, as we look to the future at the start of another year, it is a good idea for all of us to look back in thankfulness and remember all those who have influenced our lives for the better, and endeavour to live our lives following their good examples.
A belated Happy New Year to all!