From the Rectory August 2018

as published in Great Yarmouth Parish Life

Rev Canon Simon Ward
 
It really is exceedingly dry outside! By the time you read this I do hope our gardens and farmland will have received some moisture after a total lack of rain since May. The cold and the lashings of vicious winter storms of early 2018 seem a long, long time ago. There is a need for a good deluge to replenish reservoirs and give growth to our plants
 
Many of us barely notice the lack of rain unless we are a keen gardener although the yellowing lawns of the churchyard cannot escape anyone’s notice. But for many people across the globe, too little or too much rain is more than just an irritation. Many people in developing countries live a hand to mouth existence and need their crops and the malfunctioning of weather can be brutal as they watch seedlings wither and fail. As I write there are reports of floods in Japan with great loss of life, reminding us we can never take safety from weather for granted
 
Of course, the people of Jesus time were all too acutely aware of the rains and the droughts because this was the life they lived. In the Bible dryness is often seen as a symbol of hopelessness and a lack of God’s blessing. Dryness can also be used as a symbol of craving for the goodness of God. For example Psalm 63 says “my soul thirsts for you ... as in a dry and weary land where there is no water”. We need to have time to seek after God and when we find God it is a watering of our souls. People seek to refresh their souls in all kinds of different ways but true refreshment is found in God alone
 
May your lawns or your pot plants be lush and green! And may you find refreshment through God’s living waters

Fr Simon

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