Dear Friends   

American journalist Sydney J. Harris once said this: 

“Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time. What we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.” 

As many of you may already know it was announced at the beginning of September that I am moving on from my current post. I have been Priest-in-Charge of my current churches since 2016 and that’s considered quite a long time for a first incumbency (the first Vicaring job after curacy). I’ll be moving after Christmas to Wadebridge to become their Rector, and I am excited for the new challenge. 

Nevertheless I am also quietly dreading it. I’m dreading my final services in each of my churches, I have no desire to pack up a whole house and I don’t want to change dentists, doctors, hairdressers, running clubs or dog walk destinations. So basically, I’d like to move and also stay exactly where I am. 

They say that the only constant in life is change. We simply don’t have the power to stop it - we get older, our families get older and we lose people along the way. So I think its quite natural that when we think of change its usually accompanied by the assumption that change will make things worse. But focussing on the negatives blinds us to all the positive changes that happen too. 

To give you an example - there are some who have resisted the change in Britain to somewhere more multi-cultural than it used to be. Immigration has been high for some time - but the media doesn’t like to let slip that Britain currently has the lowest rate of violent crime it has ever had. I wonder what those who were rioting just a few weeks ago would say to that? 

Not all change is bad, and since it is inevitable anyway I’d like to refer you back to my favourite prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. 

Or in this case: God grant me the serenity to accept that I can’t change everything changing. 

I watched a short interview with Michael Caine a few days ago. He was talking about one of his first acting jobs in a theatre. He was meant to come onto the stage but someone had accidentally wedged a chair in the doorway. Someone asked him why he was late for his cue and he told them about the chair. This man said “in acting as in life, use the difficulty. If the play is a comedy, fall over the chair and make people laugh. If the play is a drama, pick up the chair and throw it.” We don’t have the ability to choose the difficulties, and change is often one of them. But we do have the choice to rally against it or to use it. 

As I am approaching a move the question I want to ask myself is how I can use this change, use the hassle of moving and the difficulties it presents to grow closer to God and more into the person I am called to be. 

I can choose to commit each stage to the Lord and notice Him walking alongside me. I can use the opportunity to make new friends. I can pray for a new community. I can enjoy exploring new dog walking routes and coffee shops. 

In the same way, if you’re part of a church which has to share a Vicar you could   complain about it and write a letter to the Church Times, or you could find ways to bless your church leader, take responsibility for something new, forge new            connections across the group and discover new ways to work together. 

God is the only constant, and as we seek Him He calls us to use the changes in life to point people towards Him and grow closer to Him ourselves. 

With my blessing as ever, 

Jules x