Dear Everybody,

As I write this, we have passed the second Saturday in May, when we would have held our annual fete (only I booked a wedding without thinking – oops!), and we haven't yet reached the actual day of the fete.

Now, last Saturday's weather was so-so, not brilliant... and I'm hoping that next Saturday's weather will be just wonderful, so I won't feel so daft for goofing. (Again – I did the same a few years ago: day of wedding BRILLIANT sunshine; day of the fete cold and drizzly. I was NOT a popular bunny...) Of course, by the time you read this, the fete will be passed, and you'll know the answer to wondering as to what the weather will be like on Saturday 19th May.

By the same token, as I write this, major work is being done to inspect the church roof, and large holes have to be cut into the old (very old!) lath & plaster ceiling.

Worry, worry, worry... will it all come tumbling down? (PLEASE NO!) And again, by the time you read this, the state of the church roof will be common knowledge.

Uncertainty. We humans don't like it and, of course, it's worst of all and causes most worry when the uncertainty is about people. Most of us know how long time takes to pass when the doctor has sent away tests for us, or someone we love, and we have to wait for the results. Some of us may have had the experience of being told our job is on on a shoogly peg... and having to wait to see if we're going to be made redundant. And all of us, at some time, have had to sit exams, as many young people are doing now... and then chew our nails over the summer, until the results come out.

Uncertainty – we hate it! Much of it is caused by our own worrying, which makes things worse. There's a lovely phrase which goes, “Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. And all is well”.

For many of our “I'm really worried, God” situations, that holds true: often things really aren't as bad as they seem. But sometimes that train of thought is far too flippant for someone really going through a bad time – in fact, it's almost an insult – and that's where faith comes in.

The Psalm writers in the Old Testament have a lot to teach us – often their very lives were under threat – and, though they expressed healthy anger towards God at times, there are other Psalms of deep personal faith. Try Psalm 46 which includes (in the Authorised Version) the wonderful phrase, “Be still, and know that I am God”.

And that, in the end, is all that matters.
Wishing you a good, and peaceful, summer,

God bless,
Catriona

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