A message from the Rev’d Amanda Collinson

Posted by Admin on 9 October 2018, 3:30 pm

Amanda Collinson

Priest-in-Charge

St John the Baptist Church

Northwood.

Tel: 01983 294913

HELLO THERE!

It is that time of the year again when we ‘turn back time’ ….as Cher once said! I am always sad when we turn the clocks back as it means we are getting near Winter: we may get an extra hour in bed (well those of you who do not have young children will!) but the days are shorter, the wind is inevitably colder and stronger, coats are essential not ‘just in case’…. Can you guess that Winter is not my favourite season!

I was thinking as I’m sitting at my desk – Oh I wish I could turn back time to this summer: What a great one we had, a proper summer when trips to the beach were not an endurance with gloves, hats and coats, but a time of great enjoyment. Swimming in the sea, lots of ice creams, sand EVERYWHERE (beach, car, house!). Team Collinson had the most magical of summers ending with an awesome holiday – there were some very, very special memories made this year. If only we could go back there again to relive it all once more.

Time travel has been a theme of many a book, TV programme and film. Thinking about my favourite in each category I would say Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time traveller’s wife, Quantum Leap (an American TV series shown in the early 90s) and of course my favourite time travelling film has to be Back to the Future (the first one!) – I was a real Michael J Fox fan when I was young!!! So, if you had a DeLorean car or perhaps even a Police Box like Doctor Who, where in the world and what year would you go back to? I have stopped and thought about this myself and realised how hard this question is! There are a number of events I would like to go back to in my own life, but there are also other times around my family history as well as world history that happened before I was born that I would LOVE to go and be a metaphorical ‘fly on the wall’.

Who wouldn’t want to be in the Cabinet War Rooms when Churchill was leading the country in WWII, or in Houston’s mission control room when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon or in the Australian cricket ground when we won the Ashes..…..Oh I could go on and on! Have a think: what would be your top three events in history that you would want to be at?

You may be surprised that I didn’t list on my ‘places to go’ Jerusalem to witness Jesus doing his ministry. But I will be honest with you I would not want to be there – I would hate to see his crucifixion (even though I know the end is a joyous one!) but there was also so much suspicion and misunderstanding at the time and so many people didn’t truly ‘get’ who Jesus was. We, in the UK in 2018, are in such a fortunate position with regards to God and Jesus inasmuch as we have the bible with all the stories gathered together, written in our language and not living under any dictatorship or regime which forbids us to have a faith. Sadly, even now, this is not the case for many, many people around the world. No, Jerusalem AD30 is not on my list.

It is strange I normally take days to write these magazine articles…. but today the words have been flowing out of my fingers and now on the radio they are playing Queen’s song ‘These are the days of our life’. Goodness me, this is too much a God-incident! I have just googled the lyrics and they include:

You can’t turn back the clock, you can’t turn back the tide

Ain’t that a shame?

Ooh, I’d like to go back one time on a roller coaster ride

When life was just a game

No use in sitting and thinkin’ on what you did

When you can lay back and enjoy it through your kids

Sometimes it seems like lately, I just don’t know

Better sit back and go, with the flow

Wise words from Freddie et al. Currently there is no such thing as a time-machine. We may dream of going back to when we were young, had hair, a good set of knees, less wrinkles, a larger bank balance and a smaller waist, but currently there is no possibility.

So perhaps we should do as Freddie said and ‘go with the flow’ or as Jesus to his followers said, ‘Do not worry about your life’. We no longer have control of what has happened in the past, but we can influence the future – your future but also the people around you. Whilst it may be hard with the days drawing in I would encourage you to think as positively as you can, remember how lucky we are to live on this lovely Island in the peace and quiet, remember all that you have – family and friends as well as the possessions around you. Try not to waste energy reflecting on the ‘good old days’ or ‘better times’ because in your looking back you may miss out on what is happening around you in the present. Rejoice in the here-and-now and live your lives as fulfilling as you can.

Wishing you a blessed month!

.
Rev’d Amanda

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