Jane Agg, Churchwarden

Happy New Year. May 2024 be a peaceful year for you and those you love.

One of the phrases that stays with me is ‘Jesus help me to give myself away to others being kind to everyone I meet.’

Now that the fun and excitement of Christmas and New Year is over, life can feel a bit ordinary and even dull. We are back into the same routines with the next break a long way off. Each day I, and many Christians all over the world listen to a short reflection on an app called Lectio365.

While the theme and the verses from the Bible vary at the end of every weekday, they use the same prayer for the day ahead. One of the phrases that stays with me is ‘Jesus help me to give myself away to others being kind to everyone I meet.’ It’s the use of the word kind that makes me think.

As a teacher I have told many children to be kind to each other, it can seem a rather ordinary, bland phrase that just means ‘be nice’. As I’ve thought about it, I’ve realised that it is much deeper than that, at its heart kindness is about noticing someone. Noticing others as an individual not just part of a crowd. Noticing someone and responding to them often in ordinary ways. Noticing the person who walks their dog on the same route as you each day and giving them a smile, noticing the driver who has been waiting a long time to turn into a line of traffic on the London Road and letting them in front of us. Kindness is an ordinary word but receiving kindness can make a dull January day brighter.

I wonder who you could show kindness to today?

I wonder who will show kindness to you?

We would love you to join us at one of the activities or services at Burpham Church. There are opportunities to meet some local people at Drop In on a Thursday morning for older residents and our Caterpillar Café toddler group on a Friday morning for under 5’s.

More details on our website www.burphamchurch.org.uk