kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth

You call us to fullness of life

We’re called to fullness of life, but what is it, what is the “fullness” we are all promised in the words of Jesus (John 10:10)?

It’s a gift of God. It’s the love of God revealed in Christ (John 3.16). It’s the call of Christ to be his disciples (John 1.35ff).

Fullness of life enables us to live as one of the flock of the good shepherd, Jesus Christ (John 10:10). Contrary to the popular way of thinking, fullness of life isn’t the increasing accumulation of rights, freedoms, joys, resources, and opportunities, although it’s true that it may lead to some of these. Fullness of life isn’t an add-on operation.

Fullness of life is rather an invitation to faith in the midst of, and in spite of, death and limitation. It is a confession of our sins, but it’s mainly the confession of our faith, which leads us to believe in the One, “who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead; on the third day he rose again…” (from the Apostles Creed).

Fullness of life is in Christ and through Christ and “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1.16). It’s Christ’s coming to us that allows us to work towards a better life for everyone. With his fullness we’re empowered to give breath to the exhausted. With his fullness we’re able to be in communion with each other. With his fullness we’re given the spirit of celebrating life, despite all threats and forms of death.

With Christ’s fullness we can look for new ways of working together, both locally and globally, while accepting our differences in a spirit of faith, love and, honesty. Our unity is found in Christ Jesus, who is our peace and has broken down the dividing wall, and the hostility, between us.

With Christ’s fullness our anxieties can be banished. And we can revel in the liberating love that is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Gracious God,
you call us to fullness of life:
deliver us from unbelief
and banish our anxieties
with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Additional Collect for The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Abide With Me

I mentioned in a comment on August 5th that my brother-in-law had died, and that I was having trouble finding the words to use for a post about his death. Now is, I think, the time to put that right.

James died on July 30th; he was 43 years old. He’d been very ill for a long while, never really regaining his health after being seriously injured in a motorbike accident some two years ago. In that, he broke his back and was permanently paralysed. After a very long stay in hospital he did have a few months where he was able to get around a bit in a wheelchair, and for a while we thought he would be okay, though obviously very limited. But gradually complications began to take a hold of him, and his health deteriorated. He spent the last six or so months of his life in the Sue Ryder Care home, in the Old Palace, Ely. We knew four months ago that he wasn’t going to be recovering, and had just been helplessly watching him deteriorate in front of us. They were extremely good at Sue Ryder, and kept him as comfortable as possible; but sometimes he was in a lot of pain. Although he was, thankfully, peaceful at the end.

James was a great guy, but a bit of rogue too. He had a wicked sense of humour. He was quite a spiritual person, and we often used to have some really quite deep discussions about God, Christ, faith, and the Church. But, along with many people, he never found a way to express that spirituality through organised religion. He was grateful for visits from a couple of Priests in the last weeks of his life. I’m quite sure that, despite all the difficulties in his life, he had made his peace with God at the end of it.

The funeral took place yesterday, August 12th. It was a good funeral, as far as funerals go. There were a lot of people there, and the Church was quite full. Lots of his friends and family were able to be there. Richard, a fellow Reader, who led the service, managed to get the balance of the funeral just right.

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