From The Right Rev'd Dr John Sentamu

For many people listening to the programme today it will be the first day of the summer holidays.

I know with you and your team, Chris, there is always a bit of an end of term feel(!) – but the end of a school term can be a time of mixed feelings for young people.

There is often sadness at saying goodbye to familiar things, friends and the daily routine. A feeling that things aren’t going to be the same. A nervousness about what lies ahead.

But also there is excitement. A world of opportunity. New beginnings. Holidays, change, adventure!

I always think we should look forward to the future with hope. I have a venturesome faith. When I agreed to jump out of an aeroplane for the Third Parachute Regiment’s charity, I was excited and filled with anticipation. Forty-five seconds of freefall from fourteen and a half thousand feet to five thousand feet! Absolutely fantabulous!

And then, having been taken back up to a good height when the parachute opened, in three and a half minutes, I landed safely according to plan!

And guess what? To my greatest surprise, eight days ago, at Eden Camp, near Malton, I received a Red Beret from the Parachute Regiment Association and took the Salute.

So to anyone who is thinking about making a change to their lives today, I say: Take a leap of faith. Take hold of God’s hand of love and venture into what may seem frightening.

When we are on the first day of our holiday, we can look at life afresh. Well, with Jesus, every day is a fresh start. Every day is a new day. Every day presents us with the opportunity to be different.

The Bishop of Durham tells of a conversation he had with a taxi driver recently.

When the Bishop asked the taxi driver what he thought of the various debates in the Church, he replied: “Well, if God raised his Son from the dead to new life, the rest is rock ‘n’ roll really, innit?!”

It is easy for us to hold on to doubt, fear, disappointment and grudges – especially with things that are very hurtful.
We are all wrongly wired. We all fail to do the best we should have done, and this holds us back from moving forward.

But when you consider there is a God who raised a crucified man, Jesus, from the dead, then – no matter how badly we have lived our lives – there is still a God who is able to raise us above our failures.
Perhaps the lesson is that we should all take the time to listen to taxi drivers once in a while.
It is important that people move on from what holds them back.

In every change there is still a constant – and that constant is God. The Bible says, yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same.
No matter what has gone wrong, we can say: “Hallelujah, He is Risen” – I can be forgiven, given new life, and hope for the future. Wow!

The question is: Do we want to live as if every day is the first day of the holidays? Then we must take a leap of faith with God every morning!