02/09/2010

Pause For Thought

Today we hear from Rose Hudson-Wilkin - a Vicar in Hackney London and chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons

"The start of the new academic year always takes me back to my own childhood memories – memories of walking into a new class; long pencils sharpened and ready to go; everything looking and feeling brand new; the air smelling fresh and clean; all the children are back dying to tell their stories of what they did during the holidays; there is a heightened sense of expectation, an opportunity for a new start.

We all know that amidst the excitement, there will be some children who will turn up at the school gate daunted at the thought of starting all over again. But what will be real for everyone, student and teacher alike is that for us to get through the new term, we’ll need to step out in faith and a real determination, to explore all that lies ahead.

With new beginnings we get the chance to start all over again; be whatever character we want to be and play whatever role we are inspired to play. At the heart of the Christian gospel too lies the potential for all of to start afresh each new day; to explore what each new day has in store for us. Just imagine if we really lived with this sense of awareness. This would lead to great accomplishments.

I once was given a poster, which read, “Do not go where the path leads, rather, go where there is no path and leave a trail”. Beginning all over again can fill us with the confidence to step off the well-worn path that many others have trod before us and to cut ourselves a trail leading to a new path. Fear will be one of our greatest enemies, holding us back, filling us with doubt, preventing us from believing that we can. But I believe faith will be present. Faith will be like a friend, a constant reminder of the opportunities ahead and the potential within us to become the best that God ordained us to be".