Some say that January, because it is the start of the annual year, is the key month to be make some resolutions and set your course for the year ahead. But I am not so sure….I think it should be May!

By the time you read this it will definitely not be so wintery and we will all be keen to get out and do those things we haven’t been able to for ages. High on my list will be some games of golf (I’m a fair weather player these days!), but what will be on yours I wonder?: getting out into the garden; going for a long walk; playing some sport; doing some of those long outstanding DIY jobs; tinkering with the car?

If you think about it, May is actually a much better time to think about what we are doing in life, what changes to put in place for what might be for the best until next May. The winter is over, ‘spring has sprung’ and summer is (hopefully) on the way. In May we have time to get out and get on with what will really make a difference: revise for the exams coming up, start exercising more (much easier than January) and after the first part of the year, we are perhaps in a better position to look at what we are doing in our work and activities.

One of the issues I find is not coming up with good ideas of what I could do, but what I should or is best to do. In a world where we are all increasingly ‘time poor’ the question is what to focus on. In trying to come up with what to focus on, I find these phrases helpful to come back to:

“What helps us to say no is the bigger yes burning inside us.”

“The enemy of the best is not the bad, but the good.”

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

“Don’t let the urgent crowd out what is important.”

“The greatest amount of wasted time is the time not getting started.”

The best thing, the main thing and the most important thing needs to be at the top of our list doesn’t it, and we just need to start! In order to do what we really want or need to, other things should not distract us. It may well be that some basic physical exercise in God’s wonderful world will be the right thing to focus on, but it might be that the month of May will give you opportunity not just to love yourself a bit, but also others. It may also be an opportunity not just to ‘get out’ physically, but also in our mind and spirit too, as we are human beings made up of body, mind and spirit.  For myself, I have been trying to live a bit more in line with these phrases I have come across recently based on biblical truths:

“There is enough time to do everything God wants us to do. So if you haven’t got enough time, the only question is what needs to go?”

“Eat, Sleep and Pray and whatever time is left do what you can.”

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything else will be given to you.” Matthew 6v33

With prayers for time well spent in May and for the year ahead.

Revd James     Rector of St Peter’s and Blessed Mary

Posted
15th April 2022

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James' Blog