Don Dowling's Blog

Don's Blog

Hi all.

I shared last week that we were to have a funeral at Wesley. It happened, and was a wonderful occasion. The church looked good, it was a good service, the eulogies were appreciated, the Tuesday Singers where outstanding and we had a wonderful morning tea afterwards. We even had some tourists come into the church while the morning tea was on, and thinking it was a normal part of church life, helped themselves to coffee and cake. It was that sort of gathering.

However, the best for me was seeing members of the family embracing each other, allowing a healing to take place. There had been some tension and there is still more healing to take place but is was so refreshing to see mother and daughters and grandson, who had not had contact for four years, embracing each other, crying together, sharing stories about their mother and grandmother, agreeing on the influence and legacy of her life. I found out after the service that they had come together the previous Friday and began to reconnect.
One of the good things that happens around Wesley.

The journey of Lent has been an interesting one for me full of the normality of church life, with meetings, preparation and pastoral situations. It has also had tension, hardship and the difficult side that life often throws at you. I am looking forward to the season of celebrating resurrection.

Thanks for Reading.
Don

Sunday 7th March.