Knowing and worshipping God and sharing His love St Nick’s, Allestree & St Paul’s, Quarndon November 2020 From “the Curate’s” kitchen November seems to be a “remembering month” with All Saints, All Souls’ and the Acts of Remembrance around Armistice Day. As I write I’ve just had a week off. Origi- nally we were supposed to be on our first ever cruise in sunnier climes, and this time last year we were in the throws of booking it. So I’ve made my Christmas cake in- stead! As I’ve mixed ingredients memories have been stirred of Christmas’ past and wondering what this year will bring. It was going to be a big Christmas with four gen- erations present for the first time… but now it could just be my husband and I. Remembering is such a bittersweet thing, isn’t it? When we remember, it is often with the joy of a cherished time being brought back to our minds, but with the sad- ness that that time is now past - that it can only be revisited in our memories. The memories themselves (perhaps triggered by a certain sight, smell, sound or date) bring a smile to our faces, but they often come tied up with a ribbon of grief because some of the people at the heart of that memory have died. It is not always easy to do so, but it is important that we know it’s ok to hold that joy and pain together – to find moments of light and laughter in the darkness - because both the joy and the pain come from the same source: love. If we didn’t love, we wouldn’t grieve. Whilst there is nothing as painful as the death of someone we love, we may find our- selves grieving other things too. We might be struggling with all sorts of losses at the moment; of a relationship perhaps, our working life, or for many of our younger people at the moment, the loss of both our present and imagined future. It might be the loss of who we ‘used to be’ before age, injury or chronic illness changed things. Vicar: Rev Becky Mathew Email: [email protected] Tel: 01332 550224 Rest Day: Friday Curate: Rev. Dawn Knight Email: [email protected] Contact Tel: 01332 519552 Rest Day: Friday Children’s, Youth & Families Worker: Anna Oldknow Tel: 07508988722 Email: [email protected] Administrator: Gael Browne Church Office Tel: 01332 550431 Email: [email protected] / [email protected] Website: www.stnicksallestree.uk / www.stpaulsquarndon.org.uk Temporary Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9am –12pm 1 Maybe loss of the family we were unable to have, the children never born. There are other things too; it might be that we feel guilty for grieving these things because they don’t seem as serious, but they still have an impact on us. It might be the loss of our own childhood; that more carefree life before work, bills, and re- sponsibility. It might be loss of a place; a beloved location that has changed out of all recognition because of environmental degradation, a new housing development, or simply because the people who were important in that place aren’t there any- more. Maybe we have had to leave a home, garden or friends behind as our circum- stances change, and their loss hits us more than we had imagined. And of course, at the moment, many of us are mourning our pre-Covid world. We don’t want a ‘new normal’, we want our old normal back (however much we complained about it!). And it strikes me that that is at the heart of any grief, isn’t it? Not just the person or thing we have lost and the almost physical hole that leaves in us, but the loss of our ‘normal’ life and coming to terms with a new way of being – a way we didn’t plan for and don’t really want. And yet we must do that, mustn’t we – however slowly we do it, however long it takes, because life can’t stay the same. And so when we remember, we must be careful not to get stuck in our longing for the past. Our re- membering must be part of our re-forming, our re-grouping, our re-emerging. It would be very easy here for me to simply acknowledge the importance of faith in this; to remind you that God is with us in all of it. Yet I know that our faith can be really knocked when we experience such loss, and so don’t do so lightly. But, for me, whilst I might shout at God; whilst I might demand he acts NOW to heal the world; whilst I might question why, I am in no doubt that I will find him there with me, holding me. He is there when it feels darkest and, because he is there, there is light. Maybe just a flicker at first. But even a flicker of light makes a huge difference to our darkest time. And the light grows, and it beckons us forward. The light doesn’t deny our grief, rather it illuminates it and helps us to find new ways to be, new ways to live with and despite our loss, new ways to find the balance between joy and pain. It is no accident I think, that our season of remembering moves into our Advent sea- son of waiting for the light, and ultimately the explosion of the light into the world at Christmas; Jesus. My prayer is that you will trust His light is there for you, always. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1:5) Revd. Dawn (Asst. Curate St Nicholas’, Allestree, and St Paul’s, Quarndon): 01332 550224 2 Congratulations to Hannah & Andy whose wedding took place at St Paul’s on Sunday 27th Sep- tember. With just 5 days to plan, having being postponed from April, so many helped this very special couple to have a wonderful day! We continue to keep them in our prayers as Hannah continues her medical training and for Andy as he teaches local secondary school pupils. Wednesdays, 7:30-8:30pm in the Chapel, St Nick’s January 15th February 12th March 11th April 22nd May 20th Perhaps you love of reading and have enjoyed using some of this lockdown rediscoveringJune 17th the joy of books? July 15th Please do get in touch with any book reviews and recommendationsSeptember to 16th share! October 14th We love to hear what you’ve been reading and how it hasNovember affected you. 11th 3 St Nick’s Sound System Appeal A HUGE thank you to all who have generously donated to the Sound System Appeal so far! We have already received £975 in donations, which is well over half way. If you would still like to donate, please speak to Clive, send a bank transfer clearly marked for the appeal, or post an enve- lope clearly marked with through the office door. QR Codes for NHS Covid App Both St Nick’s and St Paul’s now have QR codes up in various points around the buildings. A QR code is a funny looking little square, similar to the one on the left. The NHS Covid App, available on most smart phones, has a feature called ‘Venue Check in’, as seen on the left side of the Example QR Code picture below. When you select this, it opens up a camera screen, where you can point your phone at the QR code in question and it will automatically detect which venue you are in. You will then get a message like the one of the right hand side of the image, confirming that you’ve checked in. This helps the effort to track and trace. The app also does a clever thing by constantly scanning in the background who you are close to. For example, if we were near to each other and both had the app on our phones, the app would know that we had been close to each other; both how close, and for how long. It uses all of this data to try and help stop the spread of Coronavirus. If you may have been exposed to someone who then tests positive for Coronavirus or who shows symptoms and reports them in the app, then you will get a warning message ask- ing you to self isolate, or to take ex- tra care. Please try and use the app where possible in the buildings. Otherwise, continue to use the paper track and trace sheets available. 4 Farewell from Mary and David Connell It is over 34 years since we moved to Derbyshire from Leeds with our three sons. Alex, the oldest, joined the cubs in Quarndon and was asked to attend the Harvest church parade in St Paul’s. So we went to the service as a family and the rest, as they say, is history. The welcome we received at that service is still very much a part of life at St Paul’s, even with the current restrictions, and is something we hope will always feature there. Over those years we have made many friends in both St Paul’s and St Nick’s and the decision to leave has not been easy, but we are looking forward to living in a more suitable house (far too many steps here!) and close to family. So we are moving to Gloucestershire, near our middle son and his family.