EDITORIAL On 1 January 1973 Big Ben chimed the UK into membership of the European Economic Community (EEC). As this edition lands on your door mat, the UK has left as of 11pm on 31 January 2020 what became the European Union, quite possibly with a Bong. Some may well have so celebrated, but the smoke has now cleared. A long period of trade negotiations now begins and we know not what this will mean for life in our lovely parish. Shall we in due course see a plethora of electric Chevrolets and Dodges in our lanes or will Mercedes Benz and Renaults rule? Will The Bell be serving up Coq au Vin or Chlorinated Chicken Supreme? Whether Dinner at The Diner or Breakfast at The Bistro, life will go on as we adjust to the nation’s newly acquired / regained status while our local seasonal rythms carry serenely on through the fêtes, fun and festivals that perpetuate our parish pleasures. Some of us will remember in the times before we joined the Common Market the necessities when venturing abroad of purchasing an International Driving Licence from the AA, AA Five Star Continental Breakdown Cover, Bail Bonds for keeping out of Spanish jails should one drive across a white line, sneeze in front of a Guardia Civil Officer or worse, Green Cards for continental car insurance and having the rationed value of foreign currencies carried stamped in our passports. In those times, heading across the channel for the continent was somewhat exotic. It was truly ‘abroad’ and there was even a degree of excited anticipation while acquiring all these documents. Who knows, such things might reappear and will add rich fresh materials to Alan Stanton’s fascinating itinerant tales of exploring La Belle when France.Your editor recalls his first expedition onto foreign soil in July 1969 passing through the town of Calais and noting the bullet holes still evident in many walls from the unpleasantness of 25 years beforehand. Hopefully the scars from the most recent departure will be healed far more quickly as we continue to enjoy the great treasures that continental Europe offers us to see and learn from and our continental friends will enjoy all the good things that we have to offer them in return, including fine ales at The Bell. Cover Photo by Tricia Hill - 4 December 2019 misty sunset at Milley Bridge Advertising Enquiries: [email protected] tel (0118) 934 0367 The Lych Gate is published by the Parochial Church Council and distributed free to each household in the parish. Copies are also available at £1.50 each from the church and from local shops and pubs. Postal subscriptions within the UK are £25 per year. For details of subscriptions and advertising rates please contact the Business Manager on 0118 934 0367. Notices or articles for commercial or other non charitable causes may be subject to a charge, if accepted for publication. Views expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the PCC. The publishers do not accept responsibility for products or services advertised in this magazine and reserve the right to refuse adverts at their sole discretion. 1 Letter from The Parsonage My dear Friends Of course this makes us doubt God’s existence That was the headline of an article by the then archbishop Rowan Williams about the Indian Ocean earthquake and consequent tsunami that appeared shortly after that appalling event of Boxing Day 2004. Lambeth Palace reacted indignantly, arguing, very justly in my view, that it was not a fair summary of what the Archbishop had written. But then headline writers have an uncomplicated role to make us want to read what’s underneath. No mere tsunami must be allowed to stand in the way of that. My reason for bringing it up now 15 years later is that some may have similar thoughts in relation to recent and indeed current events such as the Indonesian tsunami of 2018, the floods in that country in the last 3 weeks, the White Island volcano eruption in New Zealand, South Africa suffering the worst drought in living memory with some areas having had no significant rainfall for 5 years, and of course the bush fires in Australia which so far have cost 29 human lives and about 500m animal ones, and destroyed 2,700 homes. But do such natural catastrophes make us doubt God’s existence? My view, for what it’s worth, is that unbelievers sometimes seize on such events to reinforce their atheism or agnosticism. Believers on the other hand (Christian believers at any rate), whilst they are saddened by the loss of life and moved to compassionate giving, maintain their belief in a God of love whose purposes are ultimately good, even if they cannot discern that good in each and every happening. This is true even of those closely involved. To quote Bishop Williams: The odd thing is that those who are most deeply involved—both as sufferers and as helpers—are so often the ones who spend least energy in raging over the lack of explanation. They are likely to shrug off, awkwardly and not very articulately, the great philosophical or religious questions we might want to press. Somehow, they are most aware of two things: a kind of strength and vision just to go on; and a sense of the imperative for 2 practical service and love. Somehow in all of this, God simply emerges for them as a faithful presence. Perhaps however we should attempt some kind of theodicy, a ‘defence’ of God against those who ‘put him in the dock’ when such disasters occur. Earthquakes result from the constant movement of the earth’s tectonic plates. Although this movement occasionally produces an earthquake, it is vital to life as a whole, for when the sea floor slides below the continental shelf, a process known as subduction, it takes with it the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. This process has helped regulate the temperature of our planet over millions of years. But like everything else in this world, the very thing which makes life possible can also destroy it. Electricity, chemistry, gravity they can all kill in a moment. Even the process of life itself can go wrong, leading to cancers and other diseases. An earthquake is just another example of this universal truth. We don’t notice when subduction keeps our planet inhabitable, but we notice very quickly when it goes wrong! And so we should, for the message in these catastrophes is that something is indeed wrong with the world. A direct link between at least some of them and human activity is now the stuff of almost daily news stories; as regards the rest, whilst we should emphatically not take them to be God’s judgment on any particular person or group of people, yet ultimately they are connected with man’s first disobedience. God said to Adam, ‘Because you have eaten of the tree… cursed is the ground because of you’, and the apostle Paul writes of the creation’s ‘bondage to decay’, from which it, as well as humanity, will be set free when Christ returns in majesty. A disaster even one that kills tens of thousands should not make us give up believing in God, but should make us question our attitude to him. Are we ever thankful for what we enjoy? Do we just pray to God when we need him and blame him when we are hurt? Above all, do we really appreciate the significance of human good and evil, and therefore the enormous scope and achievement of Christ’s salvation? Your sincere friend and Vicar 3 4 Village Diary: February 2020 4th : 7.00 pm : Parish Council Meeting, Neville Hall 5th : 2.30pm : Wednesday Club: Speaker from Sebastian's Action Trust. Neville Hall 16th : 9.15 am : St Lawrence Café, Neville Hall Futureur datesd you maym wishw to keepk free:-r WSL Choral Festival Concert 16th May – Four choirs sing “Songs of Farewell” by Parry and much else at 6.30pm in church. Village Golf 21st May Parish Register - 2020 No entries this month 5 Everyone is welcome to come for Breakfast at the St Lawrence Café Sunday 16th February, 9.15 to 10.45, in the Neville Hall. Come and eat, chat to friends or just read the papers! We serve bacon, sausages, rolls, croissants, fruit, pastries, cheese, ham, toast, meusli, tea and coffee etc. We also serve porridge in the winter. WhWWhWhiWhWhilstililsilst wwe dod nnonot cchchacharchargcharge a ssesett aamamoamouamounamountm u foffoforforr ttfor thfor the bfor brfor brefor breafor breakbreakfbreakfabreakfasbreakfastbreakfast,t, yyoououru ddodondonadonatdonatidonatiodonationdonationst o ccocovcovecovero oouour ccocoscostcostso t wwiwitwith th aananyy ssusursurpsurplsurplusurplusu p u ggogoio nngng ttoowardsardaar s thetthh upkeepuupupkupkeupkeepk p ofof ouroou beautifulbbebeabeaubeautbeautibeautifbeautifua f l aanandand oolold SStt LLaLawLawrLawreLawrenLawrencLawrenceren CChChuChurChurcChurchChurch.h h The St Lawrence Café is a social event organised by members of the village and usually held on the third Sunday of each month. Many thanks go to Scott and Iain of The Bell, Christopher, Charles, Linda, Alison, Pete and Francesca for their sponsorship – and to all the Café team who give their time so willingly. Please note that in March the café will be on the 4th Sunday – Mother’s Day. 6 Bus Times to and from the parish to Maidenhead COURTNEY BUSES Maidenhead to Waltham St Lawrence (Circular) Courtney 4 via Paley Street and Shurlock Row Monday to Friday Ref.No.: 1805 Service No 4 4 4 4 4 Frascati Way (Teapot Cafe) 0708 1015 1245 1720 High Street 1016 1246 1721 Paley Street 0718 1028 1258 1735 White Waltham (Beehive) 0723 1032 1302 1740 Shurlock Row 0733 1041 1311 1749 Waltham St Lawrence (Bell) 0740 1047 1317 1756 Hare Hatch 0600 0747 1053 1323 1802 Knowl Hill (Bath