VICAR

Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine I trust that You are well. As the heatwave cools I trust that You are having a good summer and I wish You a peaceful Sunday this day.

This week I would ask that You consider rural communities in Your prayers. These communities have come under attack from all sides recently. Many parish churches have been closed or put into pool parishes, farmers feel threatened by nonsense legislation coming from the towns, while Covid and the stamp duty holiday have driven house prices in the countryside to crazy levels, making them even less affordable for rural workers and the young.

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Luke 5:4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

I do worry also about those older parishioners who live down rural lanes who are lonely. There is not the time in the day to visit them all. I do wish that more people took it upon themselves to help their neighbours. Let us pray for these people today also, many of whom do not have internet or any means of communicating with the world except a landline.

I also worry about the farm workers, often living in caravans, who work all hours and seem never to have any money when You see them in the supermarket. Maybe they are drinking away their wages. I suspect their rent is higher than it should be.

So, this week let us think of those in the countryside who do not enjoy the beauty and health benefits of living in such a wondrous place. Let us pray that they are well too. God Bless You all and have a purposeful and positive week ahead.

God of healing, surround us with your love as together we negotiate the complexities of
coronavirus. Guide us all as we seek to support one another. Help us to be attentive to
the lonely, the isolated, the fearful and those who are ill. Mindful of the geographical
isolation of many rural communities, we pray for everyone involved in the effective
provision of food, medical supplies and pastoral care. In the name of Jesus Christ, who
walks alongside us in our difficulties.

Amen.