Main content
22/03/2017
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Reverend Richard Littledale.
Last on
Wed 22 Mar 2017
05:43
±«Óătv Radio 4
Remembering
Good morning.  Today I find myself in something of a dilemma. I can’t decide whether to say that it is a special day or it was a special day.  You see, today would have been my father’s 88th birthday.  It would have been a day to celebrate his love of the natural world, his pleasure in photography and his many interests.  My father died shortly before Christmas last year, and so I am left with my dilemma.
Does this day cease to be a day to celebrate him, since he is no longer here to participate in those celebrations – or do we mark it out to remember him anyway?  In truth, none of us really gets to choose how we are remembered – but rather the living make those choices for us.  They sift their memories, albeit unknowingly, and keep just the most precious ones of all.
Even those who have a good memory and can remember exactly what they were doing on such and such a day in such and such a year may not be good at remembering. Remembering is the art of encapsulating a place or a person in such a way that they continue to influence us even when they are out of sight and mind.
God’s people of old have always cherished the notion that he remains with them – come hell or high water. “From everlasting to everlasting you are God”.  Yesterday, today and tomorrow meld into a single whole in the presence of one who lives forever.
Dear God, as we remember those who have shaped our lives today, we give you thanks for them. Â May the words we speak and the actions we take today shape the lives of others for good, we pray. Amen
Does this day cease to be a day to celebrate him, since he is no longer here to participate in those celebrations – or do we mark it out to remember him anyway?  In truth, none of us really gets to choose how we are remembered – but rather the living make those choices for us.  They sift their memories, albeit unknowingly, and keep just the most precious ones of all.
Even those who have a good memory and can remember exactly what they were doing on such and such a day in such and such a year may not be good at remembering. Remembering is the art of encapsulating a place or a person in such a way that they continue to influence us even when they are out of sight and mind.
God’s people of old have always cherished the notion that he remains with them – come hell or high water. “From everlasting to everlasting you are God”.  Yesterday, today and tomorrow meld into a single whole in the presence of one who lives forever.
Dear God, as we remember those who have shaped our lives today, we give you thanks for them. Â May the words we speak and the actions we take today shape the lives of others for good, we pray. Amen
Broadcast
- Wed 22 Mar 2017 05:43±«Óătv Radio 4
"Time is passing strangely these days..."
Uplifting thoughts and hopes for the coronavirus era from Salma El-Wardany.