Welcome to Weobley & Staunton Joint Benefice

A few years ago I led a funeral for a man who worked all his life as a motor engineer for lorry companies. He was not a wealthy man, and he lived in a small bungalow. But he had a significant influence. Over 200 people attended the funeral and there were heartfelt tributes about the care this man had lavished on his family, friends, colleagues and charity. When we consider the possibility of our own death it’s 100% certain that we cannot take anything with us. However, we can choose what we leave behind. The legacy observed at this man’s funeral was one of love given and received. These were indeed true riches on display.

This contrasts considerably with the parable of the rich fool in Luke chapter 12. The rich man in Jesus’ story builds bigger barns for storing all his grain, thinking that he will make himself more secure. He says to himself, ‘Take it easy: relax, eat drink, be merry!’ But God says to him ‘You fool! Tonight, you will lose your life.’

 St Augustine offers this comment on the parable. The man was hoarding perishable crops while he was himself on the point of perishing because he handed out nothing to the Lord before whom he was now to appear. How will he know where to look when at that trial he starts hearing the words ‘I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat’. Augustine’s point is that the excessive accumulation of wealth is damaging to those who pursue it, as well as causing social injustice. Those who worship wealth develop a deluded understanding of their own self-interest, at the expense of others.

Our security is not dependent on amassing more wealth and constructing bigger barns. Our true wealth is hidden in Christ, and our spiritual riches enable us to be generous even when times are lean. As the old song goes:

Love is something if you give it away,

Give it away, give it away.

Love is something if you give it away,

You end up having more.

 Rev’d Philip.

On 15th August we observe the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, marking the surrender of Imperial Japanese military forces and the end of a long, destructive campaign ranging across Asia and the Pacific. I grew up hearing harrowing accounts of the treatment of Australian prisoners of war in Singapore and Burma and this left a legacy of bitterness toward the Japanese in my country of origin.

When I was teaching modern history, a topic that raised debate in my classes was the American decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Was such an action necessary to end the war and save the lives of American personnel when the military capacity of Japan was already severely weakened? Were the bombs dropped as a demonstration of American might to thwart the growing power of the USSR? Or, as cynically suggested by the historian AJP Taylor, simply to justify the huge sums authorised by Congress in developing the weapon?

An eyewitness account of the Hiroshima A-Bomb aftermath was written by a priest, Father John Siemes. His stark description of the massive damage and the condition of the survivors provides us with a salient warning that we must strive to prevent a future nuclear conflict. He also raises a question in his account about the concept of ‘total war’ which fails to discriminate between military and civilian casualties and which we are seeing played out today in Gaza and the Ukraine:

He writes: The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spiritual evil as its consequences which far exceed whatever good that might result?*

As we reflect on the past and prevent evils of war, it impels us more fervently to pray for the reign of the Prince of Peace in the hearts and minds of all leaders and all people.

Rev’d Philip

*From  https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/hiroshima-nagasaki/hiroshima-siemes.html