Vicar’s October letter

Dear friends,

A passion for being different

If you watched the closing ceremony of the Paralympics, you may remember Laszlo circling the stadium stood on the back of a trike carrying a flaming torch before riding a bike up a high wire with Lyndsay Adams performing on a trapeze under the bike. Quite a display. On our day off on Monday, Sian and I went to visit Trike Design, a custom trike building company based in Caerphilly nearCardiff. The trike used in the ceremony was built there and was on display. It belongs to the owner, Hank, and was built for him. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but is an incredible piece of artistic engineering. Powered by a 2000cc Harley-style v-twin engine and custom painted in the style of a diamond back snake. If you are interested, I understand they might consider an offer in the region of £70,000.00!

I was very impressed with the company and their design and engineering skills. I loved some of their more conventional Harley trike conversions. I picked up a brochure with some information about what they do and some fantastic photos. The slogan on the front of the brochure is A Passion for being Different. A great slogan for a company genuinely doing something very different and doing it very well.

It struck me that this could be a great slogan for Christians. A Passion for being Different. Different in what way? We are called to be ‘in the world, but not of the world’. What does that mean? In what ways should we be different? Jesus said that we would be known as his disciples by those outside of the church because of our love for one another. We are called upon to practice hospitality towards each other and to strangers. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us ‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.’

Last month we had a group of cyclists stay here at the vicarage for a night. They were on their way fromLand’s Endto John o’ Groats to raise money for Compassion and a variety of other charities. Initially they were due to be sleeping in the Church, but we were overcome by what they were doing, the effort they were putting in, the injuries one or two were struggling with and their need for a good night’s sleep and some TLC, so that in the end it seemed to make more sense for them to stay here. (Visit the gallery on our website to see some photos of the group – www.cinderford-churches.org.uk).

We recently received a letter from the group thanking us for our hospitality. We were told that some of the group who were not regular ‘Church-goers’ were ‘blown away’ by the hospitality they received here and at various points along their way. They had been welcomed by people with a passion for being different! We actually had a great time with them and enjoyed them staying with us as much as they seemed to enjoy being here. I am not sure if any of them were angels, but they were great company and it was good to have been able to help them along their way.

Yours,