Heaven is sometimes described as being like a holiday memory

I've been invited again this year to join friends on holiday at the seaside house they've rented every summer for the past three years.
Bishop Martin WarnerBishop Martin Warner
Bishop Martin Warner

I’ve been invited again this year to join friends on holiday at the seaside house they’ve rented every summer for the past thirty years.

It isn’t in a particularly famous or popular location, but I can see why they’ve gone back year after year. It’s close to a beach and to a small fishing village that offers safe sailing for the amateur.

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For my friends this place now holds many layers of memory; the early years of marriage, struggles in a demanding career, and children growing up.

The children still occasionally join their parents there for a day or two.

They also love the memories, telling stories of mum almost getting swept out to sea, dad capsizing a sailing boat, and the new ridiculous board game that seemed to turn up every year.

A holiday is liberation from work and should be more than relaxation.

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It’s the chance to forge memories that shape our present and our future.

Holiday time with family and friends expands our capacity to recognise the fundamental relationships that enrich our lives.

The memory of a happy holiday also features in Christian faith.

Heaven is sometimes described as like a holiday memory where you have a sense that God is part of your history and is still there, wanting to enrich your present life and future.

Faith Matters:

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The Church of England has launched a new website to provide resources and ideas for prayer. You can watch the video based on the Lord’s Prayer which generated a lot of debate earlier this year, as well as finding suggestions to help you pray and a place to post your own prayers. It’s online now at www.justpray.uk

Have you ever heard the Christian faith explained as simply as 3,2,1? Originating out of Eastbourne but now translated into many languages, three-two-one.org is a place to explore the big questions of life. They don't assume you necessarily believe in God but hope you'll take the time to engage with his story. There’s videos and other ways to interact at www.three-two-one.org

On Friday 19th August at 7.30pm come and experience William Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ performed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men on Chichester Cathedral’s south west lawn. More information is available from Chichester Cathedral or on their website: www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/whats-on/