Words from Bede Circuit
Dear Friends,
Those who know me know I love children’s stories. They often have many layers of meaning no matter how young or old, we are. One of my many (!!) favourites is the story of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” This is a story that begins on an early Sunday morning as a caterpillar hatches from his egg. The text describes him as "a tiny and very hungry caterpillar". He begins to look for something to eat and then eats through increasing quantities of fruit each day. He starts with one apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four strawberries on Thursday, and five oranges on Friday, but he is still hungry. On Saturday, he goes on a big feast and eats a piece of chocolate cake, a strawberry ice cream cone, a pickle, a slice of Swiss cheese, a slice of salami, a lollipop, a piece of cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake, and a slice of watermelon. That night, he gets a stomach-ache from overeating! The next day (Sunday again) the very hungry caterpillar recovers by eating one green leaf, and afterwards feels much better. Eventually, the caterpillar is no longer hungry, and is no longer little either, having now grown into a big, fat, caterpillar. Then the caterpillar spins a chrysalis around himself and he stays inside. After two weeks, the caterpillar nibbles a hole in the chrysalis and pushes his way out being transformed into a butterfly with large and beautiful multi-coloured wings.
It is a story of transformation – the caterpillar eats his way through a mountain of food and although I am not sure caterpillars really eat ice cream, lollipops, salami and cheese etc, the point of the story is that he is destined to bury himself inside a chrysalis. There he stays until it is time to break through and the caterpillar is no more! Instead, as is his destiny, he is eventually transformed into a beautiful butterfly.
This coming Sunday, the fifth in Lent, is often called Passion Sunday. On our Lenten journey, we begin to consider Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem and the events of His Passion, including His sufferings and death on the cross. John 12:24 says, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain: but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (NRSV) As we make our way through these final weeks of Lent, we know we will remember that Jesus died. We will also remember He was buried within a cold dark tomb where He stayed until the time was right for Him to be raised to Resurrection life. His Passion – sufferings and death – far greater than the metamorphosis of any caterpillar is the means of our salvation. Like the grain of wheat that Jesus mentions, as He dies, HE will fall to the earth but then He will rise again; His death and resurrection being the means of our salvation from our sins. Let us pray that as we journey with Jesus to Jerusalem in hope that we will be transformed too and know Resurrection life in all its fullness.
On the Wednesday of Holy Week (13th April) there will be a circuit service on Zoom at 7.00pm. Log in details will be provided later.
Zoom Prayer meetings continue on Wednesday mornings at 10am
Zoom Lent course on Prayer every Thursday evening in Lent at 7pm
Contact your minister/steward for Zoom log in details.
Rev Deborah Wainwright
On behalf of the Bede Methodist Circuit Staff Team.