A message from Bishop Kevin:
Trust is a very precious gift. Constantly, we are being told that trust in institutions—the law, the medical profession, the monarchy, the church—trust is at an all-time low in such institutions, all of whom have great influence over our lives. Trust is a gift of love which, like all gifts of love, reflects God’s life in our own lives.
God is love and God trusts each one of us to show this love in our lives, and that is what it means to build the Kingdom of God. God trusts us to build his Kingdom in building relationships, and the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ shows just how much trust God puts in each one of us. This, to me, proves that trust in God is worthwhile, it gives confidence in faith itself. Trust is a gift of love which grows when given away; our trust in God, in love, grows as love responds to love.
Throughout the gospels, Jesus’s encounters with individuals show trust in the simple fact that we are made in the image of God and have so much God-given human potential to grow into the people God trusts us to be. The disciple is one who recognises the call of the Jesus of the Gospel, trusts in God and the love which encourages us to be the people God knows we can be. Peter’s denial, Thomas’s doubt, Mary Magdalene’s grief: the individual disciples grew, grow, through their experience and trust in God.
Holiness was the word the Psalmist used to describe the longing for God and the trust in God that the disciple knows and feels. Jesus proved that God is with us in that longing and gives us as many second chances as we need, despite our denial, and our grief, and our doubt. The mark of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the confidence we feel that God is with us in these horrible things we would rather not experience, and we trust that we grow through them and see meaning and purpose in them, so that in every aspect of our lives we grew more into God’s image, we grow in integrity. Integrity is perhaps the synonym for what previous generations called Holiness.
Why is trust the subject of this reflection at this particular time? It is because at this time of transition and change, as we enter the new reality post-COVID, Trust in God will bring us trust in each other and give us confidence to face the future. At Diocesan Synod in July we have the life of our whole diocese to consider and equip to face the future. Confidence in building God’s Kingdom in Glasgow & Galloway is why the Synod meets, and trust in God, in each other, in being disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, trust will guide give us confidence to make our vision real.
With every blessing,
+ Kevin
