I have recently blessed two weddings, and I blessed a plough for a farmer. All three events share the same sense of hope. For the famer, there is hope for the harvest, and for rain, and for grain prices to stay high.

For the couples I have married, there is hope that informs a lifelong commitment to each other.

All three events underline our capacity for hope, and for the belief that the future will be good, and positive, and full of life and happiness.

It is easy to look at the world and feel that hope is perhaps a misplaced emotion, or at best a distant possibility. We see wars and arguments, and suffering wherever we look.

Amidst the bad news, it is easy to forget that all those affected by challenge or tragedy also find hope, and look beyond the immediate to a better time.

It is this hope which is set before us, and to which we are called to respond. Couples will marry, farmers will ask for prayers over their crops. Children and adults are baptised into their faith as belief in the God of love grows. Friends will visit friends, and pray for each other. The sick will get better, the bereaved will be comforted.

A community of faith celebrates hope, inspires hope and shares hope. Our community of faith does all these things. We raise money for medical research, for local, national and international charities, celebrating reconciliation, studying for examinations all reflect our belief in hope, and that hope lead to action, and that action will achieve a better world. Our students provide practical help in our community, hosting stalls at the Christ Church fete, or singing in Care Homes. Our students visit our sister School in Samoa, and provide practical support and care for the students (and staff) at All Saints Apia. All this builds hope, as we see young people take their first steps as responsible members of society, developing the habit of “practical hope”.

Our building programmes at Halls Head and at Meadow Springs demonstrate the hope that our School will continue to flourish.

So let us celebrate hope, and act on that hope, and be that hope in the world.

Kind regards

Canon James Tabor