June 2015

Dear friends

Last month we were all given the opportunity to vote – did you?!

I’m sure we are all familiar with the phrase ‘X marks the spot!’ When we hear it, we tend to visualise dark wooden ships with the skull and cross bones flying from the crow’s nest, the wheel operated by a wooden legged, eye-patched pirate, parrot on shoulder, eagerly following the tantalising directions of a curling brown paper map, seeking the chest of gold wherein lie those pieces of eight! Aha my hearties. Great adventure - all because of the letter X!

But the letter X is used in many other ways, and has many connotations. When used as a Roman Numeral it has the value 10, when put by the side of an answer in an exam it means something is wrong. For those of you who enjoy a game of noughts and crosses, 3 crosses in a row is a welcome winning line, but if you happen to be a contestant on the very entertaining television show Britain’s Got Talent, that’s the last thing you want, as it means you won’t be returning for another round and a chance to appear at the Royal Variety Show. What power that little X has!

Of course many thousands of X’s were placed on ballot papers, as men and women were chosen to represent us in the political realm.

Many of you who have ever spent time abroad will know how great a privilege we have in being able to vote, to be able to place an X and know that it will be treated properly and results will be fair.

I wonder how you felt when you cast your vote, how do you feel now that the results are through. Perhaps the person or party you wanted to win have done so, perhaps they haven’t. Whatever the outcome - they now have a role to play, one is that very public and often demanding - it can be so easy to place a negative cross by things that those in power do - but they need our support, we should work together.

And maybe that leads to the most powerful way in which an X can work - one I‘ve not mentioned yet. Think of any birthday or thank you cards that you have received recently, or that you have sent. Were there any little crosses? I’m sure there were. a sign of love When we send birthday greetings or thank you cards we express appreciation, thankfulness to people who have helped or cared for us. They are positive and mean such a lot.

The most significant cross of all - the cross of Jesus was the ultimate sign of love.

So, a month on, we won’t all be totally satisfied with the results of the recent elections, but let’s not allow those crosses to become critical ones, let us do all we can to support those who work on our behalf and maybe that will be our contribution to helping the world go round just a little bit smoother and together we may be nearer finding that treasure.

Every Blessing
Rev Michelle Ireland