Dear friends,
Things are moving quickly and as a result, people are getting tired, with a sort of collective dizziness leaving us off balance. Here are a few thoughts for you.

Firstly, the Archbishop referred to the challenge of living in faith rather than fear.
Easier said than done, but it’s a helpful way of seeing the current situation.
The Church is really key at the moment. There are two main focusses:
The first is pastoral: how can we support people spiritually and emotionally at this time? We do this through prayer, staying in touch, and acts of kindness.
One of the best things we can do for others is to make sure we maintain good self-care, otherwise we will all struggle.
The second is what we might called our ‘public role’. This is where we see what we can do to support the community and the wider Church. We are doing a shop every Tuesday and Friday for any who need immediate items, but we're also working with the council to support one of the local 'hubs', based at Pudsey Parish Church. Here is a flyer about the Pudsey Community Project. Thanks to all those who have volunteered so far. Tomorrow we’ll do a modest shop for immediate needs. Friday might be bigger. Ultimately, working with the council via the ‘hub’ is what we’ll aim for.

The most difficult thing to do at this time is to be a ‘non-anxious presence’.
And yet, it seems that it's the most helpful thing for everybody right now.
To do what we can:
- Maintain social distancing or isolation and hand washing.
- Eating well and exercising.
- Being intentionally kind and giving the benefit of the doubt when stressed.

One of the bigger pressures at the moment is that we don’t know how it’s going to play out in the long-term, a little like the anxiety of waiting for a diagnosis. Strangely, once the diagnosis has been given, we feel less anxious.
Realistically, what we know is that a lot of people are going to get sick.
Some will have mild symptoms, but many will become very ill, and some will die.
In the light of this, we need to leave ourselves an emotional buffer to have as much resilience as we can, to process what is ahead. This is a time to, where possible, conserve energy and stay as healthy as possible.

Here are some things that people have suggested:
- While we're not locked down, for under-70’s, a walk: A short walk around the Church yard with kids or around the park, a walk in the woods, perhaps the walk down to Apperley Bridge, then to Rodley via the canal, and back up to Calverley.
- Some sort of meditation activity, such as Lectio365, that helps you focus on one thing for 10 or 15 minutes each day.
- Something very practical, gardening is the obvious choice. But equally a jigsaw puzzle, or craft activity such as needle work, painting, perhaps DIY.
- Become an early adopter with social media. Some of you will be familiar with FaceTime or WhatsApp video calls. They’re both great for connecting grandparents with grandchildren for example.
For those who want larger group chats, Zoom is available to use for free for up to 40 minutes. Download it and you’ll be able to connect with more than one person at a time. Zoom is especially good for Home Groups who would like to meet virtually for less than an hour for example.

In the meantime, the life of the Church continues. There was a funeral today and there will be another tomorrow. We’ll be starting a new video sermon series on Wednesdays. I’m going to start with a short series on Philippians, because it’s uplifting and I think that’s what we need at present, written by St. Paul when he was either in prison or under house arrest.
Sunday video sermons will continue to follow the set reading each week. Can I also encourage you to continue to read the Lent book each day, which seems really timely. Also, I’d like to recommend the Lectio265 app once again, which many are finding very helpful at this time.

Morning Prayer continues each day in our Church at 9am. This is just for me to do I’m afraid but be assured that regular prayer is going on each day.
A lot of people came to Church yesterday, prayed, and I’ve received various messages saying how much it was appreciated.

Blessings,
Phil