Wednesday 3rd February 2021: Voices from the Past

Last week we stood by the grave of my 3x Great Uncle William in the grounds of Christ Church, Chorleywood.  He and his family lived at Pond Cottage on Common Road and he passed away, aged 59, of Spanish Flu in 1919.  He, like 50 million others, became a victim of a pandemic which to me, until now, has just seemed like yet another page of history.

That moment became even more poignant last week when we read down the gravestone and discovered not only his death in January 1919, but then the death of both his daughters, one after another, two weeks later, followed by his son (recently returned from the trenches the year before) after that.  I cannot imagine how my Great Aunt Lizzie coped seeing four members of her family die in as many weeks.  For me, in the grounds of Christ Church last week, the pandemic of 1918/19 came into focus as never before.

And the reality is that our world has done, and is doing, so much better this time around.  Who knows, but I suspect, had William and his family lived in our century there is a chance some of them might have got through.  We are so fortunate in 2021 to have the benefits of science all around us.

Our nation lost Captain Sir Tom Moore yesterday and I think we have all been touched and inspired by his indefatigable character.  He is rightly celebrated in this morning’s Press.

However, it’s also encouraging to realise that Captain Tom’s spirit wasn’t unique and is wonderfully replicated in families and communities all over the world.  I’ve discovered such people in every church in which I’ve ever served – and we have an abundance at AFC!  People who simply never give up and always positively make the best of any situation. 

So today let’s thank God for those around us who bring inspiration and all those in society who, through the wonders of modern science, are bringing hope through the vaccine – a very welcome shot in the arm.