The Bishop's Letter

The Bishop's Letter January 2013

This month Bishop Steven writes:

Looking back and looking forwards….

As I write this, I am 2 stone lighter than on 1st January, 2012.  Hopefully by the time you read this I will be lighter still – but perhaps not as Christmas comes in between. 

The weight loss is mainly due to two things.  The first is Ann rather putting her foot down.  The second is the inspiration and practical help from the Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers.  They turned themselves into the Hairy Dieters last summer on television and produced a book of recipes which has been my food bible for several months now.  I’ve cooked my way through it from beginning to end.

My story last year demonstrates that you have to stick with your New Year Resolutions and that most of us need help and support. 

So where do you hope your journey with God will take you in 2013?  What resolutions are you making for the New Year? 

One of mine every year is to get to know God better, to sink my roots deep into the soil of his love and to enjoy the adventure of living that bit more.  That means I need to take time at the beginning of the year to plan out how that’s going to happen in different ways and at different times. 

It’s vital that we look after ourselves.  That means watching over our health.  But it also means watching over our inner life – our relationship with God, our prayer, our growing in faith. 

Your parish church will be offering some great ways to learn and grow and go deeper in faith this year.  Make sure you plan to join in.  Put the roots down and branch out in a new part of the journey.

And a very happy New Year to you and all those you love

+Steven