I wonder how many of our readers remember the closing moments of the world cup final in 1966 when Kenneth Wolstenholme who was commenting for BBC TV uttered the immortal words: “they think it is all over….we’ll it is now” as Geoff Hurst scored England’s fourth goal to beat the mighty West Germany. A few seconds later England won the world cup four goals to two, Bobby Moore lifted the trophy, the country celebrated, and the rest is history, so to speak.

Well, as autumn begins to take hold and the nights draw in, there’s one thing we can say about the COVID pandemic, and that is as much as we would like it to be, it is far from over. In the past few weeks we are witnessing a rising number of positive cases and sadly more deaths as a result of this devastating and terrible virus. We are into the second wave of the pandemic and as we navigate as a country through various local lockdown measures the situation appears more complicated than in March. The pressure and challenges of living    together and looking out for each other seems to get more involved and added to this a sense of tiredness it is hard to know where to turn for hope and stability.  But we must continue to encourage one another and bear one another’s burdens.

In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 11, verses 28 to the end, Jesus talks about rest for the weary with these words….

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In this passage, Jesus invites the weary and the burdened to find rest for their soul by being yoked with him. In Jesus’ day the yoke was a wooden collar that ran across the shoulders of a pair of oxen and enabled them to jointly pull enormous weights.  Jesus invites each one of us to be yoked with him in love so that he will gladly share our lives and offer us comfort and support in our present situation.

As we move deeper into autumn, why not think about inviting Jesus to share your burdens and weariness – you may be pleasantly   surprised to experience his love and presence in the most unexpected places and times.

Take care, stay safe and God Bless, Rev Glenn Coggins,

Vicar of  the United Benefice of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe and Alverthorpe.