Warmed heart

From the Manse.....

There is a great deal going on this May. For along with the usual two Bank Holiday Mondays that take place this month, we have an additional celebratory one on Monday 8th to mark the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort at Westminster Abbey two days earlier.

Of course, May is a significant month for us Methodists. For we recall how at around 8:45pm on the evening of May 24th 1738 during a church meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, John Wesley felt his heart "strangely warmed". At that moment in time and space, God became real to him.

Each year the closest Sunday to May 24th, is observed as Aldersgate Sunday in the life of the Methodist Church. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on that pivotal moment in the life of John Wesley and its relevance to us today.

That feeling of a warmed heart is of course not exclusive to those of faith.

Over the years, countless people who do not attend church and have no allegiance to any particular religion have shared with me those profound moments and intense experiences when they have been stopped in their tracks and for a while, been aware of that which is beyond what can be seen, known or explained.

Those breathtaking moments of awe, wonder, beauty, magnificence and splendour that transcend the ordinary and the everyday, that help us to reach out beyond the limits of who we are to something far greater.

Whatever we find ourselves doing this May, however we will be spending our Bank Holiday Mondays, may be aware of those moments of wonder that break into our lives and in doing so warm our hearts and make the world a better place.

With love and God Bless

Keith