As a church minister you undertake many roles and one of those is to officiate at funerals.
I feel it is a privilege to be asked to accompany a family through such a tough time in their lives and to allow the space and ceremony for them to say goodbye to their loved one.
Over the next couple of weeks I will be conducting two funerals, both unconnected and both families have chosen Rod Stewart’s I Am Sailing for different reasons.
Listening to those words and being reminded of a song that is so familiar to me it made me think of something that I have heard and have said myself over the last year.
‘We are all in the same storm but our boats are all different.’
These words have helped me in those times when the going has been tough, when you feel you are at breaking point and your little boat is about to sink and those around you seen to be cruising along enjoying the view from their yacht.
Then suddenly you hit a calm patch and all is well and yet others are sinking fast and you can bring your little boat in to help steady them and offer a lifeline.
Carrying on with the boat theme, where are you heading in your boat? What is your destination in life?
Are you going round in circles looking for a way through or just tossed about by the storm with little control, or are you confident of your destination and know precisely where you are going to land?
The Bible tells us in John 14:1-3: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
The Bible clearly tell us that there is a room in God’s home for us for eternity that has to be a direction worth travelling in.
Bless you wherever you are on your journey.
Captain Jan Howlin is from Wokingham Salvation Army, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
