The valley of the shadow…
The Lord – who speaks the ‘I’ within me –
Psalm 23, translated by Hermann Beckh from Hebrew to German. English translation by Alan Stott (altered by TR)
He is my shepherd.
I shall lack nothing.
He lets me rest on green pastures;
He leads me to the stream of life;
He restores my soul.
He lets me walk on the path of truthfulness
in the all-wielding power of his ‘I’.
And – though I walk in the abyss
of death’s dark shadows –
I do not fear the threat of evil.
For you are with me.
Your rod and your staff
are my support and my comfort.
You set the table before me
in the face of my enemies
My head – you anoint with oil.
My cup – you fill to overflowing.
Truly, overflowing goodness
it bears me, my whole life through.
And in the house of the Lord,
Who speaks the ‘I’ within me,
I will abide for ever.
Rudolf Steiner predicted that a new experience of Christ would dawn in the middle years of the twentieth century. And it did indeed come to pass. Just as he predicted, the experience dawned first for people in the direst need, not knowing which way to turn – for those in the ‘abyss of death’s dark shadows’.
In these days of war and unrest, it is not hard to imagine our fellow human beings in this abyss. No amount of clever philosophical or theological reflection can solve the question why there must be so much suffering and pain in the world, particularly when we think of the suffering of children. But there is a response that does not try to solve the problem, but joins with those suffering in inner solidarity.
If we are blessed with the peace and security that allow us to deepen our spiritual experiences, we can take these experiences with us as we imagine the direst of situations, and try to make them available to those in the abyss. What we can manage on our own is magnified in the Act of Consecration of Man, when all of our hopes and prayers are directed towards the good.
Tom Ravetz
It was a privilege to welcome Ilse Wellershof-Schuur for our weekend conference on the Holy Land. We raised over £300 pounds for Ilse’s project.
Below are links to some of the initiatives that she mentioned in her talk on Sunday, 3rd March
- Ilse’s project: Sha’ar LaAdam – Bab l’ilInsan Spiritual-Ecological Center for Coexistence
- Standing Together
- The Parents’ Circle
- Jerusalem Peacebuilders
- Multiple-narrative Tours
- Machsom Watch
The programme for March – June 2024 is available to pick up in the church.
Our Annual Congregational Meeting will take place at 11.30am on Sunday, 10th March. This is a chance to hear about the financial situation and about all the work that sustains our Christian community.
Information
We would like to remind you that the Forward Education initiative are hiring the community room, children’s room and foyer on Mondays, 8am-4pm. This means that they have exclusive use of those spaces and we would ask you please to respect that.
Nataliia will be away 13th-16th March on a further training trip to Auschwitz.
Tom will be in Ringwood 15th-16th March.
Diary
Support The Christian Community
To make a one off donation or to set up a monthly standing order, please use the account details below
Account Name: The Christian Community in Forest Row
Sort Code 30-92-92
Account Number: 00012363
Lloyds TSB, 1/3 London Road, East Grinstead
West Sussex RH19 1AH
If you are a UK Taxpayer, we can claim tax back on your donation if you fill in a gift aid form. You will find one here, which you can download and return to us (signed and scanned is fine)
You can also donate using PayPal, using a credit or debit card.
Find us
School Lane / Hartfield Road
Forest Row
East Sussex
RH18 5DZ
Find us via Google Maps
Priests of the community: Tom Ravetz and Nataliia Shatna. Contact us on the church email or using the form below.