Dear Friends,

Tomorrow as I write brings the end of June, and the 1st July (Friday this year) reminds me, more than any Mother’s Day, of my mother who died in June a few days before her birthday in her nineties. If I am calculating correctly (and one of my sisters will put me right if I’m not) that was fifteen or sixteen years ago. Remarkably my wife’s mother, who also was bon in July, died at the age of 106+, and very much in possession of her faculties until she suffered a stroke some 15 months before her passing.

Those were the days, of course, in which we did not have the restrictions of pandemic protocols to juggle with along with seeing that passports and visas and credit cards were still valid. We didn’t have that extra restrictive layer to deal with, and for a significant set of travellers to Cayman this is still making travelling here unviable. Certainly we pray that in spite of the relatively low number of persons still getting covid here these restrictions can soon be eased. 

That said, I must reveal to you that (whether there is a connection betweeen us or not), both Peter Westin and I have tested positive for covid early this week. Our symptoms do not appear to be severe. However, because of this we will not be holding an in-person church service this week. My thought so far is that we should temporarily revert to a Ministry of the Word service for Sunday the 3rd July (the Third Sunday after Trinity), held among us through a Zoom connection. 

The Collect for the Third Sunday after Trinity is 

O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may by thy mighty aid be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The core assumption of this prayer is that to us as a flock of the Lord “thou hast given an hearty desire to pray” … meaning perhaps what we would describe as a heartfelt desire to pray, a prayer that comes out of the very “core” of our being. Such prayer may be instigated not merely by the habitual use of the prayer book, but by what we recognise as a profound need, perhaps of our own personally, perhaps of those we love, perhaps of the community in which we dwell, to take some examples. The faithful prayer of this Collect is that we may, by the Lord’s mighty aid "be defended and comforted (strengthened) in all dangers and adversities, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

For any updated directions about the services this Sunday the 3rd July 2022, the 3rd Sunday after Trinity, please see the website www.TruthWithLanguage.com .

In faith in the holy Name of our Lord Jesus, who will continue to provide guidance by the Holy Spirit to all His people.

+ Nicholas