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CS Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia once wrote… “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

The problem with this is that whilst I know that CS Lewis is right - to truly love IS to be truly vulnerable –I just don’t enjoy being vulnerable. If I’m honest I don’t want to go there too often. It’s safer to stay, for the most part, in the other place, the safer place.

I also know that the longer I stay in the safe place, the slower I will grow. There, I won’t discover who I was really made to be. In order to discover that, I need to spend more time in the risky place, for that is the place of transformation.

As a Christian, I believe that we were all made in the image of God and made with a far greater potential than we know. A potential to love and to be loved in a way that is utterly transformational. Jesus’ life shows us this. The New Testament is full of stories about ordinary people (just like you and I) who encountered the love of Jesus and, once they did, their life was never the same. It was far better than they ever thought possible because they became more fully the person they were always meant to be. That’s what being a Christian should be! The trouble is, it often isn’t and that’s because, for the most part, we cling to the safe places and, as CS Lewis said, there our hearts become hard.

The thing all these people in the Bible had in common was that their journey of being transformed always started with vulnerability. They were willing for their hearts to be softened, they took a risk, and in so doing they experienced something remarkable –the overwhelming, never-ending, wreckless love of God. And nothing was ever the same for them again.

That’s why I became a Vicar. For I believe we all have a potential far greater than we know and that when we risk everything and allow ourselves to be fully loved, just as we are –then we discover that the risky place is actually the safest place there is. Are you willing to go there? I’m still working this out and trying to spend more time taking risks, asking questions and exploring life. I’m thinking about out how we might start a new church in North Weald, a church for people who don’t do church! Where we can ask these questions and work things out together. If you’re interested, or just want to chat more, please let me know on the contact details below.

With love and prayers, Rev Tom x tomwarmit@gmail.com

Many of you during your walking in the village may have seen the field and hedgerows close to Tempest Mead and behind the Village Hall being removed or cut back.

A lot of people were worried and I received numerous phone calls asking me to find out what is happening. I contacted Howard, Manging Director of Peer Group who own this land, formally known as Ongar Park and he kindly provided an explanation that he wanted me to share with readers.

This land has not been cleared because of any imminent development planned for this area and the tree clearance not in anticipation of building work starting.

These fields were last cleared in 2017 and they were overdue to be cleared again. tion of clearing, the designated wildlife zone close to the Redoubt. They have not cleared, and have no inten

Many people will not be aware that Ongar Park is a private estate and access is limited to the footpaths. There are sign posts already on the estate marking footpaths and bridleways. In the coming months, Peer Group will be arranging for all of the footpaths and bridleways to be more clearly marked with posts and marker arrows.

Howard did request that if anybody is aware of any anti-social behaviour and other abuses of the land that it is reported to the police and to ourselves.