Welcome
We are the Church of England parish of St Mary’s Shaw cum Donnington – just to the north and east of Newbury.
Our purpose and focus is Knowing Jesus, Sharing God’s Love, Caring for People.
You can read more about it here.
We meet every Sunday at 10am, as well as at other times during the week.
Everyone is welcome to join us.
Word for the Week
- The Power of Forgiveness
“Do it to Julia!”. If you’ve read George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (I read it in 1983), you’ll know that this cry is what gets Winston, the protagonist, out of Room 101 – where his worst nightmare confronts him. He realises there is no other way, only her sacrifice, his Julia; the sacrifice of the one he loves is the only way.
But the very choosing of her to take his place destroys any hope of their future relationship. And that’s basically the end of the book.
But Orwell was wrong.
I don’t know what your worst nightmare is, but I know you’ll find it in the fire of hell. And I also know how you can avoid meeting it there. Like for Winston, it involves a sacrifice. Unlike for Winston, owning that sacrifice is a new beginning to the relationship, not the end of it.
What Orwell missed is the possibility of forgiveness.
Jesus said “This is my blood …, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matt 26:28.
My sin, his blood, his death, my life. Hallelujah, his blood availed for me.
Raymond