Mylander - Issue 83

21 Churches The Well prays for various concerns - personal, local and world-wide and we pray regularly for places where readers of this magazine live. If you have a particular prayer request, we would be delighted to hear from you. More information about our church is available on our website: www.thewell-myland.org.uk Keith and Di Thompson Tel: 01206 844252 Email: [email protected] St Michael’s Church, Mile End All of a sudden life has become really weird; the people of the church have been locked out of the building, there isn’t a traffic jam in Mill Road anymore, schools and shops are shut, and the once plentiful supply of everything at an instant has suddenly stopped. All that we took for granted has suddenly changed. Covid19 has arrived, travelling across the world at an alarming speed, unheralded, unseen, unwanted and frighteningly dangerous, preying upon the old and the weak, and now we discover, the young and the fit too, so there is fear and pain all around us, but…what else do you see? I see human spirit, compassion, and the sacrifice of the few for the many. The pace of the world, the pace of life is by necessity slowing, and the government is right: ‘we are in it together’. Covid19 is an evil creation, and evil has to be stood up to, fought and defeated. The Church, like the whole world, is working out how to do things differently, we are about to celebrate Easter behind our own closed doors for the first time in a long, long time, but Easter is a celebration of life, new life. Out of the pain and torment of Good Friday came the joy of Easter Sunday, evil does not have to have the last word, so do good things, help each other, volunteer to help strangers, look after your family and each other, and put others before yourself. Covid19 is going to be with us for quite a while, but we can beat it, if we have faith and trust, and a love bigger than ourselves. Rev’d Ray Gibbs Priest in Charge, Myland