{"id":14475,"date":"2026-05-30T15:39:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T15:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=14475"},"modified":"2026-05-30T15:41:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T15:41:20","slug":"vicars-page-june-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/vicars-page\/vicars-page-june-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Vicar’s page – June 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Previous month<\/a> – Monthly index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Merry’s miscellany\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The Vicar\u2019s monthly letter for the Parish News<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Rev<\/a>
Rev Merry Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

June 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As our gardens fill with flowers, I have been reflecting on the phrase \u201cbloom where you\u2019re planted.\u201d It is often used to encourage perseverance, but perhaps it contains a deeper truth. A flower does not spend its life wishing to be another flower. It simply grows towards the light, becoming what it was created to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human beings often find this much harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rule of St Benedict offers a quiet wisdom that feels deeply needed today. Benedictine spirituality is rooted in stability: remaining present to God, to ourselves, and to the life immediately before us. St Benedict writes: \u201cLet them prefer nothing whatever to Christ.\u201d When Christ is truly at the centre, we are freed from the endless pressure to prove ourselves. Instead, we can begin the slower and holier work of becoming who we truly are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That does not mean we stop growing. But growth in the Christian life is rarely about becoming grander. More often it is about becoming more truthful, more compassionate, more peaceful \u2014 more rooted in God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people flourish quickly and visibly; others grow quietly and unnoticed. Some live through seasons of confidence, others through uncertainty or struggle. Yet none of these seasons are wasted in God\u2019s hands. The point is not to become identical, but faithful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Paul reminds us in Ephesians that \u201cwe are what he has made us.\u201d Before we achieve anything, we are already created and loved by God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the challenge for us this month is to ask \u201cWho am I becoming?\u201d Are we blooming here, where we have been planted, where our roots are? And further than that, are we growing towards Christ? Are we becoming more patient, more open-hearted, more able to love? Are we learning to accept ourselves \u2014 not selfishly, but gratefully \u2014 as people made by God and held in grace?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To bloom where we are planted doesn\u2019t mean doing extraordinary things. It may simply mean consenting to God\u2019s patient work within us, trusting that we are loved and we will have a chance to bloom, perhaps holiness is less dramatic than we imagine: becoming, over time, exactly the person God created us to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rev Merry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Previous month – Monthly index \u2018Merry’s miscellany\u2019 The Vicar\u2019s monthly letter for the Parish News June 2026 As our gardens fill with flowers, I have been reflecting on the phrase \u201cbloom where you\u2019re planted.\u201d It is often used to encourage perseverance, but perhaps it contains a deeper truth. A flower does not spend its life wishing to … <\/p>\n

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