Janet`s March 2018 letter to the Community

         

               Janet’s letter to the Community

Dear Friends

 

We are in Lent.  Lent is traditionally a time for reflection – of self-examination, of penitence, self-denial, study and almsgiving – as preparation for the Great Feast of Easter.  My reflection has taken a slightly unusual turn.  I’ve been sorting out old family photographs, and in the process I’ve come across a few I’ve never seen before, including one of my paternal grandfather’s parents.  They lived in Fraserburgh in the north east of Scotland.  My great-grandfather was a baker and my great-grandmother ran the baker’s shop.  They both died some time before I was born.  In the photograph they look slightly amused; as if they’re aware of being recorded for posterity.

I find myself wondering: what would they make of me if we were to meet now?  They certainly couldn’t have envisaged my life: living independently, easy travel to foreign countries, mobile telephones and a computer in my pocket, hours and hours at a keyboard and screen.  This would all have been incomprehensible to them.  But, I wonder, would they now be proud of me?  Would they think that the hard work they undertook to raise their family and give my grandfather a good start in life so that he eventually qualified as a doctor, would they think it was all worth it? 

And, leading on from that: the eventual grandchildren of my niece and nephew, and of my godchildren – what will they make of me?  Will they wonder how I lived and how I made decisions?  Will they think that the legacy left by my generation was a good one? One that made responsible choices for those who would follow?  I hope so. 

Perhaps our Lenten reflection will take a more practical turn if we ask these questions:  would my great-grandparents be proud of me?  Will my great-grandchildren (or the equivalent!) look with gratitude on the world that we have left them?  Food for thought.

With every blessing,

Janet

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