Words of Light and Hope from Helena Crockford LLM

Words of Light and Hope
26 th October 2025
Helena Crockford LLM

This Sunday is Bible Sunday, ‘a day set aside in the church
calendar to celebrate the continuing impact the Bible has on
individuals and communities through which God speaks so
powerfully into our lives. The Bible makes clear that trouble
comes to each one of us. But it is equally clear that God makes a
difference in the midst of our troubles, and that His presence and
power transform our lives in troubled times. So if we find
ourselves in trouble today, God, as ever, has a word for us from
his living word, the Bible, that will transform our lives.’
(Scottish Bible Society).
It was only following the Reformation in the 16 th century that
Bibles were translated into the vernacular language of that land.
Malcolm Guite’s poem ‘The Lectern’ celebrates this:
Some rise on eagles’ wings, this one is plain,
Plain English workmanship in solid oak.
Age gracefully, it says, go with the grain.
You walk towards an always open book,
Open as every life to every light,
Open to shade and shadow, day and night,
The changeless witness of your changing pain.
Be still, the lectern says, stand here and read.
Here are your mysteries, your love and fear,
And, running through them all, the slender thread
Of God’s strange grace, red as these ribbons, red
As you own blood when reading reads you here
And pierces joint and marrow…So you stand,
The lectern still beneath your trembling hand.

The Scottish Bible Society suggests that ‘when you plant a
seed…nothing seems to happen. You must wait, and it can take
a long time. It won’t be apparent quickly; we need to wait but it
will grow if it is in the right conditions. It’s the same with God’s
word. The results are rarely instant. Whether we are looking for
global changes, or spiritual changes in our nation, or longing to
know God in our own lives, the work of God through his word is a
hidden one: when it is received there is no initial indication of the
life transforming work that is going to come. And that
transformation is rarely instant. It takes time for that seed to grow;
for the hidden work of God in human hearts to bud and flourish;
but bud and flourish it will. Patient waiting is rewarded with a
harvest.’
Bishop Tony Foottit, in his book ‘A calendar of Wild Flowers’
writes about the autumn flower Orpine or Sedum (p.93), to
represent the saints’ day on 28 th October of St Simon who
represents zeal, and St Jude who represents patience.
‘The Bible is often a source of conflict, usually between a literal,
zealous interpretation and a more liberal, patient understanding.
Simon & Jude – zeal and patience – we need them both but
especially patience as we seek to help establish Jesus’
everlasting kingdom and peace in our conflict-ridden world.’