Most things come to pass! It is just as well that many of them do. In March I caught winter vomiting sickness from my friend Tom. I was glad that came to pass!

One of the highlights of 2006 was reading, ‘A Month in the Country’, by J.L.Carr. It is a very slim novel about a damaged survivor of the First World War who spends a summer uncovering a huge medieval wall painting in a village church. It is very evocative of rural life in the 1920’s. The book describes an idyllic interlude that could never be recaptured; a lovely experience but something lost. I was reminded that the best times of my life can never be relived; they have gone forever. They come to pass. In the words of James: What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

In the summer I spent the Brockley Cricket Club Fun Day washing mugs, glasses and plates. They came to pass. I hoped they passed me by a bit cleaner.

I suppose we all hope that those we come into contact with benefit from passing us by. My pupils came to pass. Some certainly didn’t benefit much from the experience. In October I attended the the 21st birthday party of one of my old students. There I met the redoubtable Annie who got her trainers covered with mud on her very first field trip to Walton on the Naze. I can see her now, red in the face and breathing imprecations, mired in the London Clay. She told me: "Never went on any more of your old field trips. Best thing about Geography lessons were the polo mints I pinched from your draw when you were in the cupboard." She looked as if she’d eaten a fair number of polo mints since!

Not all my pupils were like Annie! Some may have benefited a little from their Geography lessons.

We can all think of individuals who after shuffling off this mortal coil have left a huge legacy for good. Such an one was Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders the founder of the hospice movement. A devout evangelical Christian she was inspired by Jesus’ words to his disciples before his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Watch with me."

It is my belief that the three friends we said goodbye to this year, Ivy, George and Henry, had a positive influence on the lives they touched. They came, to pass, but not without making a contribution to the well being of our church.

Well, did Jesus come, only to pass? Christians believe he came to abide. In the wonderful words of the writer to the Hebrews: He is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight and tears no bitterness
Where is death’s sting where, grave thy victory
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

May Jesus abide with you and impart both assurance of salvation and peace of heart.