As you read this, the soon-to-be General Election may well be somewhere towards the front of your mind. As I write, there has only been one televised debate so far which was its own peculiar spectacle, but by the time these words are before you, much more will certainly have been said.

This Newsletter will land on your mat at around the mid-point of the year. The days will be largely at their longest, the weather (I pray) kind, and in church-terms, we are now in the second 'phase' of our thinking and worshipping lives. The time between Christmas and Easter is devoted to telling the story of the 'historical Jesus' – biblical accounts of the works and deeds of the man we Christians follow. Once we move away from Easter we are left with the injunction to learn from the teachings and examples of the man. First phase – narrative accounts; second phase – what those narrative accounts mean for us.

This leads me to wonder what Jesus would have done in the face of a British General Election. Certainly, he would have had a voice, a view. I think he would have publicly condemned the rise of semi-truths and semantic prestidigitation within the noise of rhetoric, but he would have listened intently all the same. He would have been attentive to all points of view, including those with which he profoundly disagreed. He would have voted – Jesus was a man of action. As to whom Jesus would have voted for, I will not speculate – but as a King himself, given in service to the least in this world of ours, I suspect that candidates exhibiting that same characteristic would be attractive as a proposition. Of course, all of this is just vicary speculation, but I am sure of one thing – he would have prayed for those involved, for those who will take on the increasingly poisoned chalice of public office (as one who paid the highest price for those he came to serve).

Doing nothing at all, remaining uninterested or uninformed wouldn't have featured in his Election preparations and I urge you along a similar path – if following in the example of Jesus is your thing. Cast an informed vote and be part of the difference you hope for.

Revd. David Cloake