Look

As I reflect back on 2021 I can not help but be a little saddened. It’s a year all of us would have found difficult with the threat of Covid-19 hanging over us, like the proverbial bad penny. Life was not as it used to be. In many ways it is a distortion of what it should be, and yet this is life. Life to be lived and embraced, well maybe not so much of the embracing! As a hugger I’ve missed being able to hug my friends and those in need of comfort. Boris Johnson cry to ‘keep safe’ and ‘to keep the two meter rule’ has, in the main, been heeded. Then we could get closer as long as we were wearing a protective mask, but not too close! Then have been so many restriction and rule changes it’s been hard to keep up at times. 

‘This far the Lord has helped us’ (1Samuel 7:12) but with all journeys there has been tears along the way, but there has also been joy. For me the birth of a grandson, and the news of another little one on the way. There’s been breaks away and exploring along the Devon and Cornwall coast. There’s been many a walk in the woods or across the fields, down tracks I’ve never ventured before. There has been time to sit, and to gaze, and to wonder. There has been more time to simply be, and more time to hang out with the Creator and hear his voice through the wings of a butterfly, or the bleating of a sheep, or the bubbling sound of streams and rivers, and the roar of the ocean. 

In many ways my senses have been heightened and fine tuned. It has its advantages when it comes to listening to and sensing God. The disadvantage comes when I’m left on ‘high alert’ and the constantly covid risk assessments are left dancing in my head. We have all needed to keep grounded and I’m sure we are all that little bit more resilient for ploughing on through such difficult times. 

As I look forward to the journey ahead and what 2022 has in store for me I wonder who will come on that journey with me? Where will we go? What will we find along the way? Will it all be an uphill struggle? Will there be fun along the way? The good thing about climbing hills and mountains is the view from the top. Psalm 24 asks, ‘Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?’ The invite is to all of us. There may be things that have to be worked out along the way, but that’s OK. Grace and mercy are offered in abundance. (Have a look at the Psalm if you wonder what I’m talking about.) 

Will you come and join me in my journey through 2022? The territory is unknown, we have not been that way before, but ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us’ and I have no doubt he will continue to do so. 

Just Be

Gloucester Cathedral is such a beautiful place to just be. I could loose myself for hours here. These beautiful windows by Thomas Denny were made to mark the 900th anniversary of the Cathedral which was originally built as an abbey (Saint Peter’s) in 1089. The middle window depicts Thomas and the windows either side are based on Psalm 148 and the praise of God’s creation. The windows seem to bathe you in their warm blue light as you stop and gaze upwards at them. 

There is so much rushing around in this world the pace of life really isn’t healthy for our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. The Covid-19 pandemic has been so difficult but one of the good things is that it has caused many of us to slow down and to reconsider our priorities in life. So what’s important to you? 

Thomas, known as ‘doubting Thomas’ had to put his hand in Jesus’ side to prove Jesus’ resurrection. He wanted to see those nail marks and where the spear pierced Jesus’ side, he had to be sure! Perhaps you to doubt God’s existence? Look around you and see his creation. The spectacular views from the hills and mountain tops, the flowers in the meadows, the streams meandering through the valleys, the ocean as it hits the rocks - can you really look at that and say for sure there is no God? 

Perhaps the pandemic has made you angry with God? I can understand that, God does to. It’s Ok to be angry with God, he’s big enough to take it. Life has been hard for so many of us. We don’t have to face those tough times on our own God is there with us. Take time to just be - to be with God with no agenda, just you and him. Try it. Invite him to talk to you through the wonders of his creation. And if you know him already then take a moment anyway and let his peace fill your soul. Just be. 

The church and covid-19

These are strange times that we are living in. Covid-19 has meant all of us having to adjust to new ways of living. Many of us are fearful for loved ones and ourselves. Many of us are anxious about being able to get our every day needs, medicines, food, toilet rolls. Toilet rolls! Who could have predicted the scarcity of toilet rolls. Things we have taken for granted have had to change. No more cups of tea with our friends. No more greeting each other with a friendly hug or a kiss on the cheek. No more driving down to the coast to paddle in the sea. No more holidays abroad for the foreseeable future. For some, no more work. Life has become clinical and regimented. Washing of hands, disinfecting surfaces, the use of hand sanitizer. Keeping two meters apart from those we meet. Self-isolating, shielding ourselves from harm, living in quarantine and morning what has been.

But what about the positives? Time to stop and evaluate our lives. Time to do those things we have been putting off. Time to learn an instrument. Time to read. Time to write that book. Time to potter in the garden. Time to spend more time with the kids and homeschool them. Homeschooling! Who would have thought that would be such a thing for so many of us. Time to just be.

We are use to racing around and filling our time. Many of us are still doing that. Filling our time with social-media and Zoom or Skype conference calls. What do we feel the need to be so busy? 

Church gathering have had to stop, no Sunday service, no weddings, no mid-week meetings. Funeral services are ever evolving and can no longer be attended by everyone. Some by no-one, some by only five, or more with mourners spaced out. The death tolls continue to rise. We await the change in tide.

Life ebbs and flows and the tide will change again. What will be left on the shore after all of this? What will be washed out to sea? What and where is God in all of this?

God is here with us. He hasn’t and won’t leave us. Has he gone quiet? No, he’s making us think. What’s important to us? Or rather, who is important to us? And what is church?

On Sunday 22nd March 2020 I woke up with the word ‘pivot’. A pivotal day in church history. A day that we had been asked by the UK government not to gather as church. This is the day the church realises it is much more than a building. A day that the church stopped and prayed asking for Covid-19 to be eradicated. It was a pivotal day for the UK church. She has had to wake up.

God is calling for our attention he is speaking. If we stop we will hear his voice.