Summer, what does it mean to you? Longer days and shorter nights affect how we feel, and what we choose to do with our time. Those extra hours can be filled with a sense of duty to work harder for some, while for others they become an opportunity to enjoy life a little more, using those lighter mornings and evenings to relax or pursue hobbies. There has recently been, and continues to be, an interest in pilgrimage. Perhaps this is due to celebrity programmes on TV where we see a group of individuals travelling together – sharing their thoughts, beliefs, doubts and life experiences. As they journey together, we often see changes among them. The last days of July are traditionally set aside for pilgrimage. The weather makes it ideal for travelling and sleeping under the stars. Pilgrimages are not the same as holidays. They are journeys to special places – very often Christian shrines, holy or sacred places, springs, wells and standing stones. Important as the destination is, it is not always the main thing. For many pilgrims it is the journey itself. It is an inner and outer walk. The landscape outside and the journey of the soul inside as they become almost inseparable, and both deeply sacred. The word ‘pilgrim’ comes from the Latin word ‘peregrinus’, which means one who travels through the land. In the Middle Ages, peregrini would set out from the known and familiar, placing themselves in the mercy of new and unfamiliar landscapes. This is still part of what changes us in our modern pilgrimages. We discover things about ourselves, resources we didn’t know we had, and struggles that seem hard to overcome, which we either learn, or fail to learn, to embrace. With the craziness of this social media-mad world of ours, I wonder if many of us would benefit from the odd pilgrimage or two? Giving intention to leaving the familiar landscape of constant messages, emails, scrolling, and being available every minute of each waking hour, in exchange for the beauty and silence found across the Sandstone Trail or Bishop Bennet’s Way. Jesus very often took himself away from the company of his friends to spend time with God. I might choose to follow His Way this Summer and find some unchartered landscape both outside and inside my soul – what about you? . Rev Veronica x From June onwards, Rev Veronica’s Day of Rest will now be a Wednesday. Rev Veronica Green veronicarom838@aol.com01948 663758; 07928 792337
Dance then, wherever you may be… ‘Our senses are constantly bombarded, and yet we miss most of what happens around us. It goes by us, past us, over our heads. We attend only to a fraction, a t iny fraction, of what we might. Then something strikes us. We don’t know why, but we are paying attention and this thing, event or reality or whatever, begins to matter. This is a blessing: this thing, whatever it is, that is drawing us out of ourselves. Melting our loneliness and forging some kind of connection, making a pathway for sharing with others.’ ‘Rain, for instance’ says Stephen Cherry, ‘I always disliked the sound of rain, it reminded me of schooldays and wet breaks inside the classroom, until someone suggested that that it’s drumming sound was a kind of music, a dance even, and that I should listen to it.’ It is suggested, from a psychological view, that our way of responding to things is fight or flight, but recently two new words have been added to this concept about the human condition: freeze and fawn. These interesting words represent two other ways of responding that perhaps reflect today’s pres sures, culture, and society. Freeze amounts to being numb and immobilized, where you cannot think or act. Fawn is about our wanting to avoid conflict, ensuring safety by appeasing or complying and sacrificing our own needs to keep the peace. I suggest the greatest threat to our well-being and good health in our time is the condition of our minds. The brain is the hard drive of our body, and it is beaten to death every day by the amount of information we believe we are to take in. None of us can escape. The story of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, asking his closest friends to walk through this journey to the cross alongside him, is a beautiful example of this for all involved. The disciples could not stay awake with him and eventually flee from the impending danger of the Romans. And we are told that Jesus Himself, sweat drops of blood so tangible was the fear of what was coming. Easter is the time we celebrate the Hope that Jesus brought and continues to bring us all! He overcame fear—not by flight, not by freezing or fawning, but by love, grace, and understanding. God became one of us—one of His created beings—and now, as a fully thinking, feeling, experiencing person, He has made a way to rescue us. Body, mind, and spirit: learn to dance. Allow your spirit to engage with the life God promises you. The truth will set you free—to dance your way through life. Easter Blessings to all… Revd. Veronica. X
Sometimes we expect God to arrive like thunder.Big. Obvious. Impossible to ignore.And sometimes He does.Think of the burning bush with Moses.Or the dramatic conversion of Paul the Apostle on the road to Damascus.Blinding light. Audible voice. Life changed in an instant.God can be noisy.But more often?He’s quiet.A nudge you can’t quite explain.A conversation that lands at exactly the right moment.A deep sense of peace when nothing around you has changed.Strength that shows up when you didn’t think you had any left.The Bible says God wasn’t in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire but in a gentle whisper to Elijah.Sometimes God moves loudly enough to wake us up.Sometimes He moves softly enough to draw us close.If you’re waiting for fireworks, don’t miss the whisper.And if your life feels shaken right now, don’t assume God isn’t in it.He’s not absent in the quiet.And He’s not out of control in the noise.He moves in both.
