Tuesday 31st March
My little offering for today.
Good Morning You Lovely People,
I hope you are feeling ok, and managing to stay strong. For those who are not feeling so great, then please know that you are loved, and as a whole Chaplaincy we are praying for you, and all who are struggling at this time. May this too pass quickly.
From our Morning Prayer
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
It is good that we should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 1.9,10.
Well we are all getting good at waiting!
Or are we?
Possibly we are dealing with things, and coping with a very different way of living, and thinking and indeed praying, and definitely a different way of worshipping. But are we waiting?
I think there is a difference between just longing for the days to pass, and Waiting with a sense of Hope and Expectation for the Salvation of the Lord. The first as passive, the second is active.
The first is about just the destination, the second about the journey.
As many of you know, Sandra and I have done some stages of the Camino to Santiago, following the route that begins in Javea with the Ruta del Alba. And every step of the way means something.
We have made it as far up as Cuenca, well over 300km. But if we had just driven to Cuenca, it would have meant nothing. Sometimes the journey was absolutely delightful, sometimes it was a nightmare. Sometimes we sang with Joy in our hearts, sometimes we cried and cried.
Mud, rain, blisters, pain and uncertainty came our way, but so did a real sense of peace, and a feeling of connection, a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty of creation, and and genuine spiritual high.
We had planned to do another stage soon, but that probably won’t now be happening.
But one way for me of coping with our Lockdown, is to try and visualise it as a journey. A static Camino, waiting on the Lord. I shall walk through Holy Week, at least in my head, and certainly do the Via Dolorosa (The way of the Cross)on Good Friday.
I shall struggle up the hill of isolation, and walk through the mud of sadness. I shall clamber over the rocks of uncertainty, and carry the weight of a backpack full of concern for so many that I can’t even imagine it.
But I shall also walk with my head held high, and a spring in my step, knowing that I am not alone, that my Lord walks with me, and that in time we will know the Salvation of the Lord.
It would be pious and pretentious to claim every step a prayer, and it would be just as pious to assume that we will sail through this struggle as some sort of Spiritual quest. But looking back, we will remember those times when we knew we were walking in the company of the Saints, even if we were not in the same room.
Bless you, Keep saying your prayers, and stay safe.
As ever,
Marcus