Tuesday Offering from Fr Marcus 9th March 2021
Good Morning My Friends,
How are you feeling?
Did you wake up grumpy, or did you let them sleep?
I woke up with a song in my head, and it just happens to fit our theme:
One more step along the world I go,
one more step along the world I go.
From the old things to the new
keep me travelling along with you.
And it’s from the old
I travel to the new,
keep me travelling
along with you.
It is to do with our theme as it is about the journey being taken step by step, but not alone.
Instant Inner Peace is never going to happen, neither is instant reconciliation. There is always a process, a journey, and by the very nature of what we are discussing, things need to change.
I wonder if you have managed to reflect a little on the process you are going through to find that peace, and / or to either seek reconciliation, or move towards being ready for it.
As I have said a few times, this is not an easy process, and we will each go at our own pace.
Part of the reason why it is sometimes difficult to seek reconciliation is that we want to hang on to the feelings we have experienced in our sub conscience. Without thinking, we may feel as if we have a certain status in being the wronged party. Feeling hurt is possibly better than feeling nothing. We have some significance, and there is an inbuilt desire within us to seek justice. Whatever that is. If justice is not forthcoming, then our ego can hang on to the feeling that not only have we been hurt, but we still need some recompense. These feelings can expand and solidify, so much that we may find it hard to either process them, or move on from them. If left alone these feelings can grow out of all proportion and they can begin to define our personality. This in turn will be a stumbling block in our path towards Inner Peace or Reconciliation.
But our lovely hymn reminds us that we don’t need to deal with this alone.
‘keep me travelling along with you.’
I remember a particular service we held at Shoreham Beach as part of a course in Spiritual Growth we were doing. People arrived at church, and were given a beautiful red rose. As they entered, a life sized cross had been erected in the centre of the church, and the seats arranged around it.
The priest leading the service spoke about the need to let go of the things that got in the way of our relationship with God, and went on to describe The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Our church was The Good Shepherd.
He went on to say that our roses represented our sins. We keep repeating the same sins because deep down we like them, otherwise we would easily give them up.
He unpacked something of the issues to do with selfishness, greed, prejudice and being closed minded.
He then suggested that we reflect for a while, and when ready go and place our sins (roses) at the foot of the cross, handing them over to Jesus.
There was silence for quite a long time, and then one by one people got up and approached the cross. People did very different things. Some seemed very reluctant to let go of their roses, others placed them very reverently, some threw them down aggressively and one person screwed up the flower, tore it to pieces and flung it at the foot of the cross.
The whole thing was really powerful, and it indicated how hard it is to let go of things we know we should let go of. In reality, everyone found it incredibly liberating, naming silently to themselves those things they wanted to release from themselves.
So, maybe we have come to the time on our journey where we need to be honest about what we need to let go of. And to hand them over to Jesus because he will take them freely, and in exchange welcome us closer so that we can receive his gift of peace.
Again this can be hard, for the things we hang on to are a bit like our treasure, and remember the story of the rich young ruler.
I want to close with s Camino story.
Two pilgrims were walking along the path, and saw a young lady in her early 20s paused where the steam crossed the path. The stream and surrounding area was very muddy, and on enquiring the young lady said she didn’t want to get wet or muddy.
The older of the two pilgrims said he would carry her across. He took off his shoes and socks, put his rucksack on his front, so he could put her on his back, and he started to carry her across. She shouted at him that it was uncomfortable, that she was being splashed, that he should be more careful, that he was taking too long and that it was undignified.
When they reached the other side, he bent lower to put her down, and his water bottle fell out of his side pocket on his rucksack, and as she got down she trod on it, breaking it and losing his clean water. But rather than thank him or apologise she just stormed off in a huff, leaving him with muddy feet and no clean water to wash them.
So, he managed to somehow clean them up and put his boots back on, all the while his companion was saying how much he couldn’t believe the attitude of the young lady.
They carried on along the path, and our pilgrim’s companion kept bringing up his anger towards the young lady.
After what seems like a very long time our pilgrim said to his companion,
‘Listen my friend, I have no ability to control the actions of others, I can only control my own. I gave that lady a lift two hours ago, then I put her down. Why are you still carrying her?’
Maybe it is time for us to
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt 11
One day, one step at a time.
Bless you, Bless you, Bless you,
As ever,
Fr Marcus