I was powerfully led to do a retreat day today venturing out onto the Romney Marsh to visit some of the churches there. I visited three churches today, which have been there for centuries.
I always find sitting in ancient holy sites very powerful because it connects me to a much larger community than my 49 years here. The fact that people have been praying, worshipping, discerning God's will right where I have been today is very moving. This little church, St Thomas Becket at Fairfield is a powerful symbol of God in the midst of life, storms, floods, difficulties. I sat today and pondered church gatherings in the 12th century. I wonder what was on the PCC agenda of this little place? Later on in the day today, I went to the lovely church at Old Romney, with its pink pews (!) apparently painted pink for a Disney film made there in 1963 called Dr Syn. Never heard of it! I picked one of the best church magazines I have ever seen, connecting the Marsh churches together. I will allow the editor the cringeworthy "dreadful budgie jokes" column: "Tim goes into a pet shop and asks for a big bag of bird seed. "How many birds have you got?" asks the shopkeeper. "None," replies Tim. "I was hoping to grow some."
The priest in charge, Julie Coleman, has written to her people as the annual parochial church meeting is approaching. She talks about all human endeavour and discovery coming from often a small group of people not just taking things at face value, but painstakingly and sometimes at great personal cost, probing deeper into the mysteries and complexities of the created order. She reminds her flock they need to know they are a valuable part of the Body of Christ, and he has called us all by name, hence we journey together.
This time apart from church routine has reminded me of the privilege and importance of creating community, of investing in relationships, of enjoying other people, of laughter and joy others can bring to you. I am deeply deeply moved that people want to meet with me in this time and spend time with me. We need to take more time over people, grappling together what life is all about and what God is all about. The preacher at St Johns in Upper St Leonards the other week said he has been too busy serving God to listen to God. Are we all guilty of that?
I looked up the set Psalm for today in evening prayer - Psalm 59 - imagine a congregation as some will have done tonight - reading words of confusion about enemies and horrid people driving you mad and wanting God to get them! "Consume them in thy wrath... and in the evening they will return : grin like a dog, and will go about the city. They will run here and there for meat: and grudge if they not be satisfied."Then he goes through the motions of belief and hope and says well God, I know it must be better - "as for me, I will sing of thy power and will praise thy mercy because thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble." I sat and wondered how many times people in these tiny churches must have implored God to come when all around was chaos. Have we lost that sense of needing to implore?
Later on in the day I went to Dungeness, a very strange place. Today it was even more strange as the sun was trying to shine but the fog was not lifting, and I sat in silence listening to the waves lap on the beach thinking of many people I know at the moment who are in a fog, but also some who are beginning to see the light shine for them, just a little bit. Perhaps in investing time in people in community we need to encourage them more? The lovely deacon in our Circuit keeps telling me my greatest gift is that I never talk anything or anyone down. I have seen communities destroy themselves through abusive language, power games, negative vibes. Community can be transformed if we simply say to people "you matter" "a bit more. Apparently the nine days between Ascension Day and Pentecost is a special time of prayer in the C of E. In the church in Old Romney, I picked up a super little prayer book prepared for the time by the Diocese of Canterbury called "Conversations at the Crossroads." Apparently the Diocese are encouraging as a focus of work people to have more meaningful conversations with each other. I love the Canterbury Diocese! Can't my part of East Sussex be included in it?? Anyway, this little booklet is all about people in life meeting others and working things out. There is a website of fab resources: www.canterburydiocese.org/nirvana
Today's prayer spoke to me about community, time and people who God sends our way:
God who dwells in temple and heart, when we are rushing around anxiously without you, when we forget to seek you in the obvious place, still us; sit us down in your presence, amaze us with your wisdom and show us where our true focus should really be - on Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord. Amen.
I thoroughly recommend a day visiting open churches, with no agenda except to see what you see, what God is showing you, take a bag of books with you, something to write with and on, find a nice place for lunch in the middle and come home and write what has happened. You will have a lovely day! I have been blessed with a link to history, a reminder of special people and a need to find God with me just a little bit in the hard stuff. My own fog!
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