The voice of prayer is never silent

It’s been a very windy and wet couple of days here on Holy Island. The place has been very quiet with few people about. Few tourists come here in the wilds of November! We met a young couple in church on Monday who had never been here until this visit. They were amazed nothing was open, it was too wet to walk about so they had spent most of their visit sitting in their car. 

It was a challenge tonight to get to evening prayer at 5.30 through Storm Diana which is hitting the north today and tomorrow.  But I managed it as I have every night so far, and tonight I was very conscious of two things: one, that prayer has been offered every day here since Saint Aidan’s day. The Venerable Bede, writing in c.731, records that St Aidan arrived in Northumbria from St. Columba’s monastery on Iona in 635 at the request of King Oswald and was gifted the Holy Island of Lindisfarne to establish his own monastery. It’s awesome to think prayer, morning and evening, has been offered here since 635 and this week we join in the story of those who faithfully plodge to church in all weathers to remind ourselves that the rumour of God is still alive. There were only  seven of us tonight who braved the journey through the storm, but it’s brilliant the rhythm of prayer never stops here, that people are doing this bringing the world to God thing every day when most of us forget to do it. 

Secondly while especially today I’ve been struggling physically, my lungs hurt so much, being here is proving to be healing and life giving and this connecting to community while we can’t be with our normal church life which is very painful, is giving me some peace. We are working being back here for Christmas as I can’t work and we know no one in Hailsham. This place gets us and we are blessed every time we are here. 

I thought tonight about a verse in The Day Thou Gavest, here, as in many other thin and holy places, the voice of prayer is truly never silent. This isn’t namby pamby Christianity where we pretend nothing is wrong, this is offering all of our rubbish and good stuff to God in an authentic and honest way. I may not be better yet, but systematic offering of my lot to God every day surely will do me good, even getting drenched to do it!!