The thirteenth day of Lent: Knowing our place

Perhaps you remember that sketch with John Cleese and the two Ronnies which has Ronnie Corbett the little man the others look down on saying “I know my place.” 

Living on Holy Island makes you very aware of your place in relation to the elements around you. I went to do a food shop in Alnwick this morning. I only had a couple of hours to get there and back before the tide came in. It saved me money. I like to faff in a shop. Today with little time and three shops to visit I had a strict list! Some people think they can fight the tide. They then have to be rescued. The power of the sea is greater than the power of foolish people. 

We know our place also as we live in weather! The forecast is for snow here tonight. We cannot stop it coming, we just have to adapt as it dominates life for a bit. We were here five years ago when the beast from the east and the community here was cut off for several days. 

We know our place too when it comes to our relationship with the divine. Lent is a good time to come on retreat to think about this. I am writing this after evening prayer in the church. I was glad to be invited by Sarah the vicar to read the Bible readings tonight. I always find perspective when I worship here. In the prayers tonight we read this hymn: Lord Jesus, think on me:

Lord Jesus think on me and purge away my sin;
From earthborn passions set me free
And make me pure within.

Lord Jesus, think on me,
With many a care oppressed;
Let me Thy loving servant be
And taste Thy promised rest.

Lord Jesus, think on me
Amid the battle’s strife;
In all my pain and misery
Be Thou my Health and Life.

Lord Jesus, think on me
Nor let me go astray;
Through darkness and perplexity
Point Thou the heavenly way.

Lord Jesus, think on me
When floods the tempest high;
When on doth rush the enemy,
O Saviour, be Thou nigh!

Lord Jesus, think on me
That, when the flood is past,
I may th’eternal brightness see
And share Thy joy at last.

Lord Jesus, think on me
That I may sing above
To Father, Spirit, and to Thee
The strains of praise and love.

I never knew this was written by a man called George the Sinner! Who was he? He was a ninth century monk who lived in Constantinople and he wrote a great chronicle of the world. I guess he knew his place. We not only are small in creation, we are sinners in the presence of he who was sinless. But there is good news. We are loved and we can start again when we make a mess. Our small lives can be offered time and time again to the vast grace of God. We can also pray the Jesus prayer which some find helpful: “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

I know my place. Perhaps I need to end this writing Ian the sinner. And now I’m battening  down the hatches. There is precipitation coming and it’s white!