· stillpoint ·

Now that we have been through the initial days of this strange new life we find ourselves settling into a routine and this gives space to look around and ahead a bit further.  The question on many people's minds and often aired in the media is...how long??  How long till the first loosening of restrictions, the first step around the corner, the first glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, the first turn towards home?     We don't mind the waiting but we'd love to know how long for!   The human spirit needs a reference of time so we can then adjust our emotions accordingly.  A 400 metre run, a 1500 metre race, a 10 Km race a Marathon, all require different pacing.  It's as if we have started running but we don't know how long the race will be.    We are trying to nurture and ration our hopes and fears, our  expectations and dreams, even our love and compassion and patience, but we don't know if we will have enough to see us through.    The uncertainty

                                                                Making do with Less                                                                               We have found two great new walks from our house that our black Labrador, Kandy, loves.   We’ve only discovered them because we are no longer able to drive out to the many wonderful walks there are within a 10/15 minute drive.    Restricted freedom of movement has opened up new opportunities to notice what is on our doorstep.   As many of you know the Chinese word for Crisis includes the characters danger and opportunity.     Seems very relevant for today. Yes there is a danger that having to make do with less freedom, less contact with others, less money, less conversation topics, less variety, less exercise etc will have a negative effect on many of us.   There is no doubt it is a real challenge especially for those with small children, or who have lost their income, or who are living alone or who have underlying

Given over: the life beyond control. One of the things that many of us have found difficult in recent days is the sudden lack of control over our lives and our future we are used to having.    I do wonder though whether that was always wishful thinking, a story we told ourselves to make the world feel more manageable.   The reality was that at any point our circumstances could change through illness, accidents, economic changes, relational breakdown, ‘fate’, etc.   Nobody likes living on the edge of a cliff all the time so we spin ourselves the illusion of being in control and safe and that keeps us sane.    It’s one of the most human things we do and makes life liveable.    Except at times like this, where collectively that story is suddenly seen to be the flimsy narrative it always was. The bible seeks to make us aware of the limitations of this   story we tell ourselves and call us to step through it into the immensity of the world that seems so overwhelming.   When we t

Travelling Step by Step Image: The Wise Ones © Jan Richardson It is strange not being able to look beyond the next week with any accuracy.    For the first time in many of our lives we really cannot plan with any confidence at all. Although this situation is imposed on us, perhaps we can learn something from others who have travelled into the unknown.    Yes, they may have gone by choice, but they had little control or knowledge of the circumstances they would face. This lovely poem from Jan Richardson called ‘ For those who have far to travel’   is written as a blessing for Epiphany which celebrates the journey of the Magi whose journey was full or uncertainty and surprises.    If you could see the journey whole, you might never undertake it, might never dare the first step that propels you from the place you have known toward the place you know not. Call it one of the mercies of the road: that we see it only by stages as it op