My last two posts were poems written following the death of a much loved and faithful church member. They reflect my feelings surrounding her death, and the way that I see the church responding and reacting to it. I did not really know this dear lady personally but have witnessed the pain and loss that others have expressed and shown. As I wrote it occurred to me that it was not merely the loss of this dear soul that was being mourned, but also the loss of the way that things were, and the dawning realisation that they will not be that way again.
Mourning is a liminal space,where we live between the realities of how things were and how things are, unsure which way to step for a while, afraid that if we move all will be lost. Taking a step over the threshold towards the future can be daunting and not a little frightening. For those who find themselves unexpectedly living in a strange land the sense of disorientation can be doubly hard.
I believe that today, maybe particularly in rural Britain, many churches find themselves in this liminal space, and that they are being woken to the reality of their situation by circumstances such as the death of a much loved member, or the closure of a building, or any number of other circumstances that highlight the vulnerability they feel.
This is not a new reality for the people of God, Biblical accounts of faith surviving times of exile remind us that God does not leave us, they also remind us that sometimes he calls and places us way beyond our comfort zones...
I work amongst a group of rural churches in North Yorkshire, I believe that we are beginning to open our eyes upon a new cultural landscape and are finding that we are truly in a place of exile. But there are opportunities here, opportunities to seek God in a new way, to own our vulnerability and to move on from there...
In a recent reflection and presentationfor my own churches entitled "Where do we go from here?" I used these two images;
For me they capture a sense of helplessness and confusion that are often experienced by folk looking for the way ahead in an uncertain landscape. But we are not lost for God is with us, and as we begin to lift our eyes from the confusion he will lead us forward, and will unravel the paths beneath our feet...
We need to journey to a new place, and although I know it has been used before I think this image of Grommit laying new track because he has come to the end of the line speaks vividly and powerfully into our situation today.
We need to learn to listen to the God who drives us into the wilderness so that we need to rediscover his strength, to yearn to be filled by the Holy Spirit afresh, to be strengthened and equipped for the journey ahead, for we might just find that he desires to lead us away from exile, and put within our hearts echoes and longings for home!
