Still pondering the resurrection, well yes of course I am, the season of Easter lasts for 50 days, and even that is not enough to take in the wonder of the story and what the resurrection means for us, even a lifetime is not long enough for that. As with many clergy I did not preach this Sunday, in fact I did not even go to church, instead I took a trip to the Lake District with my middle son Chris. Both Chris and I had been challenged earlier yesterday morning by Mike Yaconelli's video "Slow Club", so we had a slow day, and it turned out to be a day filled with blessings.
The invitation right now is for you to pause, follow the link and watch the video, it will be time well spent...
I do hope you did watch the video, it was as a result of that that we gave ourselves a slow day pass. We began our trip to the Lakes on the motorway, but turned off and took a slower route through some beautiful countryside, and that really set the tone for the day. We continued our slow theme as we journeyed on and stopped several times to wander and take in the view before we reached our destination at Aria Falls. If we hadn't paused we would have missed a lot, the views and experiences on the way were as important and as life giving as the destination itself.
This is one of those views looking down at Brotherswater from Kirkstone Pass:
This is another looking across Ulswater:
It would have been so easy to drive past all of this without a glance because we were rushing to get to our destination, instead we took in the views, and I have to say that standing on the edge of the lake and allowing myself just to look and to be was like water to my thirsty soul. For my soul is thirty, it is thristy for stillness, thirsty for communion with God in an unhurried unpressured way for there is so much pressure in life, pressure to do, to perform and to achieve. pressure for results that gives no time for being and becoming.
I ponder that in our rush to Easter Day and beyond it that we too often miss the full journey, we may give up something for Lent, but do we truly savour the season and explore its treasures? I have to admit that I found Lent hard this year, I had to come to terms with my own failures, especially when I finally allowed myself to ponder the fact that I had not completed the task I had set for myself. Yet with that realisation came the blessing of letting go, God would not love me more for my self imposed practices and so called obedience to them and observance of them. No S/he sees my sturggles and knows me through and through, and somewhere in the depths and the darkness the Spirit begins the work of setting us free.
I began Lent with a goal, I failed to meet it, and yet I believe I found something of much greater value, and I followed that gift into Holy Week. It seems odd to say that my favourite day of Holy Week is Holy Saturday, it seems odd to have a favourite day in that week, but I do. Holy Saturday is a day of waiting, a day of silence, a day of letting go and even of despair. More and more I see this day as a real gift, the gift is to enter the deep and darkness of the tomb and to experience in our dying with Christ the new beginnings of his life made new in ours, a tiny seed planted that like the mustard seed in his parable, grows to become something much more for:
"New life begins in the dark, whether it be a seed in the ground, a babe in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, new life begins in the dark..."- ( Barbara Brown Taylor)
New life also begins slowly, it is fragile and vulnerable and needs nurture and care, God's new life in me, in you, in us together is a treasure to be cherished and must not be rushed, I wonder sometimes that God's new life in his church and his people is too often trampled on and not cherished because we are too quick to demand results. We dash from programme to programme, and objective to objective simply because we feel keenly the pressure to perform, and in our rush to see results we don't allow the gentle work of the Spirit to produce something life giving and sustainable.
I pause to reflect on what has become my favourite Bible passage;
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11: 28-30
What are the unforced rhythms of grace?
Take time to ponder that, take time to read the whole Chapter that gives these verses their context and ponder Christ's invitation afresh...
Yesterday for me was about taking time, time to wonder, time to allow my soul to rest and let go, it was what is often called Low Sunday, and there are various interpretations of what that means, more than anything it is a continuation of Easter, it is a mirror to the wonder and confusion, joy and questioning that Easter Day brought us. It often offers us the story of Thomas and how his doubts were dispelled by an encounter with the living Christ. So much of the story surrounding Easter is about waiting, wondering, praying and seeking, so much of the story of Easter is about wonderfilled encounters and slow preparation. Just think of the walk along the Emmaus road, breakfast on the beach, the commissioning of Peter. As we move through the season we have to allow ourselves to soak these stories in and to allow them to do their work in us.
Chris and I did finally reach our destination, we climbed up to the top of Aria Falls and enjoyed the views, in fact we took so much time that unless we rushed Chris would have to catch a later train than the one he had anticipated catching when I dropped him in Carlisle. We chose slow, and and enjoyed a meal together, then a walk through the town. We wondered about going to find somewhere for coffee when we encountered two homeless guys. Chris decided to buy them Fish and Chips ( they were asked if they would like them first), and found a blessing in the giving.
We ended the day by sitting in the car at the station drinking the last of the coffee from our flask, Chris caught his train and I drive home,and after some reflection turned the radio off and let God speak...
Aria Falls.
