View from the Rectory

1st February 2021

Erik resting before the final push

When I was nursing one of the ‘truisms’ that I found very helpful was “The darkest hour is just before dawn”. It is a saying that applies both in a practical and an emotional sense. It will be darkest because just before the sun creeps towards to horizon it is as far away as it can be and therefore the night is the darkest it will get.

It is also the hour of the night when human resources are at their lowest ebb; when we are physically weakest and most vulnerable. Many is the time at that hour of the night, when exhausted and vulnerable, I have thought, “If we can just get through until dawn we will be ok.” And, with the sunrise, life and light flood back and things improve.

I have also found, when on a long journey or when hill climbing, it is the last part – just before the goal is reached that is most difficult and demanding. That is, of course, because our resources are low; we have expended them in getting to the place we are and the final push can feel very difficult indeed.

It seems to me that this is the place we have reached in our battle against the pandemic. Last spring when we first went into lockdown there was almost a sense of adventure in the air. We rose remarkably to the challenge as individuals and as communities. Now, nearly a year down the line we are exhausted and discouraged. We have used up many of our resources in learning to isolate from each other, from having to learn to work from home, to teach our children at home, to embrace new technologies and ways of doing things, to try and keep fit and well and most of all to deal with the isolation and loneliness many of us have encountered.

Yet this is the hour before dawn. We now have three vaccines that are already being used to protect the most vulnerable people in our communities. The end of the journey isn’t exactly next door but it is in sight. I remember two images from recent years. First when Alastair Browlnee the Triathlon  athlete gave us his chance of winning a race to help his exhausted brother Jonny over the line; and at the London Marathon in 2017 an exhausted runner was helped over the last 150 yards by a fellow competitor.

We are all worn out but we can help each other now. Let’s be gentle with ourselves and each other as we can see the hill top ahead and brace ourselves for the final climb. I have said before that the one present thing I have been aware of during this past years is how much God loves us and of his strength and help when I have asked him for it. I have been comforted by these words from Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present  help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

I have found this to be very true this past year. If there is anything I can do to offer you support to cross the line please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Help needed? If you are struggling at this time, please do not feel alone. If you contact the Rector, in complete confidence, she will be able to suggest ways of helping you. There is support available and she can help you access things like – grants to support families with essential supplies, a grant towards heating costs, help to access home-schooling tech (devices and data), and access to prepared meals.

When I was nursing one of the ‘truisms’ that I found very helpful was “The darkest hour is just before dawn”. It is a saying that applies both in a practical and an emotional sense. It will be darkest because just before the sun creeps towards to horizon it is as far away as it can be and therefore the night is the darkest it will get.

It is also the hour of the night when human resources are at their lowest ebb; when we are physically weakest and most vulnerable. Many is the time at that hour of the night, when exhausted and vulnerable, I have thought, “If we can just get through until dawn we will be ok.” And, with the sunrise, life and light flood back and things improve.

I have also found, when on a long journey or when hill climbing, it is the last part – just before the goal is reached that is most difficult and demanding. That is, of course, because our resources are low; we have expended them in getting to the place we are and the final push can feel very difficult indeed.

It seems to me that this is the place we have reached in our battle against the pandemic. Last spring when we first went into lockdown there was almost a sense of adventure in the air. We rose remarkably to the challenge as individuals and as communities. Now, nearly a year down the line we are exhausted and discouraged. We have used up many of our resources in learning to isolate from each other, from having to learn to work from home, to teach our children at home, to embrace new technologies and ways of doing things, to try and keep fit and well and most of all to deal with the isolation and loneliness many of us have encountered.

Yet this is the hour before dawn. We now have three vaccines that are already being used to protect the most vulnerable people in our communities. The end of the journey isn’t exactly next door but it is in sight. I remember two images from recent years. First when Alastair Browlnee the Triathlon  athlete gave us his chance of winning a race to help his exhausted brother Jonny over the line; and at the London Marathon in 2017 an exhausted runner was helped over the last 150 yards by a fellow competitor.

We are all worn out but we can help each other now. Let’s be gentle with ourselves and each other as we can see the hill top ahead and brace ourselves for the final climb. I have said before that the one present thing I have been aware of during this past years is how much God loves us and of his strength and help when I have asked him for it. I have been comforted by these words from Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present  help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

I have found this to be very true this past year. If there is anything I can do to offer you support to cross the line please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Angela Melaniphy                                                                             February 2021

Help needed? If you are struggling at this time, please do not feel alone. If you contact the Rector, in complete confidence, she will be able to suggest ways of helping you. There is support available and she can help you access things like – grants to support families with essential supplies, a grant towards heating costs, help to access home-schooling tech (devices and data), and access to prepared meals.

12th May

Erik helping with the technology!

In my sermon on Sunday I was talking about how adaptable we are as human beings. When we become ill or something goes wrong we are extremely good at compensating in the way we do things and in learning new skills.

This has never been more apparent than during the past two months. We have all had to learn new ways of behaving, new ways of thinking and new ways of communicating.

After the first panic when people rushed out and bought as much toilet paper, flour and alcohol as they could we have, in the main, adapted very well. People are mostly obeying the social distancing rules. We are finding new ways of amusing ourselves and keeping ourselves occupied and we have, above all, learned new ways of communicating.

Having always lived on my own and been used to working from home I adapted quite well too lock down without the stress that many people initially felt. But after six or seven weeks I realised that was I was missing most of all was seeing people’s faces. The telephone is a wonderful tool but video conferencing and face time have been a marvelous gift. When my mother had her 87^th birthday I decided to buy her a Facebook Portal that allows her to speak face to face with me and my siblings and her grandchildren. This has made such a difference to her.

The other day when I rang, my mother turned the portal on and I spoke from the screen into the room. Her cat Bertie, who had been sitting on her lap jumped up at the sound of my voice and began to pat my face on the screen. Even our pets are adapting to new ways of communicating!

I think we have had a tendency to be negative about social media and there are aspects of it that can be harmful but the use of technology has been such a gift to us in recent months. We have been able to live stream worship on YouTube, join meetings on zoom, and even play music at graveside services via a blue tooth speaker. My technical skills have improved by leaps and bounds and I am so grateful for these new ways of communicating and feeling that although we are staying at home we are still part of a community.

View the previous ‘view from the Rectory’ updates here:

Wednesday 25th March 2020

Tuesday 24th March 2020