Going Viral XV: in the rain

It was the first rainy day for weeks; in two hours of walking on paths that had been busy by viral standards last time we walked them, I scarcely met a score of fellow walkers. It was a few degrees cooler than the preceding days, and wet. As I reached Blean church, big heavy drops drove me under the yews; I began looking for passion flower carvings without success but enjoyed seeing the lichen again and these bluebells of different colours.

Many times have I cycled past here, usually going to or from work, but never noticed these, partly because the church is at the top of a hill and all my attention would have been on completing the climb. Since it was the virus that drove me out here on foot, this is a going viral post, Stay safe, let your heart be unconfined!

27 April, Going viral XIV: An evening’s walk, apples and Queen Anne.

A walk as allowed by the current regime took Mrs T and I up to Harbledown again; this is the last village before Canterbury coming from London on the old Pilgrims’ Way. This afternoon we walked into the village, up past the hospital of Sant Nicholas then down below it, following the stream, passing the orchard of new apple trees in the first picture, and nearer at hand, this cow parsley (or one of its relatives). Not quite at its peak yet, but deserving the old name, Queen Anne’s lace.

Going Viral XIII: Gardeners’ catch-up time

baby robins will soon be around our gardens and allotments. Their parents want them to stay in touch; for humans of a certain age, it is the adult children who want to stay in touch and not let the oldies take too many risks.

Both of us retired, both gardeners, both riding to the local supermarket before the crowds but after the baker has started work. It went without saying that there was never enough time in the garden or allotment for either of us, and we agreed on the importance of keeping in touch. His family are at a distance, mine close at hand, but they do worry! ‘Dad, you shouldn’t be going to the shops, you can get it all on line; we’ll do it for you.’ We agreed that while we can do it we will do it: shopping, gardening, walking. My 70+ friends in Dublin may not go to the allotment which is usually their base for the afternoon! Their daughter leaves their shopping on the doorstep.

Keep in touch!

Going viral :XII city pavements.

HDGB is working from home in East London, so walks are often on city pavements, but not without blessings and rewards. This view is changed since Francis Thompson wrote The Kingdom of God. He was deeply wounded by life and in his homeless days was all too acquainted with the \London’s pavements.

O WORLD invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
 
Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air—
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumour of thee there?

Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!—
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
 
The angels keep their ancient places;—
Turn but a stone, and start a wing!
Tis ye, ‘tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendoured thing.
 
But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry;—and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob’s ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.
 
Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry,—clinging Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water
Not of Gennesareth, but Thames!

Going Viral XI: An Easter Garden

The ladies of Saint Mildred’s Church in Canterbury are mostly stuck at home and the Church is closed in any case, all of us praying at home. Today, however, I had to water the L’Arche Garden at St Mildred’s Glebe, so took the opportunity to thank the parish for their support over the years by making them an Easter garden. Note the cross, the cave, the cloths that were wrapped around His body; Rosemary for remembrance, a baptismal pool of water and pilgrimage cockle shells. Thank you Saint Mildred’s for taking us under your wing for all these years. And Happy Easter to all our readers. Let your joy be unconfined, wherever you find yourselves.

Going viral X: In the Gloaming

A strange Good Friday but the L’Arche morning service, conducted through a Zoom gathering, made it specially memorable. It was good to see and hear so many friends, all pleased to see each other. The reflections on the traditional Stations of the Cross were personal and insightful, illustrated by photographs of each station enacted by Cana house. It was a privilege to be there; no more to be said about the day and its import.

In the evening we took our walk in the gloaming and saw our first bats of the year. Life goes on; Jupiter beams down as well as the Easter moon, waning now. The last stretch of the planned walk we deferred as it was too dark to see the potholes; home safely for all that. People taking care to distance themselves from each other.

Going Viral IX: This is the place

Saint Michael and All Angels, Harbledown, Kent. 5.4.20

We have a right to a sacrosanct place set aside for encountering God … Jesus teaches that we must ensure that the temple is always conducive to prayer – silent, reverent, empty of all other kinds of pursuits. We need this place – perhaps much more than we realise. And Jesus defends this need. He is IN this place. This is the place where Jesus can be found.

Sister Johanna Caton, OSB: ‘Hanging On’, in Agnellus Mirror this morning. Sister is a member of Minster Abbey and writes poetry and prose for the Agnellus Mirror blog.

Mrs Turnstone and I walked past St Michael’s yesterday on our daily constitutional.