I am so glad that many of you have embraced the six word story on Winter. Please do try and get more entries for this as I am hoping these stories will form part of an exhibition when it is safe again to visit our churches. I will display all the works anonymously along with some other things and make it a Winter walk through Covid days. It, I hope will be something to help us through the dark days of Winter giving a boost to our mental health, our journeying through such difficult days of Winter and into the hope of Spring.
Please do get grandchildren, neighbours and friends involved! And many thanks for all the lovely stories I have received thus far. Don't forget it will be judged (not by me) and a small prize offered to the successful soul, but all who enter it are in themselves successful in their own right. The closing date is Saturday 16th January 2021.
This morning feeling a bit fed up with things, as we all can, I received a wonderful virtual hug and it was lovely and brightened up my day. This made me think how often do we do simple things for others which can make such a difference to their day or their feelings. I don't mean things as grand as baking a cake, or inviting someone round for a meal, taking someone in the car to the hospital or giving some plants for the garden. Rather, smaller, but equally important actions. When did you last receive a phone call in from an old friend, rather than have to make one out? When did you last phone a friend up, rather than wait for them to call you? Receiving a card or letter in the hugely expensive snail mail, maybe with an invite for coffee when it is safe to do, can be hugely significant and special. It is lovely to receive a message from someone just to say I am missing you or reminiscing with someone about a shared experience from the past. Someone who cares and thinks about others, is worth all the tea in China, so to speak.
We can all do this and we can all afford to put ourselves out in a small way, even in these Covid days - to think, pray, phone someone who might be on our minds, write, for whatever reason. I have had a few referrals during our lockdowns from people who are suffering in one way or other and I stay in touch with them as do some church folk I have also asked, but this is only one way and none of the ladies in question have rung up in response, to talk, or ask how things are, or wish anyone a happy New Year! Do you think each day, who could I ring and speak with today? Who can I "touch" today in some way? Maybe just one call, or one card sent, or one email could make a huge difference to someone else's day. A slice of a shared cake given to a lonely person can be like manna from heaven, a bunch of winter greenery can be a breath of fresh air to a shielded person, a painted pebble on the doorstep is like a ready made smile in the morning, and so on.
Let us then, delight together in the small things which surround us each and every day, the people with whom we have made contact on our life's journey, the places simply etched into our being for it was there we met with Christ in the most intimate of ways. There is so much to delight in, even in these awful of days, but we may have to look, stop, care, and involve ourselves in some action or other. Go for it and delight in all things too!
I found this and thought it does remind us so much we can enjoy and have. We may not be in Northumberland, but we are here and now and we can share our delight in the tiniest of things with others. Enjoy!
Sunrise Sound Walk: The Pilgrim's Path to Holy Island
