At last, a weekend away. Neither of us have wanted to go far since I finished work and we moved house. Getting sorted out has been top priority. Saturday night, Lament (Kath & Anto's latino band) had a gig in deep rural Northamptonshire, so we were recruited to look after Rhiannon, always a delight for us. So we drove up in time for lunch yesterday, rejoicing in the knowledge that there's be no parting of the ways, with me having to drive home late in order to be there ready for early Sunday morning duties, and Clare staying over to return by train. Making the lovely journey across country through Archers countryside - Worcestershire and Warwickshire was a pleasure untainted for once by the thought of having to make the return trip in the evening, driving into the setting sun. The pressure is off! And I feel so much better for it.
Not that I needed a lie-in this morning. I wanted just to get up and go to the eight o'clock, and give thanks for the freedom to be there, on the receiving end, enjoying the beauty and serenity of a said Eucharist, with the sound of wrens and thrushes in the trees of the churchyard there in the background. Just to have the time to notice them and savour the hymn of creation without a worry in sight. Here's a photo of St Nicholas' Parish Church from the avenue of stately lime trees leading uphill to it from the road. Such a lot to give thanks for.
Kenilworth Parish had a Garden Party yesterday. I noticed the Vicar occasionally struggling to maintain the flow of his address and prayers, and identified from my own experience with the symptoms of tiredness. Always clergy are doing too much, giving too much for their own and everyone else's good. I recall Dean Gareth Lewis' words to me back in my USPG days. "What the churches need from you as a visiting priest is your freshness - more than anything be sure to give them freshness." Thanks for that Gareth - rest in peace, good friend.
They were wise words. I'm enjoying doing nothing apart from making a home and sorting our affairs at the moment, and am glad nobody is chasing after me to do locum duties - it may help not having widely publicised my new phone number yet - I don't need to feel wanted, I do need to feel refreshed, running on full rather than winging along nearly empty, most of the time. That's how it's felt in the past three years that I worked entirely on my own as priest, contrary to all my wishes and instincts. But that's all behind me. I'm now in a situation where I can truly 'wait until power comes from on high', and am most grateful for that.
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