From Isaiah 55:
You shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace;
the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into joy,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Walking is something I have been able to do for about 59 years. It’s not a skill everyone is able to develop or maintain all their lives and those of us who can do it without difficulty may forget this. On Day 16 of the walk I’m mindful of walking. Indeed being aware of the physical act of walking has grown in me each day, and helpfully chased away quite a lot of the less useful negative stuff I’d been carrying around with me for too long. Today I passed 150 miles walked which makes this my single longest walking expedition so far (the Cleveland Way and Hadrian’s Wall were my other two long distance walks both shorter than this one).
The 150 mile mark
Once again the countryside is beautiful. The narrow lanes rise and fall, winding their way through small valleys and over rounded hills. There are more lambs in the fields, more leaves on the trees and diversity in flora and fauna to celebrate. These included early purple orchids and Brimstone Butterflies. No wonder nature is so joyful!
It followed a notice to an historic church and found myself in a farm yard which was once the centre of a small community. This was Satterleigh and the historic church was St Peter’s Church now no longer in use.
The Castle Inn at George Nympton was a welcome place for a cold drink as the day was getting hotter. We made three short stops today which worked better from the walker’s point of view. There was a stop at the Blackberry Farm Shop for ice cream on the way back to our campsite.
Reflection for Wednesday of Holy Week: Here’s a short reflection linked to the theme of wood.
How much wood do you need in Passover Week? It’s not as if folks want furniture or household repairs. Not this week.
This week it’s all about hospitality: food and particularly meals are top priority.
So what’s a carpenter to do to put Passover food on the table? I can make crosses for the Romans of course. Being holiday time there’s bound to be a few crucifixions. There’s still demand for crosses. I’ve some wood I can use for that.
See that fig tree over there. Yesterday it was thriving and healthy. Cursed by that Rabbi from Galilee as he went by, it’s dead now. Never seen anything like that. But the wood could still be useful.
JAL 17.04.2019
Day 16 of the End to End from Kingford to Mariansleigh