This is the inscription on the Penlee memorial that remembers those who died when the entire crew of the RNLI life boat, Solomon Browne, was lost on 19th December 1981. Unless personally touched by such a tragedy it’s the kind of event that is almost impossible to imagine.
That is until COVID-19. Suddenly their epitaph makes sense.
In 2007 this country was devastated by an epidemic of Foot and Mouth disease that severely curtailed rural life. Great heaps of animal carcasses were burnt. The countryside was closed. It was some years after Bob’s End to End in 2003 but we recognised that he couldn’t have done the walk had such a thing happened then.
COVID-19 has closed more than just the countryside and I would not have been able to do the End to End this year had I planned to start yesterday.
As it is, a year ago, I was on day 2 of my 117 days walk. I joined the SW Coast Path before Mousehole and met up with my friend Sue in Newlyn. The weather, another frequent End to Ender’s conversation topic, came and went across wide Mount’s Bay. I was drenched by the time I arrived on her doorstep. Steaming in her sitting room we talked as I dried out. I walked onto Newlyn for fish and chips. One friend remarked that he thought it unlikely I’d complete the walk as all I seemed to do was eat fish and chips and ice cream.
But complete it I did, much to my own amazement. Day two took me to Marazion where many years earlier we had left our tandem in the care of Marazion Methodist Church so we could visit St Michael’s Mount. As it was, I walked on my route and Hannah walked over the causeway for a brief visit. Places like the Mount are amongst the footprints of pilgrimage long carved into the British Isles. Even on days when I had little company, there were always the Saints, both ancient and modern.
So too in quieter days this Spring, when wild goats come to town, we are still served by the saints.
There’s nothing quite like the Magnificat to get you through stuff.
From Luke 1, a version of the Magnificat
God gets bigger in me in all the ways I serve God.
God’s arm protects me and makes nonsense of the proud plans some make.
Arrogant ones are brought down and the humble lifted up.
Good things are shared with the hungry and the rich are left empty.
Promises are kept by God, who helps those who serve
and mercy is God’s hallmark.
Mercy for the anxious.
Mercy for those who mourn.
Mercy for those who wait.
Mercy for those who serve.
Mercy for the merciful,
Mercy for the unmerciful,
for today and forever.
Amen
JAL: 03.04.2020