On Day 10 of the End to End I crossed part of Bodmin Moor. It’s not unusual for us to describe such landscapes as empty, meaning that there isn’t much sign of human occupation. But to describe this moorland as empty would be a mistake on several counts. Firstly there are many signs of human occupation going back centuries: the Hurlers stone circle was put there by our stone heaving prehistoric ancestors. Then there’s the stone crosses again, further evidence of human’s marking the landscape as significant. Coming up to date there are small farms and hamlets, old engine houses and the line of an old railway as well as the livestock that roams the moorland; sheep and cattle as well as ponies. At Minions there’s a tea shop: it’s rude not to go in. It was quite empty. We were the only customers but there were plenty of other signs of activity: cakes waiting to be bought, tables waiting to be occupied.
Everyone of the 117 days of the End to End, I was never in a place that was truly empty. But even so, we can have a feeling of emptiness even if we are surrounded by people. Some folks sadly said, my love one died of coronavirus alone, when they were surrounded by the love and care of NHS staff (I heard moving testimony of this closeness from some NHS staff through our Lay Community of St Benedict this morning). What they meant was they weren’t there and they had an understandable empty feeling, of course.
Emptiness is a thing we try to avoid. It’s uncomfortable. It can be heavy. It can drag us down. It can hurt. So why go there?
I read a story on Twitter about a child who said that the first thing he thought Jesus would do in Hell was look for his friend Judas and get him out of there.
I think the only explanation for going to an empty place would be for the love of someone else. So if you are feeling empty right now, could it be because of that?
From the remembered gospel
They put his body in the tomb….
Body-wise One, ready to go there for us,
to the uttermost emptiness,
we are touched by your generosity.
We pray for the generous ones in these virus filled days;
generous enough to be alongside the sick and dying,
the anxious and the grief stricken ones.
When we speak of heroes,
it’s not cheap metaphors we are looking for,
but the costly self giving love of one for another.
You know the places, you’ve shared the feeling:
Lord have mercy.
JAL: 11.04.2020 in Longdendale.