Day 38 of the End to End in 2019 began with a bee alert. The day before, we had seen a bee swarm at Highley Station and avoided it. The swarm had been moved by a bee keeper and when we returned by train to set off walking to Bridgenorth the situation looked much calmer. However, there we still a small number of recalcitrant bees on the loose and one decided to sting Bob on the head. After deploying anti-bee medication and a sit down for 20 minutes all seemed well and we were able to set off.
The bee was, after all, only doing what it thought it should: defending its colony. That the colony had moved on must have been a bit disorientating. Bees of this sort are a communal bunch and co-operative (there are of course solitary bees). Being co-operative even while social distancing is the challenge for 2020 as is being alert.
Walking LEJOG requires one to be alert. Anything can happen any day. On a train day, trains may not run to time, on a path a walker may be diverted, a river may run high, a bridge may be blocked, a bull may be having a mid morning snack as you cross the farmyard, the ice cream shop may have sold out. Over 117 days and 1110 miles it would be odd if some unexpected challenging circumstances didn’t arise. Even so there’s no real definition of being alert on a walk like LEJOG anymore than there is in ordinary life.
Better to be co-operative; connected by shared concerns and thinking of each other, building each other up into one body. This is the prayer I wrote for day 38 last year:
Co operation is crucial to community,
From the local to the global on our planet.
Co operation runs a railway, a campsite or a pub:
Bees also know a lot about co operation.
As day turns to night and evening comes on,
May we be refreshed and ready for the co operative activities of tomorrow.
From the remembered bible
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: ‘A body has many parts and you are like that. Each one brings their own contribution to the body; all are valued.’
Body-wise God, you confirm that each one has a part to play.
May we hone our skills of co operation as we live with uncertainty,
knowing we can be easily derailed into self-centred living.
Help us to play our part in the body:
Give us the buzz that comes from creating you kindom.
JAL: 13.05.2020 in Longdendale.