Day 80 of the End to end in 2019 meant there were forty days (and forty nights) to go to John O’Groats. As far as remembering the bible goes, forty days (and forty nights) comes up now and again, nowhere better remembered than Jesus going into the Wilderness. Only I was not in the Wilderness nor going there. I was heading through Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and towards Inverclyde to cross the Firth of Clyde at Gurock. After that there would be the Three Lochs Way, the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way, of which I’d already sampled some of the last two, though the first would be new to us. Once past Inverness I would be truly in the North but for now I’d forty days to go.
Looking back on it like this, one year later, it still seems amazing and impossible. And I suspect that’s how the Forty Days and Forty Nights things must have seemed to Jesus at the time. Indeed, if someone had told us a year ago, that we’d spend 100 days in lock down in the UK due to a global pandemic well we probably wouldn’t have believed them.
That 100 days is now behind us and the lock down has gradually been easing, such that some folks now go about more. That’s not true of everyone. I did visit my Dad today (we’re in a bubble with him) and he’s still not going out. He did tell me very gleefully that the Catholic Church Lunch Club that he usually takes part in on Fridays will now be delivering a meal to him from next Friday for 10 weeks. He’s looking forward to it. I told him ecumenism pays off in the end. We’re both grateful to those volunteers.
As I drove there and back through rain and low cloud, the world seemed small enough, with the swishing of my wipers keeping my vision clear and the radio keeping me company. At the top of Holme Moss I knew the mast was there even though I couldn’t see it.
The temptations are an odd set of encounters, but then again I’m sure many will feel more than tempted at the moment, and certainly over the weekend. It may not be stones into bread we’re hankering for, but a pie and a pint would suit some. We may not want to rule the whole world, but there are plenty who would like to get their business back on track. We may not want to see the whole world laid out before us but a summer holiday would be very welcome, I’m sure. Eventually, the Devil, whoever that is, stomps off and leaves Jesus to it. For us it will take some time for anxieties of all sorts to recede. But wilderness or not, we are not completely alone whilst the Spirit moves amongst us and continues to connect us however tenuously.
From the remembered bible: Jesus went into the desert and stayed there for forty days and forty nights. He was tempted there but angels helped him and wild animals kept him company.
Jesus, as we wait for these lock down days to be over,
stay with us, so that whatever tempts us
to ignore the safety of others,
we may keep our resolve and enjoy your company
Remembering the angels and the signs of nature around us,
may we keep a tenuous hold at least, on the way ahead.
Whatever comes to pass, may we trust in you.
JAL: 03.07.2020. in Longdendale.