Category: remembered bible

Day 72 of the End to End in 2019 was another beautiful green day. Green, the liturgical colour of Ordinary time, is one of my favourite colours (obviously not quite orange) with its many shades and hues. Since Day 1 I’d been walking in the green. It was like a long long ribbon that unrolled across the country as I walked along. Indeed, I made up a song about it that I often used to sing: ‘Unroll the Ribbon of Green’.

When I stood up at fair Land’s End,
a ribbon in my hand,
I gave my heart to God to keep
as I walked through the land:
The ribbon of green, the ribbon of green
unroll the ribbon of green.

I used to make up verses as I went along depending on what I saw that day.

Since returning home, the green ribbon and the many other colours of the landscape have been the inspiration of many of the craft projects I’ve been engrossed in.

(photo: the route of the LEJOG is like a green ribbon)

Walking in 2020 is similar: it’s green all around me. Yesterday on the TPT I was often walking through a shady green tunnel of trees. Thank goodness, because it was very hot. Each little solar panel of leafiness was hard at it through all the sunshine hours.

On a long walk I see few people, not like the photos of Bournemouth beach yesterday. Everywhere there are signs that getting back to normal and new normal are in contradiction. We are too addicted to our consumer lifestyle to give up on holidays abroad and many of the products of an oil based economy at the moment. We want them back as quickly as possible. Much of our economy depends on folks spending money as often and quickly as possible.

On day 72 we visited the Crawick Multiverse, a design by Charles Jencks to reuse some old coal spoil heaps in the Sanquhaar area. It includes some interesting sculpture set in a wide open space. But most of all,  I loved the way nature had made it such a diverse green space. The ribbon of green had unrolled to a green meadow, a pool, a theatre and it was a beautiful sight.

From the remembered bible: Think about grass. It may not seem like much….

That’s the problem: we think that grass isn’t much. Grass and all the other green stuff, we take it for granted, instead of marvelling at each amazing cell.

God of cell, leaf and blade,
show us how to think about grass,
to see how each tiny green thing is vital to our shared life,
not expendable and ignorable in our throw away culture.
May we love the green and treasure it,
as the foundation of our life together.

JAL: 25.06.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 70 of the End to End in 2019 was another walk through green countryside, often beside the river Nith, this time towards Drumlanrig Castle.

Throughout the walk the roadside verges had been continually changing. From the high hedges of the SW and the towpaths of the Midlands, the green summer verges of foxgloves and nettles were now at their height. Just as hungry caterpillars like nettles, so bees like foxgloves, disappearing inside each trumpet shaped bloom. The tiny hairs inside each flower catch the pollen each bee brings in. Each flower is decorated for maximum bee enticement and every tall spike provides many such opportunities. Where the bee sucks may in the song be inside a cowslip bell but I think of foxgloves.

There were many apiaries on the route, in small groups by streams and in meadows. Eventually a notice explained it all: Honey for sale. When walking LEJOG any distraction is welcome and I’ll stop and buy almost anything transportable. Eggs are the one thing you see lots of signs for which I don’t buy as I’m never very confident about carrying them to my next rendez-vous. But honey should be alright as I could fit a small jar in my pocket.

I walked up to the front door of the neat cottage and rang the bell. The door was opened onto a hall way lined with wooden shelves each one bearing jars of honey. The Honey Seller explained the varieties that change with the seasons and the flowers available. There’s Spring Honey and Summer Honey, also Heather Honey and Clover Honey and  many others. I opted for Summer Honey that reminded me of the days I was walking now. Later, back at our digs for the week, I had some on a croissant. It was divine.

Time for a song…

“Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
In a cowslip’s bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat’s back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, Merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough”.

Later I walked to the cemetery in Keir Mill where Kirkpatrick MacMillan, the inventor of the bicycle was buried. Another surprising day on LEJOG.

From the remembered bible: Psalm 119
Your words taste so sweet; sweeter than honey in my mouth!

I watch the bees so busy and buzy,
each one a little ball of energy,
intent on its own contribution to the communal task.
The result is such sweetness.
May we remember the bees,
and focus on bringing forth sweetness we can all share.

JAL: 23.06.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 69 of the End to End in 2019 started again at Greenbogue farm, east of Dumfries. We’d had a day off yesterday for a side trip to Whithorn, a place linked with St Ninian and the rise of Christianity in Northern Britain. It’s a fascinating place and includes some lovely examples of stone crosses.

Today was a quiet walking day, except for a mass of hungry caterpillars by the road side. The Hungry Caterpillar is still my favourite book.

Our lunch break was at the Red Chapel at Dalswinton. This church in kit form was erected for the estate workers and still makes a joyful splash in the forest. It was one of several small ‘tin chapels’ (as they were called) that we saw on LEJOG. Most were green, but this one was red.

Nearby was the Dalswinton Journey Garden, an installation well worth a visit and very restful. It includes a stone labyrinth you can ‘walk’ with your fingers. I’ve made many labyrinths: from scarves in the school chapel, from sand and pebbles on the beach at Lindisfarne, and I’ve visited quite a few both indoors and out. This quote on the stone at Dalswinton is still worth thinking about in 2020:

Look where you have been,
View where you are at,
Seek where you want to be

Today I started up Bambi, the Mobile Chapel of St Scholastica, again after several weeks. I’m really hoping for a trip somewhere in the next couple of months. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Keeping safe and moving about maybe quite a challenge.

The labyrinth is both inward leading and outward seeking, as you walk first in one direction and then another. It’s a good thought for a balanced life: inward leading, outward seeking.

From the remembered bible: May I walk in God’s ways.

Like the caterpillars on their journey of transformation,
may we too be changed:
seeking you, speaking of you,
walking with you, talking with you,
filled with you, stilled by you.
May we keep balanced and tread gently on the earth.

JAL: 22.06.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 68 of the End to End in 2019 was not busy. It began at Ruthwell Station, a village that no longer has a station. It continued via Mousewald and the Drummuir Ice Cream Farm, to Collin, where we got some stamps in the village hall posing as a Post Office, and finished further up the road at Greenbogue Farm. It was one of those quiet days of showers and flowers which connect other days to make up a whole LEJOG.

Meanwhile at John O’Groats Mel Nicholls was claiming a new world record in her Hand Cycle Britain challenge. Someone else somewhere was busy.

Being busy is a thing I think differently about these days. Since 2018, busy has meant different things. I’ve plenty to do, which qualifies as busy but I’m not anywhere near as busy as in previous parts of my life. I’m busy enough, not bored or fed up but I’m not chasing my tail or leaving things undone. I wonder how busy came about and why it’s so much a mark of our society?

On days like day 68 my remembered Winnie the Pooh is just as important as my remembered bible. This well loved story by AA Milne was part of my childhood and something I passed onto my daughter during hers. In fact I was still doing remembered Winnie the Pooh as a School Chaplain where I used to dress as my alter ego, Tigger.

One of my favourite hums from Winnie the Pooh is ‘I could spend a busy morning seeing Eyore/And I could spend a busy morning not seeing Eyore’. Well I’m sure you get the idea. Rabbit, who was often busy and had a lot of friends and relations, was another I used to dress as from time to time. But Rabbit was not all that popular with the other creatures in the forest for always organising them. On the whole there’s only so much organising we can stand. Busy is fine but pushy is not so admired as a leadership characteristic.

What sort of leadership do you admire? There’s humble and shambles, chaotic and rigid, and about as many more as you like to name. I’m not advocating busy for busy sake but dithering rarely cuts it and avoidance is not admired. Competent gets my vote. That and being willing to admit to any mistakes: it’s a mistake to pretend otherwise.

From the remembered bible: Jesus took the form of a servant and was humble, even leading to his death on the cross.
Jesus said: ‘I am the true and living way.

My decision to continue to follow the humble servant One is not a cop out.
I choose the Jesus Way today for honesty, integrity and truthfulness.
I admit I’m not always spot on in my choices of behaviour,
but facing up to mistakes and having another crack at it are important life options to me:
not busy for busy sake, but focused on the kindom.

JAL: 20.06.2020

Day 67 of the End to End in 2019 was full of excitement and adventure. My chance to be a celebrity came a little later on in the day. First there was Powfoot, a quaint 19th century seaside resort that threw up some unexpected things. The remains of the sea bathing pool later featured on Digging for Britain or Coast or one of those Neil Oliver programmes. There was also a int that there might be Natterjack toads. Biggest disappointment of the day was that none were sighted.

It was a hot walk and a cool drink at the Powfoot hotel looking out to sea was a welcome break. Bob met me and we walked onto Ruthwell. We’d made an appointment to visit the Savings Bank Museum and here was my celebrity photo opportunity. The first savings bank in Britain made a difference to the lives of ordinary local people. Women could have an account here in their own name as could children. It was a revolution and paid for a school and teacher in the local community. The idea of Henry Duncan the local Church of Scotland minister at the time, we see its legacy in the many credit unions run in churches across the country.

Henry Duncan was also involved in raising the Ruthwell Cross, one of the best preserved Celtic Crosses in Britain. It now stands inside the church and tells the gospel story to people in pictures as it has for centuries. An item of controversy at the Reformation, it was broken up in the 17th century and buried, but Henry Duncan initiated its repair and it was re-erected. Originally thought to have stood on the pilgrim route to Whithorn it is believed to have been carved by Italian sculptors.

In the simple church building, backed by the Northern Saints: Aidan, Columba and Hilda, it remains a powerful statement and has all the attraction of celebrity for me. Later, in 2020, as I began my quilt making COVID19 lock down marathon, the first one I made was about the crosses of LEJOG including the Ruthwell Cross. Below is a photo of one side of the banner in Bambi, the Mobile Chapel of St Scholastica.

Try this Remembered bible activity: What do you remember about the cross? Spend a few moments with your own RB thinking of cross connections. Do you remember any of these:

Jesus said ‘Take up your cross and follow me’

They took him outside the city and they crucified him.

Paul writes: ‘I speak of Christ and him crucified’.

What would you add to this list?

Of course, Jesus is not the only person to be remembered in history for being arrested. The cross was a tortuous and barbaric form of execution used to instil fear and maintain power over the people by the Roman Empire. Not everyone killed by that Empire was a criminal. You don’t need to change history to see parallels today. The cross remains a powerful symbol. What does it mean to you?

Christ of the Cross, we call out to you,
abandoned yourself, tortured and killed,
you hung on for us.
May we hang on for each other.

JAL: 19.06.2020 in Longdendale.

On Day 65 of the End to End in 2019 I crossed the border between England and Scotland. Easy enough to do, even for a lone walker. The back road alongside the M6 is the route for all non-motorway traffic so I saw quite a few other Lejoggers. Each on their own journey: two police officers cycling for a cancer charity, an older couple celebrating the joy of still being able to ride (he was 80), and of course the most amazing Mel Nicholls on her hand cycle world record run. It’s no spoiler to tell you she smashed the world record to 6 days, 22 hours and 18 minutes, from Land’s End to John O’Groats by hand cycle. My admiration is boundless.

(above: view of the M6)

Meanwhile, I stopped at the Metal Bridge for lunch with Bob. It was life in the slower lane. It was also life in the same trousers: now getting on for nearly two decades old the blue trousers were the same ones I’d worn in 2012 when Hannah walked into Scotland. I still have them.

The sign on the border says Welcome to Scotland and that felt brilliant. But not every border holds out such a welcome. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to be a refugee but I can have the compassion to say ‘Welcome’.

Meanwhile in 2020 I am still writing my first novel. Set in thirty years time, crossing the border from England to Scotland is part of the story. Some of the dystopic signs that are built into the plot are currently getting a bit too close for comfort. The current pandemic seems to have confirmed that we ascribe little value to the elderly and disabled population. The language used by government ministers too often lacks compassion. Numbers are cited but real lives are over looked, something that is also true of black and ethnic minority people. What sort of border have we erected? What sort of welcome are we offering?

From the remembered bible: One gospel writer mentions Jesus being taken to Egypt as a baby. ‘Out of Egypt I have called my Son’.

No travel documents, no rights, even after decades of living in community.
Trauma, health impaired, all down to injustice,
Too many people over looked and excluded.
This is not right: Holy One may your kindom come,
and may we be its workers and welcomers.

JAL: 17.06.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 64 of the End to End in 2019 began at the random postbox in Cumbria and proceeded north through Carlisle. It was there that I crossed the Wall. Of course the actual wall is no longer there but there are plenty of signs, two thousand years later, that it was.

For its whole length the most persistent sign of the Wall is the ditch or Valuum. You can see signs of this in Carlisle and of other Roman structures. There are also sign posts for the Hadrian’s Wall Path, which I had walked on a few years ago in 2017. The moment when you cross over the line of a route walked previously is a great feeling as you gradually link into a network of routes you have been pacing all over the country.

The Wall was one of the things the Roman’s did for us.  Nearby is the village of Burgh by Sands, that I also visited in 2017. It is thought to be one of the first places in Britain where people from Africa lived, in around the 3rd century.

Some folks like building walls, others aspire to do so. Me, I’d rather be a wall crosser. I love the Wall country, the wide open skies, the random piles of stones and their interpretation panels, the way our understanding has changed and developed over two thousand years. There may be a wall here but its history is anything but static. New stuff gets unearthed, ditches give up their stories, we understand things differently. African people first lived in Cumbria a long time ago and Black Lives Matter. We are unearthing new understanding all of the time.

From the remembered gospel: Jesus asked ‘Which of you, when your donkey falls into a ditch on the Sabbath, doesn’t pull it out again, rather than leave it there?’ (I once did this one with some RAF and RN Chaplains in 2007).

‘Tell me the old , old story…’ (a song)

Make me a Wall Crosser like you, Jesus.

JAL 16.06.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 63 and the End to End was back on in 2019 in Cumbria after a break of a week. If you were going to walk LEJOG maybe you too would think it a good idea to have a break at about half way. I met all sorts of different Lejoggers. Some were doing it in small stages and some were going for world records. I was just plodding along.

Some folks are surprised about the distance. I’d get messages about how far it seemed to be from Land’s End to Gloucester which was the first 300 miles, and it did seem a long way. But most folks were puzzled that the half way point was before the Border with Scotland and how big Scotland is! Indeed it is a whole new country. More on that story later, as they say.

For now we were back in the M6 corridor in Cumbria. Road signs asked folks to look out for red squirrels.  In the process they seemed to have overlooked the hedgehogs. I didn’t see any red squirrels but I did see rather a lot of dead hedgehogs. I’m sure they’re one species to be pleased with fewer vehicles on the roads during lock down.

A doughnut at Southwaite services was very welcome. Southwaite is the poor relation when it comes to M6 services, but it was there and the doughnuts were sweet. My finishing point for Day 63 was a random post box at Braithwaite, except it didn’t look so random. Indeed, further enquiry confirmed that Hannah had stood next to the very same post box in 2012. We trod in each other’s footsteps.

And for today at least, we queue up, mostly sensibly distanced, for things we’ve not been able to buy for a while. I’m fortunate not to need to do so. Bob and I have become quite self contained here in Longdendale: a walk, a delivery of local goodies, and a chance to write or sew seem to keep me going more or less. The second half of the walk seemed amazing at the time, but in 2020 it’s a while since my last doughnut.

From the remembered bible: Out of the strong, comes forth sweetness (not about a doughnut as far as I remember!).

When the lion of Corona virus roars, we kept our distance.
Mindful of the vulnerable ones, we put our sensible heads on.
We’ve learnt to distinguish essential from our wish list and
to begin to weigh new risks.
The sweet taste of success is only possible
if we go at the speed of the slowest and
keep our hearts and minds tuned to God’s ways:
the poor still need feeding, the vulnerable need shielding.
May we keep pace with the weak,
ready to share a sweeter feast in peace and safety.

JAL: 15.06.2020 in Longdendale.