LEJOG blog

Day 59 of the End to End in 2019 spanned two millenia at least and included a visit to Tebay services on the M6 on foot. A notice on a gate in the Howgill fells prohibited my access to an excavation of a site to feature on ‘Digging for Britain’. People have been using this communications corridor for a long time. Now the M6 and West Coast Main Line tried to out run each other on the other side of the valley, whilst I walked along the quieter back road.

Tebay is our favourite services on the British motorway system and we’ve been here many times before. Hannah was the first member of the family to walk in on her LEJOG in 2012. I was taking something of a similar route so we stopped off too and got some ice cream, of course.

There were also two poorly marked bridleways before the end of the day, one of which took me back to the line of the old Roman Road. Fast forward to 2020 and for the majority the demand for access to all areas is usually granted: you can get in and out most of the time. Lock down made a difference keeping us all inside until rules started to be broken, regulations lifted and once again some were left behind in the access race. That this should also have happened in the House of Parliament was, to say the least, ironic.

I’m sure if I’d worked during the lock down I’d have a very different view of the pandemic. But as the advice was for only essential travel, I didn’t. I continued to walk as much as I could but I saw far fewer people and I was only too aware of the quieter roads and skies. I made use of local delivery services for some provisions and I missed some of the small local shops in the village high street being open. But I never had to wear full PPE to sweat out a long shift day after day.

Just as when walking LEJOG, a sort of routine has developed. This time walking is alternated with writing, gardening, sewing and cooking. Praying weaves in and out of these activities much as it used to, but with different concerns at the forefront. That’s one area to which we all have continued access.

From the remembered bible: Jesus said ‘When you pray, try doing it like this…’

Prayer Teacher, alert and ready for the zoom equivalent of daily devotions,
I thank you, for the time, the space and the tranquillity
that this small space gives me.
Street Dancer, alongside the kneeling and those kneeled upon,
there in the tear gas and hail of rubber bullets:
may we pray here in solidarity and love with the most vulnerable.
May the Holy Spirit weave between us all,
including the socially distanced ones and the isolated ones,
and unite us, in the quest for universal access to justice.

JAL: 04.06.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 58 of the End to End in 2019 was the official half way day. Somewhere on a rural road in the Howgill fells, reclining on a bench, I was officially half way. During the walk I followed in Quaker footsteps, enlarging on some of the names and places I mentioned yesterday connected with this area, most particularly Brigflatt Meeting House which dates from 1675.

However, the most important thing about Day 58 was that I had three lots of ice cream in the day. Now that’s what I call the new normal. There are things I forgot about LEJOG but it’s not usually ice cream. There had been a few 3 ice cream days, but not for a while. However, I can’t remember if there were ever days in which more than  3 ice creams were consumed.

Farming ice cream has been a great spin off for walkers like me. Surplus milk which no longer demands a fair price in the shops, gains value when made into ice cream. Of course it means a lot of investment and it also creates a few jobs and in addition is very tasty. So here’s to ice cream: the New Normal. Or will that just melt away, back to the old useless normal, like virtual voting for those unable to access the Houses of Parliament?

I remembered visiting the House of Lords in 1993 for a meeting of the Association of Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Baroness Masham told us some interesting stories about the accessibility of the House from the point of view of a wheelchair user. She was determined but there are other ways of doing New Normal.

Normal is actually a fairly unhelpful word some of the time. I’m not normal and probably never have been, for lots of reasons. Too often normal is used as a means of exclusion and marginalisation. What you set up as normal defines what is pushed out and marginalised and that in turn can evoke resentment, frustration and anger. It’s not a society I want to be part of.

I want to be part of an inclusive, diverse and accepting society in which each person is valued and given opportunity to thrive, nurtured by the community together, whatever their differences. But I fear, we’re not yet half way.

From the remembered bible
Blessed are those considered different and who accept that differences of others; may they be welcome everywhere as models of the kindom.

Of course some will say I am making the bible up again (sigh), but I think that’s better than holding it up outside a church for a photo opportunity.

Crucified Christ, visited with violence, body torn, bleeding, dying,
you hung on for us,
each agonising breath its own torture:
may we hang on for and with each other,
naming the need to breathe as basic as justice,
crying out for the traumatised ones.
Only your love can make the new normal
the place where difference flourishes.

JAL: 03.06.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 57 of the End to End in 2019 was the half way point in distance. It was in the Cumbrian hills and a good place to revisit radical steps. A Roman milestone in a churchyard, a flight of steps in a small market town, footpaths, bridleways and small rural roads: each one tells a story. The first, how routes make an Empire, the second how steps challenge an administration, the rest confirmation that ways around and across and how we travel them are still important, economically, politically and poetically.

We were staying at a large barn outside Sedbergh. We later found out that George Fox had visited the farm of which the barn was a part. George Fox and Margaret Fell were the founders of the Quakers, in the 17th century in the North of England. There are plenty of Quaker landmarks in these parts.

Quakers believe the equality of all people, as radical a belief in the 21st century as it was in the 17th. Their main activities are in human rights, social justice, freedom of conscience and peace. But they are not mouthy people preferring the worship in silence. At the time of WW1, when the conscription act was passed in 1916, they negotiated an exemption for Quaker men. It didn’t quite work out as they had planned. Having claimed it for themselves, others, quite rightly, then asked for it too, both on religious and political grounds. In addition it is estimated that about one third of Quaker men did fight under arms (many more were non-combattants). One was Arnold Wynne who moved from a pre-war pacifist position, to die on the first day of the Battle of Arras in 1917. In all I have found out about him, I’ve not managed to piece together that transition. But he would not be the first to find that the rules made for him no longer applied, for whatever reason. Perhaps he thought being exempt unfair.

The Quakers are just some of those who have taken, and still take, radical steps. I’m sure you could name others in the age of global upheaval and challenge. It’s not unusual for anyone designated radical to attract criticism or contempt or even violence. Those who guard the status quo do so diligently.

From the remembered bible:
‘Who’s head is on the coin?’ Jesus asked.
‘It is Ceasar’s’, was the reply.
‘If it belongs to Ceasar, give it to him, but give God what belongs to God’ Jesus said.

There are no coins showing your head, God of all,
making it easy for us to omit to give you anything at all.
Remembering those who have taken radical steps
for equality and human rights, social justice and peace,
recall us to your way.
May you Spirit help us interpret the times,
firing us up to challenge in equality and injustice,
equipping us to work for peace.
Anger may give us away, we may loose sight of the goal,
the steps may be hard and the way long,
we may be nowhere near half way,
but in your company we will keep the faith:
may your kindom come.

JAL: 02.06.2020

Day 56 of the End to End in 2019 was my last on the Lancaster Canal. This was the last canal in England for me and I wouldn’t walk alongside a canal again until the Great Glen.

The Lancaster Canal in its present form is interesting for its un-naviagable Northern Reaches. Tewitfield is the terminal  junction for boats. Beyond that you can walk although the route encounters plenty of challenges. The main one is of course the M6. We were able to see it up close, and this would continue the rest of the way to the Scottish border. I went under a bridge, I followed a foot path and I spotted various culverts, all signs of the M6 effect.  There was a large sign saying M6 on the other side of a fence. I see it whenever we go North on that motorway. Now we were standing along side it, on the safe side of the fence.

The safe side of the fence, is a comforting concept. It’s not one I’ve been very good at in my life. Indeed ‘fence sitting’, a common occupation in churches, is always one I’ve found as uncomfortable as any posture I’ve encountered. We are called to be active interpreters of scripture and our times, and in any context this doesn’t usually point to fence sitting.

For some time now one subject has been on my mind: the rise of human intolerance. I still meet people who tell me they’re not political and I understand that it is a difficult mix, but I cannot except that the bible and politics are not related. I follow a radical Jesus. I met this Jesus in Apartheid South Africa in the 1980s. I rediscovered this Jesus in the UK on my return and I have made it my choice to listen out for and follow a call to be along side those on the margins of society, wherever and whoever they are. Sometimes this has lead to some seemingly incongruous choices like the one to do RB in an Independent School (see https://sacredtexts.hcommons.org/using-the-remembered-bible/ )

It was a place in which children and young people needed to be able to encounter the radical nature of the gospel, not it soporific alternatives. Along the Northern Reaches of the Lancaster Canal, with traffic pouring past behind the fence, a walker is faced with choices. But once a walker, always a walker. And once a follower of Jesus, that Jesus who demonstrates a preferential concern for the marginalised ones, always that follower.

From the remembered gospel: Jesus said ‘Follow me’.

I follow you, Calling One;
through the political ins and outs of your day and mine,
along the highways and by ways of ecological change and choice,
through the cities streets where hope and despair live side by side,
across the meadows and hills of isolated rural poverty and distress.
I see the fences, cutting us off from each other.
I listen again; some fences need cutting, bringing down:
human beings belong together.
May your kindom come, may justice and peace reign.
I will continue to follow you, Jesus.

JAL: 01.06.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 54 of the End to End in 2019 I crossed the Lune Aqueduct on the Lancaster Canal and I was quite literally up in the air as it’s graceful stone arches transported me across the River Lune at a height of 19 metres.  It was completed in 1797 and is now Grade 1 listed. The Lune Aqueduct is one of the jewels of our canal system and definitely worth a visit. When you can look down on the birds in flight then things are looking up.

Due to the patterns of the Christian Year, this day in 2019 was Ascension Day so being up in the air was fitting in that way too. I was doing a bit of RB in my head as I walked along. Those who followed Jesus all that way wanted to know ‘Is it time yet?’ much like small children on a long car journey.

We all want an answer to the unanswerable question: ‘Is it time yet?’. As a response to the uncertainty of the times they were living with, they went on to elect someone else to the group of 12: Matthias. Not all that revolutionary as he was a bloke, if a fairly ordinary one, but they were just getting on with getting on, building up a team, being God’s people on the ground.

Back in 2019 I was getting on with walking LEJOG. I still had 63 days to go and was not yet half way. Forward to 2020 and we’ve been in lock down 10 weeks, which is already 10 weeks too many for some, and the country is even more divided than it was when all this started. Not just Brexit, as if that weren’t enough, but now all sorts of anger about the pandemic and whose lives matter most. So things are still up in the air and the question ‘Is it time yet?’ is still timely.

When Matthias was elected to the 12, Justus wasn’t (in fact this chap seems to have had 3 names: Joseph, who was called Barsabbas, also known as Justus). I wonder what happened to Justus? Did he breathe a sigh of relief and get on with his life, go off in a sulk or start a Fresh Expression?

Most things have a sell by date these days. But some thing don’t. Following the Way has no ‘to do by’ date. Things may be up in the air, but our feet are on the ground and here we stay. It is time for us to be God’s people today.

From the remembered bible in Acts 1
Is it time yet?

This prayer is from LEJOG 2019:
Timeless God, we who are obsessed with time need your calm reassurance.
Help us to wait expectantly,
Neither anxious or too laid back.
Your promises are reliable
And you will not restrict the potential of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

JAL: 30.05.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 53 of the End to End in 2019 was on the Lancaster Canal from Garstang to Gallgate which was bridge 62 to bridge 88. Canals in England most often have numbered bridges (although the Bridgewater Canal has named bridges). Bob and I found the bridge numbering system quite useful as we could text each other to say which bridge we were at. This would help us to know roughly how far apart we were if he was walking towards me, for example. Of course the bridges aren’t equally spaced but it was helpful.

Sometimes an aquaduct would also be numbered as a bridge. The Lancaster Canal has few locks, except the Glasson branch which goes down to Glasson docks.  An early end to the walking day left time for a visit to Knott End, opposite Fleetwood where we found a welcoming cafe. There’s a ferry at Knott End and the cafe is by the slipway, so no bridge there then.

Bridges are mostly noted for being crossed rather than counted. Maybe we might count bridges we’ve yet to cross. Coming out of lock down from COVID19 is about crossing a lot of bridges in due course, some of which may seem bigger than others depending on the people preparing to do the crossing. Different vulnerabilities and anxieties may contribute to how it feels to prepare to cross the bridge.

There were a great many bridges on LEJOG overall, some big, some bigger. They were crossed in various types of weather, some sunny, some downpours. A bridge is also used as a metaphor for reconciliation: coming together in the middle of a bridge seen as a way of bringing different people together. Whether we are bridge counters, crossers or reconcilers, may the way continue for us, safely and peacefully.

From the remembered gospel: Jesus said ‘I am the true and living way leading to the Father’. I think of Jesus as a sort of bridge in this saying, linking us with the Eternal God.

Bridge builder, may we learn to be reconcilers,
counting the bridges that bring us together,
helping each other to cross over,
not at any price, but mindful of what it cost you
to be a true and living way.

JAL: 29.05.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 51 of the End to End in 2019 saw me clock over 500 miles altogether. There was still some way to go but it was a celebration so we had a doughnut. After wandering through Preston I got onto the Lancaster Canal. I’d be walking on it for several days and it was the last canal this side of the England/Scotland border.

Meanwhile in 2020, today was the longest walk for me since lock down started. It was a 10 mile walk in the Longdendale Valley on a beautiful, and not very busy day. Most days I walk nearer 2 miles but we’ve been trying to stretch our legs a bit more recently, locally of course. There’s a great network of paths in this valley so we are fortunate.

Bob’s butterfly counting app is really good. Last year I was noting them all down one at a time, now I can do it with one click on my phone (and yes I do know that Butterfly Conservation has one but it takes up more space and longer to record). Today I was able to identify 26 butterflies and 1 moth.

Once back home it was time to dream. The Bedford Enthusiasts club drew my attention to a 1971 Bedford Ice Cream van for sale on e-bay at £2,000 of so. What a wonderful addition it would make to the Mobile Chapel of St Scholastica. It could be the Refectory.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1971-Bedford-CF-Classic-Ice-Cream-Van-Scott-of-Bellshill-Food-Truck/283891025347?hash=item42193945c3:g:0WEAAOSwdCVey9sA

That’s only a dream, but walking the End to End was one dream that came true (and I ate a lot of ice cream).

From the remembered bible
There’s a lot of dreaming goes on. Jacob dreamt of a staircase at a time when there weren’t all that many. The safety of the baby Jesus when Herod set out to have him killed relied on dreaming. Then at the end of the Bible, John has a massive dream that goes on and on and includes quite a lot of weird stuff.

God of dreams and visions,
may we hold onto the good possibilities that our dreams suggest:
a place of safety for the refugee,
a time when crying and pain will be done.
Fire us up again, that we may move forward
towards safety, peace and justice.

JAL: 27.05.2020 in Longdendale.

Day 50 of the End to End 2019 finished in a random supermarket car park on the edge of Preston. That was because I’d got lost (see earlier blogs for explanations about getting lost on LEJOG) and as we know everyone gets lost now and again only some stories about getting lost, or taking a wrong turning are more credible than others. I’d spent three days walking on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which is another one we need to go back to after this lock down is officially over. But I got lost when I encountered a summer fair in the park and some paths were closed off. Anyway, Bob worked out where I was and I came out on the main road, so walking along the footway I eventually made it to the random car park.

Random car parks are another thing we might need to repurpose if we don’t use cars so much. What could we make them into: skate parks, tennis courts, giant hopscotch grids?

Jesus’ parables about the lost are often remembered in my experience of facilitating RB sessions. They are a problem though: only one thing seems to get lost at  time. Obviously it’s easier to look for things if you only loose one at any particular moment, but what if you loose a lot of things at once? This seems to be more like some experiences, my dad’s for instance.

At the moment a lot of people seem to be loosing the argument for honesty and the request for an apology. When a lot of people loose the same thing I observe that the situation becomes heated. A lot of other people don’t think it’s lost and keep pointing in different directions. Our society seems to be becoming more fragmented, which is not good at any time but particularly now. There’s a lot of really important life or death stuff going on, so its important not to get distracted, or it could be worse than ending up in a random car park.

From the remembered gospel:
Jesus said: ‘Which of you having 100 sheep and loosing one does not leave the 99 on the fell and go and look for the one that is lost?’

The one and the 99, or is it the 48 and the 52 still?
God of the Cosmos,
If only we could fizz off our anger in a black hole
or use it to whip up a dust storm on a far planet.
As it is we have to live with honesty and dishonesty,
with contrition and a lack of it,
with anxiety as much as with serenity.
Even if we cannot change everything
or bring back every lost one
we can be changed ourselves:
fill us with your Spirit,
so that we retain the integrity we need to live on
as servants of your kindom, lost-searchers and pilgrims.

JAL: 26.05.2020 in Longdendale.