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<\/p>\nThis is the inscription on the Penlee memorial that remembers those who died when the entire crew of the RNLI life boat, Solomon Browne, was lost on 19th December 1981. Unless personally touched by such a tragedy it\u2019s the kind of event that is almost impossible to imagine.<\/p>\n
That is until COVID-19. Suddenly their epitaph makes sense.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In 2007 this country was devastated by an epidemic of Foot and Mouth disease that severely curtailed rural life. Great heaps of animal carcasses were burnt. The countryside was closed. It was some years after Bob\u2019s End to End in 2003 but we recognised that he couldn\u2019t have done the walk had such a thing happened then.<\/p>\n
COVID-19 has closed more than just the countryside and I would not have been able to do the End to End this year had I planned to start yesterday.<\/p>\n
As it is, a year ago, I was on day 2 of my 117 days walk. I joined the SW Coast Path before Mousehole and met up with my friend Sue in Newlyn. The weather, another frequent End to Ender\u2019s conversation topic, came and went across wide Mount\u2019s Bay. I was drenched by the time I arrived on her doorstep. Steaming in her sitting room we talked as I dried out. I walked onto Newlyn for fish and chips. One friend remarked that he thought it unlikely I\u2019d complete the walk as all I seemed to do was eat fish and chips and ice cream.<\/p>\n
But complete it I did, much to my own amazement. Day two took me to Marazion where many years earlier we had left our tandem in the care of Marazion Methodist Church so we could visit St Michael\u2019s Mount. As it was, I walked on my route and Hannah walked over the causeway for a brief visit. Places like the Mount are amongst the footprints of pilgrimage long carved into the British Isles. Even on days when I had little company, there were always the Saints, both ancient and modern.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
So too in quieter days this Spring, when wild goats come to town, we are still served by the saints.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s nothing quite like the Magnificat to get you through stuff.
\nFrom Luke 1, a version of the Magnificat<\/p>\n
God gets bigger in me in all the ways I serve God.<\/em> Mercy for the anxious. JAL: 03.04.2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is the inscription on the Penlee memorial that remembers those who died when the entire crew of the RNLI life boat, Solomon Browne, was lost on 19th December 1981. Unless personally touched by such a tragedy it\u2019s the kind of event that is almost impossible to imagine. That is until COVID-19. Suddenly their epitaph … Continue reading “Service not self”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":888,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions\/888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nGod\u2019s arm protects me and makes nonsense of the proud plans some make.<\/em>
\nArrogant ones are brought down and the humble lifted up.<\/em>
\nGood things are shared with the hungry and the rich are left empty.<\/em>
\nPromises are kept by God, who helps those who serve<\/em>
\nand mercy is God\u2019s hallmark.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMercy for those who mourn.
\nMercy for those who wait.
\nMercy for those who serve.
\nMercy for the merciful,
\nMercy for the unmerciful,
\nfor today and forever.
\nAmen<\/strong><\/p>\n