‘Little freedoms’
Dear Friends
Welcome to Thursday’s Companionship Email and Happy Ascension Day.
Isn’t it amazing how quickly our daily routines have adapted to being in Lockdown? From getting up for an early walk with facemask, gloves and my 80’s music blaring from my AirPods to afternoon tea with cake at precisely 3pm, my life has a new rhythm and shape to it. Of course, in between marching and munching I have been working as your Assistant Chaplain.
We have all adapted and moulded our lives with this new normal and now on this Ascension Day we hear that things are about to change, again. Not right away but soon little parts of our pre-lockdown lives will be allowed again. Golf (yey for Donald), tennis, bowls and social distancing in garden centres will soon be allowed. Little freedoms that will give us great joy.
And for me over the last two months, it has been the little things that has brought me life and sustained me. This week, it was good to see the sun come out in our part of east Scotland. Not only the sun, but bluebells, sea-swimmers and gardeners were all being busy in the warm sunshine as I took my daily constitutional today.
Like many of you, I have been documenting this time more that I would normally, almost to fix in my memory what we have been going through and what we have survived. Here are a few pictures I took this morning:
There was even a little unexpected bonus with my Sainsbury’s food delivery today with the image of the cross on my rather large bramley apple!
Whatever your day holds, enjoy the little freedoms, the little joys and the little wins this day as we reflect on what has been, continue to accept what is and look forward to what is to come.
Don’t forget our final service of Compline for this semester is on tonight at 9pm. Please do join us for this Ascension Day Compline when we will have prayer, music, stillness and enjoy being together.
Donald MacEwan is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Compline Online on Ascension Day
Time: May 21, 2020 09:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/99266879345?pwd=Vml6THd4dTRtK2tzM2I2WjBOdWZ6QT09
Meeting ID: 992 6687 9345
Password: 6SgL5b
Evening Prayer – Thy Kingdom Come
Today is Ascension Day when Jesus returns to be with his father in heaven and we await the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. There is a prayer movement called ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ started by the Church of England in May 2016. It is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray from Ascension to Pentecost.
After the very first Ascension Day the disciples gathered with Mary, constantly devoting themselves to prayer while they waited for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Through the centuries Christians have gathered at that time to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit. ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ picks up this tradition. Over the past three and a half years more and more worshipping communities have dedicated the days between Ascension and Pentecost to pray ‘Come Holy Spirit’.
The Churches in Scotland are inviting you all to take part in this 11 day venture this year. The website with daily prayers provided in a handy App can be found by following the link below. Please do join in:
https://www.thykingdomcome.global/
Remember, if you wish a person or situation to be included in our daily prayers and don’t have the energy or words to pray during this time of trauma, please email me or Donald. This Sunday is our final Chapel service of this Semester and of this academic year. If you have anyone or anything you are thankful for and wish them to be included in our intercessions, please just send me an email.
And lastly from your Crafty Assistant Chaplain…
Drawing to a close…
This semester is now drawing to a close and we will soon be planning our summer staycations for our holidays. And this week, it is drawing that I would like to ‘draw’ your attention to. Sorry for the pun.
However, I have a confession to make. I cannot draw or create art in any form. The thought of entering an art room, picking up a painting brush or even opening a sketch pad makes me feel quite unwell. And yet of all the superpowers out there in our world, the ability to stop and sketch what is in front of me is one I have coveted all my life. I truly admire anyone who has this skill to replicate life on paper.
I was one of those girls at school who was told never to darken the doors of the Art Room ever again after my first year of Senior School. My Art teacher did not bother, and I don’t blame her as, while I am keen, I have no skill. What I have learnt over the years is the ability to enjoy the emotional response that art creates in me.
The above picture was one I first encountered on a field trip (remember those?) when I took an Art History module as part of my Theology Degree at St Andrews. Anything to get out of learning Hebrew! We went to the National Gallery of Scotland and down in the basement I encountered this little picture.
I stood looking at it for nearly 20 minutes and nearly missed the coach back to St Andrews. . It took my breath away and it made me cry. The very first time I preached, I referenced this simple rendition by Dyce of Jesus with his head bowed, praying in the glen. It still touches my heart and transforms my soul. That is what art does. So I may not have any aptitude to create art, but I can appreciate it for what it gives me. Life.
To those who can draw, thank you and please keep drawing. To those like me who are fearful to even lift a pencil, well, I am thinking of doing an online art class. Want to join me?
Be blessed, be a blessing and Happy Crafting!
Samantha