‘Riding out the storm’
Good morning,
Yesterday morning, I took a walk on the East Sands before work. I suppose I was walking with a purpose. Five members of the Chaplaincy are taking part in a Step Count Challenge for October and November. So far, since Monday, we have walked a total of 240,661 steps, and are 126th in Scotland out of 514 teams which have got going. Among St Andrews University groups we are a close fourth out of six. Well done to the Procrastawalkers who are a mere 104,796 steps ahead. The point is not really the competition – it’s looking after our bodies as autumn takes hold, and we feel an almost irresistible urge to stay at home in the warm, curl up and eat comforting food. When so much social activity is restricted, it’s all the more positive to get out into the fresh air (or to do a few miles on the exercise bike).
Anyway, each day I’m trying to get in a walk, or take a longer route to and from the office or the chapel. And yesterday it was the beach. I hadn’t been for a few days, and found it changed. There was a huge amount of detritus on the shore, mainly wood which had been washed up. Perhaps it came in all the heavy rain and high winds about a week ago. It certainly stirred creative juices in some beachgoers. Here are some tepee-like structures made from the flotsam:
The wood reminded me of a conversation I had recently. We were talking about the current Covid situation and I had said, with no anxiety about the cliché, we’re all in the same boat. The other person replied that I wasn’t quite right. She said, We’re all in different boats but in the same storm. I immediately saw that she was right. The experience of the virus is different for us all. For some it has meant a particular experience of illness, loss or bereavement. For others, isolation and loneliness. For some, a comfort in avoiding human encounters. Many in the University are overwhelmed by the amount of work, while thousands in society have lost their job. Different boats but the same storm, a metaphor drawn from the kind of storm whose power deposited so much driftwood on the East Sands.
We in the Chaplaincy offer different ways to people to ride out the storm, and to share some boats. There are conversations – one to one, in confidence, or together in groups. There are gatherings such as Hearts of Light which reflect on the storm across the world, in different cultures and traditions. There is the provision of space, online and in Mansefield, for prayer, meditation, worship in different faiths. And there is worship in the beautiful St Salvator’s Chapel, where together we participate in music, silence and listening, finding a space to be grateful, reflective and inspired.
Tomorrow, Sunday 11 October, our University Chapel Service will go ahead at 11 am. We will have a sermon from Jayne Ozanne, who describes herself on twitter as a Gay Evangelical Christian – Writer – Speaker – Member of General Synod & Government’s LGBT Advisory Panel. She will be speaking on Eden – Where it all went wrong, Theologically. Until just a few days ago we hoped that Jayne would come in person, but the coronavirus storm means that she needs to stay at home. And so we will see her in Chapel on a big screen. Yes, the cinema comes to Sallies. This is the first ever time we’ll have a live chapel service with a preacher on screen. But I promise that the readings, prayers, vocal music by Lindley and Bach among others, and holy communion for those who stay, will be in-person. There are still plenty of places available to reserve, 23 at the time of writing.
Then at 5 pm tomorrow there will be an online service for any who cannot be in the Chapel service, with Jayne’s sermon, and with hymns to sing at home including Love divine, all loves excelling.
However you are weathering the storm, in whatever boat you have found, I hope that you are staying afloat, as we all hope that we are making for a safe harbour beyond the time of the pandemic.
Yours,
Donald.