HI folks, it’s good to be writing this at the start of September for our first gathering after the summer break. I hope you have had a good summer?
This week we will meet in the Tavern and Galley at 7.30, it would be great to see you if you are able to join us.
We will be continuing our in house theme writing a reflection on any of the following: an album, song, movie, poem or story and then pondering on them on a Sunday night, so this is a call out to say if you want to write something for us, then please do let me, David or Sue know.
I’m grateful to Sue for keeping us thinking and reflecting with her August photo challenge… if you want to go back to that and post some photos then please do. The prompts can be found on our various platforms.
As I write this I’m thankful for a busy but fun August. I went to two festivals this summer, Kendal Calling and Greenbelt, both of which were fantastic! Sandwiched between that, David and I went up to the Edinburgh Fringe with the Methodist Church as we have done for the past few summers, again it was a great week. And through all this Karen has been improving and is now back to work full time after her surgery.
I also know that as I write some of you have and are going through some tough stuff. That is the reality of life. Please shout if you need support or an ear to bend!
We have various other ways to connect between now and Christmas, so watch this space. We will be doing something outside on or around halloween. And we will be doing something for Christmas/advent. We will also be knitting again… but fish this time! Again more on that soon.
Over the last few days I have been pondering on the move between summer and autumn and of course leading into the word we don’t say yet (shhhh… Christmas… shhhh).
I have been wondering about how I might have a different approach to this time of year. I don’t tend to like this time of year much, and so it would be a challenge to think about it differently.
With that in mind I wonder if I need a bit of balance. I think that maybe I over emphasise one or two seasons to the detriment of the others. Many folks will be thinking about halloween and all the complexities around it, maybe some of us will start thinking about Christmas.
This time of year should move me and maybe us to think about harvest, it’s not really celebrated apart from by farmers and in church, but even then it seems to hark back to a time long gone, we put our fruit and veg on the altar and we sing our harvest songs, and that’s it done.
But what if I started to re-frame it, I already love it when the leaves fall and you see the trees in their nakedness… but maybe I need to look at the leaves… to think about the apples that make cider! To think about the changes in eating habits to warmer comfort foods, maybe make a ritual of wrapping up warm to venture outside into the cold as I put my coat and hat on.
But as a person of faith, what does all this mean? There is something about this time of year that opens up thankfulness, what are the things I can be thankful for, not just the food that I eat, but the people in my life and the multiple other things that make up my life, how do I go about doing that and recognising that?
I wonder if this is the time where I should rest… reflect… a bit like nature. It’s the time they close down and hibernate, they build their nutrients up, I do like that idea! But maybe this is an inward journey? Who am I question. What am I question. What do I want to be and do, how do I get there?
So, a few questions for us to consider:
What were one or two of your highlights of the last month?
What (pick one or more of the following) book, movie, song, album, TV program, or art work have you enjoyed over the last month?
What one thing are you looking forward to over the next few months?
How do you view this time of year?
What does this changing season ‘do’ to you and or you’re spirituality?
Peace Rob
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.