A Word of Encouragement

What a term! Probably the most challenging school term of our lives for all of us. After months of isolation and separation, how nice it is to be slowly returning to some of the normal rhythms and routines. With school returning, shops and cafes re-opening, and being able to gather again in small groups, there is a sense of hopefulness in the air. Much to give thanks for!

As I’ve been enjoying some of these returns to normal, I have found myself also reflecting on the good things I have learned in this season, the things I don’t want to forget or let slip away as restrictions continue to ease. What things? Well, things like the gift of connection.  This season has woken me up to how much I have usually taken connection for granted and has prompted me to be more intentional about building community with family, friends and neighbours. Or the way this season has taught me to look again at what’s really important, learning to put down the many things to focus on the few important things instead of rushing from deadline to deadline. Or the way a shared experience has helped us to be more real with one another, sharing the deeper things in life. These are the kinds of life-giving lessons I’ve been learning in this season which I hope don’t slip away too quickly!

And so I find myself praying as the Psalmist prayed, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”(Psalm 90).  It’s a prayer that admits we aren’t here long, that time flashes by, that life is a gift not just to rumble through but to be lived well. And recognising that, it’s a prayer asking for God’s help to live wisely with the time we do have, so we don’t get distracted by the unimportant (or less important) things, however urgent and weighty they may feel. 

It seems to me one of the blessings of this season has been an invitation to enter into this reassessment. An invitation to relearn, to throw off the unhelpful things of the old way and pick up the new life-giving rhythms we might have overlooked in the busyness of before. So as you head off to a well-earned mid-year break, will you take some time to reflect – ask yourself: what life-giving things have I learned this term about myself and what’s important? What are the things I don’t want to let slip away? 

May God bless you and keep you, refresh you and uphold you as enjoy some rest these holidays!

Rev Karen Reid

Girton Chaplain