Bishop Peter reflects at the end of the 5th week:
‘The progress continues to offer surprises and joy. Each day has been special. We have sought to make connections with the daily readings from St. Mark which accompany each day, and it is remarkable how often these happen. But perhaps it is the everyday yet often un-noticed things that reveal so much of God’s presence accompanying us. Waking early the bird song and the virgin point of dawn seems a moment of inexpressible innocence. Thomas Merton’s writings accompany me and he observes of such a moment when the dawn chorus begins – ‘ When the Father in silence opens their eyes and they speak to him, wondering if it is time to ‘be.’ And he tells them ‘Yes.’ Merton observed too, that ‘ the great work of sunrise begins again today. The awful solemnity of it all. The sacredness. Unbearable without prayers and worship. I mean unbearable if you really put everything aside and see what is happening..’ And that is how it has often felt in these past few days.
What impresses itself upon me as I meet people each day is their essential goodness. Often I have seen Christian love in action, frequently among people who do not think of themselves as particularly ‘religious.’ My daily readings from Bonhoeffer have reminded me of how important it is to find a new language for the good news, that will shock people by its power, as he observes. But perhaps such a language can only emerge as we understand simple yet profound things such as ‘friendship’ and ‘love.’ Bonhoeffer speaks of the Christian congregation existing for the purpose of loving one another, and that ‘life only has meaning and value if there is love in it. All that is bad or good is unimportant, as well as all issues great and small – unless love is central to our way of being.’
What has challenged me most thus far is the quality of Christian loving, and ‘if the verdict before God’s throne actually needs ‘love or nothing’ then all of a sudden the world looks very different than before. Someone asked me in a pub what my favourite scripture passage was. I fumbled a bit, but when I asked him his, he replied, ! Corinthians 13. – where love is everything. I have a lot to learn. Please pray for us..’
+Peter
