Still Church Still here

I have commented to several people in the last week that it is all too easy at the moment to lose track of days. The regular structure of my week is gone, and days can easily slide into one another. It matters more to me that the weather enables me to get into the garden for part of a day, that what the name of that day actually is!  Except for Sunday.  Somehow, Sunday still stands out. Despite not being able to go to church, or meet people, Sunday is still the day when I feel closest to you all.  Each Saturday evening I become aware of the fact that I’m not getting ready for the next day in the way I usually would - making sure my robes are ready, checking my sermon, saying the prayers and reading the Psalms that prepare me for leading worship. Gradually though, I have rebuilt my structures; the prayers and the Psalms came back in, though altered slightly to reflect the different way we ‘meet’ now, and I mark Sundays at home in small ways that keep you all especially in my prayers.

Last week myself and the wardens of our churches went round and locked our buildings. It was so hard to do, and I can’t think of a time when our congregations - and clergy - were unable to enter these holy spaces.  It hits harder in communities like ours where we are blessed to be able to leave our churches open each day. As I was about to lock St Mary’s church in Wroxham, I stopped and ran back in and took these photographs with my phone.  This is the sanctuary light, showing the real presence of Christ in our building. I could have turned it off; maybe I should have; but I left it lit - a symbol of our faith and our continuing worship and prayer. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not, and will not overcome it.