At Path's End

 

At Path's End

the end of a path

need not be

the end of the walk

even if you turn to return

your eyes

and the world

grant you

a new perspective

a new knowing

where the trees dance

and the birds sing

to a new song

the moment has brought you

so, walk,

walk and discover

a new world

on the old path

home

- David Tensen (The Saving I need )

(Sheringham to Weybourne. My photo)

Walking alone can be very therapeutic. I am alone for the majority of the time - and I admit it wearies me some days, but I don't mind solitary walking. You set your own pace - faster, or slower, as you feel comfortable with - and have a great deal of time and opportunity to really see where you are: see what's around you, what's beneath you, what's on the horizon and, if you turn and look back, unafraid of being turned into a Pillar of Salt, you can see where you have come from; then, facing forwards again, assess the distance ahead. Sometimes you can even see your destination. Not always, though.

The rolling fields alongside which my path took me today, were freshly harvested, the great cylinders of hay still aromatic of freshly-cut grass. The larks soared and sang, and the sky flitted with darting swifts and other small birds, while seagulls of varying size and plumage floated on the thermals or screeched and cackled at one another for the sheer fun of it.

Hot sun. Bright, blue sky. A gentle breeze. The metallic "Thiinnng!" of driven golf balls, and echoing voices of the players on the golf links, marching purposefully towards another green; another hole.

Enjoying all this, I was also able to think - it being one of the other benefits of walking. A conversation, yesterday, with a friend from St Peter's for whom I was washing up as he served teas and coffees to the assorted lost, lonely, curious or simply gregarious who come every Monday for free refreshments, company and conversation. He told me about what was happening with the little remnant that gathered twice-a-month at a village church up the hill from here. They are waiting for a replacement vicar, the incumbent now too ill to carry on. Holding the fort (as it were!) is the vicar of nearby Weybourne's All Saints Church. Of him, my friend had much good to say, as well as about all that is happening with the congregation there. My ears pricked up further when he mentioned - almost as an aside - that he believed some refugees from the Evangelical Fundamentalist congregation I had been checking out were now commuting to Weybourne.

(All Saints Church, Weybourne, Norfolk. My photo)

My morning walk along the clifftops was not only for exercise. It had a destination - All Saints Church! The funny thing is I have been thinking about it for some time - I go past it twice a week on my way to a dog-walking job I do. Something inside inclined me to take more interest in what was going on there as my friend's positive praise had heightened my curiosity. I walked; I wondered; I arrived...at a decision. I would get in touch with the vicar and check it would be acceptable for me to join in the Holy Communion service the next day. Yes, of course I could! It gets better, though. Those who come on Wednesday morning come earlier, for refreshments and conversation followed by a short Bible Study, leading into the Holy Communion celebration itself. 

I have not had this opportunity for conversational contact, fellowship and sharing of Scripture since the start of the COVID pandemic! So, the words of David in Psalm 143 are apt: "I stretch out my hands to Thee; my soul thirsts for Thee like a parched land." (v6, RSV)

It's looking like I am going to have some new company on the road ahead; new Wayfarers to journey with - for some of the time, anyway. As it says above.

the moment has brought you

so, walk,

walk and discover

a new world

on the old path

home

In "Claim Your Unique Presence in Your Community," Henri Nouwen writes "Once you have an inner knowledge of your true vocation, you have a point of orientation. That will help you decide what to do and what to let go of, what to say and what to remain silent about, when to go out and when to stay home, who to be with and who to avoid." (From The Inner Voice of Love, Doubleday 1998)

Walking helps me process all that. Next month, I will attend my first in-person meeting with others seeking discernment as to a vocation in ordained or lay ministry. Nouwen's counsel touches all the most pressing points I am trying to clarify.

Go well, fellow Wayfarers! Grace and peace.