As we approach the beginning of Holy Week, I have been thinking and reflecting on the words “keep watch”. You may remember that this was Jesus’ plea to his disciples when he entered the Garden of Gethsemane; the place where he would be in agonising prayer with his Father that he might not have to endure what was before him. But his disciples were exhausted. This had been a week of twists and turns, the joyous entry into Jerusalem with the crowds going wild with excitement, the teaching in the Temple then the money lenders being turned out in anger by Jesus. Then a change in atmosphere, a feeling of danger, uncertainty at the supper they had just had, with Jesus saying strange frightening things about betrayal and leaving them. Today people talk about their lives being a rollercoaster, experiencing emotional overload, I hope that life is not like that for you at the moment, but I’m sure you can recall when it has been and how exhausting this can be. Well I imagine it was like that for the disciples, as soon as they sat down, tiredness overtook them and they just fell asleep. Luke tells us that they were full of grief, maybe they were finally recognising how events were going and they must have felt powerless and very afraid. Jesus had asked them to be with him, he knew they could not change things but he just needed them there, to keep watch, to be with him.

Some of us may have experienced the comfort of another ‘keeping watch’ and this can take several forms. It may be knowing a loved one is being cared for in hospital giving us the time to gather our strength and renew ourselves for the next day. I have great cause to be thankful for the time when the Marie Curie nurses kept watch over my dear first husband Paul while he spent his last days at home. I was able to sleep quite exhausted at night knowing there was someone who did not sleep but with such devoted care watched over Paul all night. Keeping watch is also being aware , being alert to the needs of others, just going that little bit further when the response to ‘how are you?’ is ‘I’m fine’ isn’t very convincing.

As I thought about keeping watch I thought of a lighthouse and how the great beam of light sweeps across the land and sea. Lighthouses are built on solid rock and are there not only as a warning of danger, rocks or currents that could easily wreck ships in that area, but also as landmarks too, to help navigation, a welcome light to help the ship’s captain plan his onward journey with safety and confidence. John called Jesus ‘the Light of the World’, the one who would come to sweep away the darkness in people’s lives bringing the light of love and hope to show them a new way of living.

But this light is now faltering, Jesus has to face a terrible ordeal and only he alone can do this. No one wishes to die at thirty and no one wishes to die upon the cross. Sometimes when the word courage is used it suggests a resolute fearlessness, but real courage does not mean not being afraid. It means being terribly afraid and yet doing the thing that has to be done. The light finally went out
when Jesus died on the cross and for those who were there, it must have felt as if everything had ended, no hope, no coming of God’s kingdom, just emptiness.

However, we know that the cross was not the end, it was the beginning of new life that only trust, obedience and amazing love could bring to birth. The light shone again, more brightly than ever and this time the darkness could not overcome it. As we begin our journey through Holy Week, may we feel the strength and love of God sustaining us for our life’s journey in the certain knowledge that God remains with us, and sends others to keep watch over us at the times of our trials and suffering. His promise remains true, he will not forsake us because he is with us now and will be for evermore.

By Judy Taylor

Last week Paul and I had a lovely break for a few days in the Cotswolds and we were so lucky to have chosen a week when we had such lovely weather. We were staying in what would once have been a stately house set in hundreds of acres of beautiful grounds. The weather was so warm and sunny and I wanted to make the most of it so I decided I would go for a walk in these lovely grounds on Wednesday. There were paths taking you into different parts of the estate with a map to guide you but I was just so glad to be outside in the sunshine after the long dreary grey days we have been having, I thought I would just see where my footsteps would take me. I hadn’t been walking for very long when I saw an old rustic bench which looked very inviting. (What sort of walk am I on I can hear you asking yourselves?!). Well I sat there for a while, just drinking in the sunshine, feeling the warmth which seemed to not only warm my body but also my spirit. After leaving the bench I found myself walking through dappled sunlight into some woods. Here there were many clumps of snowdrops and – birdsong. It was as if every bird was singing in these woods. Songs I had never heard before, the chorus of sound was just beautiful. I had to stop and listen and marvel at everything around me and I think that it was here I began my prayer walk but it is only looking back that I realise that that is what it was.

I was giving thanks to God for this beauty all around me, and as I stopped to look at yet another lovely group of snowdrops, they were nodding their little heads as if in agreement with me. My pace got slower as I stopped just to hear the birds or just to be in the sun. I did not want anything to spoil this wonderful experience but as we all know, the mind doesn’t always go where we want it to go! I found myself thinking about the awful state of the world and in particular of Ukraine and all that has happened recently with President Zelenskyy. I brought this to God, as I know millions of people will be doing all over the world. In this special moment I felt at peace, which was different, I normally feel anxious and fearful of what is to come and pretty overwhelmed too. I don’t know how long I was walking but in all it was a healing and a reassurance experience knowing that God holds everything and we just have to trust that.

I love to think of Jesus, walking in the hills overlooking Galilee. There he would have found peace, away from the crowds that followed him. He too would have marvelled at his Father’s hand in the beauty of the flowers, the sun, the birdsong and the lake below. It was here that he found his Father, in the stillness where he could be with him and listen to his voice. We all need to find a place to be with God, whether on a walk, listening to music or lighting a candle to bring us into that time of stillness. We need this more than ever in these uncertain and turbulent times. And it is here that we can tell God of those fears and worries. We can bring to him all that is on our hearts knowing that he listens, hears us and loves us.

As we continue our journey this Lent, let Jesus be our companion and let us be his companion too. Let us walk with him our most trusted friend, see his absolute trust in his Father even though he knows what awaits him. If we can we bring him comfort and love by staying with him, his journey like ours will be lighter and wherever our walk in Lent and beyond leads us, we can, like Jesus, know that his Father, our Father loves us unconditionally and at our journey’s end he will welcome us home to be with him always.

By Judy Taylor

I recently came across this photo of a little pansy which had somehow managed to push its way through a seemingly impossible place, you could say between a rock and a hard place. How did it get there I wonder? Was it a tiny seed brought by the wind or maybe dropped by a bird? A little seed like this would not be expected to flower, to flourish in such a hostile place and yet, against all the odds here it is, brave and beautiful, a glorious splash of colour against the greyness and hardness of the rocks surrounding it. In order for it to grow it would have needed a little earth and water. There must have been just enough soil between the cracks of the rock to enable the seed to grow and the rain would have trickled down between the cracks to encourage it to flourish. Its journey up through the tiny crack would have been a struggle but just enough light would have encouraged this little flower to keep going until it reached the light, the third element needed to grow, (earth, water and light).

How often do we feel that we are ‘between a rock and a hard place’? When it seems that whatever choice we make will not bring about the solution we want. It may be that decisions we have taken have brought us to this place or it may be situations beyond our control.

In the bible, there are many stories of people who must have felt like this, among them, Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, who was a victim of betrayal and must have felt helpless and hopeless at times. Daniel faced captivity in Babylon, threats from jealous rivals and the lion’s den. Paul, who endured numerous hardships including beatings, imprisonment, shipwrecks and eventually martyrdom. And then our dear Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane desperately praying that the horror of what was to come could be avoided. Real people with real feelings. In spite of everything however, they all held on to what gave them life, their love of God. Somehow they dug deep, found that little piece of soil to anchor themselves to and with perseverance they came through into the light, against all the odds.

We cannot all be heroes such as these but we can, when things seem impossible, reach into what grounds us, our love of God and his for us. If we can let his love wash over us which may be through others we will find the strength however tenuous to start that journey into the light. Think of the little pansy again – this little flower is somehow declaring that it has arrived! The beauty of its colour, its very being there is a testament to perseverance and the miracle of life itself.

God is with us, God will always be with us especially in the tough times. If we think of the little pansy, we can perhaps find the soil (God) to encourage us and strengthen us, the rain to help us to believe and have courage (which may be the support of others) and with these we can start our journey towards the light knowing that we have come through. We can bathe in the warmth of that wonderful light allowing it to warm us and dispel our weariness. And we can rest too until we, with God’s love are able to embrace life once again knowing that our strength comes from God and He will see us through wherever the path of our life takes us.

Psalms 18:1-3. I love you, LORD; you are my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.