Going with the flow...

"...On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.) ..."John 7:37-39 (The Message)

The Nene was mesmeric the other evening, we stood and watched the 'streams of living water' eddy and shimmy along its course at Barnwell Country Park. Waters that move and shake as we endeavour to stand still and life moves on around us perhaps. Late Spring is a bit like that, as the garden takes on a life of its own and it prepares to burst forth into colour - the sense of what's to come evident in the buds of roses and peonies. An un-stoppable abundance of life moving on and we take time out to stand and stare and anticipate the smell of those roses.

Seasons are changing, and we as church learn to cultivate the practice of waiting. Not wading in too deep and getting in 'over our heads' or being felled by a gush too strong for us. But to take a tip from nature and just wait and see and enjoy the sense of change. Last Sunday we had our regular 1030 gathering outside, there was a real festival feel about it and St Peter's are doing it again next month. The time is right also for Celtic Morning Prayers to resume live and encouraged by that festival feel and my Greenbelt leanings its time to try something different!

After half term on Friday 11th June come fair wind, rain or shine Celtic Morning Prayers is going outside in the church yard at 09.00. It's going to be bring a chair/stool/blanket/brolly and your own copy of the prayers. This is so we don't have to rely on someone having to clear up after us. We are still in a Covid-19 environment; safety and wellbeing for all involved is paramount, and it's only fair we all have a chance to enjoy being in each others company without someone having to disinfect! You might even want to bring a flask of coffee or get a 'take out'? I've attached the prayers for you to print off or store on a phone. As we enter this new season the sense of pilgrimage is strong and I want to find out whether you would like to meet in other outside spaces on occasion to gather the momentum of the Spirit guiding us, and to consider stepping out of our own perspective and see where the Spirit is nudging. It's been a long time since we gathered, summer and the promise of warmth and hope adds to that sense of moving on. If anyone turns up, we can discuss whether it is weekly or monthly for the time being. My work schedule means that I am going to need help if it is weekly and I know some of you are blessed with the ability to lead, don't be shy He knows you can do it you just have to trust Him! You as a group encouraged me in trusting and listening to Himself, so you have no excuse!

Encouragement and the desire to move forward into healing after this time of lament is strong. St Peters' has some really positive and hopeful events in the planning and I've been chatting with Louise about some exciting creative elements that are being considered. In the meantime; don't resist, let the 'rivers of living waters' gently flow around you, He is with us in our being, our standing, our thinking, our watching and our waiting.

https://youtu.be/96s50957u4Y Living Water - Gateway Worship

Peace be with you friends. <><

Caroline :)

Psalm 1:1-3 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.

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