26th April - A Quiet Week....

 It's been a relatively quiet week in some ways, and possibly has needed to be. Part of Sabbatical is supposed to be about rest and recuperation, and too packed a programme is likely to cause the odd raised eyebrow!

One of the strange things though is that stepping back from a role like mine isn't easy. I think for me that's one of the differences between a job, and a vocation - being a Minister is not my job, it's who I am, and trying to just stop doing some of those things isn't easy! It's even harder when your work space is in your home, and the place you live is also the area you Minister to - if I go out to walk the dog, you can guarantee I'll bump into people I know. Having been in Great Ayton for five years, I'm known in the community as well as in the churches.

That can make the choice of which church to attend a slightly difficult one as well. If I attend any of "my" churches, I'm to an extent on duty - it's impossible not to hear things, or be told things, about what's going on. If I choose to go to one of the other denominations - well, through involvement in Churches Together, I'm known to some extent there as well. So last Sunday I went to Nunthorpe Methodist. It's impossible to be incognito anywhere in the District to some degree - I was very soon recognised by one or two people that either have links with Ayton as well, or have seen me at events in the District. My colleague Charity was preaching, and as the Super of that Circuit also called in on his way back from another service she might have felt that she was being checked up on! It was themed around the Walk to Emmaus - the passage, set on the evening of the first Easter Day, where two followers of Jesus unknowingly walk with him as their companion as he explains to them the meaning behind all that has happened. Charity talked about journeys - the people we travel with, that Jesus is always on that journey with us, remaining with us - and that spoke into my situation. When I talk of Pilgrimage, in many ways it's really about noticing the journey, noticing the companions on the way, trying to work out what God is saying to me along the road. 

Which in a way brings me to Friday, and a journey I made with some new companions. I'd noticed on one of the local Facebook Groups that someone had set up a specific Mens Walking Group - part of an organisation called Men Walking and Talking - a few weeks ago, and with it being a nice evening - and me needing the exercise - I went along. There turned out to be about ten of us, and we walked for just under an hour and a half, including up to the Bluebell Field below Roseberry Topping. The aim of the group seems to be similar in some ways to the Mens' Sheds that have sprung up in some areas - just an opportunity for men to get together around a shared activity and to promote some friendship and conversation. It can become a vexed question as to whether men-only spaces are a good thing - but this is trying to address what actually I think can be a problem, which is that us blokes aren't always good at getting together unless it's around something to do, and that can lead to some men feeling rather isolated. Women are often far more comfortable meeting up for a coffee and a chat - it's far less common amongst men, and so having something to do is the excuse to get together. I can't say that I had any deep and meaningful conversations specifically - I was too busy catching my breath after the climb up the hill - but I do think I'll be back alongside those particular companions in future weeks. Just not this one though; next Friday will see me travelling ready to take on Bushy Parkrun - completing, as the Running Challenges site puts it, the Bushy Pilgrimage. It won't be fast, and I won't look pretty - I'll probably be walking most of it and it will take close to an hour - but I'll have done it!