麻豆约拍

A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Archdeacon of Bangor, Mary Stallard.

Good morning,

I visited a Christian retreat centre recently and was amazed to find it full and booked up for months. After lockdowns and all the restrictions, I didn鈥檛 expect that so many would flock to places where time is spent in silence, there鈥檚 little internet access, mobile phones are discouraged and there鈥檚 a deliberately slow pace of being.

Our experiences of time during this pandemic have been very varied: For some, life has been much more intense and pressurised; others have experienced a lack of busyness and a loss of activity. Separation from friends and loved ones and different routines appear to have caused tiredness, stress and increased anxiety.

Into this situation the famous words from the book of Ecclesiastes might offer comfort, reassuring us that with God there is a time for everything - the strain and calamities of life are held alongside the hopes and healing we long for. Some of its words have felt particularly apt: 鈥渢here鈥檚 a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing鈥� might have been a pandemic slogan. Such wisdom might help us as we look to the future and seek to rebuild our lives.

Visiting the retreat house, it was a comfort to be reminded that such places exist. When my own life is too busy, or when there鈥檚 little opportunity to take time out for reflection, I鈥檓 glad to know that there are places where people are praying and modelling a more gentle, ordered way of living.

God of all time, shaper and maker of our days. Help us to recognise that time is a gift and a friend. With the shifting pattern of our days help us to keep pace with you; to live wisely, giving our focus and value to all that builds and heals our relationships and our world. Amen