The time is long and…

When we are stuck in our own little loops. Lockdown or not. Loops that keep us from breaking free, from stepping out, we get stuck and can’t look forward, can’t look up or out or on to the next thing and the next and the next.

When these little loops keep us hemmed in, we can forget what the world is doing and we forget that the world keeps turning regardless of whether we will it to or not.

It made me wonder if we have been in danger of feeling hemmed in and locked in a loop that just will not stop.

But look outside and see the way the world is changing…

The mornings are getting brighter and the evenings are getting longer. The seasons are getting a move on and soon we will too.

The birds are singing and the bees are looking for sweetness and colour. The wildlife is coming back to life and soon we will too.

God’s faithful people keep on celebrating the hope that this will pass and life will get better. They are singing and hopefully you are too.

See the signs are there…

In a lot of places around the world the tide is turning and it gives me hope that it will turn here too. We see children in Spain, masked but outside, running and enjoying the outside spaces and the warmth of the sun after being in lockdown and in fear. We see young people in China going back to college and Universities starting to begin courses together again. The signs of hope that life will begin again are showing. We have friends in South Africa and their treat after lockdown was a home delivery of McDonalds as they were allowed to wait in the street for it to arrive. Who thought that a happy meal would make someone so happy.

My challenge for us then is to look around us to see the signs of life and the winds of change.

Can you see the light at the tunnel yet, or can you take a breath ready for the next stage of digging our way out of this.

Although it won’t run until October – the joy of the marathon runner that sees the last mile marker is like a fire rekindled to keep going.

As you go for your daily exercise, take pictures of the fresh green leaves and see it as a sign of the life that we shall live together again.

As you hear the birds singing, treat it as a fanfare for the coming days of freedom when we shall all fly free again.

Add the words yet and soon and nearly to your vocabulary – we can’t meet yet, we will get together soon, we are so nearly there.

We haven’t been outside much to watch it, but God has blessed us with blossom and birds and breezes and brightness – and we shall see it soon.

We haven’t hugged or kissed or sat face-to-face or shoulder to shoulder in so long but what a blessing it will soon be – and we are nearly there.

If you can today. Stand in a sunny place, close your eyes and face the light. Let the warmth of the rays be felt by you and imagine that when God turns his face to you, it feels like the sun’s embrace. Breathe in and listen intently for the birds song and the rustle of the trees and imagine that the angels and the whole cloud of witnesses are singing of your faith and applauding your stamina as you walk in God’s light and step into the days ahead.

Take care, stay safe. Get some fresh air and some Vitamin D (from the sunlight).

And find a way to pray and play today.