Fiona's reflection

Having had a couple of weeks to reflect on the pilgrimage I am bowled over with how powerful prayer support is and encouraged by how we as a family at St Mary’s do do prayer!

My wonderful prayer partner, Lynn Evans, blessed me with wonderful scriptures to open up and dig into each day. Other members of our congregation sent me texts and cards with affirming verses and these sometimes spoke powerfully to other members of the pilgrimage as well as me.

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” Jeremiah 32: 19.

On the first day of walking we tackled Box Hill and on the descent my left knee decided it was going to play up. The next day it was still sore and the lovely Vicky Hildreth lent me her walking sticks to aid my awkwardness. That same afternoon I asked Vicky and Hazel to pray for my knee and hoped I would be able to continue pain free. Not long after I received a text from someone back in Reigate who was praying for us, she was out dog walking that day and had come across this:

She had also prayed that I would have renewed energy. Well praise God I did have renewed energy and continued walking without further damage or pain. Thank you Lord for the way you provide.

On day three I really felt like things that had been burdening me were falling away and that God just wanted me to put one foot in front of the other and be in His presence. I was very aware that I was ‘in the moment’ and that nothing else mattered. The following pictures resembled that for me:

These pictures capture the thin space I felt I was walking in at that time. During one of our evening prayer times together I had a real sense of that thin place again, a heaven touching earth time. We were praying together and spent quite some time praising God for the beauty of creation, for who He is, for how He blesses us and had indeed that day. We then moved into a time of asking God to be present in the lives of those we had on our hearts. As we prayed I really felt a supernatural unity with everyone else present in the room, it was like Jesus was sitting with us and I really understood that He had heard our prayers.

I was constantly struck by the beauty of God’s creation through the sights and smells. This was how God was speaking to me throughout the journey. The beautiful daffodils, the pretty primroses, the gambolling lambs all spoke of God’s nature and character to me and I just wanted to worship and sing of His awesomeness and majesty as I walked.

The words of ‘Hungry’ the worship song were given to me by my faithful prayer buddy. I don’t want my hunger and thirst for God to ever disappear. He is the only one that can satisfy, the only one who completely restores my life.

Hungry I come to You
For I know You satisfy
I am empty but I know
Your love does not run dry

So I wait for You
So I wait for You

I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus You're all
This heart is living for

Broken I run to You
For Your arms are open wide
I am weary but I know Your touch
Restores my life

So I wait for You
So I wait for You

And so the journey of listening and walking continues. Thank you, Lord, for this amazing experience. May I be ever seeking, knocking and asking and being dumbfounded by ‘how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…’ Eph 3.18

William's reflection

The best thing for me on the walk was meeting an old friend in Anthony Smith one of the former Curates at St Marys.  He went on to join CMS and was able to aid a considerable number of missionaries in East Africa – including Franklyn Otwoma who has just completed an orphanage in Nairobi which accommodates 60 orphans from the Slums.  Here's a picture of all of us with Anthony.

I also enjoyed the walk along the river bank into Winchester which brought to mind the words of the 23^rd Psalm:  

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Reflection from Monica

One of the great things about a pilgrimage is it re-connects the spiritual and physical in a very real way. It also gives some space to consider and reflect. On the fourth evening we stayed in a retreat centre owned by the diocese of Winchester. This meant we had lots of room and also access to a quiet chapel. On this evening we were asked to take some paper and draw boxes on it. In each box we had to draw or write something which represented a part of our life. We then put these papers on the altar and offered them to God. The drawings I did are below:

But drawing these pictures, with the definite lines between them, made me start thinking about the way I live my life. If I were to draw this as an accurate representation it would be a mess. The lines would be blurred; each box would seep into the other. Some boxes would be superimposed upon another one like an old ‘double exposed’ film. So, for instance, while I’m watching TV I’m thinking I ought to be cooking. While I’m praying I think how I’d like to be reading a novel. While I’m writing a blog post I’m thinking how I ought to be doing the housework. And I don’t think God wants me to live like this, not anymore.

This afternoon I was chatting with my daughter and she said that she was struggling with one of her skating moves. ‘I can’t do it full-heartedly,’ she said. Of course it was the wrong word. But I like it. I want to live full-heartedly. Each day on the pilgrimage came with joys and difficulties. On two days I was navigating which meant I also had to make sure everyone was keeping up and going in the right direction. Also, because I wasn’t very fit it was tiring at times. But there was great joy both in the beautiful landscape, being with my fellow pilgrims and walking with God. Living in the moment I felt I was really walking with God.

Towards the beginning of the walk we stopped at St Martha’s church. This is a small, ancient church set high on the downs. After spending some time inside the church we had some time to explore the churchyard before we set off again. So I got my paints out and painted this quick sketch over the valley:

And I didn’t ask permission. I didn’t worry about what other people were doing and while I was doing this I was completely lost in the moment. Enjoying the beauty of the view and being able to put it into paint.

Two themes kept on coming up during the conversations on the pilgrimage – mindfulness and evangelism. Mindfulness is much in fashion at the moment. For non-Christians it means filling your mind wholly with your immediate experience and letting worry and anxiety slip away. This could be your own breathing, a beautiful tree or some great wise saying. This is not a bad thing and, in this sense, both walking and painting are great mindful experiences. The rhythm of walking, especially day after day, soothes the mind. Moving gradually through a changing landscape fills the mind with interesting things at a pace it can cope with. Painting a scene in front of you is wholly absorbing, there is simply no room for anything else while you are doing it.

But, for a Christian, mindfulness has a much deeper purpose. By calming the mind and filling it with good things we are allowing God to speak to us. We may sometimes hear God’s voice directly but often it is the good things themselves, the beauty of the landscape, the conversation of friends, which will speak just as clearly. I am reminded of Jesus’ story about the seed:

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn’t have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop”

Our minds are rich earth indeed. But if they are full of the weeds of worry then nothing will grow in them. But if we are growing and walking with God then we can do what we like. Day by day, minute by minute we can choose what we do and it will be the right thing.

So there are many gifts Jesus can offer to the world and to us. Kindness, justice and compassion are just some of them. But, and it seems to me that the world needs this more than anything, the greatest gift is peace. Peace in the world must start with peace in our hearts.  In the slow tramp of feet, the landscape opening up and closing in, the ever changing conversations and the moments of stillness I began to find that peace. It still seems like a fragile thing but, even so, I pass on the timeless greeting:

Peace be with you

David's reflection

I loved it! Beforehand I thought I might be getting too old for this sort of thing, so I was a bit doubtful as to whether I could keep going at 10+ miles every day.  Now I regret I chose to join in at lunch time on the first day, rather than be in it from the start!  Still, I did all the rest with just one or two blisters and some mild aches in feet and hips by the end. \o/

Highlights:

Companionship:  Just great to chat in depth with other members of the group.  Even though I find it difficult to remember all that was said, the shared experience is a bonding process in itself.

Humour:  Lots of it!  I loved the banter; it was so refreshing.  (Cyril’s stile style!)  God must surely love a good laugh too, if we are made in his image.

Churches:  All in their Easter glory and several of them trying – often with limited resources – to meet the challenges of presenting the Good News to this century in imaginative ways.  The re-ordering of Farnham’s church was so beautiful, thoughtful and prayer-inducing.

Countryside:  Paths through growing crops, alongside water (Psalm 23:2b), daffodils and new spring life everywhere (Psalm 104:30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. plus the rest of that Psalm).  The contrast of deep blue sky and orange sand on the walk up to St Martha’s, and the panorama at the top was particularly memorable.

Weather:   Sunshine most of the time and just the right temperature for walking.  (But is life’s pilgrimage always that easy?  Psalm 23:4.  I need to be ready for anything!)

Worship:  Together, under Hazel’s leadership (in hallowed surroundings, as well as in hotels in full view of the public) and sharing thoughts, communion etc.

My personal response:

Peter D’s request to pray for the persecuted church worldwide each day set me thinking about the cost, simplicity and focus of my life’s continuing pilgrimage.

Hebrews 11:13-16 became a focal point for me.  My walk of faith needs to be anchored in a future hope which inevitably alienates me from the world’s way of thinking (11:13ff...they admitted they were aliens and strangers on the earth.  People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own... Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.  Also Ch.13:14.) Pilgrimage encouraged me to keep looking forward with a single-minded purpose.  Lots of things I do are perfectly valid in their own way, but slow me down and encourage me to put down roots in the here and now, rather than move on, in and towards the kingdom of heaven, doing the will of the Father.

Later in Hebrews 11 we are told how costly this kind of pilgrimage can be (vv35b-40) – which is all too real in the areas of the world Peter brought to our attention.  Verse 40 encouraged me to see these Christian sufferers as part of me.  I’m not just an onlooker;  their suffering, like Christ’s, needs to be shared by me, even though I don’t fully know at the moment how to make that connection more real and practical, as well as more prayerful.  That connection – the oneness and brotherhood of the worldwide Christian church – was also brought home to me in the churches we visited on the pilgrimage (Eg. An Ave Maria banner in one corner of a church and an advert for their Alpha Course in their porch.  Also the variety of ways the crosses we came across were used.)

Another thought left its mark on me on the last day on the walk into Winchester.  I had the map and became the path finder for much of it.  Others seemed content to follow at a loose distance, free to chat about other things, secure in the knowledge that someone reliable (?!) was leading the way.  Christ should be the path finder of our lives:  John 14:2ff Jesus said, “I am going there to prepare a place for you....You know the way to the place I am going.”  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going so how can we know the way?”  Jesus answered, “I am the way...”   I was struck by the liberating simplicity of it:  keep close to Jesus, follow him, listen to his instructions and let the route take care of itself – and be free to enjoy the journey, the view, and the company of other disciples!

Final thought:  It was easy to think that we twelve who did the whole pilgrimage were somehow special, particularly when we arranged to have our photo taken (at Farnham – long before we finished the walk!)

Jesus never tolerated the nonsense of elitism – eg when the mother of James and John asked Jesus for top table seats for her sons in the Kingdom (Matt 20:20-28 – and the rest of the chapter).  I was reminded of Mike’s sermon on that passage a couple of weeks before, and felt a spiritual slap on the wrists – as well as grateful to others who had served us with prayer and transport etc.

 

Reflection from Gail

I enthusiastically took part in the previous year’s pilgrimage to Canterbury, and found it was both challenging and rewarding.  While this year’s pilgrimage had similarities, it had its own stimulating and special moments.

I had encountered unexpected and serious health issues soon after the end of last year’s pilgrimage, and so this time, I walked to Winchester as an offering of thanksgiving that I was able to take part in 2015.

I joined the group on Tuesday at Newland’s corner, and the first stop was at St Martha’s Church – the church on the hill. I reflected here, and for the next few days, on the story of Martha and Mary – for I have become too much a Martha – concerned with getting things done, than listening and being  - something the pilgrimage did go on to give me – for those preoccupations are left behind for a while.

As we walked in Easter Week, and saw the new greens of the foliage, the lambs, the yellows in the banks (it has been a great year for primroses), the watercress in clear running water, churches decorated for Easter  –  it was all  a consistent reminder of new life  and new beginnings. In harmony with this, the scripture readings at our daily gatherings spoke of meetings with the raised Jesus and changed lives.

 The walk was in many ways easier than the previous year – less hilly though there were muddy patches and hard bumpy fields. Being in a community of others with a similar aim of pilgrimage, heightened senses and appreciation of the skills and kindnesses of others, while becoming aware of my own rough edges. 

On the Thursday evening, there was an exercise we did that was especially meaningful to me – we had to divide a piece of paper into squares and in the squares, draw things that concerned, or matter to us. I found this surprisingly powerful. It seemed as if thinking had become clearer, having been away from the matters of everydayness.    A clarification of issues to offer to God.

Someone give me this helpful verse:- 

‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’  Hebrews 4:16.  

And going forward, from this pilgrimage, I have gained strength and hope from the pilgrimage, and encouragement that I am not alone on the journey to the Kingdom.

Gail Terry

Saturday

Spent an hour with the Bishop of Winchester and then walked up St Catherine's Hill. Brother John at Hospital of St Cross was very informative.

Winchester at last

Arrived here at lunchtime. Afternoon spent in the cathedral. Great to be joined today by Tony Baptiste, Mary Chipperfield, Liz Keeley and Mary Windus. Now for some relaxation and tending to sore feet.

The world centre for watercress

Another great day. Sun, flowers and lambs. Beautiful village at Chawton (Jane Austen's house).  Lots of stiles challenged Cyril. Our first bog didn't sink us. Met Anthony Smith (a former curate at St Mary's) here at Alresford Place. Continued inspiration from God's creation.
Brilliant humour from all those taking part.

John 21:12

We used the longer passage in morning prayer today. There was a real sense of us now being able to recognise Jesus with us as we walk, helping us with discernment. Here we are eating the breakfast that he invited us to.

Wednesday

Wonderful day - we saw new born lambs and two cameras were lost and then found following prayer. Lots of beautiful flowers too.

Newlands Corner to Seale

Another great day of sunshine. We might all come back with a tan. Good to be joined by Paul and Vicky Hildreth and William Ascough.
Reflection on the importance of storytelling and the bible to our identity. Here we are outside St Martha's on the Hill.
Now to the pool for some relaxation.

Brilliant day walking in the sunshine

The sky was clear at the top of Reigate Hill at 8 am. Our verses for the day gave a definite feel of many of us being called to be walking this week.  Ps 119:105 was one of them.
At St Barnabas Ranmore we reflected on priorities and the design of different crosses.
Short walkers had a leisurely stroll from Silent Pool. Long walkers had a long slog to Newlands Corner. Those boring lengths of path are important, allowing time for prayer and making the interesting bits more meaningful.
About to meet in the bar for a drink and a prayer before dinner.

A pilgrim's pack of goodies

We met yesterday to go through all the details of our route and began with a reflection on starting our journey. What each of the elements in the pack of goodies is for will become clear as the week progresses.
Some cake was also shared to build us up for the walk ahead.