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The Journey (13 April)

This week’s thought has been written by Claire Blatchford, EBA Regional Minister.

The Journey

Journeys have been very much at the forefront of my mind these past weeks as I’ve watched pictures of millions of Ukrainians flee their homes in the hope that they might find a place of safety and refugee; somewhere they might call ‘home’, albeit for a short time whilst the invasion and war continues in the place they know so well.

We’ve heard of those within our own country whose ‘journey’ hasn’t been easy as they have tried to cross the channel for a holiday but have spent time sitting on motorways and ferry ports, and I think of my own journey over these past two years, living in the midst of a global pandemic and my call into regional ministry.

Each journey remarkably distinct but each telling a story beginning in a different place, with different people, walking a different path.

This week marks another ‘Holy Week’ as we journey with Jesus to the cross, the tomb and the celebrations of early Sunday morning. Some of this journey will be familiar; we have trodden this path before – we have led Holy Week reflections, Maundy Thursday communion services, Good Friday walks of witness and Easter Sunday celebrations, but I pray this year that God, who always travels with us, might take us to a place of the unfamiliar. As you spend time in the remembrance of the upper room, in the silence of Gethsemane, in the pain of Golgotha and in the celebration of the garden, may you know more of the God who journeys with us, who gently leads and who provides a place of safety, refuge and peace.

I have been reminded this week of the words of the song ‘Never Once’ by Matt Redman which I leave with you:

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say:
Never once did we ever walk alone
Carried by Your constant grace,
Held within Your perfect peace.
Never once, no, we never walk alone,

Never once did we ever walk alone,
Never once did You leave us on our own;
You are faithful, God, You are faithful.

Image by Maxime Horlaville on Unsplash