Stillness

Available for 16 days

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Fr Philip Blackledge of Holy Trinity Scottish Episcopal Church, Melrose. Script: Good morning. Later on today I will be going to a graveyard with a family, to bless the headstone they have erected in memory of a loved one. There are some places where there is a stillness that feels intentional. Art Galleries and empty churches and graveyards. Those places seem to have silence built into them, as though the ground itself is helping you rest and be quiet. My church is surrounded by a graveyard, and as I have been there for many years now, there are many folk who used to sing their hymns with us in the church, who are now buried outside of it, with us in a different kind of communion, their names carved into the stones. And strangely enough, for me there’s nothing sad about that, they are still with us. We live in a very hectic world, and we can all get caught up in a whirlpool of urgent and necessary things. But as the phrase goes, the graves are full of indispensable people. The stillness of a graveyard gives us pause to put our own lives and urgencies into perspective. This will be a busy weekend for many people, who will go away with family and friends, and life will be joyous and hectic. But for a moment today, a family will pause, and reflect, and remember, and the warm silence of that place will help them in that journey. Almighty God, you are the God of the living and of the dead; for you dwell in time and in eternity. Give us in our moments of stillness and pause, a glimpse of your vast perspective. Quiet our false urgencies, calm our anxious thoughts. And be with us, now and for ever. Amen.