In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:25-27)

We have all lived through so many different layers of disorientation and distress in 2020. For each one of us it will be different. We need to grieve and intercede for the world made strange. Both individually and collectively we have been walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

Last weekend was our Diocesan Synod, and it was without a doubt the strangest one yet. What is usually a raucous good time of gathering together in person, sharing stories, worship, prayer, laughter and hospitality (and making decisions about our common life) was curtailed into three and a bit hours of Zoom conversation.

Well, here we are again in Level 2. Does anyone else feel, frankly, just over it? This time, it seems a bit harder to get going and to feel motivated about making any plans when we know they potentially might go out the door again. We were lulled into a bit of a false sense of security I think, and this recent outbreak is a reminder that changing alert levels will likely be our reality for at least another year living in the face of Covid-19.

So, when it’s hard to make plans, what then are we to do?

We are writing Bishops’ News together this week which is very encouraging, especially given that the theme of our reflection centres around the idea of our incarnated Saviour and our presence and proximity to one another in Christ.

Last week my attention was caught by the logo of a local counsellor which had a large dandelion head being blown and its seeds being launched. “What a great image of the Church”, I thought, “coming to maturity and flowering so that by the wind of the Spirit, seeds of new life could be spread afar”