Out at sea

Once again I’m crossing this familiar stretch of water. Gerard and I have been locked down in the UK as we were there when all this kicked off, taking time to rest and recover, but today we get to go home. It’s a very different kind of cross-channel Ferry experience, like so much of life now, we’re moving forward cautiously with experimental new normals! There is so much whirling in my head and heart as I prepare to re enter my changed world in Normandie. The world around us is shaking with pain, fear, frustrations, and anger. And I’m, like many, are looking deep inside myself to examine my heart, understandings, intentions and expectations for this coming season. I’m praying for that turning tide in our hearts, as people who are too often driven by selfish motives, from what can I achieve to what can I give.....

I’m wondering what is going on in the hearts and minds of our refugee community in Caen. And I’m longing for the opportunity to talk with them, reconnect and find new ways of supporting them if we can, as they look at what life looks like for them in the city of Caen this summer and beyond. I want more than ever to champion them in this current crisis, but I recognise too that there is such a need to build deeper, listening friendships that teach and train us as SOS Chai to grow in our commitment to be those that welcome and love uncomfortably all those who seek to find a home in the city we are blessed to call home. There is space for all, and we have so much to learn from each other. We too often are those that think we have it all together, when is so often those who have had to fight to survive that carry the precious gems of wisdom that can shape a welcoming and loving culture. So it is with ears wide open that we need to walk into the emerging season of deconfinement, and with a genuine will to learn, to serve and to let the God of all wisdom shape the new thing that He is doing in us and on this earth. #onearthasitisinheaven