Faith Goes Walkabout – Page 6 – Thoughts and reflections

Epiphany 1

On January 10, 2022

In church seasons, Diocese of Norwich, Epiphany, Faith goes walkabout

Arise and shine for your light has come ! Isaiah chapter 60:1

How hard it is to emerge from the darkness, the long dark nights and the cold wet days. What a joy the sunrises and sunsets and the days we have had where the sky is blue and we can feel the strength of the sun, that bright shining star that we depend on to survive.

Some time in the surf would be just the thing!

So, moving on from Christmas and into Epiphany, the time when the light shines on us all as we realise that the day has dawned when Jesus is with us for ever. The greatest ever moment of Epiphany.

Christmas – 2021!

By faithgoeswalkabout

On December 23, 2021

In Christmas, Faith goes walkabout

Christmas at Ely

A time of festivity, of giving, a time of love and laughter, of friendship and togetherness.

Twinkling lights in the midst of darkness, presents and gifts, trees brought in the house and traditions to mark this special time.

Christmas, the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Son of God into the world.
Christ among us.

The story of the Nativity, the journey of Mary and Joseph, the manger and the stable, the shepherds on the hillside, the wise men travelling from afar.

The brightest of stars marking the place where Jesus lay in Bethlehem.

But why did he come to us? Why didn’t he appear amongst wealth and fortune like other kings?

Advent 3 Sunrise

By faithgoeswalkabout

On December 18, 2021

In Advent, Christmas, community, Diocese of Norwich, Faith goes walkabout, Sermons, Uncategorized

I’m going to start with the sunrise! Yesterday morning was absolutely wonderful. I was just getting up about 7.00am and looked outside to see a warm reddish pink glow on the skyline, so I said how lovely it was and continued with my usual ‘getting up’ arrangements.

By 7.30am I was outside looking at the sky, touched by pinkness on the edge of high clouds.

All out of darkness we have light!

Read more on Advent 2021...

Advent 1 November 28th

By faithgoeswalkabout

On November 27, 2021

In Advent, church seasons, Faith goes walkabout

Candle Light in St Mary’s East Walton. Norfolk by Sue Martin

Advent means the arrival or the coming.

Just as it’s getting darker and darker with the nights getting longer and longer, we start thinking about the light of the world;

All out of darkness there came light,…

The light of the world has come among us to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light from the collect.

What does that all mean, darkness, the works of darkness, the armour of light? Read more in Advent 2021

Rev’d Sue Martin

Remembrance 2021

By faithgoeswalkabout

On November 13, 2021

In Faith goes walkabout, Remebrance

Poppies in the field..

At the 2 minute silence, my thoughts were in small pieces, sound bites ! They were…

On a school visit to the trenches, the tiny distances that were fought over, yet the huge space of the battles in Northern France.

The Canadian War Memorial in Arras, so many name and all those graves.

The medals that were won, the pride, the courage and the hope.

The Second World War and places like Dresden, destroyed, our own cities too,

The whole concept of a concentration camp, people I knew who escaped over here and sought refuge.

The army, the RAF and the navy, everyone doing their bit, the land army too.

Captain Tom Moore British Army officer and fundraiser who made international headlines in 2020 when he raised money for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday during the COVID-19 pandemic. One mile a day!! We were all touched enormously by the strength and determination of this amazing man of stamina, both physically and mentally.

It isn’t always in the huge things that are done but in the small things done with great heart.

Read more in Sermons 2021

Rev’d Sue Martin Diocese of Norwich

Michaelmas and Archangel St Michael

By faithgoeswalkabout

On October 3, 2021

In Faith goes walkabout, Michaelmass

September 29th. Michaelmas, an important day in the farming year when traditionally farm tenancies changed, and farm workers were unhired or hired for the coming year. Must have been a difficult time if you were a hired hand and then n longer had a job for the winter ahead. The hiring fairs across the country were held around this day

St Michael the Archangel is patron saint of sea and maritime lands, of ships and boatman, of horses and horseman. He was the Angel who hurled Lucifer from Heaven for his treachery. He is seen as the leader of the army of angels against the forces of evil, as a protector. He is a Satan slayer and a dragon beater!

Education Sunday 2021

By faithgoeswalkabout

On September 13, 2021

In Education, Faith goes walkabout

Every step of our lives is involved in learning. Every day, every waking minute, wherever we are, and however old we may be, we are still learning. Education is the key!

It is the key to our understanding, the foothold on which our ‘ladder of life’ is based. It fills
our minds to grow, our hearts to understand and our souls to be refreshed.
We all have a part to play in education, whether in our own lives or for our families.
In our country we have an education system which is free for all children from ages 4-18
years. In further education we have a system whereby young people can follow their hopes
and dreams and find a way to a career. Education doesn’t end there… we have a lifelong
learning programme whereby we are encouraged to find out about different aspects at
different times. Every day and every year can be a learning journey.

Read more in Sermons 2021

Written as part of my work as Bishop’s Officer for Schools Mission in the Diocese of Ely

Poppies and storm clouds

By faithgoeswalkabout

On August 8, 2021

In Faith goes walkabout, Poppies

A few weeks ago I took the photo of the poppies in a nearby field, close to where I live in West Norfolk.

At that time fields were full of the stunningly bright red poppies.

Where there had been crops of wheat and barley, the fields had been turned into rewilding projects on the local estate farms and the poppies flourished.

For me, the poppies represent all that we have lost in this last year. Through their radiant colour, they show all that is good in this life. They show that if cared for they can flourish, just like ourselves.

The dark grey clouds indicate that we are not out of the storms yet, we still have to find our way through the Covid 19 crisis, blue skies appear from time to time, but still the storm clouds roll in.

But we will find our way through ,and with God’s help we can look after others who are struggling and we can find new ways of living. Like the poppies in the fields, which had been struggling, but now are radiant and flourishing.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Peace and quiet…

By faithgoeswalkabout

On June 7, 2021

In Peace

Have you ever felt like getting away from it all? Going somewhere else, peaceful, no pressure, no crowds, no traffic queues, no noisy crowds?

Strangely I did just that yesterday afternoon. What a glorious day and I had fought my way across the traffic to get into town and just decided to do something that I had been thinking about for a long while. Well, to be honest since lockdown has finished and I have been planning in my mind places to walk or to cycle to.

So, I drove down past the Fisher Fleet in King’s Lynn, and headed down to the river. I parked the car and walked, and walked and walked…

Rev’d Sue Martin

Read more in Sermons 2021

Ascension Day 13th May 2021

By faithgoeswalkabout

On May 15, 2021

In church seasons, community, Diocese of Norwich, Faith goes walkabout, Uncategorized

Ephesians 1:15-23

Acts 1:1-11

‘A cloud took him out of their sight’

And so the disciples were left behind, and returned to Jerusalem. Once again they had to say goodbye to Jesus and were even more aware that they needed to be going out into the world to spread the word.

The cloud often appears in the Bible and can be seen as the way that God appears in a veil of cloud. How often do you stand looking at fluffy white clouds and make them into amorphous shapes?

A cloud took him out of their sight…

This is where the distance between heaven and earth comes close. It is hard to visualise and explain this concept, it can be described as like cutting through paper with a knife and finding yourself in another place, at certain points in our world we can feel closer to God and heaven.

We hope that many of our churches are in such places, but it can also be a place in the countryside or a spot in a town, somewhere where you do feel closer to God.

Read more in Sermons 2021