Another week, another holiday… This time it was a couple of days between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, with a splendid walk on Monday over Wild Boar Fell, using the Settle to Carlisle Railway. I would like to say that I spent the day in prayer and praise, thanking God for the majesty of his creation, but I didn’t. For the most part I wasn’t thinking of anything, beyond where to put my feet and the anticipation of the views from the ridge. That is often the way when I am walking; no great thoughts, just being in the moment. It is a kind of mental emptying; some Christians are suspicious of this, worried about what thoughts might come in to fill the space. I have come to realise that it is an important part of my spiritual discipline. The emptying, the living just in the moment, is a way that I can recharge. I still vividly recall a sermon from over 40 years ago given by the late Rev Pat Brock, my vicar when I was living briefly in London. He was speaking of the process of emptying and letting go and ended his sermon by taking a wine bottle and turning it upside down, to make sure it was really empty. His parting line was “unless we really empty ourselves, we leave no room for God to refill us”.
Rev David Poyner