down to the sea in ships

Yesterday we had a group of four and five year old children come to visit the Church. When they arrived I got them to think about the shape of the Church roof and make it with their hands – then we talked about what it might look like if we flipped it upside down – the answer I wanted was a boat.

Churches are often shaped like upside down boats and we are quite good at understanding the idea of shelter and safe haven. But the thing that struck me was that boats are often at sea and when they are they do not sit nice and still like our ancient buildings, at best they bob around and at worst they are tossed and turned and thrown about by angry oceans leaving their inhabitants fearing for their lives.

Today we remember Perpetua and Felicity who were martyred in the third century at Carthage in Africa. Perpetua was of noble birth and a young mother, Felicity, pregnant when arrested, gave birth two days before the execution was scheduled. As with all martyrdom accounts the picture painted is a heroism which does not often resonate with the twenty-first century mind. But they had certainly got into a boat in a storm which would be dashed into hard places.

During Lent it is worthwhile bearing in mind that this body which we are part of is not standing still – it is coming to new places all the time. We do not believe that this is random – but that God is somehow steering us and although we feel protected and safe during storms, they can still be pretty uncomfortable.

So too with our personal spirituality and our work with our relationship with God. Lent serves to remind us that we are not ever sitting still – that we will cross many oceans on this journey of life and alight on many different shores – even if we come back to a place we know we will often find that we see it differently, that our memories of it are not quite the same as the place itself.

These boats we sail, these communities and relationships are only represented by our buildings. The buildings are not the glue which hold us together, that is God and God’s love and goodness.

This Lent we are looking at the writings of Julian of Norwich – perhaps her most abiding saying is that all shall be well, all shall be well, she says, and all manner of things shall be well. Perpetua and Felicity believed this as they faced a martyrs death and we are asked to believe it to – to enter bravely onto stormy seas, to relish the opportunity to explore lands yet unknown and to await that glorious homecoming, into safe haven and harbour, which Jesus promises to all those who sail with Him.