July 2025

Dear Friends,

In my recent Pentecost sermon I said that there are three arenas for Holy Spirit activity: Among Christians, non-Christians and in creation; and it’s on the creation arena that I will reflect today. I’ve spent my day off this week watching The Salt Path at the cinema. To summarise the plot, it’s about a wife called Ray and her husband Moth, who in the space of a week have their home repossessed and Moth receives a diagnosis of Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD). (A normal life expectancy with this condition is 6 years.) Having lost their livelihood and with nowhere to go, they decide to follow a 630-mile line around the coast from Minehead, through Devon and Cornwall back round to Poole in Dorset. Their decision may seem irresponsible, given that Moth is not supposed to do any heavy lifting or do anything strenuous! But you could argue this is a modern-day example of being sent out on a pilgrimage of discovery to be fed and nurtured by creation and where they give proper time and space to their relationship.

“Take nothing for the journey – no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.” (Luke 9:3.)

Very often the work of the Holy Spirit is about giving the recipient what they need to face the day when life is difficult. There is a particular scene when the couple are cowering in their house, the bailiffs knocking at the door, and Ray’s eyes fall on a guidebook for the journey amongst their semi-packed belongings. In that instant they decide to “just walk”. This decision seems to give them an instant hope for the future, so gently powerful that they find they can immediately unlock their doors and face the bailiffs. As they begin their journey at Minehead, Ray says: “Shall we”. Moth says “we’ve nothing better to do” but as their journey progresses, they “let the elements touch them” and transform them. One of the very few Greek words I learned at theological college was Kenosis meaning to ‘empty oneself’. It involves a process of self-depletion or a stripping away of the self, to become receptive to something greater. With only walking and togetherness the couple gain time to think and appreciate anew their love for one another. As nature tests and enriches them, they draw closer together. There is a sense of Communion with each other and with God’s world. Their experience is a picture of healing, of body, mind and spirit through the power of the natural world.

Today, may God take away all that hinders you. May you be blessed by nature, exercise and relationship and may you be taken to a relationship with God and with his creation that blesses, enriches and transforms your life.

Every Blessing, Larissa