Dear Scargillians
We do hope you are enjoying good weather, as we are, at this time. We always seem to be talking about the weather here at Scargill.
We have a few things to share with you:
We hope that you will join us for our online Evening Prayer Service which has now moved to Wednesdays (the first on 9th June) – it will be good to have you with us.
We are so glad that we have been able to receive our first residential guests but our online presence will continue. You are very welcome to join us for a Quiet Day on Saturday 26th June. There will also be some online events in July, and we will send you details in the next mailing.
We are still very much looking for new Community members, so if you know someone who may be looking for a gap year, or you know someone who may be feeling called to community, please do get in touch with us (di@scargillmovement.org).
I know that many of you have enjoyed these mailings with Di’s reflections. They will continue but will now become monthly.
Di and I have just enjoyed a week off here at Scargill where we have been welcoming some of our family to stay for the first time for over a year. Di’s reflection speaks of the joy of re-connecting with grandchildren. Enjoy!
Diane writes:
Some of you may remember reading Shirley Hughes books. My favourite one for a long time has been Lucy & Tom’s Christmas which has now become a firm family favourite. It finishes with the first illustration below and these words ‘Christmas can be quite tiring as Tom gets very excited about his presents and rather cross. So he and grandpa go for a walk together in the snow, just the two of them. The sun is very big and red.’
In other books, Alfie and Grandma are very special friends, and together they have lots of adventures! Whether it’s saving the day and finding a lost pet, or exploring indoors and out, Alfie loves being with his grandma. In the short story A Journey to the North Pole, ‘after being stuck indoors all morning relations between Alfie and his sister Annie Rose are becoming fraught so Grandma suggests they all put their waterproofs on and go for a walk in the rain’. (second illustration). Good old grandma!
‘One thing we all have in common is family. Whether large or small, near or far, dear or distant, our families and familial relationships influence who we are. Siblings and cousins are often our first friends; parents and grandparents are frequently the first people we love’. A quote I read looking up a possible etching by John Costigan at the Whitney Museum of America.
And families has been the focus of our recent week’s holiday with the children and grandchildren visiting – one set Friday night to Wednesday, the second from Wednesday to Sunday – with grandchildren aged from 9 weeks to 8years!!!!!!!!!!! During the week we stayed local, the weather has been kind and generous, the sun remaining remarkably warm for most of the week – miracles still happen! And wherever we went there were grandparents like ourselves basking in the company of their children and grandchildren. Monday though, will see us back with community a little tired, well a lot really, but also very content, with a renewed sense of purpose and place.
In Proverbs 17:6 we read: ‘Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.’
Not sure what our children would say! BUT I can definitely say that to see one’s children’s children born into this world and have an opportunity to interact with them, to have fun with them, to laugh and listen is a pure joy which many of us have missed over the past year. It has been helpful using Zoom, WhatsApp and messenger as well as visiting castles!!! Castles have been amazing places to meet halfway for a few hours whenever lockdown has been lifted, keeping those vital links that have made this week so special.
I also know that in families, all is not necessarily well, that fractions and frictions can and do arise and that unlike Shirley Hughes stories, endings are not always happy. So let us this weekend rejoice and be thankful for the good times and pray for God’s presence in the more difficult and challenging times.
With much love and prayers from