Those of you who follow Twitter will know that the twelve women on the MWiB pilgrimage from Durham to Lindisfarne have arrived safely. The photo shows their crossing. We look forward to hearing their stories, especially those of us who know them personally and will meet up with them over the next few weeks.
I received an email from Jill Barber yesterday, recently returned from her Vice Presidential visit to Peru. One comment resonated with me very strongly: “A great learning experience – I just need the time to process it!”
I feel similarly about many of my experiences since May. Germany was packed with travelling to different places and meeting many people. The World Church Pre-Conference Consultation was similarly filled with ideas and conversations and new friendships. Then of course there was the experience of my commissioning service, followed by Methodist Conference in Southport. Not long after that came the Mission Shaped Heritage Conference at Cliff College and yet more new ideas, especially for someone who is less than knowledgeable when it comes to history and heritage!
Like Jill, I have also found it hard to find time to process the learning from those occasions, until now, when my enforced period of rest following my operation has allowed me to slow down for a while. Even so, I generally seem to come back to distilling ‘nuggets’ of wisdom or looking for patterns in what I am discovering. Mostly I am struck by the importance of the little things which make a difference – like showing love to the people around us in often very practical, down to earth ways. I have certainly benefitted from those ‘little things’ myself over recent weeks!
