As I write I wonder, will this be the month when we can all sing again? Perhaps, like me, you have been able to sing out of doors – I have happy memories of some very wet carol singing just before Christmas in Wigan. People came to sing the familiar tunes and words that mean so much, and do so much to weave us into the story of God’s love for the world.

But we all understand, I think, why it has been easier for officials to relax other rules, while hymn singing by congregations remains suspended. It is simply too powerful, risky, all that air stirred up and shared.

It has been glorious to have the choir back in greater numbers since Easter, distanced, and when the children sing, masked. Hymns, however, are at the heart of our personal faith for many of us.

When the people of England were experiencing the gospel of God’s grace in a new way in the days of the Reformation, under the first Queen Elizabeth, they sang hymns, outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and psalms, the most ancient hymns. On the cross, Christ himself drew on these songs, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’ comes from Psalm 22. It describes a fate like his humiliation, and silencing, but it looks forward with hope, as do we, to Resurrection, and rejoicing,

“The poor shall eat, and be satisfied:
they that seek after the Lord shall praise him; your heart shall live for ever.”

These are words that come from the heart of God, and unite us with Christ. In the words of another verse from the psalms, as we wait patiently for news,

“O Lord, open thou our lips.”

Canon Philip 

​While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.

At last we have the peace doves in the cathedral!    
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As we are able to show such a spectacular installation in such a spectacular place we are left in awe and wonder - giving an opportunity for a million and one different opportunities for the doves to resonate with each of us at different times and different emotions. Tears will be shed expressing a whole range of emotions from relief, joy and sorrow. As we have been in lockdown many a cry has been, “O for the wings of a dove far, far away would I rove”!

I am reminded of the motto used by Bootle:

Respice, adspice, prospice Examine the past, examine the present, examine the future.

I first came across it living and working in Bootle during the time of the government initiative, “City Challenge”, which aimed at bringing regeneration to the area--with limited impact, as there was not enough reflection on the past and present to lead into a better future at that time.

As we slowly emerge from this current pandemic we will all be living to a small or large extent altered lives:

• Reflecting on past mistakes and things that we can never regain - needing time for tears of loss.
• Emerging from our bubbles and the changes that has brought to our lives and tears of joy as we reengage with those we have missed.
• And most of all, how does this reflecting help us to live for the future? What kind of world do we want to live in and leave for the future?

My diary is beginning to fill up, firstly with long awaited visits to family and friends, secondly with face to face meetings and opportunities to engage with new initiatives. As we move into this new future, let’s thank God for the gift of tears and look to let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

Canon Linda

While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.