Dear friends,
Most of you are probably aware that I take a few days to visit my mother in Wales every six weeks or so. Since I have been doing this for over fifteen years now, the journey is very familiar to me: Dunblane to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to Crewe, Crewe to Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth. I treasure my seven or eight hours on the train as time set aside to read a book and to reflect and pray. The great majority of my trips have been uneventful but my most recent journey was an exception.
As I left on the 11.38 that morning it wasn’t even raining in Aberystwyth which is quite unusual at this time of year. Little did I know that a fallen tree near Carlisle and the threat of storm Eunice were going keep me and some of my fellow-travellers on tenterhooks for many hours as we criss-crossed the country hopping from one train to another as more and more services were being cancelled. On a desolate platform at Warrington Bank Quay as darkness fell, it became clear that there were about a dozen of us intent on returning to Scotland that night. We were a motley crew – some loud Glaswegian lads, a very nervous young Irishman, an elegant French lady, an elderly couple from Aberfoyle, some Edinburgh business men and myself. From that point, we started to engage with one another, exchanging details about our journeys and banter about the deficiencies of railway companies to begin with, then snippets of information about our work and our families and stories about previous travel experiences. As the night wore on, we shared our meagre supplies of food and drink and also started to share more about our lives. There was much laughter and an unexpected warmth in our conversation as we got to know each other. As the train finally drew into Waverley station three and a half hours late, one of the lads commented with a wry smile that this had been the best journey that he’d ever experienced.
Reflecting on this the following day, I realised that exceptional circumstances had enabled twelve strangers to form a community and that it had brought us all joy. This is, of course, something we missed during the pandemic when many of us weren’t able to meet with close friends and family let alone larger social groups. As we return this spring to a more normal existence, some of us will find it hard to mix again having got used to solitude and some will still experience fear. So I urge you to be kind to one another whilst at the same time encouraging and helping each other to get involved in the social life of St Mary’s. The make-up of our community has changed during the last two years. Some much-loved members are no longer with us while a number of new faces have appeared in the pews. We need time to re-form as a community and the best way to do that is by sharing food and sharing stories.
I am delighted that this month, we will have refreshments after the 10.30 service every Sunday with the Boys’ Brigade and Queen Victoria School Make a Difference Group hosting fund-raising coffee mornings on the first and last Sunday. Please come and join your church community for a cuppa and a chat in the hall at 11.30 a.m. whenever you can and feel free to invite friends. They will receive a warm welcome.
The Monday Gathering meets every fortnight between 2.30 and 4 p.m. in the hall. Some bring a craft project to do, many come just for a blether, some join us from other churches and we often have a men’s table. It’s a great opportunity to make friends and also to bring friends into our community.
During Lent there will be further opportunities to get together as the Dunblane Churches Together have organised a weekly study group to reflect on The Book of Joy, an extraordinary exploration of happiness by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his Holiness the Dalai Lama. Meetings will be on Tuesdays in Lent, 8th March to 5th April, 7.30 to 8.45 p.m. in the Meeting Room of the Church Hall with a facility to join by zoom. Please contact Anthony Birch on adjbirch@btinternet.com if you would like to attend.
A wonderful documentary of the five days Archbishop Tutu and the Dalai Lama spent together in Dharamsala will be shown at the church at 7 p.m. on Shrove Tuesday. The screening of ‘Mission Joy’ will serve as an introduction to the Lent study but it is also intended as a as a stand-alone event for the congregation and the wider community. Invite a friend and bring a cushion, drink and nibbles and some tissues!
The film will also be available on line for the following three days for those who wish to meet to view it together from their homes or those who wish to watch it again. There will also be an on-line group screening on Wednesday, 2nd March at 7.30 p.m. led by Liz Owen with an opportunity to reflect on the themes of the film on the following Wednesday . To obtain the link to the film and the online meetings, please contact events@stmarysdunblane.org
If you have any ideas for a social or a charity event for later in the year, please speak with me or get in touch with a member of Vestry. My hope is that as we grow close again we will become more confident in sharing our stories and in praying for and with each other. There is an opportunity to meet on line to pray on alternate Friday evenings. Please contact Martin Wisher for more information.
My next train journey to Wales will be at the beginning of April. I hope that it will be less of an adventure than the last one!
With love to you all,
Nerys
