Looking Back

Um, where does one start?

Maybe, one should not start. On Monday, Brother Robert left Quarr Abbey to start his long journey home. It would take him nine hours on the train from Portsmouth Harbour, never mind the journey at either end to get, and from, various stations. He seemed to indicate that going early for the ferry from Ryde Pier Head would be a good thing, so I took him there, an hour early. We sat in the car, looking out at the various moored ships and watched his ferry come and go, and come again before leaving the car.

Just before he departed for the ferry he said, “Don’t look back, just look forwards to God and where he is leading you. It is easy to look back. It is harder to look forwards on our own, but with God’s help it is less of a burden.” I went back to car and took photographs of his departing ferry. I then looked to the west and saw Quarr Abbey still towering over the Ancient Woodland that surrounds them. With views over the bay, known as Ryde Roads.

In many ways I guess I wanted Brother Robert to look back from the ferry, one last wave... However, that would have been too easy. I looked back at Quarr Abbey with my camera and that was too easy too...

There has been a lot of talking, reflecting, sharing, and peacefulness during my time away. Five people, from the Orkneys to the Isle of Wight, have all said much the same thing and quite independently of each other, not knowing what had been said before.

I feel a bit like the cartoon character who was surround by water and had climbed up onto the roof of the house. The Police call up from a boat that they were pushing up the street and offers to take the person to safety. The person shout down and said, “God will rescue me.” Sometime later, an RAF helicopter arrives and offers to rescue the person, but the person shouts back and says, “God will rescue me.” Again many hours later the RNLI comes in a boat and offers to rescue the person, but again the person declines and says, “God will rescue me.” After a long time without anyone offering to rescue the person and with the water still rising. The person decide they ought to pray, so they did, asking God why they had not been rescued yet? God replied. “I tried to rescue you, but you declined all my offers.” The person asked God when did he try to rescue them and again God replied, “I sent the Police, the RAF helicopter, and the RNLI, what more could I do?”

My question to myself is this, if God has asked, nudged, repositioned five individual people to say much the same thing to me over the last seven weeks, then maybe I should be looking forwards towards God directing power and embracing the thought of stepping out in faith, rather than staying in the safety of the groove.