Good Friday

A day of pain and emptiness, yet, for us, oddly normal. Just after three, I remembered the group that would be gathered on Castle Hill in Huddersfield, and wondered if it was as hot for them as it was for us, on the edge of Exmoor. Some of them, too, would have been walking.

Janet has walked strongly again, buoyed these last two days by the friendship of her supporters. Thank you very much to all of you.

The hedgerows and verges all seem to me to be pretty similar from day to day – – yet Janet constantly finds new joy in what she sees.

Besides her walking and her blog, and all sorts of other things, Janet is compiling a scrapbook of each day’s adventures.

Today there have been a numbers of spells in the shade and by the rivers… very welcome in the warm weather.

My mother used to say that today ought to be called ‘Bad Friday’, and I’m inclined to agree with her – for all that it tells of the love of God – it conveys more of a bleak view of human nature. Is it all part of a preexisting master plan, or is it because God, in love, can rescue meaning from the worst of times? I’m for the second – and maybe someone who kmows Greek would say I’m playing fast and loose with the text, but that’s also how I see “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) God and time have a funny relationship, and knowing isn’t the same as intending.