Bob Warwicker's blog

Most of today’s walk for Janet was in heavy rain. So she ploughed on across the levels, with not many features to look at. A wonderful environment to be in though. So Janet walked almost continuously, finishing much sooner than usual and getting out of the rain and into the Sexey’s Arms in Blackford.

After my nine miles of chasing around yesterday, it was agreed that today most of my supporting work would be inside the car out of the rain!

Sundays readings…

Peter and the apostles say to the High Priest, under hostile questioning, “”We must obey God rather than any human authority… ” these are scary words for those in government. However, for the Christian, to obey God is to follow Jesus, who taught love, justice and forgiveness. …Thomas says (eventually) to the risen Jesus, “My Lord and my God.”

Yesterday was also Easter day BTW. Jesus is alive: the world is the same, but never the same again.

The news from Sri Lanka is bad. It hurts that fellow Christians have been the target. And in my solidarity with my sisters and brothers, I pray for those who suffer. But I pray for all people too. I believe we are called to care about all humanity.

Janet his a big climb tomorrow, into the Quantocks: I hope it goes well.

I saw a tractor clanking a heavy metal device across a ploughed field, breaking up the lumps. “Only a man harrowing clods in a slow, silent walk, and an old horse that stumbles and nods, half asleep as they stalk.” Funny, in victorian times, humble people could have horses. Now horses belong to the wealthy.

Anyway, I was once told that between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Jesus harrowed hell. It seems to me that we make stories of the unknowable to fill the awkward emptiness of Easter Saturday. Why can’t we just let it be what it is, awkward and empty? My best friend has just been killed, after all.

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.

With the walk continuing, I almost forgot that today is the day to remember Jesus’ last meal with his friends.

Today, dear God, the pain of parting…

There’s always three dots, though. The story is not over, it continues today.

Today was very windy, and hard going for Janet. It is holy week now, there have been signs of the cross to recall.

Suffering is all the more acute for the people of France now. I, we, pray for them.

Janet continues to power on along the back lanes of the south west, observing as she goes, noticing small things and large. Today is her first full day in Devon. Some roads are better than others – it’s a combination of refuge space, sight lines, amount and speed of traffic etc.. A bit of railway path tomorrow — welcome relief.

It’s palm Sunday, but I’ve found it easy to get disconnected from the pattern of the year. If it weren’t for the conversations Janet and I have, I think I could easily have lost track. Several cross shapes along the way act as a reminder of what is coming.

A bit of getting the laundry up to date this morning. On the first attempt, I put the tablet in the tray labelled ‘wash’, but when I looked at the end of the wash, the tablet had not been consumed… So, a second attempt with the tablet crumbled inside the drum. I’ll get the hang of this lark one day, I’m sure.

It’s quiet here. There’s a TV in the place, and a minute sitting in front of the news suggests the world is far from quiet, and not in a good way. Of course the news is selective: we find disaster more interesting. I thank God for all the people who just do good stuff, unsung.

Janet came here to our staying place on the way through, for lunch and a rest. It was a brilliant day, the only problem being the unexpected non-availability of pasties on a Wednesday. Janet seems really excited by making progress on foot, and I’m really pleased about that.

I’m sitting in the car, parked by a back road, next to a row of magnolias. I’m waiting for Janet to come around the corner.

It’s exciting. I have worked out when I expect her to pass. I know where she was the last time I heard from her. I have an idea of her speed, and decide when I expect to see her. As the moment approaches, the expectation builds. It’s a bit like waiting for the tour de France, except at 2mph rather than 30. And there’s no advertising procession beforehand. But there’s the same growing anticipation.

Sometimes I walk out to meet her. I strain my eyes for a glimpse of red cagoule in the distance beyond the trees or shops or traffic. Sometimes I’ve just caught sight of a pillar box and experienced a moment of misguided joy (we’ve all had those, haven’t we, brothers and sisters).

Waiting for Janet. When’s she coming through? She’ll be coming at walking pace, a humble mode of transport. Multiply this by thousands of bystanders in Jerusalem, and you’ve got the anticipation before Jesus rides in, maybe rather more like the Tour de France than me waiting for Janet. But the crowd changed their minds. Or maybe it’s just that other voices shouted louder later on. The people have spoken. Sometimes they speak with love and sometimes with hate.

Today is a long day for Janet: extra time and extra distance on the day because of a visit to the Eden Project. I think it must have been worth it, though. Its a treasure trove of gardens and flowers and art and adventures and economics and ecology. It is world class.

God you have given us
a wonderful, diverse, productive planet. 
Give us grace to care for this planet, 
so many generations can enjoy
all the earth offers.