A Season Of Community Revival?

This week I have been preparing talks for two retreats. The second is an open retreat. It runs from 2-6 July at The Open Gate, Holy Island. You are welcome if there is still a place. I am stepping into the shoes of Kevin and Lesley Downham who have moved to a new posting. We wish them well. The retreat's theme is Tides and Seasons. I ran into David Adam last week, whose book Tides and Seasons will be a resource for our retreat. This looks at ebbs and flows. The retreat will also takes us through Shakespeare's seven stages of a human life from the womb to the tomb.

This week also I have sent articles to various periodicals. One is Berwick Advertiser's Pause for Thought. Here is an extract: 'The Big Lunch, on Sunday 3 June, will be the UK's biggest annual get together for neighbours. For a few glorious hours cars stop and neighbours come together in the street to meet, greet, share, swap, sing, plan and laugh. In 2017, 9.3 million people participated. This is inspired by The Eden Project.

Community friendship is growing in other ways and places. In Frome, Somerset, nearly 400 local groups have come together so that no one need feel uncared for. They distribute a directory of care providers and good neighbours. As a result emergency admissions to hospitals have fallen by 17% ...

Berwick has great potential as a friendly place. But we must seize the moment. The owners of our empty shops could rent them at a discount to good neighbours who open them up for social, artistic and ecological purposes. Why not bring Berwick’s main streets alive, by day and after dark, with live music. bring-and-buy plants and dvd’s, book clubs, street theatre, meditation and advice spaces for a start?

The kingdom of God is a party.'