It’s been a good week for finding innovative ways of doing things, which certainly helps us to feel more positive.  In our 11^th month of living with the pandemic, almost everyone has now experienced their birthday in lockdown or at least under very restricted conditions when it comes to celebrating.  Someone suggested in Zoom coffee on Sunday (a gathering which itself has developed with the introduction of break-out rooms to mirror the small discussions enjoyed over a cuppa after Sunday services) that families and friends have become more creative about birthday celebrations because of lockdown with its necessary separation.   I completely agree.

My birthday was last week, and it certainly felt a special day and very different from all previous birthdays.  One of my daughters thoughtfully administered an in-house pamper session for me in the morning which was very relaxing – candles and soothing music added to the ambience!  And because I remembered to order two weeks in advance, a delivery of tea-time treats arrived on the big day from Betty’s of York.  We were able to enjoy a wonderful birthday tea at home, although I suspect it wasn’t very good for the waistline!  This self-indulgence brought back happy memories of when I was a little girl growing up in York, and we were taken to Betty’s tea rooms on special occasions.  By the time we walked back to our house after a spectacular tea, I remember I always used to feel slightly nauseous from consuming excess icing, but it still ranked as a top treat.  As an adult, I flatter myself that I have learnt to restrain such self-indulgence a little more judiciously.  But perhaps this is easier, knowing that we can continue to eat the remaining cake the next day, which clearly isn’t an option when you are taken out to tea!

We also had some spiritual nourishment earlier in the week.  After live-streamed Compline on Wednesday evening, we had an inspiring young visiting speaker from Germany who joined our discussion group to share some of her experiences of working with the Community of the Cross of Nails at Coventry Cathedral three years ago, and to talk about her current daily life as a university student back home in Germany.  It was so good to have a wider perspective on life from someone in another country.  Even though we can’t travel around ourselves, we can experience other places through the eyes of someone else.  We hope to continue with invited speakers on some future Wednesday evenings and make the most of the technology which allows us to share joint conversations with people hundreds or even thousands of miles away – something we wouldn’t ever have imagined organising this time last year.  And for anyone who wonders whether they have the computer skills to allow them to access such gatherings, I have just received some helpful written instructions to share with those who would like to access Zoom meetings in the future but are unsure about how to do it, and these can easily be sent via email.

Creativity is the word of the moment.  Necessity is the mother of invention according to Plato, but it is also the mother of creativity, and we have been blessed with countless examples of creativity in our communities during the past 10 months.  If we can continue to seek different ways of coping with the challenges of living with a pandemic, who knows how our lives will look by the end of the year? God does. 

Sarah Bourne, Chaplain for the Arts – 3^rd February 2021   sarahbourne@banburystmary.org.uk