I have just waved goodbye to another daughter departing from home to start a course in a new city this month.  The car is packed high with boxes of bedding, clothes, musical instruments and even a houseplant or two.  We dug out some spare crockery and mugs, at least 2 of everything, in the hope that Covid restrictions will permit house guests during the academic year to come.  The last 18 months have not been great for students who have been paying huge sums of money for courses, without all the valuable opportunities for meeting new people and discovering fresh interests, but we are optimistic that this next year will be different!

September is a month of new beginnings, and every year I experience the same bitter-sweet feeling that the summer has come to an end.  There is always sadness because we have enjoyed and now lost the long hours of daylight and the freedom of holidays.  At the same time, I experience a sense of anticipation that we are entering into a new phase, perhaps in education or innovative ventures at work. We may be taking up an additional hobby or joining a leisure group which we have not participated in for many years.  There is certainly a sad feeling to waving off a daughter from home, although as one leaves, another often re-appears!  We love having our family all together, but it is the nature of life that the younger generation rightly want to make their own mark on the world and live their own lives as adults, independent from parents who brought them up.  And September often brings a new opportunity and a fresh start in this respect.

At St Mary’s Church we have the same sense of anticipation.  On the first Sunday in September we will celebrate our patronal festival (a special service dedicated to the saint after whom our church is named), focusing on Mary the mother of Jesus.  In order to make this Sunday a little more special, we have arranged a picnic and group walk (or pilgrimage) after our morning service to St Mary’s Church Broughton and St Mary’s Church Bloxham.  This collective activity offers us space for thought as well as time for discussion together.

We know that conversation and shared company have been sadly lacking over much of the past 18 months and this has had serious implications for our wellbeing.  The pandemic has deprived us of people and opportunities, and even now it may feel strange and a little uncomfortable to venture out with anyone who isn’t a member of our own household.  It takes time to re-acclimatise ourselves to ‘normal life’, but a group walk is certainly a good way to enjoy the fresh air and the company of others.  And if you feel ready to meet up in a large airy space, you might like to come to Creating Space in St Mary’s Church in Banbury which is starting at 10.30 on Wednesday mornings.  This is an opportunity to bring your own hobby with you to work on, or simply the chance to meet for a chat inside our beautiful building as we begin to re-build our gathered community life and shared experiences.  My on-going embroidery project hasn’t grown by a single stitch in the past 18 months because of other demands on my time, but Wednesday mornings might just be the fresh start I need to re-activate the needle and thread again!

Sarah Bourne, Chaplain for the Arts – 1^st Sept 2021             sarahbourne@banburystmary.org.uk