Be still

Mother Anna writes: In a world in which so many of us rely on the internet, what happens when the internet goes away?

Well I can tell you what happened in our house - frustration, stress and a whole lot of scurrying around trying to get things fixed. Because without the internet, how could we work? How could we do our online weekly shop? With no streaming services to watch TV and no data to doomscroll on our phones, how would we even survive?

I'm not going to lie - it really was stressful and we really were worried about work and long evenings with nothing to do. But we figured the work thing out and it turned out that long evenings without the internet meant more time together, more time to chat, more books to be read.

To be honest, losing the internet was actually rather nice.

We were briefly out of contact - no work emails, no social media, no nattering on WhatsApp - and it was fine. It was quiet. We kind of enjoyed it.

We were very glad to get the internet back, mind you. Six days living in the 20th century were more than enough and we were very glad to get back to the 21st. But that brief period without the internet gave us a bit of time to do things differently. To be quiet. To be still. To be present.

I'm a vicar - it really shouldn't take an internet outage to remind me to be still. But it did and it was a good reminder, so I share it with you.

Photo by Todd Morris on Unsplash

You don't have to switch off the internet, but maybe take some time each day this week to be still. To sit and focus on your breathing for a while. Don't try to change it - just notice it. A few breaths, then maybe remind yourself that you are in the presence be God. And be still. Just for a while. No need to chat to God, just notice God's presence.

Be still in the presence of God.

Notices

No internet in church The lack of internet is an infrastructure problem in the area and while Mthr Anna now has internet back in the vicarage, at time of writing (Thursday) there is still no internet in church. Telecoms engineers have been out but have not yet been able to fix the problem. Very sadly this means that we will not be able to livestream our service on Sunday.

August quiet time The church is now closed midweek until September: there will be no Thursday service of Holy Communion, no Tuesday café, no Stitchers and no foodbank. This is to give our amazing staff and volunteers some time off.

We do, however, have two new events to look forward to in August:

·         Sunday 23 August, Picnic in the Park. Bring a picnic lunch to church – we will be going to Pymmes Park for a picnic and a relaxed afternoon together

·         Saturday 29 August, Big Clean Up. Fetch your rubber gloves and join us for a big sort and clean session, to get the church looking ship-shape for our open day on 19 September

Open House 19 September Our beautiful church building will be part of the annual Open House London festival this year. Keep the date free – we will need lots of helping hands.

Looking ahead We have lots of exciting events planned from August to December – Keep an eye on the Dates for the Diary below.

Confirmations 6 December Bishop Anderson will be with us on Sunday 6 December for a confirmation service. Confirmation preparation will begin in September - if you or a family member would like to be confirmed and to receive Holy Communion please talk to Mother Anna.

Dates for the diary

23 Aug  Picnic in the Park after church

29 Aug  11 am Big Clean Up

19 Sep   Open House

27 Sep Harvest

17 Oct    Fundraising concert

25 Oct Thanksgiving and Giving service

1 Nov 10am All Saints, 3pm All Souls

8 Nov Remembrance Sunday

15 Nov Safeguarding Sunday - renew your safeguarding training in church

5 Dec     Christmas Bazaar

6 Dec     Confirmations with Bishop Anderson

20 Dec 3pm Carol Service for all ages