The week after I publish a book is always strange and often, I mooch about the house, not quite knowing what to do with myself. In theory, I start the next book, but the time immediately before the publication date is so intense that I have to shake that off before I can think of anything else.
This time the only difference to that pattern is that I already have the draft of the next book written, so I will edit and revise, instead of starting something fresh. Today, that sounds even less appealing.
Added that, we are in the middle of holy week. Steve has days off and the weather is glorious.
My mind strays toward the summer to come. We are planting spring flowers on the patio and on Sunday we are celebrating Easter day in Santiago with our friend Anna Noon, who is the Anglican/Episcopal Missioner for Pilgrims. I am hoping some of those Pilgrims will join us for the Eucharist in Santa Susanna’s and make the celebration memorable.
To prepare for that, I have been making prayer patches. (Look up Prayer shawl ministry, if you don’t know what they are) for people to carry in their pocket as a symbol that Christ is with them and to assist prayer. Especially useful on a pilgrimage.
As I work, I recall how difficult it has often been to find a time and quiet space to pray. As a child, my family and I often visited the village of Epworth, the birthplace of John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist church. I learned about Susanna Wesley, their mother. She had nineteen children, and the family was poor, so help with the household and children was beyond her means. One day, in desperation, she put her apron over her head and told the children that when they saw her like that; she was with God and they must not disturb her.
What she actually did in those prayer times I don’t know, but as a young mother, when having a ‘quiet time’ was nigh on impossible, I remembered her example. The apron thing wasn’t very practical, so I looked for a similar solution and for me, it was a small wooden cross which I carried in my hand whenever I pushed the pram. And no, I did not spend every moment when the cross was in my hand in intercession. Sometimes I needed to be quiet. Once or twice I needed a good cry. I’m sure that for Susanna it was the same. I know that because she was human.
I am sad to say that her life’s circumstances didn’t change a great deal. Nine of her children died in infancy, and her marriage was difficult. Simple things, like finding the next meal, continued to occupy her time. I like to think that her prayers brought her peace. We might never know that, but what I do know is that her prayers changed the lives of generations to come.
Two women called Janet Severi Bristow and Victoria Galo started the prayer shawl movement in 1998, intending to help women needing a moment of quiet and comfort in difficult times. I do not know if the story of Susanna Wesley influenced them, or even if they had heard of her, but the sentiment and the inspiration are the same.
The pocket prayer shawls I am making are for those men and women who need to carry their quiet place with them.
I crocheted mine and I love the way the repetitive rhythm means I can say a prayer for each stitch I make. I use the same principle if I intend to walk prayerfully, and so I can ask God to bless the pilgrim who might use it. Walking is a way to lose the things of this world for a while and allow God’s rhythm to take over.
I still have a butterfly mind that flits from one thing to the next with the least provocation, despite all my lofty principles, and I am forced to trust that God honours my intention as much as my actions. Sadly, I am as human now as I was all those years ago, although I have learned to accept my limitations more readily.
Either way, I have plenty of squares prepared to take along with me on Sunday.
We are expecting a record number of Pilgrims to pass through Sarria this year, and we hope to meet as many as we can and share stories with them.
I have written a plan for next week’s work, so that’s something at least I am working on the next book in my Camino de Santiago Murders. This one is called Sea Dead and centred on Finisterre, where Richard Harris has to discover the identity of a body washed ashore while he is on holiday. He is told that the body belongs to a careless pilgrim washed off the jetty wall in a storm, but he knows that the local police have lied to him and want to find out why.
So I’ve firmly fixed my mind upon this year’s Pilgrim season, in my mind and in my heart.
My god bless you this Easter weekend.
Abigail Thorne 
Thank you Abigail, I needed to hear this after the month I’ve had. Although my faith is different the principles of clearing the mind and taking time out are the same. Happy Easter. X
LikeLiked by 1 person