Rather unexpectedly, on a rather dreary day, I had a good experience in a local church (a place I very rarely visit). It felt a certain grace, a feeling of newness. Hungry for more, I tried to repeat experience, but it wasn’t the same.
From a concert by the music group, Ananda – performing the songs of Sri Chinmoy. Lord Mayor’s Chapel, Bristol, 13 December, 2015.
The entrance to the concert was through a modest wooden door. In a street filled with the brilliance of commerce, it would have been quite easy to walk straight past. But this reserved entrance, hid an unexpected sanctuary of peace – within the chapel a generosity of light and calm.
A small crowd gathers, patiently in the ancient wooden pews; a few intrepid souls, perhaps wondering what is to come.
A dull winter’s day, but I drag myself from the comfy, soporific atmosphere of being glued to a screen.
The chill bites through a thin winter’s jacket, so I walk at a quicker pace up the hill. Still, a rather aimless march – just a break for blurry eyes and cramped legs.
I contemplate the local church on the hill. The sombre graveyard, the memories of a young child – sitting in a service I didn’t understand, counting off hymns, thinking of football. I’m not so comfortable with the glare of gravestones, but the church still pulls me in. What do you find in a church these days?