This ‘Thought for the Day’ comes from my vicar, Canon Annette Reed. She has kindly allowed me to share it with you as I like it a lot.
If you had walked into Holy Trinity Church in Great Paxton village this week, you would have been greeted by a building site.
The Cambridgeshire Saxon building was full of dust and the sound of old concrete plaster being drilled off from the interior walls by two very capable contractors. For years, the lower part of the walls had been very damp. No one had quite realised that several years ago concrete plaster had been applied to the walls in an attempt to stop rising damp.
The result being that more moisture had been trapped due the surface not being able to breathe.
Hence the on going damp, musty problem.
Apparently putting on concrete plaster was a common approach in the 1960’s – we are wiser now.
Once the old defective plaster had been drilled off, we could see the problem that was being covered up. We hope that now that thick coating has been removed, the walls will dry out ready too have a new appropriate mortar mix applied sometime in 2021 so the walls can breathe.
There is a saying that you never know what is really going on behind closed doors.
Nor can we really know what is going on behind someone’s stoic smile or cheerful words.
Many of us keep our inner most thoughts and secret struggles to ourselves, preferring to be a closed book rather than risk being laughed at or criticised.
We might have a lot going on in our hearts and minds which we are not even aware of ourselves.
I know how easy it can be to put on a brave face when really we are hurting inside.
We conceal how truly are – but long for someone to reach out and connect with us in a meaningful way.
There is a lovely prayer which comes towards the beginning of one of our church services which begins:
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden.
What an amazing thought that God knows exactly our state of being.
We don’t have to conceal anything or hide behind a hard exterior.
He invites us to come to him – just as we are.
The walls of Great Paxton Church are free now of a hard coating that was causing a lot of problems.
My prayer for all of us is that some at least of the barriers we put up may soften and as we learn to breathe in God’s goodness and healing presence we find it easier to truly be ourselves.
Take care and may God bless you all in these difficult days.
