‘Rector’s Ramble’ for March from our Team Rector, Revd Ian Hepburn

I am fortunate to live in a house often full of the sound of musicians practising some wonderful music. Lucy came home for a couple of days over half-term and has been practising for work she is doing with her string quartet in London. She’s thrilled that one of their first paid gigs at college will be in the Houses of Parliament for the all-women’s speeches – not a bad first gig for her quartet – and they are working hard to prepare for it.

Ben and his friend spent a few days preparing some old wooden pallets to make into a bike jump. Most of the time was spent breaking apart the old pallets to find some usable wood. There’s a definite knack to that work. Once the preparation had been made, it took very little time to build the jump and now it’s just ready for painting.

School pupils have returned from half-term holidays to find themselves preparing for ‘mocks’, which are themselves a preparation for the real things in summer. All over town people are preparing. Choirs and orchestras rehearse and sports teams practise or train. And most of us spend quite a lot of time preparing for something or other. Preparation is often not very glamourous or exciting. And in my experience, it’s often a little untidy. Lent begins untidily with Ash Wednesday, and the tradition of being marked with ashes on the forehead or hand. It’s a reminder from the Genesis account that we are all formed from dust of the ground. Messy!

The season of Lent is a big shout-out for all the time spent in preparation.  At the start of our church services, and before Holy Communion, we acknowledge the importance of preparation by praying prayers of preparation, and some of these are well-known and much-loved prayers. Have a look. They’re a gentle reminder that God is as present in the work of preparation as he is in the finished article.

So here’s to all the preparation and unfinished business of Lent.
Love and best wishes,