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Lyn - Spiritual Director, Bourne End (2025)

04/10/2025

The wind blew my cosmos plant out of the ground but the flowers look nice in a vase

25/03/2023

I held a party the other week and grief came.
She wasn’t invited but she came anyway - barged her way in through the door and settled down like she was here to stay.

And then she introduced me to the friends she’d brought with her - Anger. Fear. Frustration. Guilt. Hopelessness.

And they sang in the loudest voices, took up space in every corner of the room and spoke over anyone else that tried to talk.

They made it messy and loud and uncomfortable.

But finally, they left.

And long afterwards, when I was all alone,
I realised there was still someone here.
Quietly clearing up after the rest.

I asked who she was and she told me, “Love.”

And I assumed that’s why she looked familiar - because I had met her before.

“Or perhaps,” she said, “it’s because I’ve been here the whole time.”

And I was confused then because I hadn’t seen her all evening.
But when I looked more closely,
when I looked into her eyes,

I realised quietly that she had been here.
All the time.

She’d just been dressed as grief.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2023

Sometimes it helps to remember that underneath our grief, there is love. It was there before, it’s there now and it will still be there afterwards.
Love endures like nothing else can.

‘Afterparty’ is from the book When I Am Gone
https://a.co/d/35WJcRh

23/06/2022

Why not build some slow time today? Put your chair in the window. Look at the world. See what you can see. Read my BBC Radio2 Pause for Thought...

Last week I slowed down Zoe – I switched everything off and went on a long walk.

In fact I walked the St Cuthbert’s Way from Melrose in the Scottish borders to Holy Island in Northumberland.

And the world opened up to me. I saw orchids growing in the hedgerow. A hare racing up the path ahead of me. Seals basking on the rocks. A cairn on an isolated hill top in the Cheviots.

None of this could be seen from a car window. I had to get off the beaten track. I had to slow down.

I slowed down to what some people call the speed of thought, or what I like to think of as God’s pace, walking speed, the speed of prayer.

Someone once said that Jesus changed the world at three miles per hour. What they meant, is that he walked everywhere.

And as he walked, he met people and listened to them and ministered to them and talked to them and changed them.

And what might also be implied, is that our feverish demand for speed, and for getting everything done yesterday, is also changing the world, but not necessarily for the better.

It seems these days that many of us, including me, want to get from A to B in the quickest possible time by the shortest possible route. But not only does this put every moment of the day under enormous stress and the endless pressure to produce and achieve, it means I miss out on all the beauty in between, things that can only really be appreciated by slowing down. Some things – you might even say the best things – simply can’t be done in a hurry. Like producing the best wine, or cooking a really good stew, or growing a garden.

And as I walked, this was my prayer: Lord, make me slow to rush ahead of you – because that’s what I think is happening in so much that is wrong and confused in our world today and we see it’s devastating effects in displaced people, heat waves, flood, forest fire and famine - but make us quick to follow where you lead, and find a new and better way of inhabiting this earth.

You’re probably not able to go on pilgrimage this week as I was lucky enough to do last week, in fact it’s been hard to get anywhere with the various strike action – so perhaps there has been a chance for some slow time, downtime, time to enjoy your day. I might take a long cut home. Throw away the teabags and rediscover the lost happiness of those two minutes we used to have when we warmed the pot and waited for the tea to mash. I’m going to switch off the telly tonight. Put a chair in the window. Look at the world. See what I can see. Count my blessings.

You see, I don’t want any more time saving devices in my life, because they just add to the pressure of fitting more in. I want some time creating devices. Things that will slow me down.

Listen again at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00188xw

06/06/2022

One of my favourite poems from the Celtic tradition is this little piece written by a monk who is fantasizing about how they would like to live in the wild and pray. One of the reasons I love it so…

27/03/2022

With the springlike weather, the gardeners amongst us are keen to start sowing seeds for the new season but nervous of the threat of frosts. Spreading the Gospel is a bit like gardening; you can plant seeds and wait for them to grow, nurturing and providing food for the soul and then be overwhelmed at the harvest or completely disappointed by the results! Jesus told the parable of the sower because his listeners would have been able to link the experiences they had with growing crops. The point is that growers never give up, they just try something different and keep sowing the seeds. God gives us all we need for the harvest; we are called to keep sowing the seeds. If your seed of faith is in need of some nurture, why not have a chat with a Spiritual Director? It could help you blossom!

03/01/2022

2021 was not quite the year we all expected was it? So what of 2022? We have all been wrapped up in thinking about our physical health but having lived through a collective trauma, many have found their mental health has suffered. And what about spiritual health? For some the pandemic has been a time of relief giving time and space to think about what is really important in their lives but for others it has been a wilderness experience where they have struggled. Spiritual directors can help by listening and encouraging. We are not counsellors and we do not offer solutions but we give time and space for the inner voice to be heard and nurtured.

13/04/2021

Spring is here - despite the frost and snow - nature is getting on with new life. As the sun shines into our homes highlighting all the dark and dusty areas, we might be energised into Spring cleaning. But how are you feeling? No, really, how are you? It has been a hard few months. Is it time for some spiritual spring cleaning and healing?

19/03/2021

We are now deep into Lent and Good Friday is only 2 weeks away. Many have had crosses to bear over the past year and Lent is a time of reflection and for spiritual growth. I am always hear to listen without judgment and explore where God is in your life.

31/01/2021

As the Church celebrates Candlemas today, the Epiphany season comes to an end and the Nativity scenes with the visiting Magi and their camels will have been packed away for another year. As we begin to look forward to Spring and the new hope that Easter will bring, how are things for you? This time last year we never imagined we would be in another Lockdown and that so many would have died from Coronavirus. For some their faith will have been tested in the last year; for some it will have been a time of spiritual growth and self discovery. Many have discovered the benefits of being able to worship online knowing that they are not alone in doing so. Perhaps you are feeling that this might be a time to explore where God is in your life and a session with a Spiritual Director might help you unlock some long hidden connections to the creator. Communicating by email or on zoom or by phone is a good place to start until we are able to meet in person once more. Why not take that first step?

04/12/2020

My guilty pleasure......

02/12/2020

This year seems to have flown by at a rate of knots. It has been the strangest of years and the whole human race has been caught up in the global pandemic. The season of Advent is a time of taking stock and reflection as we head towards the celebration of Christmas. With the restrictions in place, this is going to be a very different Christmas for many. Perhaps though it will be a time of reconnecting with our spiritual roots and celebrating the mystery of Christ’s birth in a simpler way this year. Many of us arrive at Christmas morning running on empty;depleted of energy but in the story of the birth of the Christ child, we can experience the true meaning of Emmanuel - God with us - in all the mess and uncertainty of our lives.

18/10/2020

Today we celebrate St Luke, traditionally linked with healing. In a time when healing is so badly needed, these words from the Theological Introduction to Common Worship's resources for Healing and Wholeness, may be worth reflection.
'Prayer for healing needs to take seriously the way in which individual sickness and vulnerability are often the result of injustice and social oppression. Equally importantly such prayer should not imply that the restoration of physical wholeness is the only way in which Christ meets human need. Healing has always to be seen against the background of the continuing anguish of an alienated world and the hidden work of the Holy Spirit bringing God's new order to birth. It is a way of partaking in God's new life that will not be complete until it includes the whole creation and the destruction of death itself.'
Painting of St Luke by James Tissot

Lyn - Spiritual Director

04/10/2025

25/03/2023

23/06/2022

06/06/2022

27/03/2022

03/01/2022

13/04/2021

19/03/2021

31/01/2021

04/12/2020

02/12/2020

18/10/2020

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