Some recent ‘Thoughts’ have been quite lengthy – this ‘Thought’ plans to be short, so here goes.
It was magical – a short touch of Stedman Triples on our 17cwt eight, the first for sixteen months! Nothing more to write home about you may think – after all, touches of Stedman Triples are commonplace. Yet after sixteen months without hearing our eight, it really was magical – good old Fabian Stedman, say I.
In a strange way, it was, perhaps, one of the most memorable pieces of ringing in which I have been privileged to take part, this short touch of Stedman Triples on Monday 19th July 2021 – it was truly magical.
This set me thinking; significance, importance far beyond the thing itself. This, I suppose, can be due to a variety of reasons: time, place, circumstances, situation, to name some possibilities.
That touch of Stedman was a clear example of this. In these COVID-19 days, two small words have taken on a profound meaning, and the two small words are ‘thank you’. Thank you, above all, to the NHS. In fact, when you think about it, they are two simple words that are supremely important; they oil the wheels of life, and not for nothing does Thanksgiving and Eucharist lie at the heart of Christian worship.
So there is a little spiritual nugget to finish this short ‘Thought’.
CHRIS MARSHALL
A member of the Clerical Guild