Why the words ‘thank you’ matter more than ever – Bishop of Ripon

Occasionally I find myself distracted by birds drinking water from an upturned roof-rack; I marvel at their apparent care-free attitude (they don’t really do physical distancing).

The quiet around me is occasionally interrupted by air-traffic from nearby RAF Leeming. I’m grateful for that, because it makes me stop and think of all that our armed forces, on land, on sea and in the air continue to do for us even during this time of lockdown.

We hardly need a reminder of that at the moment, with yesterday being VE Day. It was a VE Day celebration like no other. I would usually have been in Ripon Cathedral for the County of North Yorkshire service, instead, like others, I joined in virtually online.

It is tempting to seek a parallel in our current situation, with individuals and media outlets describing Covid-19 as ‘a common enemy’. However, such a parallel is not necessarily helpful.

The virus is something we are having to learn to live ‘with’, not against. On VE Day, 1945, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, made a statement in the House of Commons in which he said: “We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing, but let us not forget for a moment the toils and efforts that lie ahead.”

Churchill acknowledged the need to look back and acknowledge what had happened, but knew that a future focus would be needed too.

In front of me on my desk are two rusty nails. I picked them up from the ground of a construction site I visited a few years ago.

In 2011, the Canterbury region of New Zealand’s South Island was devastated by a severe earthquake. A total of 185 people died in that natural disaster, and many of the region’s stone buildings collapsed, including the city of Christchurch’s Cathedral.

The construction site where I picked up the nails was that of the replacement Cathedral, made of cardboard, built to withstand future earthquakes and with a lifespan of 50 years (not bad for cardboard). It’s called a transitional Cathedral because the hope is that the destroyed Cathedral will, in time, be rebuilt.

Earthquakes are not pleasant things to experience. It’s difficult to capture in words the feeling of the ground beneath your feet moving. You temporarily lose your reference points, and if you are alone even the mildest of shakes can be quite scary. I recall being in one earthquake which woke me up after midnight.

My husband was back in the UK at the time, and I had a sleepless night listening to the radio and worrying if another tremor would occur. It didn’t, but I still found it hard to settle over subsequent days and 
nights.

There has been considerable debate in recent weeks about closed churches, and the particular bug-bear of some that priests haven’t been able to access their churches to pray or to ‘live-stream’ or record worship services.

While I have some sympathy, I have found myself lacking in patience with this view, and my reflections have led me back to my time as a bishop in New Zealand, and the nails that sit on my desk.

For Christians, we are still in the Easter season, which lasts for 50 days. The resurrection of Jesus on Easter Day happened as a particular event in history, and we remember this every year, but it’s what took place afterwards that mattered.

The story of how the early Church emerged from a fear of persecution is one that continually inspires and challenges.

The recent conversations that I and colleagues have had with clergy, and those who share in the Church’s ministry, are characterised by feelings of liberation from the burden of endless meetings and maintaining buildings into the outward-facing, community-based acts of service and compassion that are clear signs of God’s Kingdom.

Take St Peter’s Church, in Harrogate, for example, where 1,000 meals to help feed the most vulnerable on the streets have been cooked (and all credit to Bettys tearooms, in Harrogate for their help in this) or the creation of the ‘pop-up’ pantry in Bentham which I opened virtually a couple of weeks ago, providing a vital source of community support, and all staffed by volunteers and with generous donations from Morrisons.

Up and down our region there are selfless acts of love and care being demonstrated by so many, often in quiet and unassuming ways.

I’ve been inspired by hearing about how individuals are flourishing even in the midst of pain and anxiety: and this speaks profoundly about what emergence looks and feels like.

Change and growth are not without cost: the nails on my desk tell me that.

I mourn those who have died in this Covid-19 crisis and I give thanks for those who work tirelessly to provide care and support.

Saying thank you seems like such a tiny gesture, but from small things can emerge great hope.

The Right Reverend Dr Helen-Ann Hartley is the Bishop of Ripon.

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