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Ruth Scott, Anglican Priest and Quaker:

Over the last week or so our back garden has been an archaeological dig. Our house, along with others in the street, was built on the site of the medieval Hyde Abbey where the remains of Saxon King Alfred, his wife and son were interred. Until the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, the Abbey was a popular pilgrimage destination.

In true Time Team fashion we’ve had three deep trenches dug in our garden, revealing what seems to be the remains of a section of abbey wall. To be honest I can’t make head nor tail of what’s been unearthed. A rock that I thought was a bit of garden detritus to be discarded, filled the archaeologist with excitement. He recognised it had been brought over from the Isle of Wight, and shaped by human hand to become part of the abbey cloister. He waxed so lyrical you could almost hear the medieval monks singing Morning Prayer. His knowledge turned the meaningless lump of stone into a treasure linking us to the people of our past. Two things strike me.

Knowledge, in this case, of archaeology, opens our eyes to whole new worlds, unfolding story upon story that in ignorance we’d otherwise miss. Thank God for the curiosity that keeps us asking questions! Secondly, how we see the world says more about us and our degree of awareness than it does about the world. In Christianity, Jesus often urged his listeners to see things in a different way, to go beyond blind ignorance and to change their limited perceptions. In difficult circumstances this learning to look at something with ‘new eyes’ can often help us cope better.

To take a personal example - me working with my present illness - I could see myself as a victim of cancer or I can choose to see cancer and its treatment as a pilgrimage; a journey of challenge, reflection and travelling through unfamiliar psychological landscapes with the possibility of new discoveries and deeper understanding - just like the pilgrims who, all those centuries ago, travelled in faith to the abbey at the bottom of our garden.