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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Rev Guy Goodall

Good morning.

If I had a valid Passport – mine’s run out, I could go on holiday to enjoy, a different culture, new wildlife, different food. But then for so much of those ten years I rarely travelled abroad except for an annual holiday.

Recently I’ve been unable to drive my car, having had an operation on my knee. Car, walking, things I can do but which I can’t take full advantage of for one reason or another. Any way, the surgeon eventually gave me permission to drive again, and I can purchase a new Passport, free to go abroad. When it's OK to do things, I must do them!

Permission to do some things gives us the freedom that we may have been seeking for years. Denying ourselves the freedom to say ‘yes’ to something limits what we can do. It maybe that someone we love has died, and we consider it disrespectful to laugh at a joke, go to a football match or go out to enjoy a meal. It's not disrespectful. Grief is a journey to work through where we can find a safe place for our emotions and our loved one, enjoying life once again, but in a new way.

The Passport gives me permission to travel, the surgeon permission to drive, a valued friend gives me permission to grieve but also to move on with life, without fear of disrespect.

Lord, thank you for the time you give me to express sorrow at the loss of a loved one, and thank you for giving me permission to hold that loved life in a special place in order that I may get on with my life with both peace and joy.

Amen