Parish Magazine

When we were in England last spring and touring the Lake District, we ventured into an old Anglican church in the village of Hawkshead, where I picked up a copy of a real honest-to-God parish magazine.  I've read about parish magazines in Barbara Pym novels--vicars are always composing articles for them and dutiful parishioners are always delivering them.  This  one, published monthly, is called "The Esthwaite Link," and consists five pages folded length-wise and stapled to make a spine.  

The notices and articles are varied: A Thanksgiving for Lambing and Farming service; a Soup and Cheese Lunch for Christian Aid (with plant, book, and cake stalls, plus a raffle); a Coffee Morning (more cakes and a raffle), a brass band concert;  an afternoon tea to celebrate being an "eco-congregation;" and a lengthy report on the local school and its fundraisers.  A pair of twins was baptised, and two people died.

At the front of the magazine is a letter from the Vicar,  the Reverend John Dixon,  and his topic is "quietness."  He says,

"Although the pace of life is slower here than it is in other parts of the country, we still get frustrated by delays and little inconveniences, at least I do.  Even here, we find ourselves rushing from one thing to another...It is good to stop the rushing, the constant doing, and relish a moment or two of quietness. We need silence.  We need to learn what silence is.  We need silence to make sense of the words we use and to make room for the unspoken."

Thousands of miles away, two Berkeley therapists who are close friends of mine would agree.  Sit with it, they counsel.  Be quiet.  Watch your thoughts as they move past.

Easier said than done.