成人快手

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Harry Baker

Good morning.

My nieces are staying with me this week. We were supposed to see each other over Christmas but had to cancel at the last minute due to another lockdown, so this is the first time we have spent more than day together since before the pandemic hit. During that time the eldest Flo has started school and so is now on her first school holiday, Thea has gone from not saying many words to being the undisputed funniest member of the family, and also no longer being the youngest child as Olivia came into the world just two months ago.

In many ways it can feel like time has stood still for the past year and a half, yet in terms of having a 鈥榩roductive lockdown鈥� I can鈥檛 help but think learning to walk and talk for the first time ever or simply coming into existence trumps how many loaves of bread you made or whether or not you learnt the keytar that you bought in a moment of panic that you had to come out of this with at least one new skill. For all of the worrying and anxiety that I have felt about whether or not certain things would happen or be cancelled, life has a wonderful habit of carrying on whether or not we are paying enough attention to notice it.

As well as the essentials such as having bought a giant inflatable flamingo for us to try out together and no doubt buying far too much ice cream and having cuddles with a tiny new baby, I am excited to make very few plans and to simply hang out and for it to feel as normal as ever. From the matter of fact way that Flo tells my brother maybe he could be in the Olympics next year if only he would 鈥済et training鈥�, or Thea challenging the patriarchy age 3 by asking why it was always a green man when they cross the road and not a green girl.

God of relationships, thank you for family, whether it be biological or one we build ourselves. We pray for those who have lost people close to them during the pandemic or who are still unable to see loved ones after so long. May we enter today open to building new relationships that could end up spanning lifetimes, and may each of us hold onto slightly more childlike wonder.

Amen