Better together

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I'm not going to lie- I'm really going to miss our annual Christian Anglers weekend Retreat this year. Cancelling it, in the light of all that's going on at the moment and in line with government restrictions was undoubtedly the right and the sensible thing to do, but it'll certainly leave a bit of a hole in my summer. 

We all of us sometimes enjoy fishing solo - packing up some lunch, grabbing our tackle and sitting on the banks of  river, lake or canal with only ourselves, the chatter of birds, the glory of nature, and God for company, but there's also something special about fishing in company. It may just be with one particular fishing partner, two or three friends, or (as in our fish-ins and retreats) a whole bunch of angling pals, but memories are often that bit sweeter when they happen to be shared memories. I've been fishing with my two brothers for nearly 40 years now, and with many of my fellow Christian Anglers members for a fair few, too.


At the present time, it's not only fishing companions we're missing, it's also being physically present with the church families and fellowships we belong to. What, for many of us, is a Sunday habit going back years has had to change radically. No longer, do we meet in a building but our services happen online, we do Bible studies through Zoom, "attend" Sunday meetings on Facebook Live or Youtube, catch up with prayer requests on WhatsApp. 
In some ways it's been a good thing- we're probably making more of an effort because we're missing each other. I feel more connected now to the church I attend than ever, and my big hope is that when this difficult season has passed that we won't forget the value we've placed on each other and on fellowship over these weeks of spatial distancing.

Perhaps we've been reminded of something we already knew: that church isn't a "building", it's "the people", that as 1 Peter Chapter 2 tells us we're the "living stones" and we're the "building", with Jesus as the cornerstone or "foundation stone." 
I came across a great quote in a book this week, which said that "beauty arises from the unity of the separate parts." Nice.

My guess is that when we finally do manage to have our next fish-in, we'll appreciate it all the more because of the enforced absence. My hope for all of our churches is the same- that we won't just be a Sunday by Sunday aggregation of believers, but a congregation of the People of God.
Hopefully we'll meet again, on the bank and in our churches before too much longer.


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