time to grow some gills

this is a somewhat delayed blog post. when september arrived it felt like there was a deflated mood. i think it was because it was a new school year and we had imagined we might have moved on but it was clear that was not going to be the case. it might be a long winter ahead and now of course we are in a second lockdown.

i was really helped to name this feeling by chatting with a friend tina who said to me that initially it was like we were holding our breath but now we realised we needed to grow some gills! in other words we've got to adapt and live in this environment as we are going to be in it for a while. 

we took that idea at the september grace and had a liturgy/prayer we constructed together on zoom by inviting people to write a line in the chat in response to the idea. these were then knocked into an order which we read together. it's a fairly unusual liturgy but i really liked it (and will add to the worship tricks list)

We are so used to being able to fix things quickly
Our social systems, wealth and technology were going to get us through
“One step at a time,” I thought.
“Stay the course,” I thought.
“Steady on,” I thought.
We thought we were just holding our breath
But it’s time to grow gills

This time is unstable, characterised by inconsistent rules and u-turns.
It is hard to plan ahead.
How can a divided society heal when we can’t even be present in the same room?
Isolated from friends and family, having to find new ways to connect
Give us grace
Hold us when we feel we can’t go on
We thought we were just holding our breath
But it’s time to grow gills

As we are held underwater,
help our ears tune in to new sounds and frequencies
Gill growers who know who they are in water
May we learn to see in a new element,
unafraid to keep our eyes open
We thought we were just holding our breath
But it’s time to grow gills

Let us dedicate this involuntary fast to the Lord
Help us find a new way to carry on
Renew our hope
Turn our fear and retreat into discovery and joy
Renew us
We though we were just holding our breath
But it’s time to grow gills