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Good morning,

I wonder if you know you are in the middle of a National Workouts and Wellbeing week?  If it’s passed you by so far, then now’s your chance to leap out of bed and hit the gym, or alternatively press the snooze button on your alarm clock and have a little more rest!

Because, of course, wellbeing does not just relate to physical exercise and fitness, but to healthy minds, and some balance in the things of life, including sleep.  You could be the fittest of individuals in terms of your body, but that might not mean that all is well when it comes to your emotional or mental health, and there has been much in the media to publicise the need for well-being to be considered much more holistically, with lots of people now speaking out about their own battles.

The practice of mindfulness has been something that has connected with many……a  simple meditative practice that focusses on the here and now and not always rushing to the next thing……to grow in awareness not only of ourselves, but of our environment and to draw pleasure from simple observations.

It echoes something of Jesus’ own approach in the Gospels when he spoke to his disciples about not worrying about the things of tomorrow, but rather, to Consider the lilies of the field – how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these……

It’s good to ask ourselves when we last Considered the lilies, or just took stock of our own thoughts and feelings, and the simple blessings that surround us in this moment of this day. Sometimes the routine things of life don’t seem much like blessings until we take time to acknowledge their gift.

Life of the world, in the morning, in the daytime, and in the evening, let me know your presence and your peace.  Amen