After setting out from home in the morning at 10.20am (I was aiming for 10.00am), I made my way from Shirley, first to Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Colsterworth, Sleaford, Lincoln (beautiful view of the city and cathedral and where I stopped for petrol); then on to Wragby, Caistor and Barton upon Humber, site of the Humber Bridge. I really wanted to get a photo of the bridge, but missed the one place where I could do so. When the toll booth attendant waved me passed as there is no charge for motorbikes, I was tempted to go over the bridge again to find that spot!
From the bridge I made my way to Walkington and at some point thereafter, seeing a dozen motorbikes stopped at a chippy, decided that it was time for some fish and chips….not to mention a loo break. Oh, I did mention that! I got into conversation with one couple and my accent, as I often find even after 20 years in the UK, made it easy for questions about origins and home places and travel for the day. When I mentioned I was going to Lindisfarne, the gentleman said I would have a great stay there. And as I prepared myself to get on my bike, he came by to again wish me well and said I would love Holy Island (as many call it).
Encouraged by those words, I made my final few of 219 miles through Malton and Pickering to Kirkby Mills where I was met by the proprietor of Brickside, the B&B where I’m staying for the night. After settling in for the evening, he directed me across fields to the town centre and a local pub where I got my evening meal.
Returning back to the B&B (dodging the sheep, rabbits, and the little things they leave behind everywhere), I re-commenced reading George Hunter’s The Celtic Way of Evangelism. I stopped before picking up early this morning where he describes an early Celtic prayer guide called the Carmina Gadelica that taught Celtic Christians forms of prayers for any and every activity of the day, from lighting the fire in the morning to ‘smooring’ the fire at the end of the day (a prayerful process of ‘subduing’ the fire down for the night; I had to look ‘smooring’ up in google to determine the meaning! I would give you a link but WordPress and my iPad and the bluetooth keyboard I am using won’t let me select a word to give a hyperlink!).
And I came across this prayer, which would have been great to pray last night before the day ended, had I found it then. But it still serves as a great way to end this post for Day 1:
I lie down this night with God, and God will lie down with me; I lie down this night with Christ, and Christ will lie down with me; I lie down this night with the Spirit, and the Spirit will lie down with me; God and Christ and the Spirit be lying down with me.
Today I make my way to Lindisfarne. There is a walk called St Cuthbert’s Way which meanders 62 miles from Melrose to Lindisfarne. I will mimic that walk on the motorbike as best I can today. The tide prevents access to the island after 17.20 today, but I shall be there long before that.
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