HOLIDAYS AND PILGRIMAGES Article for Burnham Market Parish Magazine. July 2025 Holmes and Watson were on holiday in North Norfolk (why not?). They were lying on the dunes looking up at the clear starry night sky. ‘What does that tell you?’, Holmes asked Watson. Watson replied: ‘It tells me that this is a wonder-filled universe. That we are so small. That surely there must be some mind behind that.’ And then he asked Holmes, ‘And what does it tell you?’. To which Holmes replied, ‘It tells me that someone has stolen our tent’. They are so annoying, those pedants who are only concerned with details and can’t see the bigger picture!! They also happen to be the ones who get things done, and who detect crime! But we need both. The pedants and the star gazers. We need to be able to see the stolen tent and the awe of a star filled night. The problem is that most of the time we are looking down, at the details, at the next thing on our to do list: organise who is going to pick up the childr...
Psalm 107.23-32 Luke 8:22-25 'The Calming of the Storm' from the ' Holkham Bible Picture Book ', c.1327–35, Unknown English artist. Illumination on parchment, 285 x 210 mm, The British Library, London. A commentary can be found at Calming the Storm | VCS . Our Psalm begins with business, and it ends with praise: V23 ‘Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters’ V31 ‘Let them thank God for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind’. A link to the audio of this talk It is not that business is wrong. It is just that there is something that is bigger. And what happens in between the business and the praise: There is the sea the encounter with God. He takes them down and he lifts them up. The Sea helps us to see 1. It helps us to see our vulnerability The sea is vast, seemingly unending. It dwarfs us, everything that we have created or built. It is a reminder that we are so small. And on a stormy day, we encounter the ove...