On the pilgrim way: ‘Is this meeting a new kind of witness?’

01/12/2020 | Reform

Sheila Maxey finds hope before lockdown

There is nothing like something new to cheer me up as I begin to face the fact that we might be in this Covid-19 world for a long, long time. In early October, we … Read More

On the pilgrim way: ‘Aching in body, I was renewed in spirit’

03/11/2020 | Reform

Sheila Maxey watches clouds gather

In last month’s column, I said that ‘provisional’ seems to be the word these days. Now, it looks like we have to expect six months more of this provisionality and uncertainty.

When friends ask me … Read More

On the pilgrim way: ‘I feel both excited and daunted’

28/09/2020 | Reform

Sheila Maxey prepares for a spacious new phase

Provisional’ seems to be the word these days. Coffee after church by the end of the month? Probably not. Carol services, heartily sung, at Christmas? Possibly. Visiting an ageing cousin in Germany … Read More

On the pilgrim way: ‘I came across our pre-wedding letters’

29/08/2020 | Reform

Sheila Maxey discovers her pre-wedding letters

During the spacious days of lockdown in June, I came across a box containing letters that my husband Kees and I wrote to each other during our engagement, from 1961 to 1962. Our daughter, … Read More

On the pilgrim way: ‘What does being generous mean now?’

26/06/2020 | Reform

Sheila Maxey wonders how to be generous in lockdown

A poem by John O’Donohue which has helped me throughout this lockdown is now bothering me. It begins: ‘This is the time to be slow /… until the bitter weather passes’. … Read More

On the pilgrim way: ‘Am I wasting time?’

29/05/2020 | Reform

I am writing this in late April and find myself, not surprisingly, thinking about time. I was brought up with quite a puritanical approach to time: it had to be used well. We offered our talents and our time to … Read More