Intercessions
Walking past, in the month of May, the site of the Victorian-built Ipswich Museum (horizontally-extended shortly after, in the Edwardian-era, in similar proportion to that of a Victorian-typical vertically-extended church tower), it was glaringly apparent that any productive effort to refurbish the building (in time for next year) was yet to commence.
Was it the lofty sight of those chiselled human-heads peering down at me from the frontage of the museum that urged me onto the church to pray for intercession? What good timing: the urgency coinciding with World Museum Day that very weekend.
My heartfelt verbal request for intercession at the civic church was followed-up, amongst emails, with intercession at my nearby parish church (nearby also to the original site of the museum).
Attending communion on Sunday, with delight at the museum being mentioned during the Intercessions, it was not long before there was morning activity at the (new) site of the museum: first of all the erection of gradually more comprehensive scaffolding (eventually to entirely encase the building, its temporarily heightened stature visible from afar).
My sense of relief grew with every addition. Then, even more elements were added: cautionary-signage, wooden-planks for walkways, and to conclude the preparations, I noticed today that an unfurled-banner facing the uphill-approach was the topping to mammothly-announce that the commencement of works was now underway.
It is certainly my observation from experience therefore that intercessions are most effective when there are accompanying emails, some conversations and perhaps phone-calls, eventually resulting in physical activity. Though of course the aforementioned may have all happened via happy-coincidence.
Attending ‘Pub Theology’ after Evensong one Sunday afternoon it became apparent to me that — despite all of the wisdom contained in the biblical readings and the psalms — not all church attendees fully appreciate such correlation: one attendee memorably expressing puzzlement about some wish or hope that was yet to be fulfilled, to my ears, as if waiting for a fairy to wave a magic wand.
I wonder, how many other concerns that are solemnly raised through intercessions (and practically solvable through effort) might be more effectively resolved were they to be followed up with the passionate zeal of accompanying actions and resolve.
© HOWARD MITCHELL, 2024