A rainy day in the Lake District

I spent the Bank Holiday Monday in the Lakes with a lovely family I have known for most of my priesthood. I officiated at the wedding of the couple sixteen or so years ago; now they have four children. We went for a walk in Borrowdale wrapped up in waterproofs while rain fell softly, in part obscuring the magnificent fells all around us. As we strolled along and chatted, the youngest child, a six-year-old girl, silently took my hand, indicating that, by and large, she thought I was all right. Such a small gesture occurs all the time in families but for me as a priest, it was an unusual and heart-warming moment, the remembrance of which fills me with a sense of gratitude and joy.