As we approach Ash Wednesday, one of the prayers in our liturgy reminds us that we are dust and to dust we shall return:

“Blessed are you, God of all creation .

You are eternal, we are mortal,

formed from the dust of the earth.

As we receive these ashes , make then a sign for us

of repentance and returning to you.

Breath into us again the breath of Life.

Blessed be God forever” 

It is apt that the primary artist of our recent Ukrainian ‘icons on ammunition boxes’ exhibition, Oleksander Klimenko, mixed ash that he dug out of Ukraine bomb craters into his paint. The beautiful but arresting images of Jesus, St Mary and the Saints, painted on pieces of crates that once held deadly weapons, are poignant reminders of the ongoing Ukraine tragedy, and our own mortality, but also of the redeeming power of love and faith. The icons exhibition moved this week to St John’s church Notting Hill. British-Ukrainian Aid are deeply grateful to all at SMV who helped raise over £13,000 for frontline medical equipment. Jesus said, ^‘[B]lessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.’ Matthew 13/16 (RSV). Thank you to everybody who made the SMV exhibition a success, especially to Ana-Maria and the Office team, all the Shop staff, and to everyone who attended and brought visitors.

Lent gives us a unique period to slow down and steep ourselves in meditation and prayer. It also enables us to recalibrate those habits which, during the liturgical year, often get subsumed by the busyness and hassle of daily life. As we prepare for our Lenten journey, let us remember the words St Benedict: “Listen and incline the ear of your heart.”  (“Obsculta ..et inclina auren cordis tui.” )

Most meaningful journeys – metaphorical or physical -- involve a quest. I set off soon for several months’ sabbatical overseas. On this post-doctoral research journey, my quest is to ‘incline the ear of my heart’ to listen to the stories people, primarily of women, about their faith and relationship with Creation. The intersection of faith and creation care underpinned master’s thesis, my work with NGOs and the films I made during my twenties.  Retracing my steps in the developing world of the 1980s, I want to hear from some of the same people how their stories continue.

My trip will begin in Nepal, reconnecting with villages my colleagues and I supported and filmed, especially trying to seek out Chamoli, a young woman whose beekeeping and honey farming was a focal point. Continuing on to India and Africa, I will seek out and hear the stories of women in villages that I filmed decades ago testing smokeless chula stoves and early solar panels. This will be slow travel, travelling overland and by sea wherever feasible. I hope to listen not only to the voices of the voiceless, but also to some (like youth radio journalists I’ve worked with more recently) who have found their voices and want to share their stories more widely.  

Throughout Lent, whatever our journeys might be – internal ones or external ones -- let us make a key feature of them ‘inclining the ears of our hearts’. As the theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich said, ‘The first duty of love is to listen.’