Where does the time go? Well in my twenties and forties a few years were spent in the fine city of Norwich, which I’m visiting today for a birthday treat. A day from the treadmill of the to-do list, a day to indulge in a different context and perspective. I’m lucky that this incarnation overlaps with such magnificent masonry. Like the Pyramids and Stonehenge, these medieval churches stand tall in the sands of time. Stone hewn by mortals in honour of the eternal.

It’s a luxury to have both time and resource; usually it’s one or the other. But I suspect that unlike us, those who set the stones here had less of both, endured poor health and empty stomachs. Unlike them we live at a time of supermarket deliveries, hot showers, transport, healthcare, instant communication and Spotify. Time is limited, precious, and surely too short to be grumbled away?

Being as we are, work takes time: the next generation to rear, wounds to be healed and dark places to escape. But now much of that’s in the rearview mirror, there’s time, but time for what?

Coincidentally, as I write over a coffee in the hospitality centre, Russ my friend of 47 years sends these words. They seem like a good starter for ten –

Life is abundant if you believe,
Rewarding if you give forth.
Playful if you have hope,
And fulfilled if you have faith.
When times are hard, as they will be, remember you are not alone.
Look around you,
Seek out your fellow travellers and you’ll never walk alone.