Christmas 2022
Dear Friends and Family.
Whatever else might have happened this year, 2022 will be marked in the annals as the year that Xleg-of-Pilgrim-Cross was finally launched. Pilgrim Cross is a Holy-Week-cross-carrying-walking pilgrimage to Walsingham in Norfolk, which has taken place for almost 75 years now. During lockdown we gathered and journeyed together online instead, and that experience was so rewarding that it was re-jigged and newly-established as Xleg – a bona fide virtual leg of Pilgrim Cross for those unable to do the walking (and the sleeping on the floor of church halls!) but who still want to be part of the pilgrimage. We had a great time getting to know each other online, forming community and studying and praying and singing and baking and crafting and laughing together. At the end of the week we, and our Xleg cross, were welcomed into Walsingham by the rest of the pilgrim community and were able to share with much ado in all the liturgies and celebrations, via a live video link. It was a massive success, and opens the doors of the pilgrimage to a much more diverse and varied-needs community. If you might be interested in journeying with us next year then take a look here: https://pilgrimcross.org.uk/ (atow awaiting 2023 update, oops, though the links to sign-up and find-out-more about Xleg are all updated to 2023 info): or email xleg@erdio.org for a chat with me – I will be staffing the inbox 😊
And yes, you may have spotted the new email address. Schdn.co.uk was out of date (hdn = hermit of the diocese of Nottingham) so I have plumped for the more generic erdio.org (eremita diocesanus) – a precaution in the event of ever having to move again. I am slowly shifting some stuff to my new website www.erdio.org, but it is slow progress, and so far it is just a handful of ponderings, with a few photos to keep you engaged. For now, I will continue to keep www.stcuthbertshouse.co.uk online as an archive – and you can still order greeting cards there. All funds received through that website are sent to our local foodbank, so please take a look at the gallery if you would like to support the donation.
Another year of excellent care by the NHS. The move to my bungalow next door to the hospital has proved to have been a very prescient one! A few hiccups early in the year finally resulted in an upgrade to a super-sophisticated pacemaker device (think Jaguar cf previous Fiat Punto!) with the addition of a personal starter motor (defib), and something of a wheel-balancing exercise in the process. So now I am running smoothly and purring along – with nightly update calls to the mothership at the Northern General so they can sleep peacefully too. Technology is great. Thank you NHS.
My other project this year has been in the garden. Tiring of drab patches of lawn parched by a thirsty laburnum, I have planted over 1000 crocus bulbs, and scattered wildflower seed with abandon. At the moment it just looks muddy … but gardeners have great faith!
And so are we living through muddy times. But we have great faith too. God is with us.
God bless you and yours this Christmastide.
Rachel Er.dio.
NB. Please don’t use any of my email addresses ending @stcuthbertshouse.co.uk or @schdn.co.uk or @gmail, as I seldom look in those inboxes and may soon delete some of them. Best email for friends and family is now rachel@erdio.org.
A few pictures from 2022
