DID you enjoy the Easter break? Did you manage to get out and about and perhaps enjoy our beautiful Duchy?

With our world in such a dreadful state and anxiety over rising prices hurting the most vulnerable, it’s very easy to get depressed. However, we can choose to help ourselves by taking time out, and nature can be a great help. Being still and quiet in a place of peace and beauty such as Menacuddle Well at St Austell and reflecting on our own short lives is good for the soul. Other religions such as Buddhism know this. We need to stop rushing around or watching too much television or screen time. The Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God”.

The fourth of the Ten Commandments reminds us all to take a day off every week. That’s why most of us don’t work on a Sunday. God knows we need to stop. Christians going to church on Sunday are reminded that we are all bound together as human beings and with nature and the one Creator who made us all. We are all interdependent. We need each other and we all need a break, ideally with friends or family.

Some years ago, everyone (except essential workers) did have Sunday off. All shops closed. I remember the peace and the empty roads. We all paused, often enjoying a family day out all together at some beauty spot. Taking time out with family is precious, especially if you have young children. Do we really need to shuffle around supermarkets on a Sunday... especially when they’re usually open long hours every other day? Aren’t six days a week enough for shopping?

There will (hopefully) be many sunny Sundays this year… so let’s make the most of them to take time out!

Wendy Earl

Lay reader, St Mewan Parish