For there shall be a day when sentinels will call
in the hill country of Ephraim:
“Come, let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.”
“The job of a sentinel is to scan the horizon. To look. To discern. To see what is coming. To interpret. To guide. To announce. To warn.” Stephen Cottrell, On Priesthood
“They are to be messengers, sentinels and stewards of the Lord”
(Common Worship, Ordination Services)
Sentinels everywhere
Scanning the horizon
Interpreting the signs
Warning
Announcing
Guiding
Sentinels everywhere
Were they always there?
And our busyness
prevented us from noticing?
Or has pandemic
flushed them out?
Sentinels everywhere.
What are they discerning?
What are they announcing?
Of what are they warning?
And is anyone paying attention?
Sentinels everywhere
Not all of whom can be trusted
Not all of whom should be followed
Yet it is still worth
listening carefully
for that one voice
that pierces deeply
through all our defences
signalling for us
a way forward
Not built on whim
or voyeurism
or fancy
but on a solid foundation
of grace that inhabits
and love that transforms
Pay attention
to the Sentinel
that gets beyond your defences
not to confirm your complacency
but to shake up your heart
and stir up turmoil
in the core of your being
For then you will know yourself
propelled
on the path you must follow
to a place
that is not yet known
and in the journey
will you discover
the gift of holy anger
that sustains and equips you
for the new work
to which you are called.
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