(Excerpt from Bristol Parish Magazine by Linda Byrne)
On the second Sunday of the month, our chapel puts on a pre-service breakfast – that is what is meant by “breakfast club” as advertised in the parish magazine. Anyone is welcome to join us and, though few people ever do, in August we had an interesting visitor.
As we sat down to eat, a man came into the school room and asked if he could use our loo – you know, that one! He was wearing sturdy walking boots and a faded pink hat and we later learnt that he was 70 years old. We also learnt that he had walked from Lands End to John o’ Groats and was now on his way back to Land’s End, sleeping in a tiny tent in fields and cemeteries and people’s gardens, when invited. He was raising money for a charity called Hope and Homes for Children. We invited him to join us for breakfast, which he did, and later, on his “Pink Hat Man” YouTube channel, he posted his daily video diary and mentioned his breakfast in Wick, showing views of the outside of the chapel.
On seeing the video, I realised what a wonderful conjunction of events it had been – we only offer breakfast once a month and on that particular Sunday, the poster outside the school room bore the invitation: Wherever you’re from, wherever you’re going, you’re welcome here. He didn’t stay for the service, but, much better than that, he experienced kindness in action, which is what we are supposed to be about. We know that Christians do not always live up to the teachings of Jesus but thankfully, on this occasion, we did. At a time when hostility to strangers is once again making the news, we were reminded of Hebrews 13:2: Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.
Linda Byrne, with all good wishes from the chapel.