They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, I am currently missing my regular fix of visits to the Yorkshire Dales. When my brother and I were little we spent many a happy hour at Bolton Abbey with our parents. In those days my dad drove a motorbike and sidecar and the journey from Ilkley to Bolton Abbey would take you through Addingham and the road would drop down what I always believed was a very steep hill and Bolton Bridge would come into sight and we would know that we were nearly there.
That view has gone now, because a new bridge, much less attractive than the old bridge pictured above, completely obliterates the sight of the lovely old bridge and as I drive down that hill today I long to have the old panorama back. The simple fact is that the A59 a busy trans Pennine route crosses the bridge and the old single track bridge used to be a bottle neck, the road today carried hundreds of articulated lorries and cars and is longer fit for purpose, so is little more than a driveway for a farm and couple of cottages which I guess command a better selling price than in the days when lorries were thundering past at all hours of the day.
I do not always appreciate progress, there is something about me wanting to hang on to those things that are precious, like my view of Bolton Bridge. That said, I appreciate the greater ease with which traffic moves across the new bridge. There are maybe times when it is important to stand in the way of progress if we truly believe that change is not improving things and there are times when I go kicking and screaming. Whether we like it or not, we have been forced to change over the last five months, some change might be temporary, some things more permanent.
I find it very strange wearing a mask in Church, not singing hymns, not sharing in fellowship over a cuppa, having meeting via Zoom rather than in person, some changes are subtle, like the river running under the bridge that changes the landscape gently over time, others are fast and intimidating, but change is something we live with every day of our lives. Let us pray that God gives us wisdom to walk faithfully in his way.