Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to know
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say, "Hello"
In my last reflection for ASecludedPlace I spoke about my home city of Liverpool. So when I was preparing for today I thought I’d keep the theme going.
One of the most famous things about the city is, of course, The Beatles. Wavertree Congregational Church is close to Penny Lane and I’m sure you know the song. It sometimes baffles me why millions of people travel to the city every year to see the houses where John, Paul, George and Ringo grew up and the places they sang about, when for me they are just streets and familiar places nothing special.
Yet the attraction in the music was just that - they wrote about ordinary life and sang about ordinary life.
Penny Lane describes people, shops, behaviours - real people, real shops, real behaviours. All The Beatles knew their neighbourhood, they loved where they lived and they sung about it and now decades later still people flock to see where their inspiration came from.
What is your neighbourhood like? What are the buildings? Are there shops, businesses, schools, care homes? Who are the people? What are their behaviours?
How does your church fit in to the neighbourhood?
The chorus for Penny Lane goes ...
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Is your church the ears and eyes for your community? Does it know the people, stand up for them care for them? If not why not? What small thing could you do?
Sit and listen to the Beatles track and pray about the community in which you live.
Dear Father God,
Thank you for music and singing, for songs that inspire us and allow us to praise you.
Thank you for our communities, for our neighbours and all the local facilities - including our churches. We prayer for revival, we pray peace and prosperity on local businesses and we pray that we can be the ears and eyes to help serve who is most in need. Amen
Yvonne Campbell
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