Letter from Jon, February 2025 

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land – a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills

Deuteronomy 8:7

Dear Liberty Family and Friends

At the beginning of January, whilst Fiona was in Australia, I took the opportunity of a few days retreat down in the Lake District, one of my/our favourite places; time to think, to walk, and to connect with God.  On my first morning, having breakfast in the place I was staying, I was speaking to another man who was also there to take some time out.  I asked him what his plans for the day were and he replied that he was going to climb the mountains, of which there are many in the Lake District.  He asked me my plans and I said that I too was going walking, but that I was not a mountain climber, or even hill-walker, partly because I have a dreadful fear of heights, and that I would be sticking to the valleys, walking along the lakesides.

When I set out walking after breakfast it was an absolutely beautiful day.  It was very cold but the skies were clear blue, there was not a breath of wind and the winter light seemed to bring such clear definition to every mountain, every lake, every tree.  As I walked along the shores of Rydal Water, feeling very blessed and with such a strong sense of God walking with me,  I considered my earlier conversation and realised that I had almost felt apologetic in my admission that I didn't climb mountains or hills, as if walking in the valleys was something second rate. But as I took in the incredible beauty of this land I just had this strong sense of God affirming that the valleys are good places to be.

In our language we often talk about 'mountain top' experiences; times of great revelation or intimacy with God, 'WOW' moments, if you like, and who wouldn't want those?  In contrast, very often when I think of valleys the image of Psalm 23 comes to mind, where the valley is dark and dangerous, where the shadow of death looms.  It would be easy to think that to be with God we need to be on the mountain tops, we need to climb high.  But as I walked these incredibly beautiful, lush, green places, I realised that there is nothing second rate about the valleys.  I realised that valleys, by their very nature, are places of life.  Valleys are where the rivers run and the lakes and lochs form.  Valleys are where the trees grow, the animals live and where people build community.  Valleys are places of life and abundance.

Don't get me wrong, I still want and indeed need the mountain top experiences (preferably without having to climb any mountains!!).  I still want those times of revelation, of a bigger picture, a resetting of perspectives, but I want to live my life in the valleys where the rivers of God, the rivers of life run, where community happens.  I also know that for some of us life might seem a dark valley right now, where the hills are high and steep on each side and no sun seems to penetrate and where death seems to cast its shadow. But even there the psalmist promised that God is with us, his rod and staff bringing comfort.

I am not a great photographer and I envy those who are, but it did seem as I walked that God was presenting me opportunities on a plate, like no one could mess this photograph up!! The image at the top of this letter is one I took on the banks of Derwentwater as the sun was setting.  My prayer as we walk through 2025 is that we would all meet God in the valleys, whatever those valleys look like.  I pray that we would experience the rivers of life in us, through us and around us.  I pray that we would truly grasp the beauty and power of Christ-centred, Spirit-filled and Mission-shaped community.  I pray we would encounter moments of overwhelming beauty that stop us in our tracks.  Here's to the valleys!

Much love

Jon