The refuge
I don’t know how familiar you are with Lindisfarne. There is a walk, the Pilgrim’s walk, which can be taken at low tide from the mainland to the island. It is necessary to follow the tall wooden posts so you can find your way safely across. I did this walk in 2007 and hurried across as quickly as possible as I was very nervous of getting caught out by the tide (I didn’t of course!!); I repeated the walk when we were there last year and took my time, using my camera to record things as I walked, in order to recollect the walk after the event. At two separate points on the crossing there is a place of refuge, which, were you to get caught out by the tide, you could climb up into and wait until the tide had receded again.
It was only when I looked at the photos on my return home that I realised the significance of the way one of them had turned out. The crossing posts were all contained, visually speaking, within the framework of the place of refuge, apart from one which stood in the foreground. I felt that this was God reminding me that he is our refuge as we go through the journey of our life. I couldn’t remember, on looking at the photo, whether I had taken it looking backwards or forwards. In many ways that increased the significance to me: whether we are looking backwards over our life or forwards into the future we can see the protection of God, our refuge, as we travel this journey.