Today is the 22nd of February, it’s 13 years since the big February earthquake. I’m not sure if you’ve done something to mark the day or not. As a staff team at the hospital today we reflected together and read Psalm 46. Verse one says, ‘The Lord is my refuge and my strength, a very present help in trouble’. As a group, we shared our memories of the day and the days afterwards. We also led a memorial service for one of the hospital volunteers today. In it, we had a bowl of water with a candle in it. People were invited to come up and drop a pebble in the water to remember their special person. I was talking later with one of the people who participated and she spoke of the significance of doing an action that was a symbol of what that person meant to her. Our Māori chaplain said that while people are putting the stone in the water to remember, it is also part of a process of letting go. I remember in the years after the earthquakes putting the flowers in the rivers around Christchurch or in the many traffic cones dotted around the city. There is something in a physical action that connects with our spiritual selves and allows us to take a step forward. This evening I’m going to pick a flower and put it in a road cone as I remember that day 13 years ago; those whānau who are grieving a loved one; the fear that I felt and the knowledge that God was with us throughout it all. Thinking of you all today. X