22nd – 25th August 2009
Having reached Lincoln on 25th June, a team will be walking out of Lincoln as far south as possible towards Maidenhead as part 5 of 6 walks. This is outlining an area of land that covers London and the South East connected to Lincoln and St Albans. Once completed, this embryonic shape will begin to reveal a way to disconnect and dismantle the wiring of control on the inside of the nation;
Control…The Final Frontier….
The rule of control is to divide and conquer, to hinder all that is divided in two from becoming one.
The ‘V’ for ‘verses’ and opposition holds two sides apart
Lest that which has been split joins forces
…..squeezing out the splinter,
The wedge of control……
In the full knowledge that if they become one
The control is lost.
Control uses deception and lies to separate two halves of the whole. It turns each against the other while ruling from the vantage point of favouring one above the other. It is like a cancer riddling one half with it’s favour and ostracising the other causing deep wounds of offence. Neither half is the true enemy however cancered and deformed but rather the dividing wedge promoting enmity is….
Incomplete and unordered, these divides operate on many different levels presenting a way of life that is habitual and designed to keep creation, the sons and the daughters from coming into their own.
This is why we walk.
Calling for 2 to become 1, a walking heaven to earth connection in intimacy with Jesus and inhabitants of the Glory. A mystery, an unknown way flowing with The Holy Spirit. This is a time of Jubilee where divides are healed; The half which has dominated and forced it’s rightness will be redeemed, reborn and have a fresh start. That which was crushed will be fearless to embrace it’s counterpart and bring life where there has been death.
In June I approached Lincoln nervously as a controlling high place that would happily squeeze the life out of the likes of me. However in August I returned to a city that had become a friend and a safe place. The difference was incredible and I drove up north with tears of gratitude at such grace to be found in remarkably unlikely places. I knew we had touched the heart of Lincoln as we stood between the arches of cathedral and castle, and now somehow there is trust and no threat.
Every city where we have found refuge has always been in a village just outside and Lincoln’s is Nettleham where Linda and Mike Yoxon live; a family with 6 children. Linda has been a linchpin to this walk, the consistent link to Lincoln where we stayed one more time before the journey south. Since arriving in Lincoln on 25th June, the Yoxon’s now have an opportunity to relocate to the centre of France, in Clermont Ferrand, a seed that was planted in their hearts 11 years ago. Bishop Hugh, a Carthusian monk from Avalon (East France) was the only bishop of Lincoln given to eremetical practice and who respectfully refuted state control. His emblem is a white swan. A key has turned to return to France what was given and to connect a link in history for the future. Unless a seed goes into the ground and dies…..Mike Yoxon will be on the main board of Directors for a multi-national French company that sells tonnes of seed!
It was a pleasure to stand for a moment in the centre of Lincoln and say thank you for receiving us. We walked ‘tall’ out of the city against the flow of people traffic flocking to the centre and we knew it’s umbrella of protection would be afforded to us as far as was possible.
We were unable to find accommodation in peoples homes beyond Lincoln so we camped alongside a camper van that God so timely provided. I have so appreciated being able to connect with those who live and stand at the key points on this walk. Bournemouth, Brighton, Deal, Romford, St Albans and Lincoln have been such supports and I believe Maidenhead will be the next. It has felt like we are erecting a massive canopy over the land with the main supports in these places. So maybe the fact that we were in tents camping was a sign!
I do believe that in correlation to the ‘Control’ diagram, we have walked up the ‘East’ ‘Left’ side to Lincoln. Now we walk down the ‘Right’ ‘West’ side from Lincoln which has been dominant in England and where the control has favoured. Therefore it was no surprise to me that the ‘Right’ side was unable to accommodate the ‘Left’ side as yet. So we teach the land by who we are and literally walking and resting on it (lilos included….lie low England…ha! there is a meaning in everything!!! ).
If you draw a line between Lincoln and Maidenhead it manages to miss every conurbation. So we walked a hidden way, the way that is in between places and a reminder that it is in between that 2 becomes 1. It was a test to ignore the towns and cities we passed to our left and our right and the feeling that we ‘should’ set our feet there and ‘do’ something. Instead, for two days we meandered through countless ‘chocolate box’ villages enjoying the land, the Sonshine and the ‘ease’ that Lincolnshire had to offer.
On entering Northamptonshire above Corby we walked into a tiny village, Deene and Deene Park Estate, seat of the Earl of Cardigan.(The 7th one was infamous!) Another pretty village yet… our stomachs turned with a feeling of dread as if we had stepped over an invisible boundary and into a minefield. We were threatened on the road and followed, every public way through had been blocked and of the many geometric war memorials along the way Deene’s made your head spin just looking at it. Finding a way through was indicative of ‘what’ we were walking through but this unseen ‘road block’ was a nut that had to be cracked. With ways hindered at every turn, waist high nettles, 8ft fences and overgrown woodland, we just knew that every step was making a way through. It took 2 hours to move 3 miles south and every minute was worthit!
Northamptonshire was not please to see us, not one camping ground would take us bar one in the very village where believers lived that we knew. This hard county was hostile to Jesus’ way so we took our time to make every step count.
Two swans and 5 signets spent the 2 days with us at the campsite in Northamptonshire. The eremitic bishop Hugh of Lincoln is depicted with his right hand on a swans head. This swan had a deep and lasting love for the saint, even guarding him while he slept. It would follow him about and was his constant companion whilst he was at Lincoln. With 5 on team and we took comfort from the 5 ungainly signets being guarded fiercely by these beautiful creatures!
Bedfordshire was noticeably softer ground and Buckinghamshire put up more of a fight. The biggest hurdle was to get past was Milton Keynes, a place to be taken not by seizing it but rather ‘walking by’ it. As we crossed the M1 entering it’s jurisdiction it was like opening door. Sure enough the heavens opened with driving rain above us but in front of us the grey cloud parted forming a circle of sun drenched white cloud Michael Angelo style! There was such strength for walking this place just skimming it’s eastern border helped by a stonking home guard taking authority and covering our backs. We carved a wild path through ploughed fields, industrial blots on the landscape and hidden bridleways. Soaking wet we called for new lines to be set in the land, for the spirit of Jesus to flow through new Jesus ‘ley lines’ that pull the area like a magnet into His ways.
Milton Keynes did however cause havoc with internal compasses as we sought to get further south to finish. The amount of ‘off-piste’ occurrences hampered our progress with quite creative detours and so we completed the walk 15 miles short of our original itinerary but at a key juncture. A place called 3 locks on what was the Grand Union canal. I believe that this is a place to call for the unlocking of a 3 tiered locking system that holds the area. This is depicted by 3 triangular shapes that begins at 3 locks and completes at Milton Keynes. I would not have had sight of this had we not got lost that day. So we will return to this point at the beginning of the 6th and final leg of this walk to hopefully turn the key in the barrel.
My huge thanks to all who helped, supported and carried us. To the Stewart family for coming with us and setting up camp, Ian, Zach, Hamish and Angus. To Adrian and Jacquie Dykstra from Bridgend, Mags ‘motor snail’ Tyler from the Wirral, Baz and Linda Gascoyne from Sheffield, Sarah ‘toff’ Holloway from St Albans and Soo all amazing Stewart from Chichester.