As part of my ongoing induction into the life of Ripon, I found myself last Saturday enthusiastically waving at crowds as Cathedral clergy and servers joined the St Wilfrid’s Procession. It was a joyous event with summer sunshine adding to the feel-good vibe of the day as we wound our way through the streets, following St Wilfrid astride a mighty steed and some very merry monks! The procession that followed showcased some of the creativity of our community, with local businesses and social groups adorning floats with music and impressively themed costumes. I’m not entirely sure what St Wilfrid himself might have made of it, but I for one had a glorious time and enjoyed the smiles and waves that greeted us along the route.

It’s amazing what a simple thing like a smile and a wave can do. On the surface it can feel like nothing, an empty gesture perhaps, but what I observed on Saturday was, I think, something more profound. In a world of polarisation, where we do not have easy answers to the challenges we face, where conflict abroad spills out to anxieties and frustrations at home, a smile and a wave communicates something of our common humanity. This was most evident in the children watching the parade go by, whose faces lit up as they responded with their own waves to the passing procession. Joy, laughter and connection are all things that are essential for human flourishing.

It is highly fitting therefore, that the St Wilfrid’s Procession ends with a service in the Cathedral, including presenting the much-coveted float prizes. The joy and laughter of the preceding few hours, spilling over in spades into the nave. Cathedrals are buildings of great solemnity, places of quiet contemplation and sacred storytelling, but they are also places where we join together to celebrate, to smile and wave at one another in a shared sense of the ridiculous. Our Cathedral, founded by St Wilfrid, continues to be a place for the whole community to gather, at times of joy and times of sorrow.

As swashbuckling pirates came to collect their prize for the best float in the procession (congratulations Bishopton Veterinary Group!) I like to think that God was smiling and waving too.

Canon Wendy