In the late 1990s I visited Providence, RI, with my husband. We were in our 20s on our last holiday before the surprise of children took over our lives. We’d been in Boston and were on our way to meet some of his family in Hartford, with a plan to stop at Worcester to visit the big shopping mall to purchase designer jeans for my brother-in-law.

I’m not sure why we stopped at Providence. I have a feeling ti is because it was a place not far from the road we were travelling with a possible bed for a night. Having stayed at the motel, we rose in the morning to visit the town. We were disappointed. We parked up and got out to have a wander about to take in the town so that we could marvel at a place we had never been before. And for some reason, perhaps because we had just been in Boston, we were unimpressed. It didn’t seem to have much that we could visit or even just enjoy the outside. Within an hour we had climbed in the car and were heading off to the next port of call.

Providence has become the place from that holiday that we remember shaking the dust from our feet and moving on, perhaps unfairly. Perhaps we should have given it a bit more time. Found a coffee shop or restaurant in which to familiarise ourselves and chat to locals about the place, so we could gain local knowledge.

Instead it remains the unknown visit of our holiday. When people ask I say we visited, but can remember nothing but the parking of the car and the leaving.

I visited Providence again today, with a class of clergy, and not the place. I visited providence again today as a way in which to understand the God that lives and moves among the creation of which I am part. I visited providence and still find myself uncertain if theses are pavements that I could settle my feet safely upon.

Providence – God’s incessant and immediate involvement with created cosmos and its creatures (Susan Hardman-Moore speaking on Calvin’s Institutes Book 1).

How do I believe God is connected to the creation? It’s a tough question, but I am not sure for me that it trickles into the detail of every waking moment or has me take precedence over others. But it trickles through the interaction of faith encountered in others. In the prayers we make that seek for health and well-being, or opportunity and deliverance.

I’m thinking I probably need to take time to visit Providence again.