Reminds me of a joke (told by a Church of Scotland minister):
A minister was giving the children’s address (that part of the service where the focus is on the younger members of the congregation). He asked: What is grey (sometimes red), has a bushy tail, and spends much of its time in trees? A wee boy stuck his hand up: I know that the answer’s Jesus, but it sounds awfully like a squirrel …
We have a tradition, at work, of people arriving back from holiday before their postcards (although not on this occasion). So, back from two weeks’ holiday, here’s a postcard from Sidmouth, Devon:
We had a good time – can particularly recommend the Christian Guild house, Sidholme – lovely atmosphere, great welcome …
This weekend, we set off on our annual pilgrimage to a Christian Guild hotel – this is the first time that, as a family, we’ve visited this particular one, although I understand that my wife worked there one summer. So please expect a blogging hiatus, unless, of course, something happens that I need to share with you all …
My dad took this picture, probably in the fifties (or early sixties):
A Flickr commenter has observed that this particular airframe has survived (more or less), and is being worked on at Midland Air Museum. My earliest memory of flying was in a Viscount – I remember how, as they taxied in, their outer engines were shut down – but can’t remember where we were flying to, or from – probably London …
This morning, I was reading (Jeremiah 12:14-17 / The Message):
God’s Message: “Regarding all the bad neighbors who abused the land I gave to Israel as their inheritance: I’m going to pluck them out of their lands, and then pluck Judah out from among them. Once I’ve pulled the bad neighbors out, I will relent and take them tenderly to my heart and put them back where they belong, put each of them back in their home country, on their family farms. Then if they will get serious about living my way and pray to me as well as they taught my people to pray to that god Baal, everything will go well for them. But if they won’t listen, then I’ll pull them out of their land by the roots and cart them off to the dump. Total destruction!” God’s Decree.
I’m often wary of appropriating (God’s) promises, especially when originally directed to the people of Israel, but this one is addressed to the bad neighbours, the outsiders. So I’m taking it personally, especially having recently gone through an experience of uprooting. I’m hoping that the cycle of change hasn’t yet finished, and that, if I am to be in employment for the next ten years, it will mostly be in an environment less challenging than the present one …
On Sunday morning, I walked across the Forth Road Bridge, and back, dressed as a teletubby …
First of all, many thanks to the people who are praying for me. It’s making a huge difference, especially at a time when, to be honest, on a daily basis, I am finding it difficult to make sense of what is happening.
Which kind of leads me to try to write about God. Or, at the very least, to mention him. There’s good reason why I seldom do – there’s little that I can say (or write) about God that has any worthwhile meaning. And yet I would say that he is the core of my being (whatever that means).
Anyway, I’ve been thinking about the distinctions that we humans make, and about the possibility that they mean less to God than they do to us (having recently crossed a divide (not in a religious context) which feels to have been more significant than I anticipated). Perhaps there’s an Asperger’s dimension here – I exaggerate some differences (which I perceive), and minimise others (which are invisible to me).
I did set out to write a blog post which wasn’t about me (not terribly successfully, then) …
This time, the ballet school which our daughter attends – impressive.
Struggling a bit – the change at work which I initiated by going to my boss feels like having gone from the frying pan into the fire. I feel that God is dealing with an underlying problem – actually a besetting sin which I’ve been fighting for years. While I acknowledge that something had to happen, it’s as though a nuclear explosion has taken place, and I’m experiencing the fallout.
Perhaps over dramatic – I still (thankfully) have a job, and have to do all that I can to make a success of it – but life is a battle being fought on several fronts, and extra effort being required in one arena impacts on others …
On Friday, I was the proud parent, watching our son Matthew compete, playing his clarinet, and winning a spot prize for musicality. Then I was the anxious parent, dropping him at Cub camp for the weekend.
In his absence, Hannah suggested that we watch the DVD of “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”. She’d studied the book, and watched some of the film, at school, so had a pretty good idea what it’s about. I, too, had some idea of what to expect, but in the event was shocked. I think that it was the ordinariness of the family that got me. I couldn’t help comparing myself to the dad. I do a job, over which I have little control, sometimes having to do things which go against the grain.
And then when Matthew returned, he watched the film, with Hannah …
Following this post, I find myself doing a different job, in a different team (and sitting in a different office). All a bit much for this particular change-averse individual. There are positives, but also negatives. One day in the middle of the process, I suddenly decided that I didn’t like what was happening.
I’m trying to encourage myself by finding the right analogy. I feel that I’ve gone from being a lieutenant to being a foot soldier (not good). Or, perhaps, from being a hospital manager to being a doctor (better).
Either way, it ain’t easy. It may, in the long run, be for the best. Or, it may be that what has happened is God’s purpose for me – perhaps painful in some ways – but necessary …