The Splendour

 

We picked up Prince Charming and Jasmine as planned, and headed off to the socially-distanced Disney-themed lunch experience. My sister-in-law had invited us to the event, held in a three-sided marquee: chilly in October in Scotland, but the weather co-operated and when the sun was out, it was warm.

There were a couple of Snow Whites there, and one Sleeping Beauty. Woody from Toy Story, and Bella from Beauty and the Beast. An entertainer sang a few of the Disney movie theme songs; a Disney quiz and a Disney-themed scavenger hunt were also part of the afternoon. But probably the memorable moments for these precious children were those spent climbing the trees that ringed the grass.

Our world is full of slick marketing, but the real beauty, especially in autumn, is all around us, in the natural beauty God has given us to enjoy. No slick marketing required. Just eyes wide open and a heart ready to pause and receive the message of love God is sending.

Enjoy the splendour while it lasts!

Wounded World Healed

 

I am nearly 70, and yet I have never sung in a choir. When I was about 10, I auditioned for the school glee club and was turned down, which undermined my confidence for years…

Well, I’ve signed up for the church Christmas choir (virtual), and am, for the first time in my life, trying to learn the alto 1 part. It’s not difficult. It’s just different from anything I’ve done before. The song is beautiful, and if I can manage the technology to record it and send that in, it will be amazing to see a gathered group of believers singing together in harmony, without ever practicing together.

It’s all led to me thinking about the music of creation. Googling that, I discovered that the ancient Hebrews, and Pythagoras (of theorem fame), believed that the heavenly bodies not only ‘sing’ as they twirl and whirl through space, but that the planets are set apart in the same ratios as pleasing musical intervals.

CS Lewis, in his Narnia tales, imagined Aslan creating the universe by singing. It seems that might not be such a fanciful notion, and that just blows my mind! I love the picture of God singing away in joyful abandon and as a result, creation is born.

I have always loved the verse in Zephaniah 3:17: The Lord delights over you with singing. What an amazing gift he has given us – the gift of joining together in song, in worship. Who knows what harmonies he might create through the human voice raised in praise to him?

During these challenging and dark days, may our voices unite in singing praises to the God of peace, the God of justice, the God of mercy, the God who saves, and through our singing, may he heal this wounded world.

A Big Red Ribbon

 

An email reminder: phone banking check-in on Zoom tonight. (I registered to help get out the vote; there was a problem with me signing in, and I left it unresolved, and am now feeling guilty when I get these messages because as yet I have not resolved the problem, and therefore phoned nobody). A recurring pop-up message every time I turn on my computer: ‘there is a problem with your Microsoft account which we need to fix’. (I have tried to fix it many times and every time I run into a problem with my name, and I give up. Slightly fearful that one day it really will matter.). A Zoom link to tonight’s church prayer group sits in my inbox. (The slow speed of our internet undermined my resolve to continue with the prayer group; now our speed has been increased, but between phoning Mom at 5.30 and trying to get dinner on the table and into my stomach before 6.45, I just give up). A WhatsApp message on my phone reminds me that Mom has an eye appointment in November which the care staff made in August; (I have yet to telephone the eye doctor and ensure that the insurance covered the cost of that last appointment).

I could go on, but you get my point. My intentions are good: I want things done in an orderly way and completed neatly and tidily, but somehow it doesn’t always work like that.

My fourth grade teacher, Mrs Costuma, taught me many things, and one was about composition. Always conclude your essay with a reference to what you declared at the beginning, because in so doing you ‘tie it up with a big red ribbon. That advice has stuck with me for decades. And yet, so much of my life is messy, unresolved, and certainly not ‘tied up with a big red ribbon’.

Long ago the LORD said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.’ (Jeremiah 31:3) I am so grateful that the Lord doesn’t leave his creation unresolved.

‘And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.’ (Phil 1:6)

I thank God today that at the end of my life, he will gather in all the loose ends and somehow tie it up with a big red ribbon.

Refuge

 

Under a pile of branches and leaves, Don found a sleeping hedgehog. In the narrow attic spaces of our house, Doug found the desiccated remains of long-dead rodents, and many large and lively spiders.

Refuge. Everyone needs a place of refuge to shelter from the storms. Sometimes it is physical shelter we need. Sometimes emotional shelter. Sometimes spiritual shelter. At the moment, probably we all need all of the above!

The other night, I became sucked into a political debate. Both sides believed that they were speaking from God’s perspective.

Psalm 37 ends, ‘The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.’

This morning, I wonder just how that works. Were both sides of that debate taking refuge in God – or were both or one side relying more on presumptions and the advice of others they respect?

Today, Lord, may I really take refuge in you. Keep me from arrogant assumptions. Give me your perspective, so that I can see clearly. Today, Lord, may I act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you. Amen.

Big Branch Down

 

Agonisingly slowly, the outsized lorry with a hydraulic lifting arm reversed down the drive, underneath the low-hanging canopy of trees, to deliver a couple tons of sand in two ‘bags’. Having successfully accomplished his task, the driver drove off confidently – and his truck ripped off a branch of one of the beautiful Norwegian elm trees. Now there is an ugly scar where that substantial branch used to be. That scar will be visible for the rest of the life of the tree.

Today, Mhairi and I walked our route, which we’ve not done for a few days because of the heavy rains. As we rounded a bend through the ‘enchanted forest’, we saw the path ahead was obstructed by another fallen branch. Probably the heavy rains had weighed the long branch down, and perhaps there was a bit of rot where it emerged from the trunk, so that the tree could no longer support it. The branch cracked off, and in crashing down it tore another branch off, too.

God is faithful, and he is loving. He is our gardener, and when we submit to his regular pruning, we are saved from violent crashes which tear at the heart of our being. Pruning may be painful, but God’s pruning isn’t destructive. Instead, it encourages new growth, fresh buds.

I don’t want to wait until I have developed a destructive habit which eats into who I am, and takes part of me with it when it finally comes down. Instead, I ask God to nip all these negative things in the bud, and shape me to be who he created me to be, a child of God.

Raging Torrents

 

We gathered a few sticks and stood on a small wooden bridge over a burn. We were told the burn is usually a trickle, but yesterday, it was a raging torrent of bubbling foamy water, following all the rains. Mesmerising to gaze down into the brown water, folding over itself and sending waves forwards and backwards as it cascaded over rocks and boulders.

Callan was excited. He threw one of the sticks in, and I’ve never seen a stick sucked under so quickly, sucked under and carried on currents to resurface somewhere else, out of sight to us.

World and life events usually trickle along at a routine speed. But not in 2020. This has been a year when everyone’s trickles have swelled to become raging torrents.

It’s important to keep your footing on the bridge, to keep your roots in God. It’s important to watch out for those who might slip and fall into the swirling torrents. Love your neighbour as yourself, Jesus instructs us. May he help me to keep alert today to any who may be in a precarious position.

At peace

 

In the stillness of the living room, I am suddenly aware of a soft rhythmic sound. The cat, Indy, is snoring quietly in the prayer window… She is at peace, safe, comfortable, and at home.

The one I encounter in that prayer window – and, of course, everywhere – exudes peace. He is the source of peace. The prince of peace. Whatever the disturbance. Whatever the sorrow. Whatever the anxiety or dread.

When I go to him with my fears, he meets me right where I am. When I go to him with my anger, he meets me right where I am.  When I go to him with my joy, he meets me right where I am.

If I am full of joy, he rejoices with me. He has a reputation for being a sort of party animal…

If I’m not full of joy, then, like a divine sponge, he absorbs the disappointment, the tears, the frustration, and he embraces me in a covering of peace, a peace which permeates my being and leaves me at rest.

Like Indy, though possibly without the snores…