Re-Boot

I’m not computer-savvy enough to have ever done this, but I know in theory that if an update goes wrong, or for some other reason, it is possible to leapfrog backwards and reboot the computer to a time prior to the mistake happening.

I can’t help thinking how lovely it would be if that were a possibility in life. So that once we saw the confusion and mayhem a certain decision could cause, we could reboot, make different choices and opt for a better outcome.

By the grace of God, we can reboot our own lives by surrendering to him and giving our lives to Jesus, but the consequences of wrong decisions, of past sin, don’t usually disappear (… though he does work miracles sometimes). The difference is, though, that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, walks with us through those consequences.

I pray that the two nations close to my heart will give themselves to the Lordship of Christ so that he can walk us through the consequences of our past decisions. Re-boot us, Lord. Send revival, Lord. Now would be a great time…

Harps in heaven? Or cellos?

Dear God,

Why, I wonder, are heavenly beings always pictured plucking harps?Are those the only instruments in heaven?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against the gentle tinkling of harps, fingers cascading over the jillion strings like water over rocks on a slope. I’ve enjoyed a few brunches in California with the mellifluous tunes providing enough background to muffle the talk of the other diners while not overwhelming conversation.

However, I’m rather partial to the deep, sonorous voice of the cello. Carpal tunnel is restricting me now but still, when I throw caution to the wind and play it, those low registers resonate with depth and beauty right to the inner reaches of my very soul and well, if you’re still listening, God, I’d prefer a cello in heaven to a harp, if it’s all the same to you...

Thanks – with love from your ‘needs more practice’ cello-playing daughter...

Maybe this topic sounds a bit frivolous but actually, I think it goes to the heart of who we think our God is. If we know him to be a loving, loyal, fun-loving character (how could he not be fun-loving and still create giraffes, for instance?) then we would expect him to indulge our musical preferences, wouldn’t we? I mean, I’m not sure about the screeching riffs of a Jimi Hendrix-style guitar, ;-), but surely the richness of a cello beats the tinkly tumble of tones plucked on a harp. 

Someone has written that they believe that what we have practiced and tried to improve on earth, we will carry on in heaven. I guess, then, that I would quite like a computer for writing on, and a cello, please. 

Oh, and all my loved ones around me. That goes without saying.

Without Support, the Plant Dies

For weeks now the clematis has needed a trellis or wire on the wall. I’ve watched its fragile stem bend over and hang down. I’ve watched it, out my kitchen window, be hammered by the wind, blown about and bruised until some bits finally died.

So this morning I declared (sweetly) I would no longer wait for the handyman to put up the trellis. I’d found some green wire and that was my first job of the day.

He let me get underway. He heard the ladder scraping against the stones as he worked at the computer upstairs. Fear drove him outside. Fear that he might next hear a crashing of ladder to ground and then ... nothing.

Well, it’s a tactic that’s worked a few times in our 37 years together. Glad to see it still has power.

And so the drill came out (how can a man do anything without a drill?), the sturdy wire was found, the eyelets screwed into the concrete and hey, presto, the clematis is now ready to grow (if it ever warms up), securely supported against the wall.

It wasn’t only the clematis that needed support. I wasn’t really in danger of dying (I don’t think, anyway!), but had I been left to do the work, it would have been much less robust and probably would have been inadequate within a few months or years. 

Makes me think of Paul’s definition of the church as a body made up of many parts, each person with her own unique gifts to share. One of the gifts is of encouragement. An encouraging word can enable someone else to flower. An encouraging word is often unnoticed by others, but forms the support on which a fruitful church can flourish.

I hope that I am always open to encourage others to be all that they can be. I may be rubbish when it comes to DIY handy work, but I can open my mouth and tell others what a good job they are doing.

Which reminds me. I better just pop upstairs to the man on the computer, and tell him how wonderfully stable the clematis now looks.