Pheasant or Buzzard?

I opened the curtains onto a new day, a new world, less soggy and drippy than yesterday, with the welcome sun making a comeback and smiling out of a blue sky. On the fence post next to the manure hill sat a big bird. I could only see its silhouette because of the position of the sun, so wasn’t sure if it had the colours of the pheasant which often warms its feet in the manure. 

I continued to watch, sure that pheasants don’t usually perch on fence posts, but neither do birds of prey usually come so close to our home. Still only a silhouette, the bird turned slightly and I was pretty sure I glimpsed a hook in that beak. Still unsure, I waited, eventually realising I would only really know what it was when it moved. So I opened the window, slightly startling the calm bird, and he looked my way (I think) and then dropped gracefully from the fence post, skimmed the ploughed field and rose to the height of the telephone pole to resume its reverie. A buzzard, not a pheasant.

People reveal who they really are only when they move, too. Jesus said his disciples would be known by their love. Love is a verb, and is revealed in action. We can claim all kinds of things, but the litmus test is who we are towards others, and how we show that.

Of Soggy Tires and Broken Bolts

It was my fault. I pulled in too close to a kerb and impacted it with the passenger tire. I had a bad feeling about it so asked Don to check the pressure. 

Well, actually, I didn’t ask him for a few days because I just forgot, and then when I looked at it it looked ok. It wasn’t ok though, so he decided to use the foot pump to top up the pressure inside.

He was pumping away merrily when suddenly the gizmo that clips onto the tire blew off with great force, further deflating the tire rather than inflating it! 

Sometimes in life, the very thing which we think is going to help us ends up undermining us in some way. 

Funny this should happen on Pentecost weekend, the weekend the church commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit into every individual who trusts Jesus as saviour and Lord. The Holy Spirit came like a mighty wind to those first disciples gathered in the upper room. Not so much inflated as elated, they spilled out onto the street praising God in a host of different languages. 

The great thing about the Holy Spirit is that we don’t need any special gizmo to attach to God to sort of download him; we just pray and ask to be filled, again and again, because perhaps a little like a car’s tire, the Spirit gets spent when life delivers a blow to us. Paul recommends we go on being filled with the Holy Spirit, because he is the source of power, wisdom and comfort. 

Don’t run your life as if you’re driving with a soft tire; it’ll be expensive on fuel and you won’t be the powerhouse you’re meant to be. Go on being filled.

Now, off to the garage ... (and yes, I know you spell it tyre over here ... but it's just not right)