Lent Blog 2021

I'm writing this sitting in the adventure playground in Hillsborough forest Park. It's a nice day. Most schools are off for Easter so the place is buzzing with small people and their adults. I'm watching toddlers attempting to run and falling over, 3 yr olds coming down slides into the arms of waiting adults, 5 yr olds being bold on wobbly rope bridges and older kids braving the high corkscrew slide. It strikes me that life is like a playground. It is designed by its creator to be fun. But it's also designed to stretch abilities, promote health and wellbeing, encourage interaction across ages, be a bit dangerous and scary and provide challenges for every age and stage of life.   The playground was designed by adults for children.  Your life was designed by God for you.  The date of your birth, the number of days you will live, the personality you have developed and the characteristics you have inherited in your genes have all been set in place by Him for your benef...

 There are a few people who come across your path as you go through life who are inspirational.  I've been blessed to have had quite a few in mine.  I had an amazing teacher in 6th form at school - Amanda Flint. She was in her twenties, spoke 7 languages fluently, had been round the world having amazing adventures and was just downright amazing to me when I was 16.  Then there was Harry Hutchinson at University.  He was supposed to be my Management Tutor but we spent hours discussing the meaning of life - he was on a quest to make sense of the world.  He was the most brilliant teacher - he managed to help me make sense of Economics and Maths enough for me to get a good degree, which was a miracle 😀  He left teaching to go into corporate finance I think.  Huge loss to education. Then there was Callum Morrison.  A friend of a friend who was the closest thing to Jesus I had, and have yet, ever met.  He just shone.  He was a simple guy...

 I've started to write this three times already and can't quite settle on what it is I want to say.  It's something about our perception of time and how it rules our lives.    Im working night shift on the day the clocks have gone forward.  So my internal clock is going to be well and truly messed up for a few days hence.    I will go to bed when everyone is waking up and sleep most of the day then try to go to bed at normal bedtime and try to sleep then too.  I will feel as though it is breakfast time at tea time and it will take two or three days for everything to work its way back to the normal diurnal routines. Found my house on Google! I've been thinking about this alongside thinking about the town in which I grew up ( School reunion talk tends to take you back there)  Oundle in Northamptonshire is an ancient market town and most of the center was built in the Tudor period.  Mary Queen of Scots stayed in the town's Talbot Hotel appa...

 Imagine being in Jerusalem on that Sunday.  Jesus was coming.  The excitement in the air was palpable. Somewhere in the crowd someone started singing and pretty soon an anthem was rising up from hundreds of people who were making their way into the city.  Then someone shouted that He was here and immediately everyone stopped moving and turned to see Him coming down the hill, sitting on a mule.  A man jumped out of the crowd and laid his coat over a deep rut which previous carts and chariots had made in the road.  Another man did the same.  Women started grabbing at branches of the trees which lined the road and before long there was a green carpet of palm leaves being laid in a carpet in front of Jesus.   Children were shouting His name and the singing and chanting got louder.  The crowd applauded as He went past and the disciples waved and smiled.   If I had been there I would definitely have been pushing my way to the front ...

 Just as I was about to admit defeat and not post a blog today someone posted this on their timeline   And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you  over your failures but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace. James 1:5 TPT I just love that second line. How often do we feel just plain stupid when we dont understand what God is doing, when we don't see what others seem to clearly see, when our Bible knowledge is dwarfed by that of those around us?  But all we have to say is 'help!!' and God will give us wisdom.  My 20 Yr old is massively zealous at the moment. All very black and white, right and wrong. Lots of judgement and not much mercy 😊 I remember being exactly like that in my 20s when I was not long saved. It really is a wonder that any of my friends stuck with me!  Thank goodness that despite my crack-handed, tactless, downright unbiblica...

 There's a reunion being organised at my High School to mark the 50th anniversary of it opening.  A Facebook group has been set up and lots of past pupils have been posting grainy photographs and swapping reminiscences about teenage life back in the 70s 80s and 90s.  It has been quite interesting to scroll through and pick out the very few names and faces I actually remember.  I have no desire to actually attend the event - it would be an introvert's worst nightmare .  😀  But it would be nice to find out what happened to some of the teachers who made an impact on me during my teenage years and thank them for their efforts. Thinking about reunions in the light of a recent funeral has led me to speculate on the whole ' meeting people in heaven' scenario.   I've never been particularly convinced that heaven is going to be like a massive school reunion of all the people you have known who have gone to be with Jesus.  If it is like that I think I...

 As soon as I saw the news item yesterday about the massive container ship blocking the Suez Canal I knew that God had something to say.  Every time there has been a news item involving boats in the past couple of decades I have felt the prophetic alarm bells ringing.  Im not sure why, but God seems to have stuff to say about boats. The boat in question is called the Ever Given.   That's an interesting name don't you think?  It is owned by a company called Evergreen.  There is something about eternity in those names,  the eternal gift, and eternal life.  Jesus is the eternal gift - ever given for us.   But that is just an aside.  Here is what Im thinking - and please fell free to add your own thoughts in the comments as Im absolutely sure there is much more to say about this than I have grasped thus far. This massive boat weighs 200,000 tonnes.  It is laden with 20,000 containers and is one of the biggest boats in the worl...

 The great Hadron Collider has apparently thrown up something new this week.  And the scientists are very excited about it.  Because guess what?  Science doesnt have all the answers as yet !  In fact, science is full of holes and gaps - the discovery of a possible fifth force, they hope, will answer some of the many many unanswered questions.  Like what makes up 95% of the universe. Apparently so far we have discovered four forces at work in the cosmos.  Electricity , gravity and two nuclear ones. Now there is a possible new force which has been found due to the crashing together of atoms at high speed in the collider.   Personally I wouldn't have bothered spending the billions on building the massive concrete circle in Cern as I already know what the fifth force is. 😀  The scientists probably won't call it the Word of God.  But you just watch and see what they make of it and what it does.  https://www.theguardian.com/science/...

 Last week I was called names. For some people, reading that will conjure up some uncomfortable memories of schoolyard bullies or cruel family members.   For me, thankfully, being ' called' things has only ever been a positive in my life. I was blessed to be brought up in a family who feared nothing and believed that anything was possible.  None of my immediate family are Christians so there was no overt spiritual agenda behind the way I was raised but I definitely grew up knowing that I was capable, smart, an achiever and that basically the world was my oyster.  I just thought this was normal, but now as an adult I realise that so many people grow up unsure and insecure about who they are. Last week at a funeral two people spoke to me almost in passing.  One guy who I barely know came up to me and said ' Oh hello, it's the warrior!'   And someone else just looked at me and then said to the person standing next to me ' This is the most intelligent...

 The Pope has popped up a few times in the last couple of days  ( not literally you  understand, Im sure he is far too dignified to do much popping these days 😀 )  and as he is not usually the topic of conversation or on my radar I thought perhaps I should pay attention. The first time he was mentioned was when I was in the hospital praying and a friend came to join us.  In between praying we got to chatting and catching up on all the news we have missed over Covid.  He sends his kids to a small village primary school which happens to be a Catholic school.  His family is not Catholic but the kids are learning lots about Catholic traditions because they attend.  A while ago for some reason I cant now remember, his eight year old son came home with a picture of the Pope.  He proceeded to put it in his back pocket and kept it there for several days.  My friend thought it was hilarious that his son had the Pope in his pocket.   We...

Midnight and I'm sitting in the canteen in Tesco thinking that I'm plum out of stuff to say. So I thought I'd scroll back through Lent blogs past for inspiration and came across this post from several years ago when we had just experienced a solar eclipse.  I have no recollection of writing this but it struck me as more relevant than ever. Enjoy Today I have been pondering the marvel which is a solar eclipse.  That rare time when the moon gets in between earth and sun and plunges us all into momentary and exciting darkness.    The moon is tiny in comparison with the sun.  Its a speck.  Of no significance whatsoever.  And yet when it gets itself in between the sun and the earth it can blot out the light and warmth of that huge star and plunge us into darkness. This is a picture of what Satan does, He is insignificant compared with the might and majesty and power of God.  Utterly meaningless. He has no power, no light, no warmth and nothing at all t...

I had this blog all written and ready to go (which is unusual as I'm normally writing at ten to midnight) when Alison posted something on my timeline which made me see things slightly differently.  😁 I decided to ask Keith to join me in this one...... which is a first.  Thursday was our 21st wedding anniversary.  .  Being married has, for both of us, been incredibly hard.  I haven't enjoyed it very much and Keith has definitely struggled living with me  ( We aren't really supposed to say things like that are we? 😀)   However ........  this year for the first time in many years I actually feel we might have something to celebrate. When I made my vows all those years ago I was really aware that I was promising for worse, for poorer, in sickness.  The opposite would be a bonus but really what I was promising was that however difficult or hard this might get I'm in it till one of us dies.  I meant it. Which is why I'm still married. C...

 I must start by saying that I have been to funerals with some of you reading, and what I am about to say in no way is a criticism of the beautiful ceremonies I've been honoured to attend over the years.  But I've never really seen the point of funerals. I do understand that it is helpful for people to mark the passing of loved ones in some sort of formal way, and that it can be lovely to assemble family and friends together in one place to express sadness and give comfort.  But I have always found a funeral service - the spiritual part of things- to be a bit....  ummmm...... not sure what the word is.  Put it this way, until today I have said to my family that I dont particularly want a funeral.  And if Keith goes before me then Im not sure I would have been organising one for him.   But today I realised something. Today ( yesterday) I attended the funeral of the 24 year old young man we were all praying for so fervently last week.  And one ...

 I want to tell you a story - or a testimony  - of something that happened to me many many years ago because it illustrates the point that I want to make today about what seems to be important to God. Way back in the dark ages I was a student in St Andrews.  Its a very small town so most students either walked or cycled everywhere.  I had a faithful old bike which used to take me to lectures every day round the one way system which was necessary to prevent the town from completely seizing up with traffic.  I was a new and very zealous Christian recently baptised in the Holy Spirit and I was massively keen on trying to hear what God was saying.  I think I had read a book about turning over every decision to Jesus and on one particular day on the way back to my flat from lectures I thought I'd put this into practice.  So as I was cycling down the road at every junction I said to Jesus ' which way?'   I came to one junction and I felt that the L...

 Most Lent and Advent seasons there seems to be one blog post which hits the spot for everyone, and yesterday's was it.  Thank you to all of you who contributed to the discussion and told their stories in the comments. Amazingly the post also got shared among the staff in the ICU where my friends son died on Monday.  How cool is that? !  One of the scriptures that kept coming over and over again all week was Rev 12;11   And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. One of the brilliant things about social media is that our testimonies are now out there forever, able to be read by any who happen to come across them anywhere in the world at any time.  There is power in rehearsing the goodness of God and speaking out what He has done and we might never know the effects those ripples have until we get to heaven. As a follow on from yesterday I feel I just want to share som...

 This week I have learned more about what it means to be the body of Christ. And it is the most extraordinary thing and such a massive blessing and privilege.  Firstly, last Sunday I was messaged by a friend to ask if I could pray for a family in need. Their son was on a life support machine and the prognosis was not great.  I said yes, of course.  I did pray, sort of.  But then the friend said that she was going to go to the hospital to pray - and I asked if she needed company.  She said yes.  So I went Lesson number one.  Don't just sit there, do something.  The very act of moving towards something puts things in motion. The two of us went to the hospital, found the chapel and started to pray. I would not have prayed half so well on my own, but something about the presence of my friend and the presence of Jesus where two or three are gathered galvanised me and my heart started to get behind my spirit Lesson two - there is a real reason why ...

 Have you ever met an angel? I dont think I have , but of course the Bible makes it clear that we might meet them often and just not know we have.  I do know that I have been aware of angels a few times in my life.  There is an angel who stands on the end of the Forth Road Bridge at the Fife end.  He is enormous.  He stands one foot on either side of the bridge and the traffic goes under his legs 😀  In my mind I see him dressed like a Roman soldier with a leather skirt and a helmet and a sword.   Whenever I used to drive to Fife I would say hello to him as I drove ' underneath ' him.   When a friend of mine got baptised many years ago I was sure that as she came up out of the water she was accompanied by an angel.  This one was female and about the same size as my friend - almost like her shadow or her double.  In my mind I couldnt see any details about what this angel looked like - it was just a strong impression in my mind t...

 Listening to Radio 4 in the car is usually an education and yesterday was no exception.  I happened to tune in to ' The History of the World in 100 Objects' which is absolutely brilliant and I thoroughly recommend.  Yesterday I unexpectedly gained some insight into something I had previously missed. Frankincense.      The radio programme was discussing an ancient artefact - a bronze sculpture of a hand- which dated to somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd century and had been an offering to a local god in an area which is now Yemen.  Here is the transcript of what was said - you will see why I found it so illuminating. Writing in 79 AD, the Roman author Pliny the Elder explained why the Yemenis were so rich: "The chief productions of Arabia are frankincense and myrrh... they are the richest nations in the world, seeing that such vast wealth flows in upon them from both the Roman and the Parthian empires; for they sell the produce of the sea or of their forests,...