No sooner have I written about one storm, than we get another. Storm Francis! It makes you wish we had more letters in our alphabet. (Or even better, less storms!)
Storm Ellen
Having a birthday in August I would expect good weather. Instead this year it clashed with the fourth storm of the season. It wasn’t really conducive to a picnic in the Lake District! Never mind, it was still beautiful.
Insomnia
Can’t sleep! I’ve just read of a good way of coping with insomnia. There are three steps to it. Firstly think of all the good thing that have happened on the previous day. (For a number years I have kept a thank you book, listing the good things that have happened.)
Secondly list the jobs that have successfully been done on that day. (I’m a ‘lists person’ so that suits me fine.)
Then recite scriptures or verses of hymns, which is a form of giving praise.
As the saying goes, ‘it works for me.’
Face to Face
Are you good looking? I am not, especially when seen on Zoom. Even seeing my friends I think they are better looking in real life. Technology distorts. In actual life we do not stare at a face; with technology we need to.
It makes me think that we are not seeing God clearly. We have the picture of Jesus in the Bible and we read that His face is kind and that it is directed towards us. Just imagine what He will be like when we see Him face to face. ‘Now we ‘see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.’
1 Corinthians 13:12
New Technology
Zoom, Youtube, Video. The way we now need to communicate has changed. Some of you are very clever but I’d hardly heard of Zoom before the beginning of the year. No longer do we see people face to face, but screen to screen. Like it says in the Bible, now we see through a glass darkly. (you’d better clean your screens!)
It’s good that has God revealed to mankind all these different methods of communication; we need them. Just in time; He knew about them all along. Life really isn’t the same. I want to actually see people, shake their hands, pat them on the shoulder, give them a hug (depending who they are!)
Roll on the time when we do see and touch. Then one day we’ll see God face to face.
Heatwave
Thermometer figures soared. Our country experienced a hear wave. I know that many of you round the world are used to such heat. But we are not.
I remember when I used to travel to work on the London Underground in such temperatures. It was stiffling hot and, of course, crowded.
Such weatheer shows the frailty of our bodies. We can’t cope with the high temperatures but neither can we cope with the extreme cold.
Like Goldilocks, we don’t want it too hot, we don’t want it to cold; we like it just right. But ‘just right’ is different for each of us. God made us all different and all special.
John Logie Baird
What no television! How would we have coped during these last few weeks without it. For this invention we mainly have to thank John Logie Baird. Today is the 125th anniversary of his birth. Born in Scotland he has a prominent place in the history of television. He is cited as an inventor and businessman.
When he started showing images by wireless, some considered he was a lunatic. Thank goodness for lunatics!
Beirut
It is now ten days since the terrible explosion in Beirut. The world looks on with dismay. There is no point in me giving figures, as they will be out of date, but the devastation is great.
Thousands are homeless, so many have lost their lives or the lives of loved ones and family. The number of wounded is high, with the hospitals struggling to cope. So many more have lost their livelihood and communities. All this catapulted on to a city that was already struggling.
Much aid is being given by countries and individuals, which must help but nothing can take away the horror of that Tuesday morning.
We do pray God’s mercy and compassion on this city and country.
Buttermere
The other day had a lovely walk round Buttermere. It is one of the smaller lake (fortunately) in the Lake District, a most beautiful part of England. I know foreign holidays are limited or non-existent at the moment but there were very many people walking round. It was great to see folk enjoying themselves with a little bit of freedom.
We live in such a wonderful world. Often we are too busy to notice it. These last few months there has been opportunity to ‘stop and stare’ as William Henry Davies (1871-1940) wrote –
What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows?’
Spain
As holiday travel to Spain is limited at the moment, it reminded me that I was in that country only 15 months ago. Three of us went out there to support our missionary friends who were in Algeciras, a ferry port and resort of southern Spain.
At the time we were there, the unemployment rate was high and being a ferry port, drug smuggling was a problem. I wonder how the members of that church are getting on now that the corona virus has hit the country..
We often had a laugh when we were there. I only knew about six Spanish words. My friend knew more, especially how to ask for a cup of tea. Useful until we wanted to order chicken. My miming of a chicken were not very convincing. Another time a cockroach was found in one of the cases. Not a laughing matter for the case owner.