Carol Purves

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 There is no point in me giving figures, as they will be out of date, but the devastation is great.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.

Like many of your countries, in Great Britain we are slowly coming out of lockdown. As we know that in itself can bring many new hazards. We can get too close to other people, we can forget to wear our masks or just keep it over our chin. Although we wash our hands frequently it is still possible to touch something that it contaminated.

The hazards in coming out lockdown can be like the hazards in life. Something can look pleasant and enticing but lead to a road of disaster. A friendship can prove to be unsuitable or a TV programme is not as healthy as it should be. The story of Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress, reflects our life. Like him we often stagger off the narrow path.

John Bode in his hymn ‘O Jesus I have promised to serve Thee to the end’ reminds us of this –

‘O let me feel Thee near me; the world is ever near,

I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear,

my foes are ever near me around me and within,

but Jesus draw Thou nearer and shield my soul from sin.’

‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace.’ Numbers 6:24-26

I like the idea of the Lord making His face shine on me. This means He will be showering me with blessings. He will also be turning His face towards me; therefore i will receive the warmth of His smile.

We are in a period when we can’t smile. Well, we can smile but no-one will see it because of our masks. So we have to make our lips smile as we say kind and helpful things to people. We can make our eyes smile so that they shine out Your love. But what we really need is smiling hearts, then we will radiate smiling all round.

At this stage everyone has to learn more technology to stay in contact with the rest of the world. For some people it is a very steep learning curve. I haven’t quite mastered the ‘mute’ and ‘unmute’ button on Zoom meetings yet. It always seem to be the opposite to what I want.

In one meeting the comment was made, ‘Carol we can only see the back of your coffee table, we want to see your face.’ Clever people will know exactly what I did wrong.

As we become older we are more unwilling to learn new things But what about the things God is trying to teach us. God is definitely sending out messages during this pandemic. Are we spending time to discover what the messages are? They will be different for each once of us.

‘Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance.’ Proverbs 1:5

On this day back in 1866 Beatrice Potter was born in the south of England. She became a writer, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist. Wherever you live in the world you may have heard of some of her creations with fanciful names like Jemima Puddleduck or Squirrel Nutkin.

Her characters and illustrations have walked out of many of her books, still in popular demand today. She moved to the Lake District which was the inspiration for many of her stories.

As a conservationist she bought much land in the area and farmed in a responsible way. She helped to form the National Trust which cares for areas all over the country. The beauty of her surroundings can still be seen today and is still being preserved.