Carol Purves

When I was at school I had an acquaintance who had to be first at everything. She pushed herself to win all the races at sports day, by dint of brains and hard work she was top in the class for every subject. Her friends were only the cleverest young people and people like myself were left out in the cold. She went on to date the head boy of the school and then progressed to owning the swankiest car. After school I lost track of her but often wondered how she coped as life went on.

I believe that as Christians we should be the best that we can be but not through our own efforts. We need to be living hand in hand with God.

We have lost many things because of covid, but there is one thing I’ve only just discovered, because it is returning. There used to be conversation between passengers on the buses. For a while older people were discouraged from using public transport, then we moved to a stage where mask wearing was compulsory. We didn’t even look at each other, let alone talk. Now that there is an easing of restrictions, conversation is returning.

I had a delightful journey yesterday. There was a young man travelling with his carer. His conversation was constant and guileless. He greeted everyone who got on the bus and said goodbye as they left. In between we were all asked if we liked fruit. The conversations didn’t progress very far as on each occasion the young man listed the fruits he liked.

A small incident but I left the bus with a smile on my face. He wouldn’t know or even understand the joy he gave to people that day.

The lake had been tranquil and calm, the reflections giving a mirror image of the surrounding scenery. The vista I was looking at made the kind of picture which you didn’t know which way up it should be. Suddenly a large bird swooped down to collect his breakfast. The speed of the bird meant I couldn’t even guess which type of bird was making this attack. My lack of observation was mainly due to the fact that my eyes were drawn to the disturbance shown on the water. No longer was I looking at a mirror image but a scrabbled distortion of dancing pictures.

As is so often is my habit, my mind turned to my life. Occasionally my life is calm and ordered but mostly it is a picture of mixed, muddled images. I’m not always sure where I should be going and what I should be doing. That’s when I need God’s presence.

A time to search and a time to give up – When I am pursuing a lost cause I need to know when to give up. It is often my stubbornness which keeps me going. I need to recognise when God is saying no.

a time to keep and a time to throw away – as I’ve just had decorating done in my house it has been necessary to throw away many unwanted items. I need to re-clutter my house and my soul.

A time to be silent and a time to speak – this is something i need to hear. Often it is better when no words are said; a listening ear is all that is needed. Other times I need the courage to speak out, especially when speaking about my God. May God be my guide.

A time to love and a time to hate – this is a time to love others but a time to hate their sins.

‘My times are in His hands. Psalm 31:15

We read – a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing – during this time of covid it has certainly been a time to refrain from embracing. Something which is and will affect our mental wellbeing.

A time to tear down and a time to build – when i moved it was a time of tearing down in my garden. I needed to build it up again to a level where i could cope physically.

A time to weep and a time to laugh – Those who have mourned have needed my tears and those who have rejoiced have welcomed my laughter. Joy and sadness have both been experienced.

My God is a God of all seasons.

The third chapter of this book make very interesting reading. As I read it through the other day I reflected on how the apparent contradictions have reflected during my life and indeed through many other peoples.

A time to be born and a time to die – obviously I’ve only experienced the first part so far but I thank God that I’ve lived through a period of relatively prosperity for my country.

A time to plant and a time to uproot – fifteen years ago I felt God’s strong prompting to uproot from where I lived to move to a completely another part of the country. I thank Him daily for such an uprooting.

A time to kill and a time to heal – a difficult one this. Maybe a time to kill off my bad habits and sins. A time to grow good habits.

So much wisdom in a few words.

I keep a perpetual diary and every year record the date I saw my first snowdrop, crocus and daffodil. I used to record the first cuckoo I heard each year but sadly that no longer happens.

On 27th January this year I saw my first snowdrops. What a sight to behold. There was half a gale blowing and I was frozen but there they were, white, upright and brave. Although they were very small they were a promise of things to come. I’m sure God has given them to us at this time of year to cheer us up and promise that the cold, dark days are nearly over.

As a matter of only a little interest the first sighting in my county was on the 17th January in 2017 and the last on 9th February 2011. I don’t think you can read anything into that. But God does keep His promises.

As I was cleaning up after a culinary disaster I was scouring away at the burnt saucepan. ‘Steady on,’ cautioned my friend, ‘you will hurt the pan if you scrub it so hard.’ A strange notion towards a saucepan, but it made me think.

God has to scour away at my soul because of my sin. Some of my sin is hard to remove. It takes hard work on God’s part and remorse on mine. And like my pan it does hurt, It hurts a lot and I don’t like it. But it is necessary to rid me of my stains.

Now I can be like a shining new saucepan. Because of my sinful nature I will need more scouring in the future but meanwhile I can shine brightly for my Lord.

Leprosy is a tropical disease which today if caught early is curable by drugs. Sadly many cases are not diagnosed until the damage done can cause amputations and loss of sight along with other deformities. Because of the stigma it is often discovered too late for full healing. There are still between 2 and 3 million cases in the world today. The main concentration of the disease is in India, Brazil, Indonesia as well as the Congo and Bangladesh. In all it occurs in 161 countries in the world.

Leprosy is a global disease which it is hoped can be eradicated by the use of modern drugs. There are leper colonies in various parts of the world and The Leprosy Mission is one organization which is working towards this goal and hoping to build a new laboratory in Nepal, another country affected by the disease.

Lepers today are treated better than they were in the time of Jesus as we read in the Bible. Then they were outcast even more than they are today. How wonderful that Jesus healed many of them. Today there is hope.

As readers of my blog will know I set great store by the Bible. I consider it one of the ways that God relates to us. It contains words of wisdom for our lives as well words of comfort and direction. We can never exhaust the Bible. Sometimes we will read something which we have read hundreds of times before and it is illuminated to us and speaks to us with a new message.

I am of an age that I was brought up with the King James Versio0n. I no longer read that and have moved through the New King James Version to now reading the N.I.V. Therein lies a problem for me. As a child I learned passages from the Bible. There are two things which stop that happening now. Firstly, being older memorising passages are more difficult for me. But the other reason is that I have to ask myself which version do I use?

The KJV had a literacy beauty to it, which made it easy to remember, though I am told by scholars that there were many inaccuracies in the translation. The NIV and other versions do not trip off the tongue so smoothly. I have a problem.

The most important thing is to read and study the Bible and not to neglect it under any circumstances. So I keep the KJV to comfort me through the night and when I need arrow prayers and words of scripture. Then when reading and studying I use one of the many versions on offer. As I also learned as a child. – ‘Read your Bible every day, if you want to grow.’