Comfort my people

 Hello all. I hope that you are well. I may be in a bit of a rush this week because (a) there's an Agatha Christie on the BBC which could be good or it could be very grim and rubbish. We'll see. Also (b) I am at work tomorrow. I don't usually work on Mondays but some idiot (I think it was me) decided to have a Vision Day. (Basically, that means that the council have cut the budget by £30,000 yet again - does anyone have any ideas to stop the charity from going bust). 

I'm not very good at Vision Days. I think I am scarred by my church youth past. They would take us all off to a terrible retreat place, feed us school dinners for the weekend and then sit us in a circle and ask us what our calling was. I could never think of anything useful to bring to the table. So there was a lot of shuffling from bottom cheek to bottom cheek hoping that someone else would be heavily slayed in the Spirit before the questioning reached me. Anyway - I'm sure it will be fine. 

This morning, in church, I wasn't supposed to be "on anything" but I got talking to the door team - you know how it is. We were half an hour into the service when they noticed a lady lying on the floor outside - flat on her back saying that she wanted to talk to Jesus. She was accompanied by a frankly terrified-looking bloke who was trying to lift her up. She then put her arms around his neck and slid down him while he stood there looking like an uncooperative lampost. There then followed a lot of dragging and scuffling while she cried loudly and tried to get into the main meeting. We suggested that she might like to sit on a chair and watch from the back. She felt not and shouted, "So Jesus hates me then?" We replied, "Of  course he doesn't!" Although, if everyone was honest - no one doubted that Jesus loved her but we weren't so keen at this point. 

To change the subject - it's Lent this week. Do you do anything for Lent? As you probably know, my background is a bit on the Calvinistic side so my father would be muttering "No Surrender" if he knew that I was thinking of joining in with Lent. I wondered what other people were doing or if you did anything at all. I know some people fast - they give up chocolate or something. I would have to be careful with something like that because I could do with cutting back on the calories so would it be more like dieting than fasting for me? Do people have a series of thoughtful Bible readings? Or a book of some sort?  Or do some people just not bother? I'd be grateful to know. I'm going to have a think about it for a couple of days. AND THEN I'M GOING TO BUY A CADBURY'S EASTER EGG READY FOR EASTER SUNDAY because, well I think I should. 

Anyway, yesterday the sun shone and HOH and I went to Wembury Beach and sat on the rocks with a flask of coffee and two scones. I don't get involved with the jam/cream on top thing here because I never have cream on my scones. For the first time in ages, I was able to lift my face to the sun and get a sense of things an awful lot bigger than I am. In light of this week's events when we watched the powerful bully the oppressed and the powerless and the order of things seems to be crumbling to dust, it has done me good to look at a horizon formed before any of us were thought of. What is happening on the news now is not new. Men have always lifted themselves up and bullied the weak and tried to put themselves in a position where they are worshipped -  I think we all know what a man who is building a golden calf looks like when we see one.  This is from Isaiah 40. It's a long bit but he has a lot to say - to help us get perspective, to know that there is nothing new under the sun and to make sure that we - as much as we can be - are doing what is right and just. If you don't feel a fool - read it out loud. It helps you see things as they really are and strengthens wobbly knees. 

    Have you not been listening?
Haven’t you heard these stories all your life?
    Don’t you understand the foundation of all things?
God sits high above the round ball of earth.
    The people look like mere ants.
He stretches out the skies like a canvas—
    yes, like a tent canvas to live under.
He ignores what all the princes say and do.
    The rulers of the earth count for nothing.
Princes and rulers don’t amount to much.
    Like seeds barely rooted, just sprouted,
They shrivel when God blows on them.
    Like flecks of chaff, they’re gone with the wind.

    He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.
    And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
    gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
    young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
    They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired,
    they walk and don’t lag behind.