Covid 19 Death toll

I saw a buzzard sat in a tree earlier as I drove past. I’m always in awe of birds of prey. I’m always amazed by nature and the things that God shares with me and uses them to speak and to reassure me. I didn’t get to take a photograth of the buzzard but I did get to take this one earlier in the year when on a walk to scatter my mum’s ashes which brought me a sense of God’s peace, so I thought I would share that with you. 

Seeing the buzzard made me think of these verses from Isaiah 40:30-31:

Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Today the death toll in the UK has passed the 100,000 death count with 100,162 deaths. Prime minister, Boris Johnson in today’s Downing Street briefing has called it, ‘an appalling and tragic loss of life’ and stated, ‘I am deeply sorry for every loss of life.’

Living through the pandemic has been hard for everyone. loss of loved ones, lockdown, social distances, compulsory wearing of masks, and a distinct lack of hugs. When will this end? Will the vaccine work again the new deadly variant? When will we be able to have the vaccine? When will we get back to ‘normal’? What will our new normal look like? Where is God in all of this? So many question. 

When tragedies happen sometimes people blame God. When natural disasters happen they are often referred to ‘acts of God’. There is no easy answers as to why bad things happen. This will remain one of life’s mysteries. Life can be good but it can also be cruel and difficult. Maybe there is a randomness as to what is thrown at us? Some of these things are because of our own stupidity or someone else’s stupidity. Sometimes it’s things we could have controlled but often it’s things that are out of our control. Certainly I know that I struggle much more with things I have no control over. Could God make it all better and stop bad things happening? Well he could but that would be more like control, and that’s something that God doesn’t want to do. He has given us free will and free choice as to what we do and indeed wether we want to put our trust in him and believe in him or not. 

One thing that I am sure about is that I would rather continue to face this pandemic and lockdown with putting my hope and faith in God. Do I get angry at him from time to time and frustrated about the state of the world? Yes of course I do. Whatever happens, whether I continue to live through the pandemic and see the other side or wether I don’t, I will continue to draw strength by putting my hope and trust in him. What about you?

 

Advent day 2, 2020

The leaves blew over a silent stoney ground 

Bring in the change of season 

A season of waiting, of unknowing 

A season of trust and patience.

The clock ticked echoing the cry of my heart

Steady and rhythmic the dance of passage

A passage of bleakness, of rawness

A passage of pain and turmoil.

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted heavenward

Enticing, joyful, mystery unbounded of love

A love of insurmountable, of unconditional

A love of overflowing grace. 

The taste of freshly brewed tea drank in good company

Soothing the soul a symbol of warm embrace

An embrace of calm, of sweet harmony

An embrace of peace.

©️Revdjo 30/11/2020

The church and covid-19

These are strange times that we are living in. Covid-19 has meant all of us having to adjust to new ways of living. Many of us are fearful for loved ones and ourselves. Many of us are anxious about being able to get our every day needs, medicines, food, toilet rolls. Toilet rolls! Who could have predicted the scarcity of toilet rolls. Things we have taken for granted have had to change. No more cups of tea with our friends. No more greeting each other with a friendly hug or a kiss on the cheek. No more driving down to the coast to paddle in the sea. No more holidays abroad for the foreseeable future. For some, no more work. Life has become clinical and regimented. Washing of hands, disinfecting surfaces, the use of hand sanitizer. Keeping two meters apart from those we meet. Self-isolating, shielding ourselves from harm, living in quarantine and morning what has been.

But what about the positives? Time to stop and evaluate our lives. Time to do those things we have been putting off. Time to learn an instrument. Time to read. Time to write that book. Time to potter in the garden. Time to spend more time with the kids and homeschool them. Homeschooling! Who would have thought that would be such a thing for so many of us. Time to just be.

We are use to racing around and filling our time. Many of us are still doing that. Filling our time with social-media and Zoom or Skype conference calls. What do we feel the need to be so busy? 

Church gathering have had to stop, no Sunday service, no weddings, no mid-week meetings. Funeral services are ever evolving and can no longer be attended by everyone. Some by no-one, some by only five, or more with mourners spaced out. The death tolls continue to rise. We await the change in tide.

Life ebbs and flows and the tide will change again. What will be left on the shore after all of this? What will be washed out to sea? What and where is God in all of this?

God is here with us. He hasn’t and won’t leave us. Has he gone quiet? No, he’s making us think. What’s important to us? Or rather, who is important to us? And what is church?

On Sunday 22nd March 2020 I woke up with the word ‘pivot’. A pivotal day in church history. A day that we had been asked by the UK government not to gather as church. This is the day the church realises it is much more than a building. A day that the church stopped and prayed asking for Covid-19 to be eradicated. It was a pivotal day for the UK church. She has had to wake up.

God is calling for our attention he is speaking. If we stop we will hear his voice. 

Spring

Well spring has sprung and time rolls on. Time to think about the new season and what it will hold. I like to blog about happy stuff, things that make me laugh and things that make me think and engage with the creator. Alas, life is full of many ups and down which has meant I haven’t felt much like writing of late. As the writer of Ecclesiastes (chapter 3) tells us, ‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.’ I believe it is my season to write so I will post again soon. 

One question however remains, ‘What is it time for you to do?’

Severn Bridge

Photo with kind permission taken by Paul Day from Gloucestershire Camera club. 

There is something very special about the Second Severn Crossing. When I go across Severn Bridge I am always led to pray. For me it is a spiritual place. I’m not sure if it is because the bridge is so majestic or whether it is because it is the gateway into Wales. Maybe it is the river that runs beneath the bridge? Certainly I always feel at home when I have the River Severn in sight. 

Thoughts and feelings can not always be put into words. Perhaps there are some things better expressed in pictures? This photo struck my soul - to me it speaks of the promise of God. The river of God flows from the thrown room and he has made a bridge across it. 

Reflections

God is reflected in much of what we see and yet we don’t see Him. We fail to notice because we don’t stop long enough to notice. 

Someone said that God had given them a picture of me holding several tokens in my hand. I have been praying about the things that He wants me to do. The messsge seemed to be that I already had lots of things. 

I got in my car to go to the gym the other day. (I will get fit.) and looked in my small compartment to check if I had a pound coin for the locker. There were only three copper coins. I went inside to find a pound and came back to put it in the snall compartment until I had reached the gym. When I opened it up again it was full. I’m sure God was having a laugh at me. I thought I had little but actually I have lots of coins. The coins seemed to have got stuck on a ridge inside. Sometimes we think we are so lacking but yet if only we opened our eyes we would see how truely blessed we are.