A QUESTION OF FAITH
With Rev Malcolm Clarke of The Vine coffee and book shop What an asset Google Maps is! Perhaps you still use a map book, planning your journey from `here` to `there` and good for you if that’s the case. But it’s a step up again to use the internet. You can type in your destination, add your starting point, and within seconds you have route options, telling you the exact distance for each and the estimated travelling time to allow too.
But when I entered my destination as `Heaven’ even Google maps was out of its depth. It advised me of restaurants, clubs and all sorts of places with heaven in the commercial title. But No! There was no advice at all on how to get from here to Heaven. No suggested route, no time scale, and no distances.
We are not long past Easter Day. In fact Thomas who was absent on Easter Day has only just got `on board’ with the fact that what his disciplefriends have been saying about Easter Day is true, and now we are into that forty day period when Jesus appeared again and again to reinforce the reality of His resurrection. And that’s perhaps the key to `Heaven’ and to making my way there when the time comes. Maybe I should have been searching the Scriptures all along and should not just have `Googled it’.
The first time I was aware of any spiritual searching in my own life was when I came home as a twelve year old from a scout camp to discover that my Uncle had died whilst I’d been away.
That was the first time I can remember wanting for there to be “something more” to life; and straight way my thoughts went to Jesus. Because if He actually rose from the dead perhaps that was the place to start; working out what was true about Him, about my Uncle, and about everyone else I knew and loved, and about myself eventually too.
It turns out that the route to `Heaven’ is via Good Friday, via the personal discovery of Jesus and that there is actual forgiveness through trusting in the One who died in my place. Next we pass through Easter Day and the recognition that death is defeated and applied to all those who through faith opt in with Jesus.
And now we anticipate Pentecost (Whit Sunday) and the experience of God the Holy Spirit taking up residence within our lives, bringing the forgiving risen Jesus with Him, and calling out from within us “Father!” as we approach the Lord God Almighty.
Our Father who art in Heaven as we say in the Lord’s Prayer. And now I know that because of Jesus we can join Him there too. Happy ongoing Easter. I frequently drive along motorways and A roads and the amount of litter along the side of the roads is a disgrace, paper cups, plastic bottles, beer cans, thrown from car windows.
I drive along the M69 and it is disgusting and embarrassing to our country.
If i wasn’t worried about getting hit by a car or picked up by a weirdo I would walk along the grass verge of the motorway and pick it up myself.
Surely something can be done, can’t we get people on community service to pick the rubbish up in groups. Or have the councils get it done.
When I am out walking, every single time I see some litter. I have taken to carrying an bin liner with me to pick it up as I go along, sweet wrappers, beer cans, paper, empty cola bottles, it’s along jittys, in fields, alongside roads, on the paths.
What is wrong with people, don’t they have bins at home! do they not care if they live in a rubbish dump around them.
What is so hard about keeping your rubbish in your car then carrying it into your house when you get home.
What is so hard about carrying your empty plastic bottle as you are walking and put it in the nearest bin or taking it home.
We should be ashamed for visitors to this country to have to see this.