After another early morning of low cloud and damp mist, the weather’s now smiling – blue sky and sun. But I’m told that here and there this lovely sun will heat the ground up enough to make some unpleasant (but potentially interesting) showers. Beware the smile. The bilberries by the lane over old railway bridge are getting closer to ripeness. I ate one this morning. So there’s a hundredth of one of my five-a-day.
People seem to be moving ever more freely, maybe too freely. I suppose we take our cue from the example set at the top.
A little humid this morning, less wind than yesterday, a little bit of drizzle and the cloud base down to about 400m at times. There is a decent amount of water now, rushing down the steps and into Valehouse Reservoir. A quiet, unassuming morning, and a time for being wrapped up in the process of walking. I saw my first sheared sheep of the year in a field above Padfield.
The sun’s out now I’m home, and I can see a low drizzle-bow.
There’s something rather beautiful about the drizzle falling through the sunlit air outside the front window.
I feel as if I’ll never have any influence on what happens to my country anymore, not through the vote, not through anything. Our culture will be crushed by the American jagarnath. We’ll have a weird kind of freedom, and it’ll be ‘no work, no bread’ which I speculate is one of the reasons some countries have been hit hard by the pandemic – people afraid to stop working. Just think about the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard for the moment. It’s reckoned to say something about God’s kingdom and the people of God, but consider it possible that it also says something about vineyards, and labourers, and remuneration.
As the sun rises, the rainbow sinks, disappearing into the ground.
Entertaining TV programme last night about the struggles of TPE. I couldn’t work out why the makers smudged over the name on the Northern train that had derailed at Ardwick. Did Northern think the viewers wouldn’t notice that it was one of their trains that had held everybody up? Or did they want to charge to programme makers for depicting the logo, and the makers had refused? Or something else? Anyway, train operators will be facing a whole different set of problems now.
Hard work on the outward leg of my walk this morning, with a stiff easterly and bits of rain. It was not a fast walk, nor a particularly pretty one. Even in this weather, there’s quite a few people out first thing.
From the Lectionary… Just a little bit of a verse out of context. Jesus is sending disciples out to preach and heal and he says (among other things) this… “and you will be hated by all because of my name.” (Matthew 10:22). I’ve felt like that sometimes. But (i) it’s rarely true in our generation. Christians may feel persecuted way more than we actually are. (ii) Nevertheless, being hated is still a real thing, there will be some who hate us for various reasons, some, sadly, justified. The Jesus way is not a bed of roses: but it is life.
Also I saw a remote controlled lawnmower cutting the grass on the steep bank of Rhodeswood Dam. Good idea I thought. Then I saw two old-fashioned types being hand pushed on the identical incline near the bottom of the dam.
Exodus 19:7 “So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.”
Matthew 10:1 “Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.”
Both Moses and Jesus got people together and gave the instructions. Working for God is a corporate thing – we have other people alongside us – we are not alone.
Another morning of fumbling to put on a face covering in the rain outside the shop. OK so far though.
Another largely cloudy morning. The air was fairly still…
There’s still enough water in Torside Reservoir to make reflections.
It’s never particularly seemed to be my world, but being retired seems to have increased my sense of disenfranchisement. I shouldn’t complain – standing on the sidelines moaning has never been very useful – I ought to be thinking of something to do. Reading in the Lectionary about ‘call’ and new beginnings leaves me with a bit of that hunger.
Some of the Bible readings for Sunday are about beginnings. And in various ways there are elements of call+promise=>deal. Odd for a person of my age (typical of mainstream church members) to be reminded of beginnings and the possibility of being called to something new. But it’s by no means out of the question…. Watched a dedication service of the Iona Community last night on Facebook, and it was inspiring. Anyway, Sarah laughed: have you ever had that thing when you wonder, did that person really just say that?
A steady rain is falling, and I think I’ll not do my exercise just now – although I may not eat any less.
Today is Trinity Sunday, baffling for scientists and fun for artists.
God of life, we thank you for creating the generous rain, to make the earth fruitful. We thank you for coming to us in Jesus, who walked the roads of Palestine, who knew the feel of rain on his head and the intensity of the sun on his brow, who suffered because of us, and who lives to offer us life. We thank you that you are Spirit, you will go where you want, do what you do, fall on us like rain, stir us up like a rushing wind, and we shall never nail you down.
An early morning walk to the shop in he rain. Quite enjoyable progressing through empty streets … except putting on a face covering outside the local Tesco was a damp fumble. Target achieved, except for nuts: I decided since it was only I who wanted them, it wasn’t worth going round again and possibly squeezing past a shelf-stacker to look for them.
BTW, we had a spell of clapping for carers – what about people who stack shelves – that seems pretty essential to me.
God of love, we pray for everyone who has a dangerous job, army, fishers, doctors, nurses, hospital cleaners and porters, care workers, food shop staff, bus drivers, taxi drivers, and many many more. God keep them safe, protect their going out and their coming in.
Do you think President Trump measures the success of his presidency by the number of ‘likes’ his tweets get? It would explain a lot.
Walking, you can know how you are doing, in that you can measure the distance. This morning, a short walk between showers up to Rhodeswood Dam and back via Padfield. Quite a few people around, despite the iffy weather. The guerilla cheerer-up has been down by the lane, too…
We thank you God for people who make our lives cheerful. We thank you for Jesus, who offers the world love and healing, a love stronger than death.
When I got out of the door this morning, I was greeted by the smell of burnt moorland. It stayed with me, more or less, for the whole of the morning walk. I guess with the wind more in the north, it was blowing straight down from where the fire has been, on Saddleworth Moor. I know freedom is sacred and all that, but would it be too much of a problem to ban the sale of disposable barbecues until the moors were properly wet – which they may be soon – we’ve had some nice rain.
Came across this today…
…maybe the track by the reservoir was a route somewhere at one time.
Trinity time: In Genesis the writer is trying to tell us how God created order from chaos, and the first we know about it is the ‘wind that swept across the face of the waters’ – i.e. spirit. As to God in Christ, other Bible writers have said how Jesus can bring meaning out of tragedy.
God forgive us when we mess up your creation: we may not all have the spectacular stupidity of those who set fire to the moors, but we do our bit to make things worse, and ask you to forgive us. Strengthen and encourage us, we pray, to work to heal the world and make things better.
