There seems to be a tangible aura of dispair everywhere, the changes that have been implemented on the service seem to have done nothing except wreck an already fragile morale. Worse still no one seems to care or is hiding their collective heads in the sand.
I can feel a round of "blamestorming" coming on from somewhere inthe upper siberian reaches of the management stratosphere.
Plus ca change!
I checked out the local churches to where I was but sadly I could not get to the the lunchtime service due to the timings of the course
This has become the break in my week and to be honest a bit of a high point and it has felt like a part of me is missing.
That being said the train journey to get to the course has let me listen to a couple of Podcasts that I have been meaning to listen to for a while.
One in particular relates to the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible and for what appears on the surface to be a rather dry subject is actually a very interesting discussion which can be found here . So overall the week has been enlightening in a number of ways
Well that is the saying and he has certainly moved in a mysterious way to me today.
How? Well I find myself being in complete agreement with the Local Government Minister Eric Pickles, a man for whom, in a decidedly un-christian way, I have very little time since I firmly believe that his agenda for changing things in this area is appalling and harmful to say the least and probably being done for deeply spiteful reasons at the worst.
However I find that I am in agreement with his comments over the ruling about Council Prayers bring unlawful.
Eric Pickles in a comment to the radio news I listened to earlier disagreed with the stance that has been taken and from the majority of the comments listed on the story above - so do most of the commentators.
I find myself in agreement on a number of levels in that -what is wrong with something that is a tradition? No one forced this man to participate in the prayers at all - he could quite easily have sat or waited outside whilst those who wanted to pray did so.
The decision to have prayers was democratically voted on - yet has now been overturned by the spiteful anti-democratic opinions of one man and a coterie of "religious" bigots intent on imposing their "non-belief" on the rest of us
What a sad day for democracy!
That being said - it has certainly strengthened my belief in God and and our saviour Jesus Christ because making me take the same side as Eric Pickles is a minor miracle!!
It's all those and until just before Christmas it was just that for me too. About a week, maybe two before Christmas I noticed that a local church was having a Eucharist service on a Wednesday lunchtime. And, because I was wrestling with a resurgent belief I eventually screwed up the courage to go in rather than vacillate outside trying to decide if I really was just pandering to some sort of self delusion. SO in I went and took part in a communion service for the first time in 30 years and found I managed to draw strength from that to actually face the rest of the week.
Actually I don't just face the rest of the week - I actually enjoy the rest of the week and I feel like I have been re-invigorated just because I spend 30 - 40 minutes quiet listening to the spirit within me being nurtured.
It is quite pleasing to see that the number of people who attend on a lunchtime is actually growing as well - you never know we might have to move out from the side chapel into the main body of the church if we are really lucky!
Maybe you could use some of that Wednesday feeling?
Certainly the signs of new life are everywhere even though the snow and frost might have caused them to pop their heads back down again temporarily.
The music that I most think of when I see this sort of thing is "May Morning" by Runrig - which seems to some it up as well May Morning Video
As the words proclaim "I'm alive again"
Mind you I was having too much of a good time just looking at the views and the sunrise to really concentrate on taking photos.
The other thing that stuck me was how bright the snow filled nights are, the darkness seems to pale back and many things become more clearly seen.
A good night too to sit and read, I am currently reading "Anam Cara" by John O'Donohue and feel lifted by the words I read into a timeless place.
I also have his poetry collection, "Conemara Blues" to hand on my Kindle and together with a couple of drams of Jura Superstition I can feel what he calls the Other, calling to me.
Calming and soothing words and a stillness of the soul to hear and feel the nearness of the Eternal.
Peace
May the peace of the Lord be with you all this night as I feel it is with me now.
Doubts about my reasons for setting out on this journey, doubts about the outcomes?
Has anyone else out there had / have these type of doubts and if you do / did how were they overcome?
For myself I tend to talk a lot when I am out walking, weighing up the pros and cons and asking God for some guidance for my GPS on this one!
