Is there any Choice?

 

So begins election season. Here in Guernsey we will hold a general election on October 7th and in the USA there will be a presidential poll in November. We get to choose those who will rule over us, or so the theory goes. In our island we will each have 38 votes - the size of the Assembly - and with well over 100 candidates expected to stand, the ballot paper will probably look like wall-paper! In America the choice will be between two elderly white men. One seems to offer very poor personal credentials but a canny knack of making and losing money, while the other seems well-meaning but lightweight. Probably his biggest claim to fame is that he is not his opponent! Ah well, such is democracy (or what is left of it).

Sorry if that sounds a bit cynical, but to my mind, in the midst of a global pandemic and worst recession on record,  elections seem a bit of an interruption. Yet, they are important simply because of that one over-riding feature - we are called to exercise choice. 'Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve' says Joshua, the ancient leader of Israel and fighter of the famous battle of Jericho. And choice is a recurring Biblical theme. Moses challenged God's people to choose life and blessing instead of death and destruction (Deut 30:19) and Jesus challenged his followers to choose to do God's will (John 7:17).

Last week I chose gratitude instead of regret on the occasion of my 68th birthday (see my blog for Sat 22nd Aug 2020). In a few weeks I will choose 38 Deputies to sit in the States of Deliberation. A few weeks later millions of Americans will choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee (naughty I know!!). 

BUT - the whole point is that we have the freedom to choose. And that's how it is in our walk with God. Choose life - choose Jesus - choose grace! Just as in our elections we make our choice by means of a cross, God has made His choice of Jesus clear in just that way too. At the cross God voted for Jesus as the way to life, hope and eternity. Now that's not irrelevant - that's vital. Cast your vote today.

Choosing Gratitude

 

Today - I am grateful. Thankful that I am still alive and with my wonderful wife, Diane. Really thrilled to be free from pain and recovered from 22 years of the most appalling agony of chronic pancreatitis. On this my birthday I give thanks to God for his amazing grace, love and his faithfulness to me over 68 years. 

In the midst of a global pandemic I am rejoicing that God is still in charge, and that the virtues of self-sacrifice, love for one's fellow people, and care for the sick and dying, that Jesus so exemplified in his life, are still being shown around us. I see immense pain and suffering on every hand, but I also see the compassion of Christ writ large.

I choose gratitude. It is not always easy. Jesus taught us that gratitude should be our attitude in what we call 'The Beatitudes'. Light chases away darkness. Hope dispels gloom. Love expels fear.

I don't blame the government, or my upbringing, or the shady hand of 'lady luck', for anything that has happened in my life, or is going on in the world around me. There is an intruder in God's good creation. The pandemic and my decades of agony, are his fingerprints. But there are other marks I choose to concentrate upon. Nail prints for instance. The scars from a crown of thorns. A discarded stone and an empty tomb.

So, the best gift I can receive today is the one that sets me free. Free from bitterness and self-pity. Free to be me! Free to say 'Thank you Lord!' and mean it. I choose to be grateful.

Pandemic Milestones: centuries apart!

 Making memories. We do it every day, mostly without realising it. This weekend a friend of mine will celebrate her 103rd birthday! Happy birthday Myra! Her long life must be so crammed with memories. Born towards the end of the First World War, the second last child of ten, Myra must have entered a world of challenges. None would be greater, probably, than the pandemic of 1918-1919. Over 500 million people were infected at that time and it is estimated that 20-50 million died, including 115 in Guernsey, the island of Myra's birth. That puts the 2020 pandemic into proportion, although we mourn the passing of so many from Covid-19, (up to 16 of them were in Guernsey, though now Covid free).

So much has changed in Myra's world. Horse and buggy has given way to supersonic airliners, and man has even stepped onto the moon. Communications in 1917/18 would have been largely word of mouth, or through very early forms of telephone and telegrams. No computers, no mobiles, no television. The BBC didn't exist then and would not for a few years. But life and death were the same at that time, and the world must have been gripped with fear and mourning, much as it is now.

This same weekend that Myra is 103, Primrose will be dedicated in a simple family ceremony at our church. Born into a repeat pandemic, I wonder how much the world will change in her lifetime? We will be praying God's blessing on her little life and thanking God for the gift of her. But, as her family begins to make new memories with their little one, it is so important to make room for God's love and guidance, just as Myra has done.

Making memories comes from making choices - good choices - even in the midst of pandemics and pain. Parents bringing their infant to be blessed and seeking God's help for their family and her future. That's a good choice. For Myra, I know that the choice she made to follow Jesus when she was a young woman, has kept her faithful in service of others and the Lord throughout her days. What an example!

Footprints in the Sand

'Footprints in the sand' is a well-known and often quoted piece of prose about a man who dreamed about the various scenes in his life portrayed alongside a set of sand footprints. He was perplexed when he noticed that during his toughest seasons there was only one set of prints visible. He then felt that God spoke to him and reassured him that it was at those times he had been carrying him, causing only one set of marks.

I know that the story of footprints has become hackneyed and is over-used, almost trite, but when I took the shot above in Alderney this week, it came back to me in a very strong way. I was walking on Braye Beach in the morning at low tide, and just chatting with the Lord as I often do. My path in life has been tough at times, and as I saw these prints I felt again the nudge of God's Spirit reassuring me that he has always been there, even when I had felt him most absent.

The fresh beauty of that isolated beach with a strong, sea breeze at my back, and the sand sticking to my sandals like snow, reminded me that God does not promise that our path will always be easy, or that we will not be in pain, sometimes severe pain, but the assurance in my heart that day was that in all these situations, he knows, he loves and he cares.

If you are in one of those seasons where you feel that you are trudging alone through hard unyielding circumstances, know that there is one who cares for you too, and if you will invite him, waits to make his path your way also.