“Life is full of light and shadow”, the DavidCrowder*Band song ‘Shadows’ goes. It’s full of ups and downs and twists and turns. Very rarely does it seem as though we’re on a straight road. Life, it seems to me, is more like a rambling country lane than a dead straight motorway…

I am currently reading the songs of ascent which pilgrims sang on their annual journey up to Jerusalem. Today I read Ps 126, a song about the restoration of Israel’s fortunes after a time of sorrow:

“When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who dreamed.

2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

3 The LORD has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy.” (Ps 126:1-3)

The people of God have always known what it is to rejoice and what it is to mourn or grieve. Paul reminds us in Romans 12: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Rom 12:15) There will be times in life when both responses are required.

Ps 126 goes on:

“Those who sow with tears

will reap with songs of joy.

Those who go out weeping,

carrying seed to sow,

will return with songs of joy,

carrying sheaves with them.” (Ps 126:5-6)

Whether things are going well for us or we feel we’re in a drought, God’s name is to be praised. Aaron Shust’s new song ‘My Hope is in You’ says “My hope is in you, Lord all the day long. I won’t be shaken by drought or storm.” Matt Redman expresses this view in his song ‘Blessed Be Your Name’ when he talks about praising God whether the sun’s shining on us or we’re found in the desert place. Our response needs to be consistent, looking to God whatever our circumstances, whether we’re sowing in tears or reaping with joy.

May God give us the courage and grace to bless His name at all times, in all circumstances, with steadfastness and faith.

I do apologise in advance for the randomness of this post. My Internet home page is set to Google and as you may know, they put pretty pictures on there of things of general interest. It’s a bit like having an automatic calendar. Birthdays and anniversaries (see the previous post!) are celebrated by Google!

Today’s picture is this:

I looked at it curiously. Einstein, I decided, must have been born today. But when I hovered over the picture, the words “I have discovered a truly marvellous proof of this theorem, which this doodle is too small to contain” appear and I decided it must be Pierre de Fermat’s birthday instead. Sure enough, he was born on 17th August, though the year seems to be in dispute (1601 or 1607 or 1608 were all suggested by Wikipedia!)

Fermat, for those of you who aren’t surrounded by mathematicians and maths books as I am, was a 17th century mathematician famous for his ‘Last Theorem’ which states that no three positive integers a, b, and c can satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer value of n greater than two. No, I don’t understand it, either. I did know of Fermat because he was French and a contemporary of the philosopher and mathematician Pascal. I do vaguely remember the theorem only being ‘proved’ in recent years, over 300 years after Fermat wrote about it. It makes no difference at all to my daily living as far as I can see and I’m really not that interested in it, though my husband and son often try to explain to me the wonders and relevance of maths.

What does interest me, however, is the fact that people have the capacity to think about these things, ponder them, reflect on them and care about them. The human mind is an amazing thing and I am constantly awed by what it can conceive.

Many of us are so busy with everyday things that we feel we have no time for thinking. Jesus warned us in Matthew 6:25-34 not to be so preoccupied with the everyday things that we forget about God. God is there, even in the ordinary, even in the mundane, and we need to reflect on Him and ‘ponder anew what the Almighty can do’ at every opportunity. Stopping and reflecting on an extraordinary life lived hundreds of years ago – even if it seems to have little direct connection to my ordinary life in 2011 – can’t be a bad way to start the day!

People have very different attitudes to birthdays. Some love them. Some dread them. Some are indifferent to them.

In a similar manner, people have very different attitudes to the birthday box at church, and this was very definitely demonstrated this last Sunday.

We had the reluctant birthday girl…



We had the shy birthday girl…



We had the defiant birthday girl…



… and we had the absolutely-eager-I’ve-been-waiting-for-this-moment-for-months birthday girl…



Whatever the attitude, we wish all of these a very happy birthday and pray God’s richest blessings for the coming year for each one of them.

All our historic ramblings last week led me to thinking about legacies. We looked round so many historic buildings, which generally only became historic because somebody had the vision and determination to want to leave behind something that would make a difference to the world.

We saw the Roman baths in the city of Bath, an amazing engineering legacy:



We saw the majestic abbey in Bath, a soaring architectural legacy:



We visited the Cotswold Wildlife Park, where a local landowner had the vision to protect and breed endangered species as well as providing education about wildlife to local people (I liked the cute wallaby the best!)

But a legacy is not only something that you leave when you die. In Oxford, there were more modern legacies, such as the beautiful fountain at Christ Church whose inscription reads ‘Let everything that has breath praise the Lord’:



Or the lovely new gardens with fountain created thanks to a donation from a former member at Keble:



We often think you have to be rich to leave such a legacy. But God is interested in our lives and in what we are sowing into other people and into our communities. We might have no financial legacy to leave when we die, but daily we can leave behind good deeds, loving kindness and thoughtfulness. In the film ‘Evan Almighty’, these are called ‘acts of random kindness’. Our very lives are our legacies. What kind of legacy are we leaving?

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb 4: 14-16)

Whilst on holiday last week, we visited Oxford. I used to live there. It’s a city I absolutely adore. Steeped in history, it remains one of my all-time favourite places. I suppose that’s because I feel so connected to it. Having studied there, the colleges and libraries, museums and ancient buildings are not just of tourist interest to me. They hold precious memories.

The good thing about going back to Oxford, however, is that I have free access to so many buildings, precisely because I used to be a student there. So, whilst others have to pay entry fees, I was able to stroll around and visit favourite haunts.



Tom Tower in Christ Church. the largest college in the University of Oxford:



Balliol College, one of the oldest colleges (founded in 1263)



Keble Chapel, home of the famous Holman Hunt painting ‘Light of the World’. Keble was my own college and so holds a very special place in my heart, despite being a brick college rather than a stone one!



The Sheldonian Theatre, where students graduate (amongst other things!)



Of far greater value, however, is the free access we all have to God if we are children of God. It’s free to us, but was bought at a price – the precious blood of Christ. Hebrews encourages us to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence. It’s not because of our own righteousness or anything we have done, but we are allowed into God’s presence, washed clean, holy and blameless in His sight. That’s something we can all enjoy!

On holiday last week, we visited Gloucester Cathedral, and got to see the amazing Whispering Gallery there. A whispering gallery is a gallery beneath a dome, vault, or enclosed in a circular or elliptical area in which whispers can be heard clearly in other parts of the building.

A whispering gallery is usually constructed in the form of an ellipsoid, with an accessible point at each focus. When a visitor stands at one focus and whispers, the line of sound emanating from this focus reflects directly to the dish/focus at the other end of the room, and to the other person. Circular whispering galleries may provide “communication” from any part on the circumference to the diametrically opposite point on the circumference.

You can see how high the gallery is from this photograph taken from high up:



Here’s the gallery itself. When you stand at one end, whispers can be heard by someone at the other end, even though they are around corners!



The plaque in the gallery reminds us that if we can hear the whispers, God surely can hear our prayers. That’s a reassuring thought!