Sunday Review

Evening folks,

Since returning from the Isles of Scilly on Thursday D and I have done little more than play a bit of squash and putting in our Tesco order (hoorah for our Tesco Man who graciously climbs all three flights of stairs to our wee flat with all our groceries!). We've also been watching a bit of football - the Germans (despite the commentators' moans) were terrific tonight and look like going a long way. England were pretty poor...which gave D a great deal of pleasure, of course!

We've had a good Sunday of church and fellowship. We were invited to a family's house today for a good ol' roast and some good ol' chat. The folks of Lincoln Evangelical have been so very welcoming. The Pastor spoke about being shaken today. It got me thinking about the different ways we could understand 'shaken'. The world seems to be pretty 'shaken' up. I like to see all the good in the world but sometimes I can only see the 'shakes', both natural but, more often, manmade. Humans can be horrid! The Pastor mentioned this concept of 'shaking' and encouraged us to look to God the Rock who never moves. I then got thinking about how I am 'shaken'. Again there are probably two ways of looking at this. Certainly we can be 'shaken' by personal tragedy, health problems, family issues etc. D and I are in the fortunate position (don't worry, I know that smooth sailing never lasts forever!) of not really having to cope with any such tragedies currently. So what about another way of understanding this 'shaking' of the individual? I started to think about the way that folks in the Wild West (American friends, please forgive me - I am romantic when it comes to US culture) used to pan for gold. All the stones and stuff would fall through the holes leaving just the gold behind. I wondered what would be left behind if God did the same with me. What would be the gold left behind and how much would there be? Hmm...(in the words of Wayne Sutton) "is it hot in here or is it me?"

So this will be the thought I'll take with me into the next week. Currently watching a wonderful Studio Ghibli film called Ponyo. I love these beautiful Japanese animations. They can be a wee bit scary but if you have brave children I would heartily recommend them. D and I have also been watching a magnificent storm through our window - sheet lightening and lots of thunder. All quite exciting. Even the electrics went off for a moment!

Anyways, back to work tomorrow. With the publishing contract now all sorted I have something really concrete to work towards. Tomorrow, though, is taken up with university admin and teaching stuff. Ho hum... Oh, and a squash game...I am getting better, I think.

Enjoy the football and the week ahead.

CSW