When Peter Woke Up

Peter awoke. He was lying, slightly squashed, on his back, with his knees together and his feet marginally higher than the rest of his body. The hard surface beneath him was uncomfortable, but he didn’t feel like moving just yet. Maybe because he was too tired, or because he was enjoying looking at the stars. The sky, however, was not black and Peter thought to himself, ‘dawn’s coming’.
            He continued to lie where he was, in peaceful surrender. There was barely a sound and it seemed to him that the place where he lay rocked slowly from side to side. His ears picked up the gentle lapping of waves, and, despite his position, Peter soon fell asleep once more.
            When he opened his eyes for a second time, the grey, half-light, that comes in the moment before the dawn, was still there. The fading stars hung above him as before and Peter wondered if he had been asleep for a whole day. This didn’t worry him, indeed he had no cares at all. His only thought was, ‘I’m here,’ but his brain didn’t register what that meant.
            After a while, when he decided he wasn’t going to fall asleep again Peter thought he would sit up, so he did. That was his first surprise and led to his first serious question. “Where am I?” he asked aloud. A sensible question given what he saw; and what he saw was water. Lots of it. On every side the ripples stretched out into the darkness. Unfortunately his star-gazing skills had never been taken beyond finding the ‘Plough’ and ‘Orion’s belt’, so while the answer to his question might have been found in the skies Peter wasn’t going to get it.
            He looked a little distrustfully at the water, but he wasn’t afraid, more intrigued. He reached out a finger and dipped it in the water, but drew it back quickly because of the cold. Watching the drops fall from his finger onto the bottom of the boat, for if you are at sea then you must have a boat, a second thought struck him. Why wasn’t he cold all over? All he had on was a light top and loose, three-quarter length trousers. He didn’t even have anything on his feet.
            Finding no obvious explanation for this either Peter looked about some more and then at the little boat. A plain, wooden vessel that you might find on a small lake, but not at sea. Peter was glad that the water was so calm.
            Feeling about, he found the only other thing, besides himself, in the boat – a pair of oars. While the situation still made no sense, Peter did the only logical thing. Fitting the oars into the rowlocks, he dipped and pulled and the little boat glided smoothly across the water.

Reflections on Pilgrimage

So this is kind of delayed, but I've been a bit busy, so here are some thoughts on the Bath Abbey Pilgrimage 2014.

The Bible is full of people travelling from one region to another, but one of the least known journeys is that of Abram. Already well on in years Abram heard the call of God while living in a place called Ur (I haven't forgotten, that is actually it's name). Abram did not have the Bible to find out who this God was and in fact how he knew it was God calling him is something of a mystery. Nevertheless he packed his bags and set off around the desert, passing through the mighty city of Babylon and along the rivers making up the Fertile Crescent. He continued all the way to Egypt some 1500 miles away.
     God did not just call him to go on major hike, but promised him that he would be blessed with a Land, a Nation and Offspring as numerous as the stars. For Abram (who became Abraham on the journey) to believe in a God that no-one knew anything about, was one thing, but to have faith that he would inherit a beautiful land, become the leader of a nation and, most of all, have children, when at the time he had none, is mind blowing.
     Abraham had to learn who God is and many times he tried to take matters into his own hands when his trust in God wavered. God was always faithful though, and settled him in the land of Canaan, which is today Israel. Then, when Abraham was 100, his wife gave birth to a son, from whom the nation of the Israelites came.

This was the story we followed as we also travelled to our home, and we, like Abraham, came to learn more of who God is along the way. We discovered more of His love, peace and joy; we hoped and trusted in Him and He did not let us down.
     The Pilgrimage does not end there, though, it continues on in our everyday lives. The world may not have changed, but we have and it is up to us to live in this new understanding of God.

You’re the joy, joy, joy lighting my soul,

the joy, joy, joy making me whole.
Though I'm broken, I am running
into your arms of love.
          (Joy, Rend Collective)

Easter

I can't believe quite how much I've fitted into the past 15 days, but this is how they went:

Shot home straight from school on Friday 4th, the first time I'd been back since New Year, and had a relatively pleasant 5 days of relaxing, mixed with getting my head around my 3rd essay. A trip to the dentist revealed that I've got to have a tooth pulled out in the not too distant future, but brushing over that, I also wandered over to Nottingham to watch an afternoon of cricket at Trent Bridge, my favourite way to unwind.

 

 

After returning to Bath on Wednesday 9th, I met my mentor to plan the coming term, much of which I will be teaching. Then it was back to the essay before Epidemic Life put me in the mood for Holy Week. A mixed weekend of Spirit-filled worship and brain-numbing writing ensued and passed at the speed of light, but it was fine because there was still another week to go!

 

Then it was a delightful return to Bath Abbey for the annual, Holy Week Pilgrimage, this year from Crosscombe to Bath. We could not of timed it better, or God could not have blessed us more. Four days of perfect weather, beautiful landscape and the best company I could wish to walk with, followed and filled me with peace, hope and joy.

 

Sadly four days of not working in the world of education can set you back a long way and on Thursday 17th I returned to my desk with some degree of panic. Since then it has been early starts (I work best at around 7am) and tiring afternoons as I try to bring this essay into some kind of order, as well as planning out my lessons for next week! I feel this is a sad way to spend Easter weekend, the most special and glorious of the Christian calendar, but sometimes, I guess, these things have to be done.

Thanks to much support, mostly in the way of prayer, I'm now feeling more peaceful, and with the sun shining again and the Classic fm Hall of Fame on the radio there are worse ways to end a holiday.

I hope your Easter has been as blessed, although not quite so busy, as mine, and that you have had time to stop and wonder again on death and resurrection of Jesus and on His great love for you.

 



The gathering storm

 

A pilgrimage has been made,

and a meal has been eaten.

 

 

The mountain has been climbed,

 

 

and the waiting has begun.

 

 

The clouds begin to gather,

and the wind begins to moan.

The people huddle closer,

and they watch

 

Creator of the World, lifted up.

Innocent one, sentenced to death.

A freely given sacrifice

All because of love

 

 

 

God of Wonder

Sometimes you have to wonder: what is the purpose of far off stars and galaxies, and how did they get there?
Many times I have wondered: if God created the heavens, the moons and the stars, and such majestic things, can He really be interested in me?
Yet, not only is He interested, He has thoughts beyond count, boundless love, and greater care for me than I can ever know, and so it is for you.
He is a God of wonder and so I will live in wonder.

¹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
² Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
³ When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

⁵ You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honour.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 

                                  ^{Psalm 8}

Sketching - Part 2

Not wanting to say too much about a tough couple of weeks, I've decided to post pictures of some more sketching I've been doing...

Aware of the change

It's not often that we notice changes while they are happening. Generally we only realise later on that something is different. I am, however, very much aware of the change that is about to happen, and is happening, as I move into my second placement and begin looking on to what happens next.
     My time at Uni is at an end (or almost) and it was strange saying goodbye to coursemates who will remain coursemates over the coming months despite the fact that I'll probably only see most of them a few more times. Tomorrow I head to a new school and a new class and many new challenges. I must hit the ground running and keep my head above the water, as they say. (Got to love a good mixed metaphor).
     As well as adjusting to this full time work situation (after a fairly relaxed 5 weeks) I must crack on with my final essay, due shortly after Easter - the year is going so fast - and be constantly on the look out for potential jobs for the autumn. Juggling all of these balls (while running and keeping my head above water) will no doubt keep me insanely busy, so if you don't hear from me/see me much for a few months my sincerest apologies, but I will endeavour to keep you updated on my progress, as well as anything interesting or amusing that occurs!