It was time to do some housework, I decided. Not perhaps the most exciting way to spend a morning, but something that needed to be done. So I set to work – actually I enjoy it once I’ve got started – and after a while I was able to look round with satisfaction and think, “There, that’s finished.” But of course it wasn’t really finished; it was only finished till next time. In this life, nothing stays tidy or clean or ‘finished’ for very long and then it has to be done all over again!
The other day, beguiled by a promising weather forecast and some patches of blue in the sky, I decided to go for a ride on my bike. I hadn’t gone far when a dark cloud came rushing across from the west, swallowing up the blue sky and bringing the rain. So I put on my waterproofs and carried on, with the words of one of Isaac Watts’ hymns going round in my head:
This is the day the Lord hath made,
He calls the hours His own;
Last week, I attended the 19th annual God’s Glory our Joy conference near Warrington. It was good to meet with folk serious about the Bible and worshipping in faithful churches. Its website says it
‘aims to build biblical churches by stimulating thought, prayer and discussion in our churches, and to promote a true godliness according to biblical patterns.’
I caught a glimpse of the full moon on Sunday evening, riding high behind scudding clouds, ‘a stately galleon tossed upon cloudy seas’. I like to see the moon. I’ve watched it climb, cold and remote, over snowy mountain peaks; admired its golden glitter paths on calm seas; wondered at the sight of the earth’s shadow crossing it, turning it rusty-red, the blood moon of a lunar eclipse; smiled at the baby moon, a nail-paring in the evening sky; seen super moons, blue moons, half moons… Yes, I like to see the moon.
01282 540562
pastor @ martintop. org .uk
Salem Chapel, Martin Top
near Rimington, Clitheroe BB7 4EG
Salem Congregational Chapel is a registered charity No. 252401 (England & Wales)
Sunday Worship 10.45am & 6pm