555 Lessons

Submitted by Alan Marsden on Wed, 27/08/2025 - 00:00

I preached up at the Keswick Congregational Chapel on Sunday. Long drives hurt my back, so I caught the 555 bus from Kendal. It is quite possibly the most scenic bus route in Britain, passing by mountains and lakes. Although a few drunkards boarded at Ambleside on the return leg, noisily regaling fellow passengers with ribald chants, the fine weather and inspiring views made the busy bus quite tolerable.

It occurred to me on my way up that I had done it before, twenty-five years to the week. A younger me, accompanied by my grandmother, made the trip after my third year of university and before I began my PGCE (teaching qualification). At the time, I thought the trip faintly ridiculous; the journey takes three hours each way. We had just enough time for a cup of tea, a light lunch and a quick inspection of the parish church, before catching the return bus back. As I sat on the bus last Sunday pondering this, it occurred to me that it had been one of the best days of my life, but I did not know it at the time. Just over a year later, she would be with the Lord, and I would spend the next three years pining for her (it was she who raised me from the age of 10). If only we appreciated good things while we have them, and not when they are taken. Thankfully, I know I shall see her again, for the Lord Jesus has promised as much.

The other thought I contemplated as the bus chugged through Grasmere, Bowness and Windermere was the very recent memory of another older lady whom I had met that day. She had fallen in the week, and sported a large plaster on her head and bruises to her face. Not only did she manage to attend twice that Lord’s Day, but she cheerfully shared her thanks to the Lord that He had provided assistance to her so speedily. Instead of grumbling that the event had happened at all, she turned it into an exercise of gratitude. I marvelled, suspecting that she had more faith and grace in that bruised head of hers than I in my whole body. Truly, I went up to Keswick mourning the passing of one woman of God, but I returned with gladness for having met another.

God is good.