If you were to wander past many war graves, you would find this phrase on each tombstone, but why? Influential and eccentric author of The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling, lost his son John in the First World War and offered his services to what became known as The War Graves Commission. Despite having an eclectic […]
Lake Erie is a huge stretch of water at 241 miles long by 57 miles wide and 210 feet in depth at its deepest point. It is the fourth largest of North America’s five Great Lakes and the eleventh largest in the world. It can be navigated safely and yet it has over 2000 shipwrecks of all sizes. There are many coastlines with hidden dangers that have claimed thousands of ships and their crews.
Every locality has its landmarks and we all use them for navigating around our landscapes. A few like the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty are notable beyond their locality, but most only mean something to locals. When a familiar old tree is taken down or a favourite shop closes, there is a sense of loss and some disorientation. The pictured monument is probably known only to a very few readers – it is placed in heathland to mark the proximity of habitat for Wild Cranberries, the Woodlark and Nightjar. Some have creatively also used it for geocaching so if it was moved it would be confusing for dog walkers and for those searching for their next geocache answer. You will have some landmarks that mean a lot to you but little to others. Come to that, in the landscape of life, you will have people or events that are significant landmarks particularly to you. Perhaps you are a landmark for others like a cairn on a mountain walk to help them on their way.
Is it both, either or neither? Many Christians feel a sense of split identity – saint or sinner? Perhaps sometimes feeling more ‘saintly’ whilst at other times feeling a ‘downright sinner’! Have you ever felt this? St Augustine was one such who agonised over the good person he wanted to be and the sinner that he publicly confessed himself to be. This painting of him portrays something of that tension. Born in 354 AD to Monica, a devout Christian, he had at least two mistresses, an illegitimate child and lived a life of life of hedonism ruled by lust and worldly ambition, famously saying: “God, grant me chastity and continence, but not yet”. Yet when he was 31, he became a follower of Christ, then the Bishop of Hippo laying down much Christian doctrine. Bishop Possidius of Calama recorded him as one who ‘ate sparingly, worked tirelessly, despised gossip, shunned the temptations of the flesh, and exercised prudence in finances’.
Dementia is experienced by some 50 million people around the world and the number is increasing as people are living longer. Christians seem to rationalise physical illnesses more easily than those which affect the mind. Having a loved one whose Christian faith has been strong throughout life then suffer with dementia and sometimes an apparent loss of faith is much harder to bear. Dementia is indeed a tough nut to crack and there are no easy answers but it is something we need to understand better. Pressures in life can act like nutcrackers as they pivot upon us affecting physical and mental health but dementia is in a league of its own. Many conditions can cause dementia, including degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s but it is also associated with infections, vascular diseases, stroke, depression and chronic drug use. What we fail to know, God knows.
Everyone loves it when the bunting comes out, joy is in the air and it’s time for the celebrations to begin. Most people know when and what to celebrate from the smallest to the biggest of reasons. What have you celebrated recently? Anniversaries, rites of passage, achievements, memorials or perhaps just being alive! Life is certainly richer for celebrating with others good things in their lives or perhaps your own.
Few people like to admit that they have a strong need to be in control, unkindly or perhaps aptly referred to as ‘control freaks’. Some of the signs are that they often correct or belittle others, find themselves judging people, refuse to admit when they are wrong, sometimes use the silent treatment as emotional blackmail and always need to have the last word. Whilst this may apply to how they relate to others, ironically they themselves lack self-control over many things including the desire to be in control! There is also a healthy type of control for otherwise chaos reigns. Yet if you take control to its unhealthy extent you head into areas of domination and manipulation which indicate personal insecurity. Those who love power love to use it and to flaunt it as these armour-plated limousines and this fierce Presidential bodyguard demonstrate.
Some people are professional backsliders and some do it just for the fun of it! The first recorded use of the term ‘luge’ was in 1905 and derives from the Swiss dialect of the French word luge, meaning ‘small coasting sled’. It involves lying on your back on the luge and hurtling down either steep roads or ice tracks at speeds from 80mph upwards with great risk to life and limb. Though most injuries involve bumps, bruises, broken bones and concussions, there have been at least four fatalities in public sporting events. To lie on your back puts you in a place of exposure to risk and makes you vulnerable. Not that this cat is going anywhere fast in its backsliding! However there are many ways that a person who once felt secure in faith begins backsliding. Where will it end? Many have argued that a Christian can lose their secure position – what do you think?
