One of the distinct advantages of being (nearly) clergy is that little things pop up out of the woodwork, like the opportunity to enjoy a holiday at a substantial discount. Even if that means you have to go to the middle of nowhere o'clock in Wales.Wales should market itself as being ahead of the times - we left England enjoying its summer and found Wales was already into autumn weather. This meant that Tasha could enjoy using the Aga in the cottage. Not only does an Aga provide a constant source of heat, meaning that a kettle boils in a fraction of the normal time and that the building is permanently toasty (you could wander around in swimwear inside even if you couldn't outside), but it also burns an incredible amount of oil at the landlord's expense!
With no TV, Playstation or Wii the only entertainment was board games, books and jigsaws and we had a lovely week together as a familywithout the usual technological distrcations, although Beth's initial enthusiasm for her 1000 piece challenge wore off after the first time, leaving me and Isaac to complete it under more and more pressure as the week wore on.
One day we hired two-man canoes and paddled for 5 miles down the River Hay between Glasbury and Hay-On-Wye. I think Tasha and Beth did more teamwork in their boat - Isaac was a passenger for much of my trip, but was enjoying it anyway. We went past ducks and swans and the girls spotted kingfishers, which are really speedy!
We also climbed mountains. The first time was an accident - we were driving around in the late afternoon, stopped at a car park to look at the view, and before we knew it Isaac had gone in the opposite direction determined to 'climb that mountain'. Not taking him seriously we gave him a bit of freedom, until I realised that he had gone past the easy lower slope and wasn't turning back. By the time I had reached the same point in hot pursuit I was already exhausted and 15 minutes behind him. People coming in the opposite direction in their full waterproofs and sensible hiking boots, seeing me dressed in trainers, T-shirt and shorts were warning me that the weather was about to turn. But turing back wasn't an option, as I had to retrieve my lost sheep. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a mountain as "a natural elevation of the earth surface rising more or less abruptly from the surrounding level and attaining an altitude which, relatively to the adjacent elevation, is impressive or notable.". Let me assure you that this particular mountain met all those criteria. It's just that I couldn't really appreciate that as I was breathlessly ascending its abrupt elevations. In fact I probably set some sort of record in my ascent - I've never gone upwards under my own propulsion so fast. The picture at the top of the article doesn't do justice to it - it's 20
0 metres up from that point, pretty much at 45 degrees most of the way. And when I got to the top of the path the Lost Sheep was nowhere in sight. He'd gone off in search of the actual top of the mountain, and re-appeared after a couple of minutes having obviously found the triangulation point at the summit. He was ready to run back down and couldn't understand why I needed five minutes rest before going back down. I was 'slightly' annoyed with him for wandering off on his own, but also quietly impressed that he was pleased with himself for climbing a mountain all on his own.
0 metres up from that point, pretty much at 45 degrees most of the way. And when I got to the top of the path the Lost Sheep was nowhere in sight. He'd gone off in search of the actual top of the mountain, and re-appeared after a couple of minutes having obviously found the triangulation point at the summit. He was ready to run back down and couldn't understand why I needed five minutes rest before going back down. I was 'slightly' annoyed with him for wandering off on his own, but also quietly impressed that he was pleased with himself for climbing a mountain all on his own.Jesus lets us have the freedom to do what we want. If we run off up some mountain of our own he doesn't stop us. In Matthew Chapter 18 he tells the story of the Lost Sheep, putting himself as the shepherd.
Verses 12-14 (The Message) "Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.
You might be one of those lost sheep who has wandered far away from the path that Jesus would have you on - but he still searches for you and wants to greet you when you are ready to be found.
And He can get up a mountain faster than I can.
1 comment:
Nice bitof theological reflection.... you really are getting the hang of this aren't you ;o)
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