The Derelict Windmill

 Six months.

Twenty Six essay blogs.

Many nights thinking and praying.

Many hours composing and editing.

A lifetime of friendships and experiences.

That’s what this project has been built on.

I started it because my mind needed to be decluttered. Sometimes I’d lie in bed at night and stare into the darkness and dream of preaching a sermon or taking part in a bible discussion group. I would generate new thoughts and combine bible passages in my mind. Only to waken the next morning and they’d all be gone. Forgotten. That frustrated me a lot.

And so, the blog was born. But what is a blog without the sharing of real tangible experiences with real tangible people. I have read many blogs and watched many vlogs. But they didn’t hold much meaning because they were just words, clichés and sayings. They didn’t actually relate to anything in real life friendships.

I didn’t know how to start or what to write. And then I remember a scene from the movie “Finding Forrester” starring the late Sean Connery. The movie is a story of a writer who wrote one classic novel then took “writers block” and never published another novel again. But he just kept on typing out stuff. Getting words down on paper. He never published anything, but left all his essays stacked in the corner. I can recommend the movie.

Many, many years ago I did little bits of bible talking. I made a couple of wee sermons. Gave a couple of wee talks. Shared in bible discussion groups. I really, really enjoyed the studying and the researching. But that all passed into history and all the people involved moved on with their lives.

But the thoughts in my mind never went away. They still kept coming.

Remember the Noel Harrison song from 1968, The Windmills Of Your Mind? That was me. But all my thoughts were in a biblical context. Like a derelict windmill, the sails still kept on turning. Day and night. Sunshine and rain. The sails in my mind kept turning. And the thoughts and self-sermons and the one-man discussions kept on going. Oh, if only I could remember even half of those thoughts now. But, they’re gone.

So now, I have taken to keeping a little notepad by my bed so that I can write things down. I have a notepad app on my phone for writing something down there too. And the internet has now given me an avenue to share these thoughts online.

And so “These Lively Oracles” was born. And the aim of it, hopefully, is that someone somewhere might get a little inspiration from them and turn their thoughts to Jesus and simply say “Thank you, Lord for saving me”. A secondary aim is, hopefully, to get people to share some thoughts about Jesus and in turn get those people to turn to Jesus and say “Thank You”.

My memories are very much of my friendships with a lot of you when I compose these blogs. For it has been my own experiences with you that I draw on for these themes. As the metaphor says – You are the “see” to my “saw”.

When Jesus called His disciples he chose people who were used to dealing with the public. Fishermen who sold their fish to the people each day. Matthew was a Tax Collector. (It’s interesting to note that although Matthew was a Tax Collector and used to dealing with money, it was Judas Iscariot who was the Treasurer of the group.)

And what about the people who came along after Jesus’ ascension. Mark, who it is believed was the first one to write any of the Gospels as we know them. Church history tells us that he might not even have been Jewish. He was Greek. He accompanied Peter on a lot of his journeys.

Then there was Stephen. He already was a deacon in the early Christian church and was part of a team set up to look after the widows and orphans. It was he who used the phrase These Lively Oracles from which the name of this blog is taken. He was stoned to death for his beliefs. (Acts Of The Apostles ch7 v54-60). We still remember him on St. Stephen’s Day, also known as Boxing Day.

Paul the tent maker. Luke the doctor. Jonas Barnabas the Cypriot. Aquila and Priscilla from Pontus (Turkey). These all were people who interacted, either directly or indirectly, one with another. They had stories to tell. Relationships to share. Friendships to build on.

But most of all, they had the common bond of Jesus. If it wasn’t Him, his love or his Spirit then they probably never would have met or even heard of each other.

The Scriptures tell us some things about friendships….

Psalm ch133 v1 - How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.

Job ch2 v11 - When Job’s three friends, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathise with him and comfort him.

1 Peter ch4 v8-10 - Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

 So, as the title of Andrew Gold’s 1978 song says – Thank You For Being A Friend.