These Lively Oracles

I went for a walk a few weeks ago. My neighbour and I would drive down to a little coastal park and go for a walk along the water’s edge until we came to a seat and then we’d sit for a while and talk. I was a bit hesitant at going as the weather forecast was a bit mixed and I didn’t want us to get caught out in the rain. But off we went, anyway. We sat and chatted about some of the mundane things in life and sometimes we’d just sit and look across the bay to the shore on the far side. Or we’d allow our gaze to travel around and see the landmarks of the city five miles away to the south. On this particular day I could see the rain clouds over the city and wondered how long it would be before we had to run back to the car for shelter. We sat and watched as the clouds and rainfall travelled their way along the far side of the bay while we sat looking up at blue skies and sunshine. It was very surreal to think the while we sat in the sunshine the far side of the bay was getting drenched in...

Our thoughts this week are all centered round the Nativity. And although the festival of Christmas has been commercialised and embellished beyond all recognition there are still certain bits of the story that remain constant. One such reference is to the town of Bethlehem. It would have been a small sleepy town where the Bible tells us that the shepherds kept watch over their flocks of sheep. But I decided to do a bit more reading on the place. And there is another side to Bethlehem’s story. A pre-history, if you will. Bethlehem. Wow, what a place. So steeped in biblical history. In one book that I enjoy reading (Sketches of Jewish Social Life by Alfred Edersheim) the writer mentions an area called  Migdal Eder. It translates into The Tower Of The Flock and it suggests that the shepherds who watched over their flocks by night were sitting in watchtowers. Luke ch2 v8 tells us that the shepherds were abiding the in the fields. But a quick look onto the internet maps and we can see th...

The blog title, Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, is the title of a song from the musical “Les Miserables”. It is sang by the character, Marius, who sits and laments of the people who were with him at the start of the French Revolution but who are no longer there. He also laments as to why he should be the one who is left. And I sometimes think of people who I once knew, once worked with and once worshipped with over the years. I wonder how their lives have fared out since then. In my mind’s eye I can see a row of young men all sitting beside each other in church and singing. I think of the junior doctor who went to the same church as me and how he fared along in his career. One person went off to work on the oil fields as a geological surveyor. One went into the military. Some went to the mission fields, some into the ministry. Some moved along to other churches and some never carried on at all. It’s very easy to sit and reminisce about other times and other people. We were all of our ti...

I have a toolshed. I like to think that it’s my little place of sanctuary and industry. A place where I can be alone. I have my little heater, and my music, and my internet connection. And I have various tools that I have collected over my working career all gathering dust in the various drawers around the place. And various little half finished projects that sit around the place. It’s a little haven. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? However, the reality is very different. For the place is a mess. Tools are in drawers that they’re not meant to be in. Screws and nails are mixed together. The waste bin is overflowing and needs emptied. And the floor needs swept. And I have a single little passageway which I can walk along from the front to the back of my shed. But. I know where everything is. A neighbour called recently looking to borrow something. I knew exactly where I’d find it. Another friend called looking for some stuff to get a job done. I knew exactly where it was. On both occasions...

Sometimes I sit in church and look around at the people. I just watch who comes in and sits down and who comes in, leaves their coats down and goes out again. I see young parents preoccupied with their children and choir singers and musicians fussing over their music and instruments. What they all have in common though is that they are all looking around for some friends, family and acquaintances so as to acknowledge them and wave to them. I do not know the people well enough in this church to see who does not like who. I’m sure there are some like that. But I’m not looking for those scenarios. I remember at another church I attended a very good friend of mine, Frank was his name, came in with his family and sat in the row directly in front of us. We all smiled and greeted each other and then Frank, with a twinkle in his eye, asked his wife to swop seats with him. His wife looked up at him curiously and asked, “Why?” Frank replied, “Because when the Pastor asks us all t...