Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Earlier this
year Anne and I visited our daughter Heather and her husband Rob at the Airbnb in
Hampshire where they were staying. The
bookshelves were fairly sparsely furnished – but the books that were there –
what memories of almost 70 years ago came flooding back! Instantly, I remembered the particular volume
I just had to pick up, and the title of the specific chapter…..
Gingerly,
apprehensively, I opened volume 9 of Arthur Mee’s “Children’s
Encyclopaedia”. There was the chapter –
“The Human Moles at work”. Page after page of pictures – terrifying pictures I
had studiously avoided as an impressionable young lad! They showed men digging tunnels – excavating
their way through subterranean London – constructing a new Underground
line. All that darkness, all that
blackness……. I had eagerly devoured the other volumes of the Encyclopaedia, but
I rarely touched volume 9, just in case I inadvertently stumbled upon THAT
chapter.
Welcome to
October! A month, in some ways,
associated with darkness. We are all aware, at present, of the nights drawing
in: between the Autumn and Spring Equinoxes there is more darkness than light
and we will be especially conscious of this when British Summer Time ends in
the early hours of Sunday October 26. At
the end of the month we have Hallowe’en, originally a festival which was part
of the Christian Year (All Hallows Eve) but now for many people primarily
associated with darkness, the sinister, the macabre and the occult. With the
international situation as it is, we are very aware of the darkness of the
world: the hymn “Great is the darkness that covers the earth” (“Singing the
Faith” 405) may seem singularly appropriate. Yet that hymn concludes on a
glorious note: that all darkness will vanish, and sorrow end, when Jesus
returns again.
he Biblical
writers, perhaps especially John in his Gospel, clearly contrast light and
darkness. The Good News is that these are not two equal forces! Do find time to read the magnificent prologue
to John’s Gospel (chapter 1 verses 1-18). We clearly read in verses 4 and 5
that the coming of Jesus brings light to all humanity, and the darkness has not
overcome it. Jesus is the Light: he
reveals to us the exact, true nature of God (perfectly holy through being
perfectly loving) and in his life he revealed not only the humble,
self-sacrificial, servant ministry which is the hallmark of a truly fulfilling
life, but also taught and demonstrated how the power of the Holy Spirit can
enable us to live such a life! When we receive the risen Jesus in our hearts,
we receive the Light which the darkness can never snuff out.
The One who
claimed “I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12) also said, to those who were
his committed disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). We
who have received Jesus as Lord and Saviour are called upon to reflect his true
light in the midst of the darkness of the world today: the light of who God really
is, the light of the only meaningful way to live. When we turn on our lights in
the home we are dependent on the power supply: we can only reveal the light of Jesus
through the power of his Spirit – the Holy Spirit who is given freely to all
who believe and ask.
I was
petrified of those pages of darkness in volume 9! With Jesus Christ there is no
need to fear. In John’s first letter he writes: “There is no fear in love, but
perfect love casts out fear” (4:18). Love will ultimately overcome all hatred,
and light will be victorious over all darkness. This is the Good News of Jesus
we are all invited to receive, whatever the darkness in our past lives!
Geoff Floyd
Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Earlier this year Anne and I visited our daughter Heather and her husband Rob at the Airbnb in Hampshire where they were staying. The bookshelves were fairly sparsely furnished – but the books that were there – what memories of almost 70 years ago came flooding back! Instantly, I remembered the particular volume I just had to pick up, and the title of the specific chapter…..
Gingerly, apprehensively, I opened volume 9 of Arthur Mee’s “Children’s Encyclopaedia”. There was the chapter – “The Human Moles at work”. Page after page of pictures – terrifying pictures I had studiously avoided as an impressionable young lad! They showed men digging tunnels – excavating their way through subterranean London – constructing a new Underground line. All that darkness, all that blackness……. I had eagerly devoured the other volumes of the Encyclopaedia, but I rarely touched volume 9, just in case I inadvertently stumbled upon THAT chapter.
Welcome to October! A month, in some ways, associated with darkness. We are all aware, at present, of the nights drawing in: between the Autumn and Spring Equinoxes there is more darkness than light and we will be especially conscious of this when British Summer Time ends in the early hours of Sunday October 26. At the end of the month we have Hallowe’en, originally a festival which was part of the Christian Year (All Hallows Eve) but now for many people primarily associated with darkness, the sinister, the macabre and the occult. With the international situation as it is, we are very aware of the darkness of the world: the hymn “Great is the darkness that covers the earth” (“Singing the Faith” 405) may seem singularly appropriate. Yet that hymn concludes on a glorious note: that all darkness will vanish, and sorrow end, when Jesus returns again.
he Biblical writers, perhaps especially John in his Gospel, clearly contrast light and darkness. The Good News is that these are not two equal forces! Do find time to read the magnificent prologue to John’s Gospel (chapter 1 verses 1-18). We clearly read in verses 4 and 5 that the coming of Jesus brings light to all humanity, and the darkness has not overcome it. Jesus is the Light: he reveals to us the exact, true nature of God (perfectly holy through being perfectly loving) and in his life he revealed not only the humble, self-sacrificial, servant ministry which is the hallmark of a truly fulfilling life, but also taught and demonstrated how the power of the Holy Spirit can enable us to live such a life! When we receive the risen Jesus in our hearts, we receive the Light which the darkness can never snuff out.
The One who claimed “I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12) also said, to those who were his committed disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). We who have received Jesus as Lord and Saviour are called upon to reflect his true light in the midst of the darkness of the world today: the light of who God really is, the light of the only meaningful way to live. When we turn on our lights in the home we are dependent on the power supply: we can only reveal the light of Jesus through the power of his Spirit – the Holy Spirit who is given freely to all who believe and ask.
I was petrified of those pages of darkness in volume 9! With Jesus Christ there is no need to fear. In John’s first letter he writes: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (4:18). Love will ultimately overcome all hatred, and light will be victorious over all darkness. This is the Good News of Jesus we are all invited to receive, whatever the darkness in our past lives!
Geoff Floyd