It is March as I write this and the TV weather folk are concerned to tell us all that spring is here, well meteorologically anyway. But one minute it is almost shorts weather, the next the wind turns your knees blue and you are reaching for your woolly hat again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OK, so there has always been a time each year when the weather has thrown a curved ball and we have had something odd for the time of year. But it does seem that things are less predictable that they used to be; I suspect you may know someone who always has an umbrella with them, at all times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do wonder if life mirrors the weather for so many folks; there seems to be more disruption and less predictability. Some argue this is thanks to the seeming never ending change we have experienced since the 1960s. Some suggest it is down to all the new-fangled technology that comes our way every five minutes. Others blame a worldwide conspiracy; I am not sure which one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suspect that life has always been filled with unpredictable occurrences; you just never know what is around the corner. Society did used to have what the academics call a \u2018grand narrative\u2019, a story which helped folk to have a sense of direction from birth through to death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These narratives, stories for life, have changed through the years. Once there was \u2018lordship and serfdom\u2019, then came democracy. There used to be pastoral lifestyles then there came the industrial revolution. There was once wealth and security and then came plagues and wars. Everything was analogue now it is digital. Once there were no e-mails today thanks to Ray Tomlinson there are 200 billion sent every day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus spoke to a concerned group of disciples about the unpredictability of the world and of life and offered hope of peace when the world about seems to be shaking. He declares \u2018he is the way, the truth and the life\u2019 and in doing so suggests that following him helps to provide a sure way to navigate through all the uncertainty of life. His \u2018road map\u2019, if you like, is one that seeks to steer us into ways of love, justice, mercy, of forgiving and being forgiven and away from the pot holes of rage and war, away from the cliff edges, away from the dead end road where life becomes anything but life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He offers to come and guide and lead us, in fact he says he stands at the door of every life, knocking and hoping for a welcome in, to bring peace and hope and direction through the storms of life. I wonder if this Spring you might be able to find a moment to hear that knock and to welcome him, his peace, his way, truth and life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is March as I write this and the TV weather folk are concerned to tell us all that spring is here, well meteorologically anyway. But one minute it is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1575,"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574\/revisions\/1575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ilchester-district-churches.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}