Remembering

It was with a sense of deja vu that I drove up the A1 on the evening of January 7. The snow made everything look very different, but just under a year ago I covered much of the same journey after an SU staff meeting. No-one could have guessed what would happen next. Within 15 minutes of being home, my wife Jackie had a brain haemorrhage. After a roller coaster ride where we were told she would not survive she is currently settled in a superb nursing home having suffered sugnificant brain damage in the days that followed.

The rest of life has been put into perspective throughout 2009, but in the midst of it all, I have learned that God can be trusted even when everything else seems uncertain. I have seen his hand at work through other people and been aware of being supported by others.

Part of that remembering has been thinking about the people who have been significant in my own faith development and giving thanks to God for them. The biggest issue that God's peoiple seemed to face was they had this amazing ability to forget! They regularly forgot
a) Who they were - God's treasured possession
b) What God had done for them? - in history through generations
c) How God had provided for them in the present

As I look ahead to 2010, I find myself wanting to be someone who remembers these three things.

God is back

A couple of economists have written a book - 'God is back: How the global rise of faith is changing the world'. The brief description says

'Since the Enlightenment, intellectuals have assumed that modernization would kill religion, and that religious America is an oddity. This title argues that religion and modernity can thrive together, and that the American way of religion is becoming the norm.'

The book also promoted a really interesting article about this issue in the Times on Saturday - summarising much of the content. You can find that here.

It seems that the Times is having a bit of interest in religion. They did a feature during Holy Week, a story about Gavin Peacock training for church ministry last week and a story about Michael Howard's son Nick in April (From Tory Boy to God enforcer!)

So I wonder when will politics get around to doing God? Tomy Blair seems to regret not being more up front about faith in his role as Prime Minister.

Which leads me to think - what about me? Am I going to talk naturally abot God when the opportunity arises