For Geoff... now on the road

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood,

and I-I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

(by Robert Frost)

Faith above

"For he who loves God without faith reflects on himself, while the person who loves God reflects on God." Soren Kierkegard (Fear & Trembling)

Attempting to re-read Kiekegard's "Fear & Trembling" after a 15 year break still makes me wonder if I can ever understand faith, and even if I could I doubt I could ever make it a constiuent part of me, as I've naturally seen it present in others.

When I look back, I doubt there's more people than I can count on the digits of my hands who I can see as being Knights of Faith, whose faith is an intrinsic part of them. They seem oblivious to this aspect of their makeup, which the rest of us are the benefactors of, through their lives and work.

One of those people will be ordained into the ministry today and I know God will use this most intangible but powerful facet of their makeup, to forward His presence an ministry on earth and bring hope to all those around her.

"a time to believe and a time to doubt,

a time to deflect and a time to come together through faith"

(Ecclesiastes 3 additions...)

Picture : "Faith in what's above"

Thunderbirds are go...

Nothing like an emergency to throw off the lethargy of the holidays. On Sunday the sister-in-law came to stay having dropped off my niece and her university digs, on the Monday we get a call in the late afternoon from her son, to say that "dad" had had an accident (they were away skiing in the French Alps). It unfolds that he has a severely broken leg and has been transferred to the nearest large town hospital for surgery, leaving my nephew alone in the alps.

To cut a long story short we were with my Nephew by mid-afternoon on the Tuesday (not sure anyone slept on Monday night) in the Alps and found my brother-in-law in hospital. Yesterday I drove their car and my nephew back to the UK, while my sister-in-law sorts out the repatriation of her husband with the insurance company (on Sunday all being well).

I have traveled a lot and usually I measure travel by the number of disruptions that happen and yet in the last 2 days we;

- did a full circle of M25 on Monday fetching passports (7 - 11 pm) with no hold-ups

- found a flight going direct on Tuesday morning from a local airport straight to the nearest local airport to the resort in the alps.

- found a taxi driver to take us to a small resort in the alps (an off duty English teacher) as soon as we landed.

- trouble free 700 mile drive from the Alps to the UK in 11 hours door to door.

- Euro tunnel accepting a ticket for another date and a different driver without any quibbles and putting us straight on the first train.

For all of the above I can only thank God, and continue to pray for the repatriation of my brother in law at the weekend.