Minister's Letter
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1 The Rev Jan Mathieson on her recent visit to Nepal, hands over a cheque for the community people below. From the picture below it looks just like you have described to us during recent services. 2 FROM THE MANSE……. 125 Greenwood Road Clarkston Glasgow G76 7LL 0141 579 9997 [email protected] Dear Friends, I expect that most of you will have played a game of I Spy.... either as children or with your own children or grandchildren. It is an age-old way of helping to pass the time on a long journey and even, sometimes, brings to our attention things we might not otherwise have noticed. On my recent visit to Nepal, where I had the privilege of representing the Church of Scotland at the General Assembly of the United Mission to Nepal in Kathmandu, I found myself on a very long journey. I had been visiting some remote mountain villages in the far west of the country and had been high in the hills. Now I was in a jeep, being driven down the very narrow mountain roads which often disintegrated into no more than tracks and which were sometimes blocked by rockfalls so the jeep had to drive closer to the edge of the mountain than I would have liked in order to proceed. The journey would take me to Dalghadi in the centre of Nepal from where I was to get a flight back to Kathmandu. But Dalghadi was a nine hour journey away and so I played a variation on the game of I Spy to pass some of the time. My jeep wasn’t the only vehicle on the road. Also making their way up and down the mountain-side were the big trucks and lorries that delivered to the folks in the mountain villages and surrounding areas everything they need, from bottled water and food to fabric for sewing, items for their homes, personal items and much else besides. What I found fascinating about these lorries was not so much how the drivers managed to pull over to the inside to let vehicles like mine pass (I tried not to think about that!) but rather that they all had names across the top of the windscreen or emblazoned on the top or front of the lorry. There were quite a number of Road King and one or two The Road of the King. I was both amused and unsettled to see another lorry coming towards us bearing the message Best of Luck! Interestingly I also spied a number of lorries with the name – or message- Glory of God. Maybe that was particularly appropriate. The drivers of these lorries spend every day surrounded by the glory of God in spectacular landscapes of majestic mountains and 3 wide open skies. Looking up and around, whether playing I Spy or not, you could not help but notice God’s glory in creation. In the city of Kathmandu both the surroundings and the traffic were very different: jeeps and lorries shared the roadways with motorbikes (lots of motorbikes!) and minibuses; bicycles and carts being pulled by oxen or donkeys. Here it was very dusty and the female police-officers directing the traffic all wore face masks to prevent them breathing in the dust. Here vehicles were identified by the colour of their registration plates: red for private vehicles; green for tourist vehicles; white for government vehicles and black for public vehicles. It made spotting a bus or a taxi or the UMN jeeps quite straightforward but I did find the names of the mountain lorries more interesting and amusing. Yet I think there was also something much more significant about these badges of identity. I like to think they were also a declaration of the faith and the values of the drivers. That made me wonder about how willing we are to declare our Christian faith in our communities and in the increasingly secular society of our country. I don’t think that we necessarily want stickers for our vehicles though, mind you, window stickers saying Williamwood Church might not be a bad idea! However, perhaps we should be more ready to say that we are ‘Church folk’ and to speak of our beliefs more often. For us, as Christians, worship has an important place in our lives. In encounter with God and with one another we become the Church and find, guidance, encouragement, strength and motivation to live our lives in God’s way, following Christ our Lord. How often do we speak of what worship means to us – and how often do we invite others to come with us to worship with us so that they might discover its significance in their lives too? Most of all, of course, we reveal our identity as Christians by the kind of people we are. Galatians 5:22 describes our badge of identity in the list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. A few verses later we are enjoined to have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another. That is quite a list! Striving to live out these qualities in our lives and in our life together as the Church is part of what identifies us as Christians: as people who have responded to the invitation and challenge of Jesus – follow me. I wonder if it may not be these qualities seen in a community of faith, more than anything else, that first attracts others to find out more about the Church and about Christian life and faith. So, as we begin a new session of Church life here at Williamwood, here’s another challenge. Could you identify which of these qualities you find most difficult to display and make a decision to work at it until it becomes easier? In this and in other ways we renew our commitment to witness to the Christian gospel by who we are as well as by what we do. 4 As we return to regular Sunday worship after the summer break we declare anew that God is at the heart of all living as, together, we discover again the glory of God who is with us wherever we travel and through whatever circumstances we must make our journey. I look forward to seeing you back in Church – and why don’t you invite others back again or to come with you for the first time? For those unable to come to services, even temporarily, we’ll be pleased to supply CD recordings of our services so you can join in our worship at home or in hospital – just ask you elder. I hope you have enjoyed this glorious summer-time and that in it your livin’ has been easy, as the song says. As we move into the season of autumn and harvest may you know the richness of God’s grace as together we travel The Road of the King, our Lord Jesus Christ who leads us into the world and into the life of God. May God bless you all Jan (Parish Minister) LEARN about…… The Church of Scotland has a series of booklets in the Learn series which deal with a variety of aspects of faith and belief; practice within our Church and issues that are important in our Church today. All these volumes are available to order (see the Church of Scotland website). Here we continue to dip into two of them and consider some of the questions they raise for us. Exploring Faith Think of a time when you were shaken by doubt and you didn’t know what you believed any more. What might have brought on this experience? What emotions did you feel at the time? What did the experience teach you about yourself and God? Read Psalm 56 ( trust in God under persecution) Read Psalm 69 (prayer for deliverance from persecution) Read Psalm 71 ( prayer for life-long protection and help) 5 Eldership Discipline is a key marker of the Church of Scotland and features in the declaration and affirmation of the elder at ordination What do you know of the role of the elder in maintaining Church discipline in earlier times? How is that continued in the role of the elder now and in what ways does it contrast with the role of the elder now? The call to holy conduct has been an important aspect of Church life from its very beginning. Reflect on your own understanding of what holy living is in twenty-first century Scotland. OBERAMERGAU 2020: AN UPDATE In the Spring edition of Inspire you would read about a proposed visit to Oberammergau in 2020 to see the Passion Play which is performed there, by inhabitants of the village, every ten years. A number of people have expressed an interest in the visit and now some further provisional plans have been made. Most importantly the dates for the visit are 9-16th September 2020. The holiday is to the Austrian Tyrol and Oberammergau and we would stay in the small Austrian town of Arzl in the Arzlerhof Hotel which has a swimming pool, spa area and garden bar. We also spend one night in Oberammergau itself which is just under two hours away. Of course, a ticket to the play is included in the trip. A visit to Innsbruck and some other places are also included. The holiday is organised by McCabe Pilgimages, a firm based in London with over thirty years experience in this sort of travel.