Clearing the Clutter
I misheard what was being said, when Bob B prophesied about God having a gift for each of us, I heard it as a skip! It set me thinking – as you know these things do! God probably would need a skip each, to hold all the sins, sorrows, burdens, negativity and doubts that He takes from us. What would happen when the skip was full? Do you suppose there is a huge landfill in heaven, for emptying them all? Surely heaven has nowhere so dreadful – it would be a terrible place where no plant or animal could flourish, not even the ubiquitous seagulls that haunt our tips. Do our actions pollute not just this earth but also heaven?
I have been talking to Bob M about those skips in heaven that I mentioned. He has reassured me that heaven has not been polluted. The Lord sends all those horrible things I was worried about needing a landfill straight down to the other place to fuel the fires there. When the first heaven and the first earth pass away and the New Jerusalem comes down (Rev. 21:1-2) there will be no problem with greenhouse gases, carbon footprints, toxins in the water and so on. It will be as wonderful as the Garden lived in by Adam in Genesis. The one whose remnants we are destroying with our modern lifestyle.
This week I had the chance to find out what it was like not to leave a carbon footprint for a day. No I did not run out of fuel during the tanker-driver’s strike, the starter motor on my car broke – or at least that is what the first RAC man thought. The second one thought if might be the battery so the garage is having the casting vote. I was absolutely panic stricken about getting to work the next day.
Then Mark told me about these big red things you can use. I had noticed them on the roads and realised they were probably the same as the green ones that took me to school but I never thought I would have to use one! After much Internet searching, a very early start and the loan of an Oyster card, I made it to work and back without too many mishaps. (Apparently they have done away with the string for the bell, there are little buttons on each pole, all the fares are the same and they do not give you a ticket.) Thank goodness I now have a hire car and can get back in my comfort zone!
Yesterday, a few of us continued the clear out of the church. All that clutter may be like a comfort blanket to some people but, if we are reading the signs correctly, it is time for us to move on and accept change. Change not just for change sake, much that is old is still good, but because the whole world has moved on and we will become extinct if we do not move with it. Yes it is reassuring to be surrounded by the familiar but it can also be a millstone around our necks.
Imagine if no one had invented the internal combustion engine, we would go no further than a horse can walk or faster than a ship sail, and would not be seeing the wonders of the world, meeting new people or experiencing new cultures. According to JRR Tolkien, it is a dangerous thing to step outside your own door as yours is the very front path that leads to adventure, good or evil, but think what you would miss if you never went out.
