Beside Still Waters – Letter from Australia 40

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It was good this week to get back into the office – gradually in Australia there is a returning sense of normality.  Each day this week the number of new Covid cases in the whole country has been 20 or less.  It is becoming more and more difficult for governments to justify the restrictions and so they are being gradually lifted.  This week schools go back (staged), elective surgery restarts and in Western Australia groups of ten will be allowed to meet.

Back to work

It was good to see my desk as tidy as when I left it three weeks ago!

Humour

Another way that people cope with this situation is through humour….I thought this picture from a home schooling parent was hilarious!

The Beauty of the Lord

This world is such a contrast of beauty and ugliness, darkness and light, truth and falsehood, joy and sorrow – this is true in both the physical and spiritual realms.   I love the way that the Lord so often deals with the darkness by bringing the light – heals the ugliness by showing us beauty…There are two ways I have witnessed this in the past week.

Firstly in the natural realm – I have really enjoyed cycling.  I don’t know why but I trusted Google maps to get me to a park I wanted to visit.  It led me down this route!  It was good exercise having to carry the bike…eventually it would lead me on to a golf course and then finally along the river to my destination.  But then half way I came across this sensational spot – and suddenly all the struggles, sweats and frustration were utterly worth it.  In fact I’ve been back twice!

 

This video is one I made on the second visit.   If you listen carefully you can hear the birds singing….it was a beautiful, surreal and spiritual moment.   If the beauty of the creation reflects the beauty of the Creator – how beautiful is God.  Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us!

 

The second way I have seen this is in the beauty of Christ.  I have been stunned – and I mean literally stunned – sitting sometimes in shock as I have been reading Richard Sibbes on the Soul’s Conflict.  There is one section in particular that I will write down and post later on this blog.  But it makes the video above seem but a pale reflection of the glory of Christ.

May the beauty and protection of the Lord our God be upon us all,

See you next week,

Yours in Christ,

David

Letter from Australia 39 – Sydney -A City Transformed by Covid 19?

PS. I would encourage you to listen to both the Panic Room(this coming week will be our last full week of it) and the Life in Wartime podcast.