Fairground Ride

I have never enjoyed fairground rides. They always make me dizzy and feel ill.

I remember when I was a teenager going on a fast moving roundabout with spinning chairs. The fairground man made it go faster and faster – it makes me dizzy just thinking about it! Sharon, my wife, when she was in her early teens, went on a big wheel at Callington Honey Fair. The wheel went faster and faster and when it went over the top she fainted! In those days there was only a single bar holding you in. She was starting to slip under the bar and her friends had to stop her from falling. Eventually the fairground man noticed and stopped the ride and Sharon was carried off. Quite embarrassing for a young teenager!

I am sure some of you love fairground rides, but for us it’s no fun! I just want it to stop!

That’s how I feel about the present crisis that we are in. We have been in this crisis for over six months and like a merry-go-round it looks like “here we go again”. We are not used to waiting around for an answer! We live in an instant age. Why can’t we have a vaccine right now? But these things take time.

CleerWay Community Church has started meeting on Sunday evenings, from 6:00 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. for Encouragement, Friendship and Prayer. We have been looking at the life of Nehemiah. As you read the book it looks like everything happens all at once. On closer inspection we find that Nehemiah who is tasked with rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (after they have been broken down for 140 years) takes 150 days to mourn, fast and pray, 98 days to prepare to build and just 52 days to actually build the wall.

The time spent in thinking, praying, grieving and fasting meant that the job was finished in record time.

We are in a period of various lockdowns and there are various things that we aren’t able to do. This is what Christians once called self-denial. For us, self-denial is all about taking care of others. We keep to the Covid-19 rules to protect others. It will be a tough winter. We will get through it. Mankind has been through various crises before and with God’s help we will come through it stronger.

Love to you all,

Martin