Zetland Park Methodist Church Pastoral Letters
The 'Tall Ships' were in town!
There was a strange, yet quaint stateliness about their form. Their ‘uniqueness’ attracted not just hundreds, but thousands of inquisitive eyes and an equal number of gaping mouths. There were as many questions from those of more mature years, as there were from the naturally inquisitive younger element. All had been drawn into an historical time warp, which was fascinating to behold.
The 'Tall Ships' were in town!I was privileged to view this awesome sight, not once, but twice within a period of some twelve months. The attraction of seeing craftsmanship from many parts of the world, now controlled and manoeuvred by teams of young men and women who cherished their inclusion in the time line of seamanship.
There were those fascinating shots as they left their safe anchorage and headed into the open North Sea --- chasing and battling the elements with consummate ease and grace. Skimming the waves almost as though they were not there, yet without which they would be motionless and useless. Their bulky structures would be hulks of rotten and rotting timbers, exposed and useless.
The sea encouraged their design and structure; the sea lured them from one graphic situation to another. Their crews would revel in those many timed recounted antics which belonged in a unique way to those who crewed and sailed those magnificent ladies of the sea.
We are privileged, in many ways, to be an ‘island race’, for such a situation we have oft been told, has bred a particular kind of being who is the backbone of these islands of ours. Still in many parts of the Kingdom, we ply the trade of seaman and risk life and limb as God-given skill is pitted against God-created elements. Victory is never certain, yet the challenge remains. The sea remains an almost uncontrolled part of our lifestyle, yet without it, our distinctiveness disappears across an endless horizon.
But that self-same sea has brought to these shores men and women of faith. Who despite both the elements and the less savoury elements of seafarers have come to our shores with a special cargo that begun through sacrifice and love; through commitment to a cause and the determination of those commissioned with a task. Over the years we in our turn have ‘exported’ that same, special cargo to other lands with distant shores, but the message; zeal and determination has been the same, although some elements have been updated to suit the time in question ---- but not all.
And now, the situation has reverted to us welcoming folk from distant lands with that same message, but touched now with life experiences which are in their turn, heart warming and frightening. For that ‘special cargo’ is the ‘message of faith’, and the bearers of that ‘cargo’, are those we term ‘missionaries’.
Are they needed in this day and age? Like those ships of old, we rejoice in their beauty and lines of a former era, but their practicality in this day and age of speed and special requirements, have not been matched and as a consequence their ‘use’ becomes historical as to practical.
Now, take a look at how we both view and share our faith.Then take a look at how that 'same faith' is shared in other lands.
Look at the age profile and numbers in our churches
Look beyond our shores -----
The wind that powered those vessels of old was directed with skill into billowing sails, and those ancient sailing masters were indeed ‘past masters’ at what they sought to do. That same ‘wind’, is the one that blew the ecclesiastical cobwebs away during Pentecost and created a movement with power; respect; dignity and faith.
When will we hoist our sails to the ‘wind of the Spirit’?