Graham Chastney's Blessings

The buildings where my church meets is situated on a triangular plot of land on the edge of Preston.

On one side there is a local road with houses on the other side. On another are the backs of houses. On the third is a main road, East Way, beyond this main road, a few hundred yards away, is the M55 motorway which is elevated above the level of Easy Way. Up there on it’s embankment it obscuring the view of everything beyond.

All in all it doesn’t make for the most inspiring of views. It’s fine if you want to know how many people have been to the Pleasure Beach in Blackpool and are now stuck in the queue trying to get onto the M6. Other than that it’s an ordinary urban view on the edge of a city.

But all of this tarmac and concrete hides a secret.

The church buildings have, until recently, all been on ground level. From down there the secret is completely hidden behind the M55.

A recent set of extension has added a new, two story, part to the side of the building facing north and the M55 embankment. One of the things that the architect wanted to create in this new part of the building was a light and airy space. There are big windows on both the ground and first floor, it’s facing north so they needed to let in as much light as possible.

(A quick aside. If you are not from the UK, you perhaps think that the first floor is on the ground, but here in the UK we call the floor on the ground the “ground floor”. The floor immediately above ground level we call the “first floor”, not the “second floor”, OK?)

Up on the first floor these big windows open up the secret. The elevated position reveal what is hidden beyond. It’s not visible every day, the weather conditions have to be right, but that just adds to the mystery.

Recently I was in a meeting on the first floor and was sat facing the window. It was a crisp clear day, cold, but fine. It was a morning meeting and we started in the dark. As time progressed I looked out of the window to see the sun rising in the sky lighting up the snow capped mountains of the Lake District beyond.

The Lake District was recently voted Britain’s greatest natural wonder. I’m not sure about that, but they are quite impressive all the same, and they are only 30 miles, or so, away.

You wouldn’t know they were there from the ground, up on the first floor the view is glorious. It’s an elevation of only a few feet, but it makes all of the difference.

In the Bible Jesus used to go off and climb mountains when he wanted to be alone with his father. I always thought that this was so that he could be closer to God, because I thought of God as “up there”. Recently I’ve wondered whether he went up into the mountain so he could get a better perspective down, not up.

God, of course, is everywhere and you don’t need to climb high so he can hear you, but looking down on a situation certainly gives you a different view. It gives you a longer view. It gives you a broader view. It gives you an unobstructed view.

(The picture isn’t one taken from the window, it’s one I took while in Keswick on a quiet day, special days)

Over the last couple of days parts of the UK (perhaps even most of the UK) has had an unusual amount of snow. I say “parts of the UK” because we’ve hardly had anything, but we have had some.

On the morning of the first fall I was first up so took a quick peep between the curtains to see whether anything had arrived overnight. There was a good deal of white, but nothing too deep.

I thought about going for a walk but decided to turn on the radio instead. I was greeted by what can only be described as a tirade of bad news – all because of this stuff called snow.

What made this seeming disaster all the more reportable was that it had occurred primarily in the south, and specifically in London. This is very unusual, and as such they are completely unprepared for the effects of a mass invasion of ice crystals, poor dears.

The roads were blocked, the railways were cancelled, the underground was running a reduced service (not sure how snow affects an underground train?), businesses weren’t able to open, schools were closed for the day, bad news, bad news, bad news.

I was just starting to get sucked into feeling the reporters definite impatience at the disruption of it all when Emily walked into the room. As I had done, she opened the curtains, looked outside, and stated as only a young pre-teenage girl can, “cool”.

Emily wasn’t just stating a fact about the temperature outside. In that one word she broke through all of the doom and gloom being fired at me from the radio and reminded me that snow is FUN. A child’s perspective.

We can get so adult about things like snow, focussing on the inconvenience of it all, when really we should be celebrating the opportunity to do something different for a change.

Jesus had some things to say about children:

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.

Mark 10

Jesus wasn’t just saying that children were important to him – which they are. He was also saying that we should have their perspective.

Adults can get so stuck in their ways – children see everything as an opportunity.

(I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to describe Emily as a child, but I think I can get away with it for now)