Who Yer Gonna Call? God

What is the meaning of faith?

When we have a problem the first person we turn to is ourselves. We face up to the issues and try to find a solution. For the most, this is normally sufficient and we create independence by sorting out our own problems. It also helps in building self confidence and self esteem.

If a solution doesn’t come forth through our own efforts then we normally turn to friends, family or a professional; an expert in the field in which our problem lies. Two heads are better than one so the saying goes, and particular with regards to the expert, their wealth of experience will usually guide us in the direction we need to go.

There are times though when despite our best efforts, despite the efforts of others, an answer to our problem doesn’t seem to be readily available. For every problem there is a solution but when it just doesn’t seem obvious “who are we gonna call?”

God.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. But when we have a deep rooted faith, God becomes our strength. We can face up to any challenge if we believe and trust that God will see us through.

So in the event of a crisis we have three levels at which we operate.

1. We look for the answers ourselves. We do a bit of research and apply the grey matter a little bit harder and if that fails we revert to plan 2.
2. We ask somebody. Hopefully there is an answer out there amongst the people we know.
3. Plan 3 is to ask God. By having faith, asking God for his help and being patient, the answer will come.

So what happens to those non-believers? What do they do when they get to level 3. Emotions normally take over. Panic and quite often depression, and when anybody gets to this state it can be a downward spiral. When negative emotions cloud thinking the problem becomes the sole focus of attention, blinkering any thoughts of a solution.

I once had a boss who would say to me “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions”. Easier to do when God walks by our side and we can think positive thoughts. Nowhere near so easy when negative thoughts run through the mind.

When we have the joy of knowing Gods love, when we have absolute faith in God helping us to find the answers, we think positively and the solutions surely emerge.

Perhaps I should have added another level between 2 and 3. “If all else fails read the instructions”. The bible.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org

What Do You See?

What is the Meaning of Life?

A candle burns gently, giving a warm glow to dark surroundings. Then a slight breeze blows out that enchanting flame.

Do we see that breeze?

No we don’t. But we may feel the cool softness of the air as the breeze brushes our faces.

The operation of a switch brings light to a room in a fraction of a second. The miracle of physics determines that electricity illuminates darkness through that single light bulb.

Do we see the electricity?

No we don’t. But we see the results of its work.

A television sitting in the corner of a room beams out a mass movement of light. Radio waves carrying digital information through many miles of space creates that picture on the screen.

Do we see those radio waves?

No we don’t. But we can enjoy the stories that they create.

There are so many things that we cannot see yet we feel, see and enjoy the results of.

People doubt God’s existence.

Why?

Because they cannot see him. This means that there is no proof that he exists. Scientists can tell us how energy creates a breeze, causes electricity to flow and allows radio waves to carry signals through the air. But scientists cannot explain Gods love and the energy that this provides to anybody who opens up their hearts to him.

So he can’t exist, can he?

So you want proof!! Look around you.

How did this wonderful creation ever come into being?

Oh!! The whole universe was created by a massive nuclear explosion derived from one small atom. The “Big Bang” theory the scientists call it.

But where did that atom come from?

A mathematician once calculated the odds on life being created on a planet with all the chemicals and atmosphere to sustain that life plus putting the sun, moon and stars in all their corresponding places. It worked out at 1 to the power of billions. Personally I have better things to do with my time, but at least he concluded that life, the world and the universe is too orderly to have been created by such chance.

For those of us in the know, those with faith; we have the knowledge and the wisdom. There is a creator of this beautiful world and all that surrounds it and that creator is God.

We may not be able to see him but we can most definitely feel his presence, see his work and enjoy his love.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org

The Beauty of Serenity

What is the meaning of faith?

Serenity and Spiritual Beauty
Beauty comes with self acceptance, self love and self awareness. Self knowledge is equivalent to truth which brings serenity and spiritual beauty.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org

Losing Faith in God

What is the meaning of faith?

I’ve lost my faith in God.
Why didn’t God help me?
I really don’t believe that he will save me.

Although people may not out rightly say these phrases, very often their dejected words and actions prove evidence that this is what is going on in their minds. Through times of strife they appear to lose all faith in God.

I once had a friend who was extremely successful. He had a fantastic career, a loving wife and family and a great circle of friends. His faith in God was strong; or so he thought.

One day this friend had a major disagreement with his bosses at work and ended up quitting his job. About the same time some of his friends emigrated to different parts of the world. His mood deepened and as he fell into depression his wife struggled to cope with the situation and finally left him.

I could see the troubled questions going through his mind.

What’s happening to me?
Why does God give me all these troubles?
Shouldn’t God have mercy?
Maybe there is no God?

Now at rock bottom, he firmly believed that his faith in God was lost. He stopped thinking about faith and just tried to live his life as best as he could.

A few years later, he found another job and made great progress, re-establishing a career. Some of those friends that had travelled abroad returned home, preferring the British way of life. He re-built a good relationship with another women and life became as wonderful as he had previous known. As the good life returned, so did my friends faith in God. He believed that his faith had been restored.

The truth is that his faith in God hadn’t been restored because he had never lost it. In fact he had never had a faith in God, just a faith in his life’s conditions.

Why did he lose his faith?

When life was good and full of happiness he trusted in this life style. Psychologically he believed it would last forever. In the stock market world, when the price of a stock goes up, investors believe the price will go up forever in complete ignorance of what economics are actually telling them. The price of that stock becomes exaggerated. Reality then sets in when the price of the stock starts to fall. It is then assumed that the price will continue to fall forever and that stock is sold cheaply. Here we can label the economy as being “faith in God” whilst the direction of the stock price can be called “faith in a lifestyle”.
My friend, when life turned bad asked the question,

Where is God?

His faith was never in God but in his work, his family and his friends. When he lost them, he lost his faith.

When we are at our lowest ebb, this is when God is truly by our side. For those of us who absolutely believe in God, this is when our faith is strongest. We do not have a “fair weather” faith in God. Inevitably we find a path through our troubles and strife thus proving God will always be there for us. This is absolute faith which provides such hope, inspiration and optimism for us all.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org

The Faith of Children

What is the meaning of faith?

On occasions our faith can be in need of strengthening. Life has a habit of sometimes throwing doubt at us when things don’t quite go as smoothly as we would like.

So where can we gain our inspiration from?

Where can we turn to regain that absolute faith that we have so relied on before?

The answer is quite simply all around us. For a start Gods creation is wonderfully inspiring. Despite the scientist great efforts to explain the origins of the universe, there are always more questions than answers and one can only conclude that some kind of super force is the creator of our world and the planets and stars beyond.

But just by purely observing nature we can see how creatures rely on faith to progress. Imagine being a chick in a birds nest. Eventually, one day that chick will have to flee the comforts of that nest to make its own way in the world. But first it must learn to fly.

But how does a bird learn to fly?

It’s not exactly one of those skills that can be practiced before hand. That chick has to take one almighty leap of faith and jump. Instantaneously that chick becomes a fully fledged bird with the instinct to fly.

Mother Nature provides many other instances of faith, but we can also see this happening naturally in our own children.

My son Charlie was up on his feet quite early; about seven months. He practically skipped the crawling stage. However once he was on his feet he would hold on to every piece of furniture to guide himself around the room. This he did for about another nine months until one day we were sitting on the patio at my parents’ house. My wife and I were sitting on one side on a concrete bench linked to the patio table and my mum and dad were sitting on a wooden bench on the other side of the patio. Charlie was eager for his grandparents’ attention and was stretching out for them to come and get him. I made to take him over to them but after a couple of steps I let go of his hand. He was left stranded in the middle of the patio.

What should he do?

For a second we could see the bemusement on his face. But he looked at my mum and dad and then went for it. His faith became instantaneous as he toddled over to nanny. From that point on there was no stopping him. His faith had provided him with a new found confidence and freedom.

We can see this faith and self confidence naturally and unquestioning in children.

But what happens to us as we grow older and our faith tends to weaken?

With life’s many ups and downs, the downsides can test our faith and self confidence if we let it. But if we take the trouble and time to look around us we can see the miracles of God all the time, and we should easily be able to recall the many times that God has helped us in our lives.

In children faith is unquestioned. They don’t think about it, they just practice it, even if they are unaware of it. This is how our faith in God should be; unquestionable.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org

Give Me Joy in My Heart

What is the meaning of faith?

In visiting other countries doing charitable there are always plenty of opportunities to see Gods work and better understand him. This was much the case when visiting Romania on behalf of the charity Cry in the Dark where, for one week at the end of August through the beginning of September, fourteen of us from Tenterden and the North-East of England faced up to “The Hard Hat Challenge”.

Our task was to help in the building of an extension to Casa Lumina, an orphanage for children with learning difficulties and life limiting illnesses situated in Comanesti. The extension will accommodate the growing needs of the children as they develop into adults.

The sheer fact that a Christian organisation such as Cry in the Dark has achieved so much is just one unbelievable testimony to Gods work.

Throughout our work we had many opportunities to interact with the orphans and it was remarkable, even emotional as to how much love they have and wanted to give. Alan Clover, who in his seventies, was the oldest member of our party had been to Casa Lumina before albeit some two years ago. Yet one of the girls remembered him from his previous visit and embraced him so lovingly. The tears of joy that welled up in him was quite infectious as many of us struggled not to weep alongside him. At the end of the week, Nicholas Cooper, a curate from St. Mildreds Church in Tenterden, offered a communion service on a makeshift alter created from one of the work benches. Two of the orphans attended this service with such quiet respect and dignity that we all felt humbled by their presence. Where we thought we would be ministering to them, in fact truthfully they were ministering to us.

On the Sunday of our week in Romania, we spent the morning in worship at the Biserica Sfanta Trieme Church, a free Christian church in the city of Bacau. This church is a modern, white walled building hidden away behind some houses in one of the back streets. The service was conducted from a stage on the first floor of the church which was back dropped by a magnificent wooden cross. A welcoming warmth and love from the entire Romanian congregation soothed any apprehensions that we may have been feeling.

Lyviu, an operational director for Cry in the Dark in Romania conducted the music and singing along with his wife Anna. The words to the songs were projected onto a screen on the stage, karaoke style, and I’m sure it was with some amusement that we British folk were trying to sing along evangelically in Romanian.

Pastor Marion gave the sermon. Fortunately we had a few very clever members of the congregation who thankfully translated for us. His subject was joy.

Joy comes in many forms. Entertainment gives us joy, so does our favourite football team when it is winning. Such joy is short lived (particularly if you support Gillingham) and we have to keep searching for it time and again. There is a longer lasting joy that comes from things like a loving relationship, marriage and family.

Once discovered though, the joy found through God is everlasting. In order to find this joy we have to repent of all our sins. Sin creates an enormous barrier between us and the joy of knowing God. Therefore we need to seek forgiveness and once given, the hurdles and barriers are removed and we can experience the joy given by God, forever.

During the blessing there were a couple of the congregation who cried. These were not tears of sadness but of gladness, realising that they had come to God and he had spoken to them. Indeed, as I found out later, there was one young, debonair looking lad who had not that long ago been out on the streets, getting into trouble, committing crime. This church had saved him and turned his life around.

Towards the end of the service Lyviu and Anna’s little boy - who must have been two or three years old – made an impromptu and unannounced appearance on the stage. His innocence of face and his unrestricted actions seemed to poignantly demonstrate the presence of joy without barriers.

There were three messages that I took away from this wonderful Sunday morning service.

1. Nicholas Cooper, the curate, offered a prayer which was translated for the benefit of the Romanian congregation. In it he pointed out that language and culture doesn’t have to be a wall built between us. The wooden cross mounted magnificently above the stage unites us all in one common good.
2. As was demonstrated so effectively throughout the service by Pastor Marion, the joy of God is eternal, once we have sought forgiveness from all our sins.
3. During the service some of the children sang a song with the self assurance that only children have. The motif on the tee-shirt of one of the little boys read “Pick noses, not fights”.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org

Absolute Faith

What is the meaning of faith?

There is no doubt that helping others or doing something charitable can give a tremendous sense of pride and fulfilment. Whether it be fundraising, helping at a charity function or devoting time to work voluntarily in a charity shop; these all provide that sense of purpose.

Occasionally there comes an opportunity to help charities by working at “the coalface”, so to speak. For fourteen of us this opportunity was presented in the form of “The Hard Hat Challenge” as set up by the charity Cry in the Dark. Cry in the Dark was established twelve years ago by Steve Cooper. At that time he was repairing a ladies cooker and she related the horrendous plight of thousands of orphans in Romania. Steve was compelled to go and look for himself and from that visit the charity was formed.

Two years later Casa Lumina was completed. This is an orphanage in Comanesti housing twenty three orphaned children all with learning difficulties or life limiting illnesses. Casa Albert became the next project for Cry in the Dark. Initially intended to be a hospice for sick children from the poorer regions around the city of Bacau it has become an outreach centre to enable a team of dedicated nurses to visit these children in their homes. Whilst Casa Albert remains the base for this outreach team, it will also be opened as a Day-care centre once the final finishing touches are complete.

Ten years on, many of the orphans at Casa Lumina have, physically at least, developed into adults. Cry in the Dark have pledged to provide a home for these young people for the rest of their lives, so “The Hard Hat Challenge” was the project created to build an extension to Casa Lumina in order to cater for the orphans through their adult lives. Primarily the work was to be undertaken by volunteers hence, on Saturday 29th August 2009 eight of us from two churches across Tenterden plus six from Geordie land (one wee lassie from Edinburgh also included in that party) arrived in Romania for one week to help with the task.

It was hard work in some hot conditions but we achieved a lot, developed some new DIY skills, created fellowship amongst the team and yet felt extremely humbled by the experience.

So what have I gained personally from this trip?

How have I changed as a person and what has it taught me?

Certainly I am more grateful for the things that I have; my family, my friends and my home.

But I bring back from Romania one extremely valuable lesson.

On the Sunday, Steve Cooper explained how Cry in the Dark came about. He described how he was inspired to come to Romania to see for himself the dreadful conditions which orphans were having to endure; the cramped and loveless conditions which tugged at the heart strings.

God spoke to him and he knew he had to do something.

We can look back now at what has been achieved with the development of Casa Lumina and Casa Albert. In the beginning though this must have seemed like a daunting challenge.

Where does one start?

How do you even know where to start?

These were questions I put to Steve.

He answered. “I didn’t know where to start. I just turned to God, prayed for the answers and he showed me the way.”

WOW

This is true faith in God…in action.

I can recall tales, particularly in Nigeria, where my faith in God saw me through some sticky encounters.

One offs.

For twelve years God has been by Steves’ side. The creation of the Cry in the Dark team, the building of Casa Lumina, Casa Albert and now the extension at Casa Lumina.

Steve and the team at Cry in the Dark have been the sole reason why twenty three children with learning difficulties and varying illnesses have made it happily through to adulthood.

All this through his faith in God.

WOW

I believe in God, obviously.

But can I say my faith is as resolute as that of Steve Coopers’?

Probably not, or at least, not up until now.

As I’ve said, I’ve had my encounters where I believed God would pull me through…and he did. But I still worried about the bills, job, family etc., wanting to know step by step the path of my future.

I can see now the effects of an absolute belief and trust in God. By praying, and listening to his answers and believing that he WILL look after me, I can worry less about the future and open my eyes to the present.

If Steve Cooper has ever doubted his faith, it never showed, and I will be eternally grateful for this priceless lesson.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org

Why Do We Question the Lord?

What is the meaning of faith?

I had a cousin, Stephen, who was a larger than life character. He was the proverbial gentle giant. Always full of laughter, always full of stories. He was loved by everybody.

He was a lorry driver and revelled in the open roads. He eventually found his soul mate and settled down to become a step-dad to five children who all adored him. Through his new family he was introduced to God. You could not find a more enthusiastic follower of Christ through his local Baptist church. He really had faith; the deep faith that meant he could enjoy life, make the most of God’s creation without any signs of worry or woe.

Stephen could always exercise a childlike quality and he really took great pleasure in bringing the other love of his life, his lorry, and parking outside the front of the church. I guess the congregation always new when he was about.

As I said he was a larger than life character.

So why do I refer to him in the past tense?

Unfortunately he never made it to his fortieth birthday. One night his next door neighbour was playing his music aloud at 1.00a.m in the morning. Stephen knocked on that neighbours door to kindly ask to turn the noise down. That neighbour saw fit to draw a knife on Stephen and he was killed.

So why did God allow this to happen?

Why did God let one of his true faithfuls die in such a way?

Perhaps God recognised Stephen’s devotion and decided he wanted him near to him. Perhaps Stephen was ready to experience heaven.

The truth is that whilst we are here on earth we will never know the answers to questions like this. Many times we hear the dissenters ask the question, “If God is so good, if God is so mighty, why does he let all the atrocities happen in this world?”

As it is said, God moves in mysterious ways. Us humans create machinery, develop computers. The inventors, the computer programmers understand how these pieces of equipment work. If computers could understand how we humans work, how we think and how we behave, we’d be in a whole host of trouble. Computers and robots would then have the upper hand and would be able to control us.

Likewise, as our creator we are not supposed to understand the workings of God. We accept and believe that everything he does is for the benefit of the greater good and we all play our part in the progress of God’s universe. There isn’t the need to question why things happen, why tragedies strike; we just have to have faith that God hears our prayers and provides us with the tools to live a good and wholesome life.

At Stephen’s funeral, one of his life long friends commented that he would act his shoe size not his age. That child like innocence was the evidence that he enjoyed life and could trust in the lord. With a deep and absolute faith in God we know that God will look after us and guide us along the right path through our journey in life, however long or short that journey may be.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.com

Give Thanks

What is the Meaning of Faith?

It’s that time of year again to give thanks. The church was full today as the people brought in their gifts of fresh fruit, vegetables, bread and many other types of food. Yes it was the harvest festival. Being also in conjunction with the family service my two boys took up our gifts of a packet of rice and biscuits. I’m sure someone somewhere in our community will be enjoying a chocolate digestive curry anytime soon.

It got me thinking though about how grateful we are for the good things we have in life. How many of us appreciate all the good we have in life and give thanks for that?

Do you see life as a glass half full or half empty? Do you see this world as being a wonderful place, a true gift from god, or somewhere filled with doom, fear and misery?

If you view the world as the latter you are likely not to see anything worth being thankful for. You cannot see passed the next day, never knowing where the next penny is coming from.

On the other hand, if the glass is half full, it is seen to be half filled with champagne. This in its self is worth being thankful for; a positive outlook on life. Despite all the doom and gloom that goes on you see and smell the roses, appreciate the food on the table, enjoy the company of good friends and family.
Even if finances are hard, having faith, trusting in god will see you through to the next day and the next harvest.

After the church service I took my wife and two boys over to my parents. Every two or three weeks we visit and they are generous enough to cook the Sunday lunch, again for which we are truly grateful. My father particularly is deeply interested in politics and will create heavy debates based upon his points of view.

Today he rambled on about the credit crunch and the financial mess that most parts of the world seem to be experiencing. He complained about the banks and bankers that reportedly have conjured up this situation. A downcast picture was painted which could very easily depress any of us. My stance however was to ask what he could do about the situation to make it better? The answer of course was nothing. Other than to vote for the other lot cometh the next general election and even then they probably won’t do any better.

Having now made him understand he could not personally do anything about the current circumstances I asked him why he was worrying about it? My point was that we all should be concerned with the things we can control and not the things we can’t. Given where we are we need to be looking at how we can progress forward, making the most of our lives and continue to grow and achieve our ambitions. It is so easy to fall into the negative trap of bad news that is constantly dished out by the media that focussing on the good becomes very difficult.

Life is full of wonderful things. Observe these and view these with gratitude.

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org

Good News is Here to Stay

What is the meaning of faith?

I find myself getting more and more deeply into my faith. I have always believed in God and in dark times he has helped me through. But these days I am getting far more involved in the church, doing more charity work and studying faith and personal development with a great deal more intensity.

As I write my blogs I try hard to research faith and personal development thoroughly and also try to put into practice much of what I learn. It is a wonderful fact that there is so much in the way of resources out there for me to call upon.

Of course the internet is one of the largest of these resources. Although we have to be careful to disseminate between what is quality information and what is poor, we can all be guided into so many different directions. One such direction is towards Christian radio. Much of my day is spent travelling in the car and listening to the traditional news based radio programmes can be somewhat depressing. Granted, we need to be in touch with what goes on in the world, but do we need to be constantly bombarded with misery after misery?

Many TV programmes focus on portraying all that is bad in the world. For some reason production companies believe that people’s disasters make for entertainment. They assume that we wallow in other people’s misery. On news programmes, bad news is the only type of news that people are interested in. Even if there is good news, they will still hunt out the negative slant to the story.

The fact is there is so much that is beautiful in this world. Despite the world’s imperfections, there is so much joy we can obtain from this world. God has created so much abundance for us to enjoy if we choose to open our eyes, trust in God and grab those opportunities that he puts before us.

The vast majority of people in this world conduct their lives with good intent. Yes there are some little parts of our make-up that bring out the worst in us but these are well and truly over shadowed by everything that is good inside. Therefore we should be far more uplifted, far more entertained by all the good that happens in the world.

This is why it is so refreshing to come across media such as Christian radio and television. To hear some tremendous lectures, speeches, programmes and music lifts up the heart. There are quite a few out there that can be connected to via the internet. I am currently experimenting with a couple that are of interest to me which are primarily geographically relevant.

If every body was to search for good news perhaps our broadcasters would have to re-evaluate what constitutes news and entertainment. Perhaps then we can live in a world of happiness. The good news is that we don’t have to put up with bad news any longer.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org.com

Nightmares

What is the meaning of faith?

The most recent book that I have just finished reading was Rachel Elnaugh’s “Business Nightmares”. http://www.businessnightmares.co.uk. In this book she at first describes how she took the concept of packaging days out and experiences of a life time into gifts and creating the company Red Letter Days. She worked extremely hard to build this company into a multi-million pound business and became a celebrity as one of the first “Dragons” in the hugely popular British TV show “Dragons Den”. Unfortunately her fortunes took a downturn and Red Letter Days eventually went into administration.

Despite losing everything she had worked hard for over many years she is still positive about her future which includes much demand for her to speak publicly about business and business motivation plus, obviously she has now written the book. The whole idea of the book is to highlight the fact that life can carry on after business failures and disasters of which some can be very publicly announced.

The book recounts many other successful entrepreneurs, all who have suffered their personal business nightmares and yet have managed to rise again like the phoenix from the ashes. Indeed despite the appearance of a Midas touch where everything turns to gold, all the entrepreneurs interviewed had experienced life in the doldrums, periods when finances were tight and in some cases bankruptcy loomed. What appears to many people as failure is really just part of the learning curve in the apprenticeship of entrepreneurship.

Each chapter focuses on a different type of problem which can occur whilst building and sustaining a successful business. In each of these chapters she gives a case study of somebody who has stared that particular problem in the face. At the end of each chapter she also gives a summary of how in her opinion these obstacles can be avoided. The advice given at the end of chapter eleven was of great relevance in my eyes. Subtitled “Here are my observations of being in deep problems in business and dealing with a mountain of debt:” this is my interpretation of her words.

Fear

This emotion is tremendously restrictive. It will lead to panic which in turn makes for bad decision making. Other negative emotions such as anger and resentment cloud judgement and when displayed, can alienate clients and colleagues affected by these emotions. It is much better to try to remain positive, hopeful and optimistic.

Challenges

A positive attitude to any difficult situation will help view this situation not as a problem but as a challenge. By rising to this challenge, strength is gained and valuable lessons can be learned.

Faith

The paragraph on faith really hits home to me. She advises that even if somebody is not particularly religious it helps to call on a “higher power” in order to give strength during crisis. Having absolute faith (the experience is like having a deep sense of calm) creates the opportunities to meet people and recognise the answers as they unfold. At this point keeping an open mind is essential so that every opportunity can be explored.

Life’s Journey

It is good to remember that we are all on a life’s journey. Change is inevitable and is often sent to push us onto the next phase of our journey. Even though this can be downright unpleasant and things don’t go well, this change is likely to be paving the way to something better.

Rachel Elnaugh ends this summary with the poem Desiderata.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labours and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace
with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
It is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com

www.cryinthedark.org