My first teaching assignments were in British high schools in Durham County.
Among other subjects, I taught English and religious education.
Think of that. Paid to teach Christianity in public schools.
I had a bible in one hand and a cane in the other!
By the time I had left for Canada in 1973 both had been legislated from English schools.
The brave new age of secularism had dawned.
This week we saw the fruits of it displayed upon T.V. screens across the world.
Riot, pillage, mayhem, anarchy, burning and public terror in the major cities of England.
In the book of Joshua we read "And another generation arose that knew not the Lord"
THEY ARE AMONG US.
Cities aflame. Get used to the sight. If we do not have God in our classrooms, look for the devil on our streets.
Ian
This week is the first anniversary of the rescue at the San Jose mine in Chile.
The great cry that erupted across the world on hearing of the 33 miners trapped at 650 meters was "God we need a miracle."
And the miracle came, but not before one of the men called his fellow miners to daily prayer meetings in the darkness and dust of their catacomb.
With about the same odds as finding a needle in a haystack, a surface probe pierced the gallery where the men were entombed.
Suddenly their darkness was illuminated by great rays of hope.
They had their answer as to where God was: right there with them half a mile below ground.
Needless to say, when the last miner stepped into the sunshine after the great escape, there were no skeptics left in doubt of their miracle.
Maybe that was the reason for their ordeal in the first place: to convince them and millions of others that God is real and at work in the midst of our daily distresses.
"God where are You?"
About as close as your own skin!
Ian
.
The world in which we live presents us with daily contradictions and conundrums.
Today the news from Somalia is grim.
The knowledge that thousands of children are likely to die from famine has raised the reflexive question "God, how could you let this happen?"
But before you go off on God and His indifference to starving children we must understand that there is food a plenty.
It sits in warehouses, dock sides and in the holds of ships within a short distance from the devastation and famine.
Then why is it not getting through?
Because the food convoys are being hi-jacked and the aid workers attacked by a gang of Muslim thugs called El Shahbab.
Their mantra is "No Western Aid. No help from America, the great Satan."
The people on the ground are not asking where God is. They are saying " Give us the protection and we'll deliver the aid."
Of course the view from the top of the ivory tower has always differed from the view in the trenches where the work gets done.
Ian
