Dear Congregations
At my induction service, worship was led by the Rev Angus Kerr from Whitburn South. The theme for his sermon was: “Are we there yet?” (2 Samuel 7:1-11 & Ephesians 2:13-22).
I don’t think he could have come up with a more appropriate theme for our situation! Because the linked charge of Polbeth Harwood and the West Kirk of Calder has been vacant for 3 long years. The Nominating Committee most probably felt like parents trying to get everything ready for a long and exciting journey, but then one thing after the other happened, causing delays. It wasn’t an easy job getting the car neat and tidy and packed with everything that might be needed on this trip, it took planning, head scratching, soul searching, organising, repacking, calming down of impatient passengers on the one hand and trying to prevent others from getting bored and wandering off on the other.
But, of course, as always, God had a plan. And now, at last, the job is done – the car (or bus!!) is packed, and we are ready to embark on a new journey together. Just in time for summer!
But this isn’t just any journey – it’s a journey of faith…
I, for one, am very excited about this journey we are now undertaking. Thank you very much for inviting me along, for giving me the opportunity to sit in the driver’s seat. I can’t wait to show you some amazing sights and tell you some interesting stories about others who have travelled here before us. But just like on any other journey – we’ll need each other to make it worth our while. There is such a huge variety of talent here – we have people who can entertain us along the way, so nobody gets bored. We have people who will provide snacks and flasks of tea and coffee, without which no trip is fun; we have people who will be able to fix the bus when it brakes down, to adjust the brakes when we are going too fast and to keep their eyes on the petrol gage to make sure we never run close to empty. We’ll have people who’ll be able to assist injured passengers, dry off tears and give hugs, advice, or just a quiet nod if needed, and if ever we get stuck, if we all get out and push together, we’ll be off again in a jiffy.
So – are we there yet? Well no, we’ve just departed. I don’t know about you, but I’m not in a hurry, I want to enjoy every single minute of the trip. And if there is one thing I’m not worried about, it’s getting lost – because we have God as our sat.nav, and He never makes mistakes.
So please enjoy the ride, because I’ve got it on good authority that our destination is quite some place!
Hope you have a blessed summer.
Nanda