My Dear
Friends,
In the
days before commercial flights on aeroplanes, people travelled by
sea. I remember hearing the story of a minister who had visited
America; and on his way home by ship there was a great disaster. The
ship caught fire and sank. The minister was one of the very few who
had managed to get on board a lifeboat. After a long and hazardous
journey the lifeboat passengers landed to a tumultuous welcome. The
story was in all the newspapers; and the minister was a sought-after
guest speaker at Women’s Guilds, Men’s Clubs and Friendship Clubs
all across the land. The minister delighted in telling the story of
his adventure; and stressing the wonderful miracle that God had cared
for him and saved him from a dreadful death.
One day
the Archbishop of Dublin happened to be in the audience. In giving
the Vote of Thanks he said: “What a wonderful miracle indeed; but I
can tell you something better than that - which actually happened to
me!”
Everyone
was amazed because they all thought that they knew their archbishop
so well; and no one could ever remember hearing of a great adventure
in his life. The Archbishop told them, however, that a few weeks ago
he had sailed on the ferry from Ireland across to Liverpool. Pausing
for dramatic effect, he said: “And do you know, that by God’s
mercy, the ferry didn’t catch fire, and we all arrived safely!”
Nothing untoward had happened.
We make
such a fuss, don’t we, about the great, special and unusual events;
but we take the ordinary, everyday things for granted. The ordinary
things of life, however, vastly outnumber the crises and the major
events. God’s everyday care of us often gets overlooked. If we
have a narrow escape in a car accident, we give thanks to God. But
how many of us remember to give God thanks for the thousands of
incident free miles we regularly travel? We are so grateful to God
when we recover from a serious illness; but it is so easy to forget
to give thanks for all the years of good health that we enjoy. It is
good to be mindful of, and thankful for, God’s constant, everyday
care of us.
Liz
joins me in sending our love to you all.
Alex.
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