Ecclesiastes 5:8-20
Psalm 55
Galatians 3:23-4:11
Matthew 15:1-20
Psalm 55
I lived in a town with a 12th century castle behind the main shopping street so as a child medieval buildings did not impress me too much. I was about nine years old when we went to stay with my uncle near York. This was the first time that I remember coming into close contact with city walls. It is an eerie experience walking where soldiers trod centuries ago. In York centuries ago is a really long time. The walls are based on those laid out by the Romans, restored by the Danes and mainly built between the 12th and 14th centuries.
Whilst I was in college my Grandmother moved into a nursing home near York so I used to visit the city frequently and then we moved to a town about 30 miles away and I went to regular meetings in York. Later my mother moved to the area and so we would visit York. Who could not share such a city with their family. Our children all came to love the place. One day the girls and I were walking along the walls, taking the quickest route between two places that we wanted to visit when we saw the outline of a tic tac toe game etched in the stone. Walking along the walls became a normal route from one part of the city to another but the experience of walking along the ancient ramparts never became normal.
I always think of the walls as being built to keep out the invading armies rather than containing evil within, though I suppose The Plague was confined by walls. Walls, for good or ill present a barrier in either direction.
What bad am I keeping in that should be released or what good am I preventing from entering my heart and mind?
When I read the passages I try to take an image and let it wander in my mind rather choose a passage on which to pontificate or preach. I had great difficulty avoiding Ecclesiastes and Matthew today.
Whilst I was in college my Grandmother moved into a nursing home near York so I used to visit the city frequently and then we moved to a town about 30 miles away and I went to regular meetings in York. Later my mother moved to the area and so we would visit York. Who could not share such a city with their family. Our children all came to love the place. One day the girls and I were walking along the walls, taking the quickest route between two places that we wanted to visit when we saw the outline of a tic tac toe game etched in the stone. Walking along the walls became a normal route from one part of the city to another but the experience of walking along the ancient ramparts never became normal.
I always think of the walls as being built to keep out the invading armies rather than containing evil within, though I suppose The Plague was confined by walls. Walls, for good or ill present a barrier in either direction.
What bad am I keeping in that should be released or what good am I preventing from entering my heart and mind?
When I read the passages I try to take an image and let it wander in my mind rather choose a passage on which to pontificate or preach. I had great difficulty avoiding Ecclesiastes and Matthew today.
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