Hosanna

The eve of the London Marathon and I'm busy getting ready for Holy Week.

Holy Week is for me the most important week in the Christian calendar. It's not about buying and wrapping presents, going to parties, the last minute food shopping and waiting for Santa to come.  Somehow there is a sense of wonder, a sense that something wonderful beyond human imagination is about to happen.  I remember Easter as a child growing up being mesmerised by the story that Jesus had died on a cross for me, something I couldn't take on board but I just knew it was special.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and as I run through the streets of London I will imagine what it was like for Jesus as he came riding into Jerusalem with people lining the route welcoming him, singing hosanna to the King of Kings, in what was no doubt a very party like atmosphere. But of course very quickly everything changed - as someone put it this week he met a sticky end, and all to provide new life, new beginnings and fresh hope for the future.
I pray that this Holy Week and Easter will provide fresh hope for all who seek to find out more about the real Easter story.

The Mountains we must climb to find ourselves.

Sports accessories are a big industry nowadays, from mp3 players, Ipod’s, drinks carriers, and the more complex GPS watches there are all sorts of devices designed to make us faster, leaner and fitter. Having a GPS (sports watch) is described as an indispensable tool for runners. It does everything from monitoring your heart rate, pace and time to motivating you during your training runs with a virtual partner if you chose to have one. I have to admit that I find them useful but like the mobile phone I wonder how we would cope without them. Yesterday as usual before my run I switched on my GPS and waited for the satellite to be located, usually just a few seconds. However after a couple of minutes with the words ‘finding satellite’ I decided to get started, hoping it would kick in soon into the run, after all I was only going for a four mile run. Sadly it wasn’t to be by the time the satellite had been located I was well into the run and in fact only had 1.5 miles to go. I had managed quite well without it.

We have become so accustomed to these devices that it's difficult to cope without them. At first the thought of not been accompanied by my GPS to monitor my pace was pretty scary especially days from the marathon. I felt lost without it.  Relaxing into the run though made me realise that by checking and listening to my body I was able to manage the pace quite well without it, enjoying the run which was quite liberating. It felt like climbing a mountain in order to find out something about myself I already knew.

In different areas of our lives we can allow devices such as these to take over our lives and they can. Sometimes it’s good to rely on the bare essentials of God’s beautiful creation; you may be surprise at what you find, certainly you won't get the message 'lost satellite reception'.