Who Are We?

We are a husband and wife team with some years of varied Christian experience – Veronica and John Puckett. We have tried to make our website useful in some small way to serve God and his church.

Like many other Christians, we have an increasing concern for the spiritual and moral condition of our nation in the UK. A significant element in its decline seems to be a dwindling concern for holiness in the church generally, and a dilution of the glorious message of the Gospel.
We believe that in order for the church to regain some Christian influence in our land, the church itself is in urgent need of renewal, and such a change requires nothing less than a substantial move of the Holy Spirit of God amongst his people.
Considering the condition of many UK churches, it seems that we need much more serious exposition and preaching of the Bible, together with much more serious and sober prayer and thought if we are to be favoured with such a recovering work of God.

God bless you.

What Do We Believe?

The Bible.  We believe in the total accuracy of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as given in their original languages.
We believe in their verbal inspiration from God, and therefore we accept them as our supreme authority and our only rule of faith and practice.
We believe that the Scriptures are given for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness to lead a Christian to spiritual maturity and to equip him or her to do good works.
God.   We believe in One God in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We emphasise that there is only one God, but three Divine Persons.
We believe in God as the absolute Ruler in creation, providence, redemption and judgement, and all people are therefore subject to him.
God the Son.  We believe in the essential, absolute and eternal Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Godhead.
We believe he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.
We believe he was a real man capable of being tempted, but maintaining sinlessness from birth to death.
We believe he voluntarily humbled himself to live on Earth as the Man of Sorrows, and that his humiliation culminated in his substitutionary death at Calvary, because there could be no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of his blood.
We believe that he rose victorious from the dead on the third day and was seen by many people over a period of many days.
We believe that all his teaching was with his Father’s authority and was therefore infallible.
We believe he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father as the only and eternal Mediator and Intercessor between God and man.
We believe in his personal and visible return in power and glory.
God the Holy Spirit.  We believe in the Deity and personality of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead.
We believe that through His activity alone is a person convicted of sin and born again to experience saving repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that only through the work of the Holy Spirit is a believer transformed and renewed to become more like Jesus in daily living.
We believe that the Holy Spirit alone can bring Glory to the Lord Jesus Christ in the worship and witness of the church.
Sin.  We believe in the total sinfulness of the whole of humanity as the result of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden.  Therefore, every person by nature is dead spiritually, and is in complete slavery to sin and Satan, being totally unable to please God or obtain a relationship with Him.
We believe that the only basis of acceptance with God for him or her is the imputed righteousness of Christ.
Therefore, we believe that a person can only obtain salvation from sin by God’s merciful intervention and his gift of faith in Jesus Christ.
The Church.  We believe that the universal church, of which Jesus Christ is the Head, is composed of all those who through God’s grace in repentance and faith have truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Sacraments.  We believe that there are only two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
The Resurrection.  We believe in the resurrection of the body, the judgement of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting punishment of the lost.

Our Testimonies of the Grace and Kindness of God

     First Thought
A spray of tiny London Pride flowers spoke to a small boy.  Around their centres, he saw such beautiful colours gleaming like delicate enamel, and he realised that only God could have made such beautiful little things. It was the first spiritual thought he can remember.
Many years later, the grown-up little boy discovered that Creator as his Saviour, and his delight in the world around him was greatly increased.
George Wade Robinson’s hymn puts that stronger experience perfectly:
                “Heaven above is softer blue, earth around is sweeter green!
                Something lives in every hue, Christless eyes have never seen.”

That enjoyment has never diminished.

John
Posted March 25th 2009

     Scared Stiff
Goodness and Mercy.  In the lovely 23rd Psalm, are these words: – “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”  I’ve already lived a good many “days of my life,” and “goodness and mercy” have certainly followed me. That has definitely not been because I’ve deserved such blessings, but simply because God is good. On some occasions, it has seemed as if God’s goodness and mercy have gone in front of me! 

A ‘Presence.’  Just over twelve years ago, this really did happen in a remarkable way.  I’d been diagnosed with quite serious cancer, and John and I were going to the hospital for a consultation prior to the necessary operation.  I was scared stiff.  Parking limitations meant we had to walk some distance along a busy street.  As we threaded our way between other pedestrians, I became aware of what I can only describe as a ‘presence’ going on ahead of me.  I imagine blind people must know when someone else is near although they cannot see them.  Well, I just knew there was ‘someone’ in front of me, as real as John walking beside me.

Strength and Peace.  This ‘someone’ conveyed a sense of strength, quiet confidence and complete trustworthiness.  Whether he was an angel or even the Lord himself, I don’t know.  He went ahead of us right to the hospital entrance and then left us.  Gone was my fear.  I felt quite calm with a lovely sense of being cared for.  Later, I told John of my experience, but he’d been completely unaware of anything unusual.

If you are going through great difficulties, be encouraged.  God cares about needy people.

God Bless,

Veronica
Posted March 25th 2009

     The Early Years
First Thought.   As I’ve written above, my first remembered thought of God came through a small flower.   I was part of a family that regularly went to church, but I have no memory of any other thoughts about God, even though I must have heard many Bible readings, prayers and sermons.

Tiny Chapel and Bible.   The same absence of spiritual memories is true of the week of children’s meetings I attended in a tiny corrugated iron chapel in a North Dorset hamlet.
Similarly, I cannot remember why, when I was about 12 or 13, I began to read my Bible.  My mother had given it to me several years earlier, and so I could never understand her negative comments when she discovered my secret reading of it!

Easing the Conscience.   In my early teens, I began attending Holy Communion at our village Anglican Church, but I only remember a few bits of the Prayer Book text and several of the hymns.  Its early morning service suited me because it gave me an easy conscience to go fishing the rest of the day.

A Day in my Diary.   Throughout my teenage years, spiritual struggles dominated my religious life.  Every so often, a day in my diary would be marked with the word ‘Reform.’
From that day, I was determined to live differently.  The Bible, and the hymns I read, convinced me that a holy life must be possible.

Great Intentions.   However, after putting ‘Reform’ at the top of one page, I would need to repeat my proud intention on another page several days later.  My efforts achieved very little.
I now know that my reform was doomed to failure before it even began because I was depending on my own will-power and strength.

First Light of Day.   One evening in my early twenties a miracle began.   Because of the sudden death of a relative, I had to sleep at my Grandmother’s cottage for six nights a week. After Gran had gone to bed, I used to love fiddling with finding stations on the short waveband of her radio. A Christian radio station was operating from North Africa at that time.   Was it by ‘Chance’ that I happened to tune in to its short-wave programme and heard the Gospel of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ clearly for the first time?

But more of that in another article.

John
Posted March 25th 2009

     More than We Ask
Does God Answer Prayer?  I won’t attempt a theological answer, but I’d like to share an experience of answered prayer.

Feeling Low.   Some years ago, I was recovering from an operation and feeling quite low.   Our four children had fled the nest and John was very busy with our tree nursery.  I thought a chat with our eldest daughter, Jo, would be helpful, as her positive attitude during my illness had often cheered me up.

Futile Phone Calls.   She was in theological college at the time, so I needed to call her via a phone situated near the students’ common room  –  mobiles were not in general use then.   Usually a passing student would answer and then sprint round the campus searching for whoever the caller wished to speak to! After making two or three calls, and some kind and patient students had done their best, Jo could not be located.

Anxiety and Prayer.  The next morning, still longing to talk to her, even for just a few minutes, I tried to contact her again.   Yet again, she could not be found.   Anxiety for her began to replace my own need.   Where was she?   Was she all right?   Over the next few hours I prayed several times that the Lord would make it possible to get in touch with her, somehow or other.

Unexpected.  That afternoon I was working in the kitchen, which looked out on our garden and the nursery beyond.  A car turned in at the gate.   Another customer?  However, the car by-passed the parking area and came straight down the drive to the house.   It was Jo!  Understandably, she was rather bemused by my emotional greeting.

Better than Getting in Touch.  Knowing nothing about my phone calls, or my prayers, she explained she had been visiting a Christian retreat as part of her course.   As it was not many miles from us, she decided, on impulse, to drive home and stay overnight rather than make the longer journey back to college.  So we all spent a lovely evening together – far, far better than simply ‘getting in touch!’

God is Able.   In the Bible, we read that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…”  Ephesians 3:20 NIV

Yes!

Every blessing,

Veronica
Posted April 30th 2009

     The Early Years – Second Part
Chance?  On that day in my early twenties when I happened to tune in to the short-wave Christian radio station, was that merely accidental, or was it by God’s arrangement? Whatever, for the first time, I understood the Gospel of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ clearly for the first time.

If Jesus Came.  It was the reading of a poem that grabbed my attention.  The catalogue of questions in the verses of ‘If Jesus came to your house,’ exposed things in my life that were inconsistent with my church-going, my religion, and my Bible-reading and prayers.
The idea of Jesus walking straight into my home and life was extremely uncomfortable.

Born-again Christians.  The upshot of this radio encounter eventually led to meeting people who claimed to be born again.   I had read that phrase in Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, though I had little understanding of its meaning.
There was certainly something different about these new friends from what I had seen in the Anglican church I attended in Dorset.

Pentecostal.  The people who had participated in the radio broadcasts, advised me to go to a Pentecostal church, so I went to one in a nearby town.   They also talked and preached about being born again.

Presumption.  Consistent with my long-established religious notions, I went to the morning service so that I could be free for the rest of the day.   The meeting always incorporated Holy Communion, with which I was of course familiar in its Anglican form, and I easily participated.   No one questioned me, and I suppose they simply presumed I was a believer because I took the bread and the wine.  They even asked me to help distribute it sometimes.

Uneasiness.  However, the more I was in contact with these Pentecostal people, the more uncomfortable I became.   I was increasingly conscious of my spiritual deficiency.   I was not the same as them.  Some of the young people had a meeting and were telling of how God had saved them.  I was scared stiff they would ask me.

God’s Plans.  Looking back, I can see how God was not going to let me get away.  As Francis Thompson titled his poem, God was ‘The Hound of Heaven.’   I had maybe deceived some Christians, and possibly also the leaders of the Pentecostal church.   However, God had planned a crisis – a letter arrived, ending an important relationship.

God’s Hammer.  “You can’t fool God!”   Those words hammered away in my mind.  A voice kept telling me that I may have fooled loads of other people, but “You can’t fool God!”
Of course, God does say exactly that.  “God is not mocked.” Galatians 6:7.
For hours and hours, I wrestled with my new situation and the pounding of those four words.
“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”   Jeremiah 23:29 NIV.
It was indeed a mighty hammer. It was a bittersweet lesson to learn that I couldn’t fool God!

The Masquerade was Over.  I had to get help.   There was only one thing to do.  I had to go to the pastor and confess to him and to God, all about my deceptions, my being an imitation Christian, a very stupid religious sinner.
God cared for me so much in getting me into that church where they preached Jesus crucified in my place.   He wonderfully provided someone ready to help me come to Jesus for salvation.
‘How greatly Jesus must have loved me!’
Another of their songs was,
             ‘Calvary covers it all, my past with its sin and stain;
              my guilt and despair, Jesus took on Him there,
              and Calvary covers it all.’

God was so good to me, so patient with me during all those foolish years.

With the apostle Peter, I can wholeheartedly say of Jesus, “He is precious.”

John

Welsh Sojourns – An Explanation

For two periods, over several years of our married life, Veronica and I lived in Wales, only returning to England the second time in late 2009. In our earliest days there, I acquired a strong interest in what made this small country ‘The Land of Revival.’ At that time, we met Christians who had personal experience of the 1904 revival, and some who had experienced a mini-revival in Mid-Wales around 1920.

Through studying Welsh history, being in a variety of churches, meeting many people and hearing a fair amount of ministry, I hope my limited knowledge of the land and its revival history is reasonably accurate. I am particularly indebted to Dr Eifion Evans for his book, “When He is Come” which I bought in those early years and which initiated and maintained much of my interest.

In our second Welsh sojourn, we lived on the West Wales coast with spectacular views of Cardigan Bay – hence the enthusiastic references to the scenery and its stimulation to thought.

Sadly, for all its great history, and all the varied efforts of well-meaning Christians in Wales, it does not seem that the Land of Revival has any more definite signs of awakening than dear old England. However, even now, the Lord is able to stretch out his arm and “restore the years that the locust has eaten.” Praise his mighty Name!

Scribblings and Comments on the World Around Us

Some people ask, why bother about the natural world around us when we should be dedicating our time and energy to spiritual issues?  It’s a valid question, and its answer is in the Bible.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.   Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”  John 1:1-3  NKJV.
“Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it.”  
Isaiah 42:5  NKJV.

There are numerous instances in the Bible of God reminding us that he created everything that exists. In Romans chapter 1, Paul asserts that creation testifies to everybody that there is a God who exists, and to whom every one of us is accountable. We do well to consider his handiwork, and be reminded of our constant dependence on him, and our responsibilities to him. The natural world points us to the spiritual world.
Life around us points unequivocally to the One who is the Author of Life.

     Rainbow’s End
Elusive Beauty  Surely, no one could be negative about a rainbow.
Its beauty and elusiveness demand attention. Although its colours are always the same, and its curve unchanging, its height, width, and setting against cloud and land or sea, are endless in their variety.

God’s Sign  For me, it is the loveliest phenomenon of the natural world.
For a Bible-believing Christian, it is the glorious sign of God’s promise to Noah that never again would a universal flood destroy the human race.

God’s Visit. On a beautiful showery Spring day in 2009, the stubby end of a rainbow appeared briefly on the headland in the picture.
The colours of sea and land and cliffs were indescribable.
On the opposite side of that multi-coloured headland is the small fishing town of Newquay in Cardiganshire. It was there in 1904 that God chose to shine his powerful spiritual light on the minister and young people in the Calvinistic Methodist Church.

Like the rainbow, God’s glory touches the earth when and where He chooses. Man has no control over such events.

“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counsellor?”
Romans 11:34   NKJV

Posted June 27th 2009

     Flying Miracles

Sky Furrow.  A huge airliner is cutting its white furrow across a pure blue sky.

New Flyers.  At the same time, some young crows just out of the nest are making cautious experiments with their wings around the ash tree across the lane. A few weeks ago they were eggs.

A Wood Pigeon hurtles past in its powerful flight to somewhere.

An Insect dances through the sunshine doing its own thing.

A Painted Lady Butterfly recently arrived from North Africa, takes a rest on the Campanula flowers.

Machine or Creature? – Which is the greater miracle?

Posted June 1st 2009

     Waiting Seeds
Disturbance.   An airfield runway extension, re-routing of roads, opening up of a dangerous junction, meant a huge shifting of the soil of old pasturelands.

New Clothing.   Within days of the reinstatement of the land by the contractors, in areas where neither turf nor grass seed had been placed, nature began its own programme of damage repair. Green shoots and leaves began to clothe the bare soil with life.

Yellow Peril.  Within a few weeks, one most striking newcomer appeared – Charlock – and although its yellow flowers are not as blatant as those of its oilseed rape cousin, it still provides a dramatic show of colour. Centuries ago, charlock was used as a vegetable, but for generations it has been a troublesome weed of arable farmland.   Strong-growing and hardy, it can seriously hinder the cultivated crops.

The Long Wait.  No-one sowed that roadside charlock seed. Its seeds had lain dormant in the damp soil for a long time – some say it can survive for 100 years – until conditions become favourable for germination.

Ninety Years.  Seed sown by a teacher in an English Sunday School remained dormant in the mind of one of the pupils.   Eventually, that seed of God’s Word germinated in the mind and heart of a 90-year-old man in Canada, and the old pupil found salvation in Jesus!

Posted May 15th 2009

     White Lace of Winter

Winter Sun.   Quietly, the climbing sun poured out sufficient warmth to bring slow drifts of steam from the waiting soil.  By mid-morning, the steam had dissipated in the unseasonal warmth.  An invisible movement of air provided the scene for a miracle.

Surprise Tapestry.  Two walkers came along the lane in the early afternoon.  They stopped in wonder.  Shimmering in the weak sunshine, a silver tapestry of gossamer threads clothed every furrow in beauty.

Instinctive Weavers.  Myriads of tiny spiders, unobserved by anyone, had been waiting in the hedges and grass in the surrounding landscape.  The quiet warmth had stimulated them for the grand dispersal.  Spinning threads of the finest silk, they had clung to their launch pads of vegetation until the thread was long enough to bear their weight as it waved above them in the gentle convection currents.

Unseen Migration.   We were too late to see the fragile glide of thousands of tiny spiders to their new residence among the cold furrows, to wait for the spring.  We only saw the silver glory they abandoned.

What a miracle that God can transform the dark furrows of our hearts by the beauty of Jesus.

Posted March 25th 2009

     The Changing River

The Beach belongs to the Sea. Its grains of sand are subject to every ripple and wave that flood back and forth day after day. When storms drive the waves ashore with awesome power, how can the bed of a minuscule river withstand the vast power of the North Atlantic?

Unstable Sand. Every time those stormy waves engulf the river‘s course across the sand, its meanders change shape. Sometimes the changes are small, but at other times, there are substantial movements of its banks and bends.
In comparison, the rocks alongside its northern edge stand unaffected by the watery onslaught.

Spiritual Meanders. Too often, we meander all over the place when the storms and tides of life hit us.
Without our life-course securely embedded in the Rock of Ages, we will certainly experience spiritual meandering. However, if our life is fixed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then spiritual stability can be ours.

King David testifies to that steadfastness, “He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.” Psalm 66:2 NKJV
And the apostle Paul urges us to live like that.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 NKJV

Posted March 25th 2009

     The Unplacid Sea
Monday, March 28th 2009
Aberporth Bay was anything but placid today.  After a belt of rain had passed eastwards during the night, a cold northerly wind swept into the bay, bringing showers and sometimes hail, and drove the sea onto the coast with unusual fury.
From our inland viewpoint, the sea was white with foam as it approached the beaches of Tresaith and Penybryn. Against the nearby cliffs, the waves were surging up 30 or 40 feet, as though they resented their ancient barrier.

We may not express ourselves in sea-like fury, but we can strongly resent the obstacles we come up against in life.  It is good to remember that when our plans are thwarted, our hopes dashed, or when unexpected difficulties fall across our paths, God is able to work through such experiences for our benefit.

Tomorrow, the storm may be stilled.

     Easter Sunshine
Saturday, April 11th 2009
Aberporth Beach is not empty today. The combination of an Easter weekend and the sunshine will populate every sheltered beach in the UK.
It is a lovely feature of this country that our weather is variable, and the changing seasons produce such changing scenes. A year spent a few hundred miles north of Singapore some years ago made me long for our unpredictable British weather.

The first two swallows passed low over our garden yesterday – my favourite summer visitors. With beautiful regularity every spring, they abandon drier climates to enjoy the plentiful food supply that our changeable weather provides.

Wall-to-wall sunshine may be some folks’ paradise, but in some countries, unbroken sunshine means famine. So it is in life. Uninterrupted comfort and pleasure too often produce famine of the soul. Troubles and discomforts can be instruments to turn our attention to those things that are real nourishment.

     The Sun is There
Friday, April 17th 2009
Cloud and intermittent light rain enfolded both landscape and seascape this morning. Very briefly, the sky sometimes became lighter with the promise of the sun breaking through, but the cloudy veil was quickly drawn across the window again.

During our journey inland yesterday, a more active weather front was draped across mid-Wales, giving some torrential downpours in places. At one point, the sky to our west was so dark and threatening, the clouds seemed likely to break under their watery burden.

‘Every cloud has a silver lining.’ Some folk try to encourage others with those easy words and the simple saying can sometimes be a real help to many.
For others, there is the long haul when their sky rarely shows a hint of the sun, and it’s difficult to believe anything can shine brightly again.

But the sun is there somewhere – and its benefits can reach us, even through the clouds.

     Bluebell Blue
Thursday, April 23rd 2009
When the sky is blue, the sea is blue. Without that reflected colour, the sea would lose much of its attraction. That relationship makes blue the dominant colour of much of our world.

On our journey to Carmarthen a few days ago, we had the delight of seeing the first bluebells tinting the roadside banks and the edges of woodland. A few years ago, we stood in awe and wonder among the many acres of bluebells in the woods near Llyn Brianne reservoir north of Llandovery. Added to that beauty, the calling of a cuckoo from among the budding oak trees lifted us into another realm.

Our photographs of those scenes were disappointing. The latest camera technology may be capable of reproducing 16 million colours, but I have yet to see any photo that accurately portrays the colour of bluebells in their wild habitat. Neither have I seen any painting that accurately captures their beauty.

I have no idea what combination of tints and shades produces the indescribable haze of a bluebell wood, but I would challenge anyone to prove it to be merely the product of ‘chance’ or ‘survival of the fittest.’

     Spring Expression
Wednesday, April 29th 2009
Spring is a season of hope. On our journey a few days ago, spring expressed itself in every scene.
Travelling the coast road to Aberystwyth and beyond, we turned inland along the Dyfi estuary before winding upwards through the fringes of Snowdonia National Park. Then the beautiful valleys of the Banwy and Vyrnwy took us gently northeast before entering England.

Soft greens and yellows singled out the awakening oaks and birches from the bare ash trees on the hillsides. A huge sycamore tree in Meifod car park was already in full leaf with its catkins inviting bees to their precious nectar. Roadside patches of bluebells claimed our attention. Lambs, nesting birds, fresh grass showing on the higher land, gardens parading their spring flowers – the multitude of activity expressed its eagerness for life.

Spring is a delightful season of anticipation.
There is another kind of hope that lasts longer than one season.

     Smiling Trees
Tuesday, May 5th 2009
Bank Holiday in early May was no copy of the previous day of glorious sunshine.
No doubt, for the children especially, the early May Bank Holiday in West Wales was a disappointment. Rainforest Centres, Folly Farms, Chocolate Factories and all the rest, good as they are, cannot replace the expected day on a sunny beach.

The intermittent rain and rushing low clouds printed a dull uniformity on the coastline and hills around Cardigan Bay. The boundary between sky and sea was non-existent.

That’s how it was for much of the day. Then, suddenly, in mid-afternoon, a blaze of sunshine burst through the clouds. The world was transformed. The flowers and the fresh green trees smiled with pleasure. Everything was OK after all.
Then the clouds closed up again!

Sunshine in the soul can smile, even briefly, through many of the clouds of life.

     A Country Lane
Monday, May 11th 2009
May is beautiful.
A recent stroll along lanes on the outskirts of Aberporth was full of discovery. The early celandines had already disappeared, and the violets and primroses were giving way to a wealth of new spring flowers. Red campions, bluebells, pennywort, cow parsley, speedwell, orchids, dandelions, daisies and stitchwort provided a display more satisfying than any gardener can produce.

Above us, the white hawthorn flowers were on show, and the clear yellow of wild laburnum flowers peeped from their pendant buds. Flower buds were visible on the dog roses, and the broad leaves of sycamores were developing their summer canopy. Clumps of ferns were unrolling their classic fronds to decorate the banks of the tumbling stream.

Even the best creations of landscape designers and gardeners cannot compete with the display we enjoyed along that mile of country lane.
In the simpler things of life, there are plenty of enjoyments to be had if only we took time to look.

      The Litter Picker
May 14th 2009
In Carmarthen the other day, I noticed a young man carefully collecting the litter that thoughtless folk had dropped. I admired his diligence. It was not exciting or interesting work – but essential.

It set me thinking. Would I be willing to do such a job? Would I be able to stick at it day after day? No. I would find it too public and too humiliating.
Supposing our Queen was asked to do such work! Would she be able to humble herself to that extent? The whole idea seems too ridiculous.

However, for the Queen to become a street cleaner would be but the tiniest humiliation compared to the humbling of the eternal Son of God.

Christians know that the eternal Son of God came from heaven to live as a real flesh-and-blood Man on earth. Theologians call that event The Incarnation. From heaven’s glory to a bloody death on a Roman cross was an immeasurable downward step, and Christians call that his Humiliation.
The Apostle Paul used simple words to describe one aspect of what Jesus did. ‘He humbled himself,’ he wrote in his Philippian letter. “and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”  Philippians 2:8 NIV

As an antidote to our proud independence and self-interest, maybe we need to contemplate afresh what that Humiliation meant to the holy Son of God.

After all, to remedy the sin-littered condition of our souls, Jesus’ lowly work was essential.

     Silver Mirror
Monday, May 18th 2009
Mist had blotted out our view over Cardigan Bay a few evenings ago. From our hilltop home, only the closest fields and trees were visible.
Very early the next morning it was the same enclosed scene.
A thrush was singing, and through the mist we could hear the leisurely whisper of the sea washing the beaches half a mile away down the hill.

Around 6 a.m. the scene changed.
The mist thinned, and though unseen, the sun was up and its light poured down through the hazy vapours to transform the sea into a silver mirror.
The wisps and swirls of mist moved in unhurried motion around the indistinct hills and coastline, creating an otherworldly setting. Misty fragments seemed to weave a delicate tapestry, uniting the hills and sea in the streaming light.

Our normal view had been displaced by a far superior picture – almost a vision. For a brief interval, reality was clothed in something entirely beyond human control or design or imagination.

An unidentified poet once penned a phrase, ‘Stand small amidst mountains.’

Sometimes it’s good for the soul to feel small.

     Mountains and Fountains
Monday, May 25th 2009
From our bedroom windows, we can see the Gwalia Falls spilling 100 feet down the cliffs at Tresaith, just over a mile away. Only in the very driest weather does its flow seem to diminish appreciably, at least from our viewpoint. Its steady stream is always there.

After a few days away recently, we made a detour on our way home to visit Lake Vyrnwy. From the head of the lake, we negotiated the countless bends of the narrow road up to Bwlchygroes, the highest point on any public road in Wales. Above the tree line, the persistent rain and low cloud created a sombre scene in contrast to the vivid greens of the valley we had left behind.

However, that rain had produced some dramatic displays that more than compensated for the lack of sunshine. The small Afon Eunant had swollen into a series of rapids and falls worthy of anyone’s attention. As we turned from Bwlchygroes down into the Dyfi valley towards Llanymawddwy, a spectacular torrent of water was pouring hundreds of feet down the mountains in a series of silver cascades and fountains. It made the falls at Tresaith look like a trickle.
No doubt, a couple of days without rain and the mountain torrent would be unnoticeable.

We can rightly enjoy many of the dramatic occasions of life, but most of us would have difficulty in handling never-ending spectaculars.

More lasting pleasures can often be found in the steady flow of ordinary life.

     Migrant Millions
June 1st 2009
Thousands of migrants pour into Wales! That could be a provocative headline.
But it is happening.
On Saturday, enjoying the glorious sunshine in the garden, we noticed a succession of Painted Lady butterflies flitting alongside one of our hedges. The following day, there still seemed to be plenty, and I managed to photograph one on some blue campanula flowers.

Wanting to learn more about them, a quick search on the Internet revealed an almost unprecedented influx of millions into Britain in the last week or two. They have travelled 1000 miles or so from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa.

What beautiful frail creatures they look. Our photo is of one of those migrants, rather travel-worn compared to the photos of later home-grown specimens displayed on the website indicated below.

From that website: “An estimated 18,000 were spotted flying past Scolts Head Island on the Norfolk coast yesterday and were passing at 50 a minute over a 400 metre front today.”

Many of us know about the well-publicised butterfly migrations of North America, so it’s good to welcome plenty of these brave African Painted Ladies here
to West Wales.
Understanding their origin, it’s reason again to “Stand small amidst mountains.”

For more information about the Migration, go to Butterfly Conservation

     Ominous Conflicts
Saturday, June 6th 2009
Just after sunrise last Saturday, the sky over Aberporth was ominously disturbed. Broken cloud at various heights showed that significant meteorological activity was taking place.
At the highest level, white patches of alto-cumulus were moving from the south, whereas a lower scattering of raggy grey cloud was drifting in from the north-west. Between those two layers, there were other scraps of cloud travelling from the northeast. Air masses were in a mixing-pot.

It reminded me of a Sunday afternoon in Dorset in July, 1982, when two layers of cloud were moving in almost opposing directions. I recorded it in my diary.
Not long after midnight, there was a lot of thunder, with the lightning appearing to be above the clouds, but not much rain. From 7 a.m. on Monday morning, rain, thunder, hail, and a strong northeast wind continued until 10.30 when it became very dark under a turbulent cloud base.
Suddenly it became very still for several minutes until low cloud started sweeping in on a strong south-west wind.
At 11.30, a violent thunderstorm with frequent lightning burst on the scene and continued for over an hour. It was frightening. Trees were damaged and a lot of flooding occurred.
While I was writing this last Saturday morning, there was a cloudy but dry sky overhead, and I wondered what the next 24 hours would bring.

Clouds moving ominously in conflicting directions may seem symbolic of our nation’s present political, moral, and religious turmoil. Such times can be frightening.
However, when a violent thunderstorm has moved away, what a beautiful peace can replace it as the warm sun regains control of the rain-washed air.

Read the Poem ‘After the Storm’ Poetry/Storm

     Sigh of Relief
Saturday, June 13th 2009
Several days ago, the air over West Wales was coming from a south-easterly direction.  It was laden with tiny particles of dust after travelling over the landmasses of eastern Britain and Europe.   The thick haze, which made visibility poor, was itself made visible only by the light reflecting from each of its billions of particles.

This diffusion of light modified our view of the coastline and hills around Cardigan Bay in soft tones of pale grey-blue.   It made the contours of the hills more noticeable and gave the strong impression of the hills receding into the distance, each one fainter than the one in front of it.
The polluted air entirely masked the distant mountains.

A few days later, the atmosphere changed.   The airflow veered steadily during the morning from south-southeast to northwest, and the land and seascape breathed a sigh of relief as clear polar air flowed in like a cleansing flood.

Late in the evening and early the next morning when the sun was below the horizon, the outlines of the North Wales Mountains were dramatically clear.   The highest peaks of the Lleyn Peninsula were dark silhouettes against the pale sky 55 miles away.   Despite its 3560 feet, at 68 miles, Snowdon looked smaller than Cadair Idris and Plynlimon, both less than 50 miles distant.   It was a privilege to see their majestic outlines immovable beyond the sea.

Every so often, we need something to invade our view of life and make its issues become clear.   Too easily, those permanent spiritual horizons get lost in the haze of our modern lifestyles.

     Searchlights
Friday, June 19th 2009
Just before 5 o’clock several mornings ago, an area of broken cloud hid the sun as it was rising over the sea.  However, with the slow northward drift of the clouds, shafts of sunlight moved like gentle searchlights across the hills and sea and beaches.

We were deprived of directly seeing the sun, but other people in other places among the hills benefitted from its full light and warmth.
We didn’t envy them their sunshine – from our distant viewpoint, we could enjoy the greater blessing of watching those spectacular searchlights.

In ordinary daily life, it can be easy to feel discouraged when the advantages other people have are staring you in the face.  Even so, it is possible to enjoy significant blessing, even when difficulties and troubles dominate the day-to-day.

It was moving a few weeks ago to listen to a blind man walking in the countryside, describing its sounds and particularly the birdsongs he could hear.  He had a stronger experience than most sighted people do of the natural world around them.
In Ravensbruck concentration camp during the Second World War, two Dutch prisoners thanked God for the hordes of fleas that kept the Nazi guards away from their Bible reading.
They saw rays of light through the cloud.

     Clamour for Sunshine
Friday, June 26th 2009
It’s raining as I write this morning.  A steady moderate rain with almost no breeze.  It’s the perfect rain for gardens that have enjoyed a week of welcome sunshine.

Admittedly, sometimes rain can be inconvenient.  Sometimes an excess can cause serious problems, but generally speaking, rain is good for us.  Life is based on water, and without an adequate supply, our fertile land could soon become desert.

Over the last 40 or 50 years, the desire for endless sunshine has captured the majority of the British population.  Every year, millions of Brits travel abroad in search of the sun.  
The 1970s was a decade when the clamour for sunshine seemed to drive the foreign holiday craze in a big way.

For those of you with age to your credit, memories of 1976 are still vivid.  In southern England where we were living at that time, there was no significant rain from the middle of March to the end of August.  Crops failed, trees died, animals and birds suffered, and for many, life was quite a struggle coping with the heat and dryness.  The soil was cracked to a depth of 2 or 3 feet, and cultivations were well nigh impossible.
It was as if God had been listening to the chorus of moans about British weather and the wonders of Spain, and had said, ‘OK, you want endless sunshine.  Here it is.  See what it can do!’

Yesterday we watched a Song Thrush perched forlornly on a fence post for some time in the strong sunshine.  It is one of the most vulnerable of our songbirds when dry weather reduces the supply of its snail and slug diet.  It must be a lot happier today.

Hand in hand, sunshine and rain make the best life possible.  So it is in our hearts.

      Cloud Threat
Monday, July 4th 2009
This last week has been a season of showers.   High humidity, warm air, and strong sunshine have combined to create massive cumulus cloud activity.   The majestic anvils of cumulonimbus clouds have appeared almost every day, emptying their huge cargo of water in torrential downpours in many places.
On this sunny West Wales coast, we have only seen them moving slowly along, many miles inland.

From our perspective, the cumulonimbus in the photo were beautiful natural phenomena to be enjoyed and admired.
For those people on whom they were discharging their watery contents there was no admiration of their beauty.   Their dark sky contrasted sharply with our perception.

In the 18th century, William Cowper was a Christian who suffered from repeated seasons of depression.   Many of his poems and some of his hymns reflected his debilitating experience, but also indicated how God enabled him to cope with life.
One of his well-known hymns contains the words,
          “The clouds you so much dread
           are big with mercy and shall break
           in blessings on your head.”

William Cowper had discovered that some clouds can produce surprising benefits.