Letter from Jon, June 24 

 “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.”
Joshua 3:3,4

Dear Friends
 
This past week Fiona and I had the privilege of spending a few days on the Isle of Skye.  I realise that many of you will have visited Skye in the past but this was my first time on the island and it was definitely a ‘WOW!’ experience.  I have never seen such a varied and unusual landscape with so many different rock formations created by ancient volcanic activity.  Our journey to Skye up the A9 to Dalwhinnie and then across country was stunning with so many beautiful lochs and glens, but nothing that prepares you for the dramatic landscape of Skye.  It was like stepping into another world. There were parts of the island that looked like a set from Lord of the Rings or Jurassic Park; quite eerie and forboding, especially when the Skye mist descended.  At the other extreme the Fairy Glen near Uig reminded us of Teletubby Land! 
 
As I was considering this I realise that we spend most of our lives surrounded by the familiar.  Most of us are creatures of habit and routine; myself included.  We feel safe, secure and comfortable with the familiar.  We know where we are and we know what to expect.  The temptation is to stick with what we know, whether it be the same choice on a restaurant menu, the same path we have walked a thousand times, the same seat we have sat in on a Sunday morning.  I realise, however, that if we always stay with the familiar we risk missing out on ‘WOW’ moments in life, new experiences and revelations, and that sometimes we have to push ourselves out of the familiar to experience something new.  I also know that on so many occasions when we have done that I have found myself saying ‘I am so glad we did that”.
 
The words from Joshua 3 are instructions given to the people of God as they entered the promised land.  They knew that this land was a fruitful and abundant place but they also knew it was inhabited by fearsome people who would not be welcoming to them.  The past forty years in the desert had not been a lot of fun for them but it was a familiar and ‘comfortable’ place and there must have been temptation to stick with what they knew.  Yet they obeyed the call of God to enter the land and they did it knowing that their God was with them, his presence symbolised by the arc of the covenant that went before them.
 
Over these last months it feels like God has been inviting us, with a gentle push, into the new and unfamiliar as a church.  Sundays are getting busier, new people are coming around and maybe even sitting in ‘our’ seat.  It can be exciting but also a little ‘uncomfortable’, but I don’t want us to miss out on the WOW moments God has for us, times of his presence and power, of seeing lives changed, people set free and finding hope and life.  I don’t want to miss the new and unfamiliar landscapes, however beautiful the familiar might be.  I believe God has plans and purposes for your life, for my life and for our church life together, and that will involve following him into the unknown.  However, the important thing to remember is that, just as the people of God followed the arc of the covenant, we follow our God.  He has promised to be with us every step of the way and I know there are new and wonderful things he wants to show us.
 
To infinity and beyond!
 
Jonx