see-through faith

That’s always the BIG question for me … what next in and for the Kingdom of God.

Those of you who follow this blog know that I’ve been away from Finland for a couple of weeks in London, most of which has been a museum-shopping extravangza with DD in preparation for her 18th birthday in May. We had a lot of fun but it was exhausting too.

It was Samuel Johnson who said

When a man is tired of

London, he is tired of life.

and I have to agree.

I was in London for two weeks (DD ten days) and while we did something educational every day (a museum or tourist attraction) -as well as a lot of shopping- we barely skimmed the surface. There is so much to see and do still! We did three trips to the British Museum, visited the V&A, and the Natural History (to see the dinosaurs) … rode the London Eye, visited the London Dungeon,saw part of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Walked along the Thames a lot (especially the South Bank) a lot saw the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, St Paul’s, visited Southwalk Cathedral, Covent Garden Market etc etc.

For me the highlights have been mostly seeing DD’s face as she’s experienced new things, and also see her gain in confidence in dealing with a big city – she fitted in so well in SW1 and SW3 and mastered the tube pretty quickly even in rush hour! She really is a young adult already and I’m so proud of her!

Her favourite museum was the British Museum (though the guide on Friday when we did the Romans wasn’t up to par!) but I think the Imperial War Museum also had a huge impact on both of us!

There’s a great section about WW2 though kids’ eyes – and given that both my parents were evacuees (dad to Somerset and mum to Sheringham) – I found it really interesting too. A couple of years ago a friend gave our family tickets to the Lion the Witch and the Wardrom (first of CS Lewis’ NARNIA series) and it opens with a bombing raid and then the four kids are evacuated. When in London this time I finally got to see Prince Caspian (on DVD) and as you can see from this trailer … it starts in the tube (at the imaginary ‘Strand’ Station) which made me smile given how much we’ve used the tube and London busses this trip. Thank God for oyster cards and a maximum inner zone fare of about £6 a day!

Also at the Imperial War Museum there is a huge holocaust exhibition. It is really well done and its impact is powerful. There are news clips, interviews from that time and from survivors, interesting things to look at and things that make you cry. DD spent far longer there than either my friend or I expected … and it made a huge impact on her. If any of you visit London this is well-worth doing.

It is true that when one tires of London it’s a sign that one is tired of life … but that said I did come home tired – very tired – in part because of all we’d done, but also becuase there was a transport strike here in Finland yesterday. It meant that there were almost no coaches or local busses   -and I considered myself very fortunate to have got on one back to Turku very late last night after a wait of four hours. I arrived in Turku at 3 am to a welcome committee of hubby and three dogs at Turku cathedral! I’m always glad to see them but was especially so last night!

But what next?

Today’s been invested in being a taxi driver to DD and my inlaws (because of the bus strike), catching up with laundry and re packing my little case. Yes re-packing. I know I must be crazy!!!

I’m off to a silent retreat tonight (for 48 hours) led by Rev Henry Morgan (Anglican) from the UK. I have to admit I desperately need this time with God and am hoping and praying that He’ll show the way forward for me. It’s been a bit tough for me for a few weeks – though I haven’t felt able to blog about it – and to be honest I feel a bit directionless as to what to do now that I have finished my MA in theology in part because the doors that I felt God was opening for me here in Finland have been firmly closed again.

In my bag I have a couple of books (as well as my Bible) The first is Brian McLaren’s new book

which my friend bought for me the day it came out in the UK when we went to hear Brian speak at Oasis (church.co.uk) (don’t you just love their banner heading!!!) … and the second book is one I’m about to read and review. It’s called Restoration Road (by Mitch Kruse) and on the back cover it states

Regardless of where your journey has taken you, whether a sand heart, a stone heart, or a clay heart, your story is not finished. In fact, the next step always provides a new beginning.

Sounds just what I need don’t you think?

Back blogging on Saturday.

PS into the Bible has taken a bit of a break (unintentionally). I just didn’t have time to post while I was away.However, I’ve been reading Maggi Dawn during Lent. Her book Giving it Up is great – very challenging but so inspiring about what it means to be a Christian! Over at her blog last week she wrote

It’s a common misconception that Lent is about self-improvement. … [It]is not about giving up luxuries, not about losing weight or gaining other benefits, not about food per se, not about de-cluttering or Feng Shui or about ay other kind of feel-good, de-toxifying exercise. In the end, it’s about denying yourself some of the essentials of everday life in order to focus on the reality that we depend upon God for life itself; about re-aligning ourselves with God and his purposes in our world; about reminding ourselves that all we have is a gift from God in any case.

(emphasis mine)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Lenten challenge, book review, disciple of Jesus, matters ecclesiastical, real life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.