A TIME TO REMEMBER
With the dark evenings and the colder weather, it’s time to hunker down, get out the warmer duvet and turn up the thermostat. November is also the month to remember. Not only do we have the great memorials of Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, we also have more recent anniversaries. Listening on the radio yesterday the 10th anniversary of the tragic derailment at the Ufton Nervet railway crossing was being talked about.
Memories are a powerful way of keeping the past alive. This is not to depress us or hold us hostage, but to create in us a thankful heart for God’s mercy and protection and a loving remembrance of lives that have been lost.  It is always heart warming to see how people cope with disability and suffering and find the strength to carry on. The resilience of the human spirit is something to celebrate and marvel at. None of us can know the future and each day we trust ourselves and our loved-ones into God’s care not knowing what the day will bring.
There are things we can do to help prepare for the unexpected, like taking sensible precautions and making adequate provision, but there are life events that take us completely by surprise.  These are moments of crisis where all the uncertainty of human existence comes into sharper focus.
For many years we had a poster on our wall which reminded us to ‘Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God’. That sentiment has been with us as we have moved from place to place, always finding God to be faithful. If you are facing such uncertainties as you read this, I pray that you will find the strength to do what the quote from Corrie ten Boom suggests.

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