the walls of brighton

I spent the day in Brighton with some friends yesterday. We had a comical photo shoot against this graffiti back-drop and Hannah nicely captured this photo of Aaron as he chatted to his friend in the wall! I like it a lot!

"Art is not to be found by touring to Egypt, China or Peru; if you cannot find it at your own door you will never find it." - Emerson

In His Time

I was getting the bus back from town earlier and i couldn't help but laugh at the fact that everyone else on it was old. They had beautifully aged faces and trendy Granny clothes, but they were old nonetheless and distinctly tired. I watched a lady stumble on and sit down with a sigh of relief. I think i had done the same. It seemed like i had grown old before my time as i sat there with them. But i somehow felt peaceful there and smiled the whole way back. I was thinking about how i wasn't really sitting there before my time at all, even though it seemed like it... i wasn't sitting with the old when i should be running with the young, but i was simply sitting with the old because in that moment it was right for me to be sitting there. Just before i went out i read Jeni's blog, on which she had quoted Psalm 31.15: "My times are in His hands", and i was thinking how true it is - My times are in God's hands, my life is in God's hands. My body may occassionally feel slightly older than it's age. I may sit down on nearly every bench as i pass it or list washing my hair as one of the main activities of my day! But i'm not really living like the aged before my time. Right now, this is my time, because it is His time for me.

"My times are in His hands" - Psalm 31.15

The Hmong People

"We Miao do not have writing. For thousands of years we have been like the blind, it has been very bitter. Everybody knows that there is nothing worse in the world than to be blind, however shimmering is the sun in the sky, however shining is the moon in the sky, however clear are the rivers and mountains on the earth, however beautiful are the flowers in the wilderness, the blind cannot see them anyway." - Wang Mingji, a Miao pastor

I have had a link for the Joshua Project on my page for a while. The Joshua project identifies the people groups of the world that have little or no exposure to the Gospel. It provides the information to encourage pioneer church-planting movements among every ethnic people group. Each day a different people group is automatically displayed on their website, for prayer. Today it was the Qanu people of China. The Qanu are part of the Hmong/Miao people group. I have had a bit of a heart for the Hmong tribes in Laos for a few years now and so was interested to read the full profile for the Qanu people. The quote i included above is an extract from that profile. I hadn't realised before that the Hmong don't actually have writing at all. On reflection it's pretty obvious and makes sense - i know their culture has a long standing oral tradition. I found the above quote quite moving though. Not only does it cause consideration of what it is to be literally blind (though that's not it's primary purpose), but it portrays the value of writing even more. It would be very difficult to translate the Bible into a language which doesn't have a written form as well. It could appear quite a bold claim to compare the lack of a written script with blindness, but when you consider the worth of reading something like the Bible then it is easily akin to blindness. It reminds me of a quote i read a long time ago, by John Piper:

"I love the Bible the way i love my eyes - not because my eyes are lovely, but because without them i can't see what's lovely. Without the Bible i could not see "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." Without the Bible i could not know "the unsearchable riches of Christ." Without the Bible i would not know that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Saviour. I love the Bible because it gives me the wisdom that leads to salvation, and shows me that this salvation is nothing less than seeing and savoring the glory of Christ forever, and then provides for me inexhaustible ways of seeing and knowing and enjoying Christ. "

N.B. I'm aware that it is a bit of a generalisation for Wang Mingji to say that 'there is nothing worse in the world than to be blind' - i'm sure that there are many people who are blind and still quite happy. I'm also aware that God is much bigger than writing and can still meet with people who don't have access to a written bible.

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face." - 1 Corinthians 13:12

I used to have 20/20 vision, but my eyesight's been getting pretty bad recently... a lot of what i look at is blurred or it's quite a strain to read things.. i think it's just another drug side-effect, so i don't really mind, it probably won't last - in fact it's not even that bad today. It's better than when i was on my first drug anyway; for a period i had double vision. I remember finding it quite amusing when i sat at church and could distinctly see two of Colin as he was preaching! ha ha. Anyway, it got me thinking about what it must be like to be properly blind. My Dad's new job is with an organisation who print books for people who are blind and i may do a bit of work there myself when i can. It must be so strange. We were talking the other day about seeing God when we go to heaven and how amazing it will be.... i guess it will be even more incredible if you are able to simply 'see' for the first time. My Dad reckons that 'seeing' will be completely different in heaven and that we won't just have eyes like those we do now, but that we will see through our spirit and our senses and in ways we've never 'seen' before. I guess in a way we see God like that now - through the eyes of our heart and mind - as we can't physically see him yet, but what we see now is still just a dim reflection, whereas then it'll be face to face. bring on that day.

On a completely different note my orchid has got 4 new flowers on it, and another 7 buds. A few months ago my mother declared that i had killed it. Admittedly it did look slightly dead, but i refused to believe her and knew that it's barren period would pass and it would come to life again. Anyway, although it is very rare for me to be right, i am happy to say that this time i was and my orchid lives on.....

the petal and the wind

So... in my attempt to avoid mundane tasks i've just been sitting here watching a daisy in the garden getting blown around by the wind. I was struck with such amazement at it's ability to withstand the forces of the air that i felt the need to share it with the world. This tiny fragile daisy is capable of being blown to and fro by the wind without being destroyed... in fact it doesn't even lose one little petal in the process, but remains fully intact. Incredible considering the delicate nature of it's frame. Granted it will one day wither and die, but no storm will take it before that time. Pretty intelligent creator i say.

Open mouths

This photo is entitled 'Afrique du Sud 1981' and is by Chris Perkins. I just saw it and it reminds me of a postcard i have on my wall, which i got in Thailand and love. It also reminds me of a very similar image i had in my head this morning... one of people i knew who were so thirsty they were desperately reaching out for every drop that came from the sky... in fact, i think it was raining honey! I don't know why i was thinking/day-dreaming about that this morning, but there we go!

The Straight Story

I was thinking again about the film 'The Straight Story', by David Lynch, from which the title of my blog comes. It's based on a true story, about a guy named Alvin Straight. He drove an old lawnmower 240 miles across Iowa, in order to visit his brother who had suffered a stroke. He was elderly and ill himself, which is why he was unable to drive a car and had to use a lawnmower. He hadn't spoken to his brother for years and wanted to seek forgiveness and make ammends.

The film shows his 6 week journey across rural America and how he is eventually re-united with his brother. It is one of the most simple, yet powerful films i have seen and portrays the beauty of love and forgiveness, especially when it's expressed in unusual ways. This is tenderness which is as abstract as insanity, as David Lynch himself said. Considering the fact that my blog title uses this quote, i thought the film was finally worth a mention.