Ramblings along the narrow way

A slightly different way to spend the day with my work colleagues – the company golf day. Whilst I am not particularly good at golf (I won the award for “Most golf played” last year), today was very enjoyable, with a nice stroll around Abbey Moor Golf Course, with the occassional interruption to hit a golf ball. A bonus this for me at this year’s event was that I didn’t play the most golf, so I guess I must be improving…maybe I should get a lesson or two?

Looked at Psalms 42 and 43 in the bible study this evening. There’s so much in these two psalms, God is living, loving, sovereign….but these verses are repeated through the two psalms:

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.

Well, seeing as my piano playing is taking a break over the summer months, I thought I’d join in with some of my work colleagues in their regular five-a-side football game. The previous summer I did this – or was it the one before that? – for the first game, I ran around for about two minutes and then collapsed on the floor completely out of breath! Talk about unfit! Anyway, things seemed to have got better as I managed to stay upright for the whole hour, although I’m not sure I was much use as a footballer though. Ah well, it’s got to be better for me than just sitting at home watching the telly.

This morning’s sermon was titled “God: Does he really care?” focussing on Romans 5:8. Despite the suffering endured by many in this life, God does care. We know because God the Son gave himself for us, becoming a man, to be tried unjustly, to be tortured, to be put to death and to suffer the wrath of the Father. More incredibly, he went through all this not to save perfect people, but to save us – rebellious sinners.

The evening’s sermon was basically the answer to the question, “What is the purpose of life?” (a.k.a “What is the chief end of man?”) Of which the answer, “To glorify God and enjoy him forever” – in everything I do, is humanly impossible to keep, but with the power of God working in us, through faith in Christ, it is possible.

Well, the Harlington Singers had their summer concert this evening, with me accompanying them on the piano.

The line up, changed slightly, for reasons to be explained later, was:

Ralph Vaughan Williams, Linden Lea
Contantius Festa, Down in a Flowery Vale
The Cuckoo
Eric Coates, Bird Songs at Eventide
Nino Rota, Take the Sun
Sir Edward Elgar, As Torrents in Summer
Schubert, To Sylvia
Scott Joplin, The Entertainer
Matyas Seiber, Three Hungarian Folksongs
Cecil Sharp, Just as the Tide was a Flowing
John A. Glover-Kind, I do like to be beside the seaside
George Gershwin, Summertime
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don’t Cry for me Argentina
Richard Rogers, O What a beautiful morning
Stephen Foster, Beautiful Dreamer
John Bratton, The Teddy Bear’s Picnic
Percy Grainger, Country Gardens
Richard Rogers, The Sound of Music
Richard Rogers, Edelweiss
Richard Rogers, Climb Every Mountain

Looking at it – we did quite a lot of stuff! Some of the pieces were choral pieces, some were vocal solos and some were instrumental pieces – you can work out which ones are which yourself. I must say the choir performed brilliantly under the direction of the conductor. All the niggles and blunders encountered during the rehersals were nowhere to be seen, although pitching became difficult as the piano was very quiet. The soloists did very well, considering most of them are amateur singers.

Alas, the Beethoven Violin Sonata was postponed until another concert. Probably a wise idea given I was having problems with it and the violinist and myself had only had two rehersals playing together!

Most importantly, the audience seemed to enjoy it, with at least warm applause (sometimes very enthusiastic applause) after each piece and some encouraging comments from them afterwards. Roll on the next concert…

Well, did my bit to appoint a Member of the European Parliament, a Mayor for London and a couple of representatives for the London Assembly. Quite a few crosses to mark out. Rather a sobering thought to think that, unlike those living under dictators and monarchs, I am partly responsible for the actions of those I elect to represent this country…

Anyway, back to the Beethoven.

Beat Robin 2-1 at snooker. Very scrappy set of frames though. No real conclusion can be drawn from the outcome.

I must admit to being slightly bemused at a report submitted by “Muslim educationalists” to government ministers as reported by the BBC. I agree that Muslim children should be educated in their faith, as should all children in this country. However, I also believe all children should be educated in the basics of all the major religions and be allowed to delve deeper and decide for themselves what the truth is. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe all religions to be equal in truth, but I do believe in freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The conclusion of the report is that more muslim schools should be set up, but I’m not sure this is the solution – will Muslim schools present all religions to the children, or just Islam? Various proponents of muslim schools cite Church of England schools – but from experience, whilst having a Christian ethos, the basics of all the major religions are taught. Would the same be true of a Muslim school?

The last rehersal before the concert on Saturday (7:30pm, Harlington Parish Church). I think the choir had their best performance of the year so far. The troublesome pieces were dispatched with pleasing musicality, despite enduring possibly the warmest day of the year so far.

Still not sure about this Beethoven Violin Sonata – had the first rehersal with the violinist, and I got unstuck in a couple of places! A little more practice required I think.

Jacob, Leah and Rachael. Leah was in a loveless marriage because of custom and deceit – the oldest daughter would marry first, and Jacob was tricked. Jacob loved Rachael who was the younger daughter. There are quite a few points which arise from this passage.
Marriage should be between one man and one woman. If polygamy is allowed, there is a good chance someone will be left out.
If we do things because of man-made customs, we could be doing things for the wrong reason. For example, if I go to church because I have always gone to church, it might become a drudgery and disliked. It would also mean I would be deceiving myself, as the reason for doing good (e.g. going to church) should not be because of any attempt to make myself presentable to God, as such a thing is impossible.
If we do things out of love, it will usually be enjoyable. Jacob laboured for seven years, yet because he loved Rachael, it passed very quickly. For me, it would mean that, because I love God, I would do what God wants, e.g. enjoy going to church to hear the Word of God and to meet with God’s people.

Phew, what a day. The Camberwell girls organised a rather fun-packed day in London. It all started just after noon with a boat from Waterloo Pier to Greenwich, taking in some of London’s most famous sights, including the Palace of Westminster, the London Eye, Somerset House, St Paul’s, and Canary Wharf, along the way.
After procurement of lunch, we settled in Greenwich Park – quite a view across London from the top of the hill. Bumped into a chap doing a pavement rubbing who had a rather interesting claim. A trip to the Planetarium and Observatory followed, allowing the more mature members to catch up on some sleep! General socialising on the grass followed until it was time to get the boat back into Waterloo.
The evening was spent in a Pizza Express, enjoying good food and good company, with a brief spell of what only be described as anti-flirting with a certain young lady. A good time was had by all, and I was rather sad to have to go home. Ah well.

Lost 12-3 to Nigel at table tennis this evening. (Yes, that’s fifteen games in total!) Losing is not a problem, but a certain spectator remarked “Ah well, at least you tried your best”. What is the purpose of this saying? Is it to say I will never beat Nigel, as I played my best and lost? (Although it does raise the question of how does someone else know if I’ve played my best?) Or is it one of those comments which are supposed to make you feel better, as long as you don’t attempt to understand the words?

Ah well, time for bed I think… 🙂

Prayer meeting this evening. We were reminded why we could pray to God from Isaiah 63:15-19.

We have all turned away from God, even though he is our Creator and sustainer.
Yet, if we trust in Christ, he has redeemed us, and justified us, allowing us to approach him.
Moreover, we are more than justified before him, but adopted as sons and daughters of God, and we can approach him as Father.

Quite a thought.

Saw The Day After Tomorrow this evening. Very impressive effects, with various ways of wreaking havoc and destruction on several well-known cities. The story is slightly silly in places, ok very silly in places, but entertaining and it does raise the profile of the environment.

Strange Bank Holiday…I had planned to lounge around and file all my paperwork.

Instead, I had a text from Zack inviting me to the Amyand Park Chapel trip to Virginia Water. Had a picnic by the lake, caught up with old friends and made some new ones. Played rounders and football, and generally had a cool time.

Played Robin at snooker in the early evening, 3-0 to me. Admittedly Robin was acclimatising with a new cue he had just acquired – however, he used to play with the house cues…

To finish off the evening went bowling with Nige and Steve, and came second both games, with respectable three-figure scores, and then playing pool and table tennis.

I just hope I can wake up tomorrow.

Strangely enough, both morning and evening services were on Pentecost. Strange because I had taken a friend to Wilton Community Church as he is looking for a church near to him, whilst still going to Hounslow West in the evening. I guess it’s not that strange as today is Pentecost in the church calendar.

The evening sermon probably sums it up best:
The Holy Spirit has power. He is sovereign – he is God.
The Holy Spirit is purifying, like a purifying fire. He is able to cleanse the heart of those who trust in the Son.
The Holy Spirit is global. (The preacher used a word beginning with P, but I don’t remember it) Whilst drawing people from all cultures and backgrounds, He is able to unify all believers in Christ, whilst allowing diversity in culture.