Footprints, Not Monuments

William Faulkner talks about the need for footprints, not monuments. He explains that monuments are a statement that says ‘I got this far’. Footprints announce ‘this is where I was when I moved again’.

I want footprints to be the reflection of my life. I’m on a journey. I only arrive in the next life. A step at a time, I move forward. I don’t quite know what is around the corner, but with God’s help, I keep on the right path. It’s what Nietzsche and Peterson called a ‘long obedience in the same direction’. Long roads, mountain paths, obstacles and more. Finally the view from the top. It’s then that you know it was all worth it.

Ten Years Ago

I was meant to be there that day. I keep an email in my diary of the invitation to a meeting in New York on 11th September 2001. What’s more, the company I was visiting had offices in one of the towers.

I postponed the meeting. God knows the time and the hour, and for that I’m grateful. In the meantime, the email is a reminder of the transience of this life.

C S Lewis described this life as like the front cover and the title page of a book compared to what is to come. As Lewis says, one day I will begin Chapter One of the Great Story.

Thank You - To All 10,000 of You

About five years ago I started a blog. My eldest daughter had just got married and I had turned fifty. It seemed a bit of a watershed. I decided I was not going to give up on climbing the mountains that life throws at you, so this blog was born.

Today, 193 posts later, it tipped over the 10,000 mark in terms of readers. So thank you. I’m glad the blog has encouraged and challenged, and I hope it will continue to do so.

It’s taken a while to get there because I don’t cheat. Some sites count every ‘click’ as a new visitor. I’m a bit mean in only recording visitors once a day.

A few facts and figures. The two most popular blogs were one on this page – ‘A Clear Reason – A Clear Answer’, and one that has been reposted once because it was such a popular post – ‘Laminin’ (October 2010). Some days there have been as many as 100 visitors, other days one or two. Hello to the 481 of you in the States that have passed through this year. And a big hello to the five of you in Russia! Glad you passed by, sole visitor from China. And hi to my friends in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. I know who you are! Quite a following in Brazil- appreciate your company.

Thanks again and here’s to the next 10,000!

This Race is Not About a Fall, This Race is About a Rise!

We're all in a race. It's the race of life. How we live determines how we finish.

Even if we fall, we can get up, run again and still win. Heather Dornidon shows how it should be:



Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God.
Hebrews 12: 1-2, The Message Version of the Bible.

(This was a clip I showed in my talk at KingsGate Church recently. You can find the talk at:
http://www.kingsgateuk.com/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=73639&file_id=81982 )

John Stott, Pastor, Theologian, Author; April 1921 - July 2011

"John Stott was the most modest of men. Compliments embarrassed him. He would shrug them off and try to change the subject just as quickly as he could.

If he could have briefed me in advance for this message which I am to give now, he most certainly would have said to me ‘focus on Christ, don’t focus on me’. "

John Stott Memorial Service Sermon from J I Packer.

A Clear Reason..... A Clear Answer

“Where there is no vision, the people perish” is one of the best known quotes from the Bible (Proverbs 29:18). What we are seeing on the streets of our cities reflects the truth of those words.

If you are in your late twenties, unemployed, and in fact have never had a job (not for want of trying), it’s likely you will lack purpose in life. If all you know is gang culture, it’s likely that is where you get your values on life. If you live in a materialistic and godless society, it’s likely you worship the HD TV, Nike shoes and designer labels.

What we are witnessing in our streets is a result of the society we live in. No excuse for riots. But a clear reason.

And there is a clear answer. Not that it appears to be an acceptable answer to a majority of our society. When you find the reason you’re here, it makes a difference to how you live.

As we wake this morning to pictures of burnt out cars, looted shops and fearful communities, there has never been such a need for faith in Christ.

The Right Shoes

Lois, my 20 year old daughter, declared recently that she wanted to start running. I offered to buy her her first pair of running shoes.

‘You need running shoes?’ she asked. ‘Yes of course’ I said.

‘Why? What’s wrong with my plimsolls?’ I gave a wry smile the way only Dad’s can.

A couple of hours later we were at Advanced Performance, the excellent running shop in Peterborough. It was only then that the full realisation of what was needed began to hit Lois. The first thing we saw was a guy in a shirt and tie running around the car park wearing new running shoes.

‘I’m not doing that! No way!’

‘But you have to if you want the right shoes. They won’t sell you any shoes without you trying them out to make sure they are right for you.’

‘Well I’m not running around the car park for any one!’

Half an hour later and with about ten pairs tried out and videoed on a running machine to check for pronation or supination (fancy terms referring to how your foot strikes the ground) and Lois was running round the car park on the way to owning her first pair of real running shoes.

Why all the bother? Because all our feet are different. Not just in size, but in the way we run. The wrong shoes, a lack of support to the ankle and you are on your way to severe muscle injuries and damaged knees.

What are we wearing as we run the race of life? Have we got the right shoes? The right support to our own personal race of life? What are we trusting in? Who are we trusting in? Who’s there to support us, listen to us, encourage us? Make sure you’re wearing the right shoes.

Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Hebrews12:1-2