From this world to the next
Many who read this column will have experienced the difficulties which often arise when moving house, not least when this involves moving to a smaller property. Many people will have acquired items over decades which have to be moved. For some of us, the problem will be the number of books which have been acquired over the years and the inevitable question: where can we put them? When I last moved, this problem arose. At some point, it may be possible to use the garage for its designated purpose but for the moment, it provides a convenient storage facility!
However, whilst packing books into boxes, I came across one book which has not found its way into storage. It is a very slim volume. Opening the front cover, I read the words which said that it was presented to my father in June 1925 when he was at primary school. The title of the book is “Trust in God”. It is a small book both in terms of the size of its pages and the number of words yet it must have had a profound impact upon my father, not least during his difficult days in the Far East during the Second World War. The main character in the book at one point says, “I am to trust in the Lord with all my heart. I am doing the thing that is right and the Lord will be my Shepherd: I shall never want.” Those words point us to Psalm 23 – perhaps the best-known words in the Psalter. Hopefully we may not experience too many difficulties during our time but this slim volume, like the words of the Bible itself, points us to a way that will lead us through storm to safety; through trouble to security and ultimately from this world to the next.
Trevor Kirkman