October 2025

VIEW FROM THE HEIGHTS               

October 2025

He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life!

    Psalm 121:4, TMSG

Greetings,

It’s good to be back with you all after our holiday at home. The visit was brief but it allowed us to catch up with friends and stock up on “Yorkshire Gold” tea. It was wonderful to get together with old friends. The trip also provided two unexpected joys: the church & the train.

Sunday morning, we walked to nearby Christ Church, a Baptist/United Reformed (UCC) congregation.  Worship was uplifting – including an old Youth Group hymn and a lively march from Handel to send us out.  But their newsletter was especially inspiring. Apparently, Christ Church is an award winning “Eco Church” (A Rocha UK), and their September publication contains two creation-care messages: one about their pollinator garden and another on cut flowers. (See “Eco Church – Creation Care”) 

Christ Church are also committed to “neighbour-care”. The newsletter included a greeting from the next-door Catholic church, and an article about their connection with the local mosque.

Freshly motivated to be mindful of the Planet, we took the train for one of our longer journeys. It was brilliant!  No traffic congestion, no roundabouts (in the UK, there’s a roundabout between every roundabout!), no parking hassles, and no speed cameras!

Britain is heavily monitored by CCTV and driving offenses are the first to be spotted.

Justin Welby, then Archbishop of Canterbury, was captured driving 25 mph in a 20mph zone and was fined 500 pounds! (It started off at 150 pounds but he missed the payment deadline.) Train travel doesn’t just save Earth, it saves nerves, and cash!

Many of us think that God constantly has CCTV trained on us. Waiting for that moment when we veer into the bus land, stop millimetres into a hatched intersection, or go FIVE MILES above the speed limit! We fear that Peter will meet us at the Gates of Heaven with a lifetime of photographic evidence of our perfidy.

No worries! God doesn’t employ CCTV, hates catching people out, and keeps those Gates permanently propped open. But Our Heavenly Parent does have one traffic duty:

she’s a “Lollipop Lady”!  (A school crossing guard over here.)

He is out there with his vivid-coloured “STOP” sign whenever danger is near. Cautioning us to be careful; commanding others not to harm his kids. There is not a place in the world, nor a part of the day, when God takes a break from his “Lollipop” duties.

She is there with her arms outstretched to protect us from dashing into the road.

He stands firmly in front of all approaching danger.  “STOP!” God yells to any potential runner-over.

 Whether it’s a ten-ton truck of hate or a speeding e-bike of neglect, God does God’s best to block their path. Her only goal is to protect her beloved Earth and her precious Earthlings.

When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.    

When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.

When you’re between a rock and a hard place,

  it won’t be a dead end—

Because I am God, your personal God,

That’s how much you mean to me!    

That’s how much I love you!

Isaiah 43: 2, 3a, 4a TMSG

May you know the peace that comes from God’s close protection.

Deepest Blessings,

Brenda