Revd Graham’s weekly message:
It has always been an ambition of mine to go on safari; and this year my dream came true. In September I travelled to Cape Town, and from there into Eastern South Africa and to a bush camp. The game drives were early morning, rising from my bed at 5.30am, and late afternoon, starting at 3.30pm and staying out until after it grew dark. It was a wonderful opportunity to see wild animals in their natural habitat, which I had only previously seen in safari parks and zoos.
We live in a wonderful world with so much beauty and so many resources all around us, giving us all that we need to live. Sometimes we live our lives so quickly that we don’t take time to soak up all that we see around us, so perhaps we should make an effort to stand still and take in what God has given us in creation. There is a song in Walt Disney’s film “The Lion King” (a favourite film of mine!) entitled “Circle of Life” and it describes the way that creation works for the animal kingdom, which also applies to our lives. In a way, this also reflects one of God’s promises to us that we find in Genesis in the Bible. “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” God promises that all these things will continue, as long as we manage the earth’s resources and do not ruin it by our greed for more.
I hope that for the generations that are to come, they will be able to enjoy the earth’s beauty, as we can now, and that there will be enough of the world’s resources for everyone to share.
With God’s peace and blessing
Revd Graham