Eternity calling

Here is my November magazine article:

Containing both All Saints Day and Remembrance Sunday, and with the signs of winter all around, November is traditionally a month when we remember those who have died. This year we not only have the 'usual' deaths, but we also continue to mourn those lost through the pandemic and there have also been notable 'high profile' deaths, such as Gerry Marsden, Una Stubbs, Prince Philip and Capt. Sir Tom Moore.

There is often a public outpouring of sorrow at these deaths, even though the majority of the people who express their sadness have never actually met the person in question. And along with the commiserations, there are often assertions about where they are now, which, except in a few cases, is usually heaven. When Prince Philip died there were photo-shopped pictures of him being welcomed at the pearly gates by Capt. Tom Moore, and when musicians die there are often suggestions of a super-group in heaven featuring Elvis, Buddy Holly and Jimi Hendrix. Why do we do this?

The primary reason is, as the Bible tells us, that God has “set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). No matter how hard we try, we cannot fully get away from the sense that there is more to life than the material world we see. Even at 'secular' and 'humanist' funerals the celebrant often talks in terms of the deceased person going on the next stage of their journey, or now being with previously deceased loved ones. We have an inbuilt repulsion to the idea that we will just cease to be when we die. And the 'eternity' that is placed in our hearts is that of the 'new heavens and the new earth' where there “will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

However, this sense of eternity should not be taken as all-inclusive promise but as an invitation. It is firstly an invitation to think seriously about this life. The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that “All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not” (9:2) meaning everyone dies. And he recognises that “There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve” (8:14). If there is nothing after death, there is no justice and there is no reason to be good at all. And secondly it is an invitation to do what is necessary to gain that eternity, that is to come to Jesus: “Whoever believes [i.e. trusts] in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life ” (John 3:36).

We should not be so bold as to claim to know eternal destiny of individuals no matter how good or how 'saintly' their lives were. Investigations into child sexual abuse remind us that some people look good but do evil whereas the penitent thief (Luke 23:39-43) reminds us that at the last minute even the vilest offender can receive forgiveness and eternal life. God has placed eternity in your heart and invites you to know that eternity through repentance and faith in Jesus.

Eternity on our fields

Here's my article for June:

It's time for another World Cup and the singing of “It's coming home” may once again be heard in the pubs and on the playing fields of England - only this year it's cricket that's coming home! Although we possibly shouldn't get our hopes up too much: since it's inauguration in 1975 the ICC Cricket World Cup has been hosted by England four times (though matches have also been played in Wales, Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands when England have previously hosted it!) but they have yet to win it. However, they have a better record than the England football team in that they have made it to the final three times.

Image by starj on from pixabay.com

I have to admit that I don't really understand cricket. We played it a bit at school but those who were keen played on the square with the PE teachers and the rest of us organised mini games on other parts of the playing field. I usually volunteered to field close to the boundary so I could lie down in the sunshine for most of the lesson!

The American director Jim Jarmusch said “Cricket makes no sense to me. I find it beautiful to watch and I like that they break for tea. That is very cool, but I don't understand.” Even for those who don't follow or understand cricket, the game has a certain allure to it – the thought of an afternoon in the sun watching a game being played that is competitive but not (usually) aggressive is very appealing. It has a relaxing and even meditative quality, at least in watching it.

George Bernard Shaw, somewhat unkindly, said that “The English are not a very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity.” It's fairly easy to make tenuous links between cricket and the Christian faith: three stumps and the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit); four bails and the four Gospels; two umpires and the Old and New Testaments etc. But the idea that we can understand something of the supernatural through the natural world is one that is deeply embedded in Christianity.

We believe that creation bears the fingerprints of its Creator; Psalm19:1 says “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” And Paul writes in Romans1:20 “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” But ultimately humans, made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27), can reflect something of God through our creative endeavours, including sport. And because God has put a sense of eternity into our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11) we long to seek out those things which connect us to that yearning for eternity.

Whether cricket is an like an eternity of heaven or hell, I'll leave you to decide!