Balkh. How Holy is the Spirit?

Running this morning by the river, there was a flock of seagulls on the grass down by the water and in among them several egrets, standing tall and stately. The white of the egrets’ plumage so remarkably pure and snowy. And in my memory it took me back ... a long way back ....twenty years and more it must be ...

A drab day like any other in sun beaten Balkh in northern Afghanistan. For how many days had we been driving, sand between our teeth, the taste and smell of dust everywhere? Then to chance upon this ancient city of ruins. The fabled Bactra of Alexander the Great. Not much to show for it now. A row of mean houses. A sleepy bazaar. And in the distance the line of ancient walls that mark the ruins of the former city. And everything in monochrome. In my memory, it

seems that it was filmed in sepia. Interminable shades of brown and grey. Even the fruit and vegetables have no colour.

And then with a flurry of white wings by a small stream a flock of snowy white doves rise up. Amazingly out of the dust - pure white. Glistening and dazzling in their purity. How come they are not tainted by the same shades of terracotta? How can they rise up and fly and the dust does not cover them?

And I at once thought of the Spirit that lives in me. God’s Holy Spirit. How Holy is that Spirit? Because if he lives in me, then He must live beside all that is tainted and unholy in my thoughts and actions. And yet He remains pure, and divine, and sanctified. What conflict, what pain, what grief must I cause, in continuing to sin, in thought and mind and deed, when my life is inhabited by God’s holy dove. And yet, what power also, He gives me to rise above all that is wrong and unholy, and follow a purer thought pattern.

Purify my heart.. Lord ... My heart's one desire
is to be holy, set apart for You, Lord.

I choose to be holy, set apart for You ....

Purify my heart, cleanse me from my sin and make me .... holy.

Dia do Mar

While on the subject of the sea teeming with all kinds of fish, yesterday was apparently World Sea Day, an annual day to raise awareness worldwide of issue like overfishing and pollution of the oceans. On Saturday morning we used the date to have a “sea” theme at our childrens activity, “Lusitos”, out in the square. (We’re always on the lookout for topical ideas that will be of interest to the kids.

So here’s the result of all that activity, the finished article. nice and colourful isn’t it? Just like the ocean is, in fact. And as the kids got stuck into the activities,

colouring and cutting around and, along with their parents, identifying the names, both in Portuguese and in English, of all the different fishes in the sea, I thought about how wonderfully and particularly each one is created, suited to his environment, and made to be fruitful and to fill the oceans.

Snorkelling in August with Colin in the shallow waters by Praia da Figuerinha near Setubal, an hour south from here, even there, the waters were teeming with life. Small dabs blending in with the colour of the sand, larger fish weaving in and out of the weeds, seagulls diving for a quick snack. Life is rich. God is good.

A City That has Foundations

This past weekend we descended underneath the city of Lisbon. And it was not to take the metro. Much closer to the surface and underneath the old centre of the city, the part known as Baixa Pombalina, runs a whole system of underground galleries that date back to the first century. They were built during the reign of Caesar Augustus and lay undiscovered for centuries until the city centre had to be rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1755. No-one’s totally sure what they were used for, whether for storage or for water supply, but they are well preserved. For three days in late September each year the City Museum opens up these chambers to the general public.. So we stood in a queue for an hour or more, slowly moving up the line, waiting our turn to go down through an open manhole in the middle of the street, (dodging the trams which were still running!) into the depths below. The reason they only open for these three days, is because there’s an underwater stream that floods the chambers which normally stand in four feet of water, which all has to be pumped out in order to allow visitors in

Central Lisbon built on top of water! How’s that to inspire you with confidence when you’re walking across Rossio square or down the Rua Augusta to the river. One of my most memorable moments in this underground journey (which, by the way only took about 20 minutes) was standing astride a one inch fissure in the ground that ran the length of the chamber and out of which issued clear and pure water, not the dirty water from the river nor from the sewer system. Nut sure where it was coming from, some mysterious stream of fresh water from higher ground further outside the city

Reminded me of the image Ezekiel had of a city, a city with foundations out of which flowed a stream of water, clear as crystal, a stream that eventually became a might river and brought freshness wherever it flowed. Writing in his prophecy, he describes it vividly : “I arrived at the place and saw a great number of trees on each side of the river....and where it emptied into the sea, there the water became fresh. Swarms of living creatures live wherever the river flows. Fishermen stand along the shore. from Engedi to Eglaim there were places for spreading nets. Fruit trees of all kinds grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. The fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel Chap 37)

What a vision! Here, where we live in Parque das Nações, there are fisherman dangling their lines in the murky tired waters of the Tejo. Every morning they stand by the riverside walk, and you can watch them from our balcony. And they do catch the odd fish. But imagine the life that could come if the water is cleansed, refreshed and invigorated. That’s what Christ in His mercy promises for this wonderful city of ours!

A Sense of Wonder

The older you get, the harder it is to fill your life with wonder, and its not just that our lives tend to get filled with the mundane and the commonplace. We also live, in the words of Tim Keller, in the most wonder-killing culture that ever existed.

So, driving cross the mountains of Northern Portugal in the early morning with septembral mists swirling through the valleys and the emerging colours of autumn beginning to tinge the vineyards in russets and ambers, it was good to feel that sense of wonder restored.

Wonder in a God of seasons who creates everything perfectly in its place, who changes and yet is ever the same, who demonstrates his power in totally amazing ways. And it’s not just about enjoying nature and this world we live in. But the way He works in people’s lives, the way He powerfully intervenes, the way He gently show His compassion, just when we need it. The way He speaks quietly but insistently. The way he picks us up when we’re down, and knocks us down in our arrogance and our complacency.

Back to Tim Keller again. In the sermon I quoted above, he also spoke about how we try to escape the mundanity and the ordinariness, because we need wonder in our lives.

“...We jaded contemporary western people go to the stupidest summer blockbuster movies, poorly acted, terrible character development, nothing but special effects and we lay our money down, and you know why ..... because we need to know a sense of wonder in our lives .... that fleeting realisation that there’s more to life than all this..... that there are mysterious and stupendous powers out there that can come into our impossible situation...”