— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
This week we have the privilege to share with you a guest post: a short story about a trip to Freiburg by Jamie Read, Congregational Pastor of St Nicholas Church, Sevenoaks in South-East England. He shared this text in his church’s newsletter and has given us permission to let you all read it too. Enjoy reading!
Dear friends,
Last week I was away with Oak Hall Expeditions in the Black Forest, Germany. One particular 15 year old lad on the trip, Dave (not his real name) cut a disconsolate figure as he learned to ski. For most of the week his head was bowed low. Everything was new – skiing, continental food, long coach journeys, Christians, the Bible, singing about Jesus. In all honesty I wasn’t sure if he was enjoying anything.
Then came a stop off in Freiburg en route home. Wandering around the old city centre, a group of us visited the cathedral. Dave was there too, and something happened. Suddenly, Dave looked up. He visibly was awe-struck by the magnificence of this ancient building. Then the questions came tumbling out:
Did it really take 200 years to build? …Yes!
How did they build it? …With the help of hundreds of skilled craftsmen.
Dave’s next question was one that only the Lord could orchestrate – “why on earth would people build a building like this?”
For 10 minutes the conversation I thought not possible just flowed. I suggested that one reason the cathedral was built was because people at the time wanted to show off the glory of God. Then I dared to reason that actually God had built something like a cathedral – the universe – to display his glory and put us at the centre for relationship with him.
Dave’s takeaway was this: he started to ‘look up’ – in more ways than one. Was this his first glimpse of the glory of God? Perhaps. All I had done was sow a seed from Genesis 1. My hope and prayer is that Dave would keep ‘looking up’ – for the God who came down to him in Jesus Christ – to seek and to save the lost.
With blessings,
Jamie Read
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 