taking the weather with you

These bush fires in Australia have got me thinking about the weather…

But I need to reveal my hand a bit at the start. My teenage years were based in New Delhi where I have sat inside – with the only activity being the beating of my heart – and watched the sweat drop off my face and into my cereal. That is hot! My training years were spent in Chicago where I once walked to the library and was blinded by the cold. Yes – the moisture in my eyes froze and I could not see, groping my way along the path. That is cold!

But despite living in places with such extreme temperatures the place where I’ve heard the most moaning about the weather is where the climate is most temperate … New Zealand. We are obsessed with it. [I know, I know – I haven’t lived in the UK!]. By the way, I have heard gasps in church services in NZ when I introduce myself as having pastored a church in Invercargill – gasps that clearly communicate “you did what?! You cannot be serious?!”

This moaning sparks four pretty random responses in me – and maybe some more in you!

It raises the issue of contentment. It speaks of the relative luxury of our living conditions if such a temperate climate can attract so much complaint and obsession. Don’t we have anything bigger to moan about? Much of the time for many the answer is ‘no’. Doesn’t that say something?

It raises the issue of obedience. I have grown weary of getting seriously annoyed with students (and others) who watch the weather map more than listen to God when it comes to discerning the will of God. I just don’t spark up like I used to. How can I say that Jesus is Lord of my life if I say to Jesus that there are some areas of his world where his people live where I just cannot go? What utter rubbish! oops – I’m sparking-up again…

It raises the issue of gratitude. While An Inconvenient Truth was not entirely convincing for me … [I found it too Gore-centric to be compelling and there was an elephant-in-that-lecture-room that if it was exposed, the impact of Gore’s movie would be severely restricted. I am talking about greed. People don’t like you raising that issue with them – and yet if you addressed greed I wonder how it would impact the issues he raises?] … but I am grateful for his perspective on climate change. When I look at the bushfires and when I look at the extensive parts of the world dying for water, it makes me grateful for the relative wetness of New Zealand. We have what so many long for. We should be much more thankful for rain and ample water. It is one of our luxuries. Interesting to note that the writer of the Psalms longed for rain like we long for the sun. Keep that in mind as you read…

It raises the issue of community. The harshness of a climate can bond people together and give them stories to tell of adventure and survival. I won’t be guilty of overstating it – but watching Chicagoans anticipate and experience winter is fascinating. I wonder what we miss out on because of our temperate climes?

nice chatting

Paul

Archive

Receive new posts to your inbox

I’d love to keep you updated with my latest news and posts.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

About Me

paul06.16

the art of unpacking

After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.

Posted in

2 Comments

  1. Anonymous on December 13, 2006 at 8:32 pm

    I can only respond with the words of the hymn-writer:

    Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
    Sun, moon and stars in their glories above
    Praise with all nature in manifold witness
    To God’s great faithfulness, mercy and love

    Focus on that and the issues of contentment, greed and the rest are put in their rightful place.

  2. Anonymous on December 14, 2006 at 8:56 am

    Then there is that other “hymn”:

    “Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you…”*

    I suspect that the weighing of the highs and lows is little more than a weak front in the face of high pressure…

    * Crowded House

Leave a Comment





This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

true, but not true enough

February 5, 2025

“What is a Christian?” A ‘follower of Jesus’ is the standard response. And it is true, but it is not true enough. Let’s think about this for a minute. So I have this encounter with Jesus. Maybe at a camp of some kind. In the singing and the speaking he becomes so real. It is…

yay! it’s you

January 27, 2025

We had been on holiday in Queenstown. Barby had to come back early to go to work. I stayed on for a couple more days with our daughter, Alyssa, and her family. When I did fly back, Barby had the car and so the easiest thing for me was to get an Uber home—and so…

expect an exception

January 24, 2025

I know I’ve mentioned this one before, but I am not really a flag-in-church kinda guy. All those years ago, as a student in the USA, it was a shock to see the flag up there in the same neighbourhood as the pulpit, the Lord’s Table and the baptistry. “What is going on?” “Have I…

transforming friendship

January 15, 2025

Just when I thought that it could not be possible to have another first-hand account of the impact of John Stott’s life (d. 2011), along comes this book by his close friend, John Wyatt. I am always ready to learn more about John Stott, but also about friendship. It fascinates me. It keeps coming up…

handa leads the way

December 29, 2024

Reading stories to grandchildren over Christmas reminded me again of how powerful they can be. They are so compact and simple in presentation, and yet so clever in construction. There are just so many features at work in an effective story. It is some years since I taught narrative preaching, but when I did I’d…

elchristo, elmina—and beyond

December 19, 2024

Today is Day 56—and on Day 57 we board a flight for home. There has been so much to absorb as Barby and I have encountered the people of God in different places. el-christo, in bolivia A few days before we left NZ, I discovered that I had five sessions to give in Pakistan. Yikes.…

cadeca art

November 20, 2024

The little chapel at Cadeca Casa del Catequista, a retreat centre on the fringes of Cochabamba (Bolivia), caught my eye on an earlier visit in 2017. Lots of photos… I was thrilled to learn that there would be a return visit, this time with Barby—and with lots of video. Enjoy. A 360 view Some Old…

the emus

October 19, 2024

Apart from the eight years in which we were based overseas, Barby has been working at the Refugee Resettlement Center in Auckland since 2002. This year she is a ‘release teacher’, spending one day each week in three different classrooms, with three different age groups. Impressive—and demanding. One day is spent with 11-13 year olds—from…