the main and the plain

I know I have said something like this before but I find it incredible that just over one hundred years ago there were no cars, airplanes and telephones, there were no laptops and computers, no ipods – not even electricity! The Industrial Revolution during the 18^th  & 19^th Centuries launched mankind from manual labour to the use of machines and catapulted us into an ever increasing thirst for knowledge. The amount we learn in a short space of time today far exceeds anything discovered in past centuries in total. In the west this has led to a multitude of ‘must have’ gadgets and we never seem satisfied as the mobile we have, for example, is succeeded by a superior model. Every now and again something inside of us cries out for the plain and simple.

One of my favourite gifts that I have received over the last few years has been a simple coffee mug, the kind you can have in the car with you – sheer bliss – even then it is only a few years back when the individual thermos mug didn’t exist!

Just recently I spent a few days in a hotel. It was perfectly fine but at meal times I was somewhat overwhelmed by the choice of foods on offer. Some years back on a bonding jaunt with my eldest son we were in a hotel on a bed and breakfast deal. Breakfast wasn’t just breakfast it was a banquet. You had such a huge choice of stuff including freshly made omelettes whiles you waited. Now I guess that for some of you who are reading this you experience this kind of thing all the time but not me. I think of myself as a rather a typical British male who although likes exotic food from time to time just can’t wait to get back to Shepherd’s Pie, crumble, mars bars, fish and chips and a pint of lager. I don’t know about you but I don’t seem to get an upset tummy on this kind of fare.

I actually believe that we are meant to live out our Christian faith and follow Jesus in a somewhat similar vein. There are plenty of things in the bible that help us live for Christ that are straight forward and clear. For example: Jesus said in Mark ch12 v30-31 “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Jesus also said that he had come to be good news for the poor.