Thoughts From Reverend Chris' desk

With the coming of July most of us are thinking holidays.  My husband Brian and I are were lucky enough to have a holiday in April and spent two weeks in Egypt. This was our fourth trip to the Land of the Pharaohs.

 Egypt has always fascinated me since childhood. I used to borrow all the books I could from the library and read about the excavation of the tombs, and, like most people interested in that subject, I was enthralled by the accounts of the discovery in 1922 of the tomb of Tutankhamen, the boy King.

 The tomb was discovered by Howard Carter, who had worked in Egypt since 1891. Over the years he had been convinced that there was at least one undiscovered tomb; that of the almost unknown King Tutankhamen. Carter found a backer for his tomb search in the wealthy Lord Carnarvon. For five years Carter dug, looking for the missing Pharaoh and found nothing.

Carnarvon summoned Carter to England in 1922 to tell him he was calling off the search. Carter managed to talk Lord Carnarvon into supporting him for one more season of digging. On November 4th, 1922, Carter's workmen discovered a step cut into the rock that had been hidden by debris left over from the building of the tomb of Ramesses IV. Digging further they found fifteen more leading to an ancient doorway that appeared to be still sealed. On the doorway was the name Tutankhamen.

Carter immediately sent a telegram to Carnarvon in England and waited anxiously for his arrival. Carnarvon made it to Egypt by November 26th and watched as Carter made a hole in the door. Carter leaned in, holding a candle, to look. Behind him Lord Carnarvon excitedly asked, "Can you see anything?"

Carter answered, "Yes, wonderful things."

So often Christianity is like that, we can only look on and see wonderful things but not have the courage to break down that wall and see more, and experience what it is like. When Carter got inside the tomb, his discoveries and difficulties were only just beginning. So it is with the Christian journey, Jesus never said it would be easy, rather the reverse, but the rewards are great if we persevere and experience the wonder of the love of Jesus in our lives.

Sometime in the future we are hoping, if enough people are interested, to run some sessions which may answer some of the questions you have about the Christian faith.

Do you want to discover ‘wonderful things’ and ask questions about faith that you have never had the courage to ask? Then seriously consider coming along and having the courage to break down that wall and discover new and wonderful things. I will be saying more about these informal sessions in a future magazine, but if you are interested, please let me know.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward one day to another trip to Egypt where I hope to discover yet more ‘wonderful things!’ 

The Reverend Chris