Yesterday Rachel and I went to Minsmere nature reserve.
Go… We drove half-an-hour down the road, walked round Minsmere. We can’t visit Minsmere by staying at home!
Experience… We took binoculars, watched patiently… engaged with others… spent several hours in hides… watching a Bittern, Marsh harriers, Hobbies, Avocets…
Learn… We learnt/remembered from knowledgeable bird-watchers… from our ‘Handbook of British Birds’… to distinguish between Black-headed gulls and Mediterranean gulls, Canada Geese and Barnacle Geese, Redshank and Godwit…
I spent the evening with Chris – an enthusiastic kayaker…
Go… Chris cannot kayak at home! He takes his kayak to Oulton Broad; He’s a member of Norwich canoe club and goes there regularly.
Experience… Chris is involved in kayaking. Any opportunity he has he will get on the water. He enjoys races. He’s recently ‘invested’ in a new kayak.
Learn… Chris frequently talks to more knowledgeable and experienced enthusiasts. Last night he described how someone older and wiser was teaching him about race tactics.
Yesterday we learnt of Pope Francis’ death…
Go… I was brought up in a non-conformist, protestant tradition, taught the falsehood of Roman Catholic theology. Go? No – avoid!
Experience… I listened to national leaders… leaders from different Christian traditions… read of Pope Francis challenging the institution of the Catholic church.
Learn… I learnt more of his warmth, humility, humanity… his active concern for the poor, vulnerable, marginalised… I read a prayer, that he’d learnt from his grandmother: ‘Jesus, make my heart more like yours.’
This morning I read the end of Job’s story…
Go… Job had looked for God in his suffering… questioned, argued with friends who offered misguided advice… tried to find a God who appeared absent.
Experience… Finally God speaks to Job ‘out of the storm’. God doesn’t answer Job’s questions about suffering, rather he shows his omnipotence, the complexity of His creation and the difference between human and divine wisdom.
Learn… Job learns in a deeper way about his God-without-answers, confesses his smallness and learns to trust His God more.
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