Musings on life
 
The familiar swish and thump that heralds the arrival of the National Geographic magazine through our letter box each month, has lost a bit of its appeal.  Don’t get me wrong - it’s a top rate publication involving exceptional analyses and journalism.  It’s just that it’s heavy and serious and detailed to a degree that doesn’t excite me as much as it once did.  I read it now because I feel I ought to, rather than because I enjoy it.
 
In contrast, the Scottish Field is received with glee.  The articles are generally light and interesting and short – and they are interspersed with adverts for the latest stately home for sale with its 32 bedrooms, 26 with en-suites, or the never-to-be-missed Hurtigruten cruise which visits every fjord on the west coast of Norway.  I suppose it demonstrates the stage I’m at in my life when I confess that I am more excited about this magazine, even though it admittedly offers more froth than substance.
 
Actually, when I think about it seriously, these two magazines represent two sides of life, each of value, each providing a contrasting slant and each producing a different emotion. 
 
I vaguely remember one of Rev Dr Nelson Gray’s little God-slot devotionals in the Evening Times, in which he described taking off his boots after a day’s work, and noticing some mud on one heel, and stuck to the mud, a few circles of colourful confetti.  You see, that morning he had said farewell to old John at Parkhead Cemetery, and in the afternoon had helped Callum and Rose tie the knot.  That’s the life of the pastor - and indeed all of us; we preside over sorrow and joy, the serious and the light-hearted.
 
A reading of most parts of the Bible will reveal both emotions.  We worship One who warns “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23); but who also promises “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10)
 
My obvious conclusion is that we ought not to neglect either, for both are given and expected by God.  Maybe it would be good when we are with trusted friends, to raise the subject of how we can practically fulfil our responsibilities as disciples of Christ Jesus, and at the same time enjoy to the full the leisure times that God wants us to have.  Both are needed, and when we get the balance right, life is fulfilling.  I’m still working it out; but in the meantime I can confirm to the National Geographic and Scottish Field, “I’ll give you both another year!”