Bad Blogging!

I haven't posted the same thing on both my blogs before, but having got a bit out of the blogging habit, and being undecided about which blog to post my first-for-a-while random thoughts on, I've gone for both as a kick-start back! So apologies if you've read this somewhere before!

I'm currently on a fortnight's holiday and to-ing and fro-ing about a bit. A good part of the bank holiday weekend was spent in Cromer having a very relaxed time at a friend's flat and enjoying the pace of Norfolk life (until the car journey home when my London-style driving is slightly at odds with the meandering Norfolk kind!).Over the last week I've thought of various things I'd quite like to blog about, but without the motivation to actually blog them... for instance the closure of Walthamstow dog track. I join the distraught crowd who wanted it to stay. I'd been hoping to get there for the last Saturday night but unfortunately couldn't make it. I can't imagine the North Circular without the glow of the Walthamstow Stadium sign... the place is an institution (in the positive sense of the word!). The following information may bring my parenting into disrepute but when TeenSon was little we used to take him in his buggy, along with a bunch of friends, and spend a fun Saturday night in the 'cheap' side of the dogs. Not a huge gambling risk seeing as our bets were of the '50p to win' on, for example, number 4 - dog chosen because its name had some peculiar appeal or tentative link with something or other! And we spent TS's 14th birthday there too - for the first time ever in the 'posh' side. And now it's gone.
And the other thing that caught my attention (rather delayed) this week was the fact that retired athlete Jonathan Edwards has announced himself an atheist. Now I know all this happened sometime last year - but I managed to miss all that and it was only watching a bit of Olympic commentary with TeenSon the other day that I caught up when he said, "he's not a Christian anymore". I was rather disbelieving I have to admit, until I resorted to the trusty Google and read the interviews. I really was rather shocked, Jonathan Edwards having been such a visible and 'public' Christian. I felt quite sad for him as I read that when he'd retired from athletics he'd discovered quite how much of his identity was wrapped up in the sport and when that was gone other aspects of his identity came into question as well - including the Christian aspect. And it all seemed to unravel for him. Of course, I, along with others, can only speculate on his faith as was and as is now, wondering if this was the first ever real questioning and doubting he'd applied to God, life, the world and all. But I felt sad for him and pray that he'll keep exploring and questioning. Was he someone who thought that having God in your life made everything ok? Faith built on the 'rock' trusts God when the storms are blowing all around, but some seem to acquire a faith that thinks God extinguishes all the storms instead of enabling us to stand through them (and him standing with us in them). One blogger commenting at the time referred to the parable of the sower where the seed sown on rocky ground springs up but because its roots don't go deep, it doesn't survive the heat of the sun and is scorched and withers away - equating to a faith that springs up joyfully at first but when trouble or persecution comes the faith also withers away. (Or the seed sown among weeds which is choked by the cares of the world). Perhaps there's something of this in the experience of Jonathan Edwards... or perhaps not - that's between him and the God he's no longer sure of, but I pray that God will reach out and take hold of him once again.
And now I'm off to do more holiday-type things, like read a bit of Cadfael and fall asleep (well I did get back very late last night!).