Returning to England; life outside the bubble.

It is sweet, so sweet to be home again. My joy is complete, being back among family and familiar places.

But England feels cold.  Had I forgotten how secular the atmosphere is here?  Today catch ups have come with the news of affairs, suicide and people 'taking a break' from church.  My bubble was popped.  It seems there is a consensus of disappointment with life...with the church.

Tonight, as I headed back to Jesmond for a carol service, I reminisced on my school days.  How different was life with only one other christian in my year? How did I cope? Yet how much more disciplined was my witness! I had an awareness that for some I was all they would see of Christianity, and I took that responsibility seriously.

Let me remember this feeling of being worn out by the ways of the world.  How long it had been since I last crawled into bed craving the Lord's presence.  How long it had been since I felt this genuine ache for the salvation of others.