Revd Ian Gilmour - St Andrew's & St George's

Not lost, just finding our way
Revd Norman Shanks
community of faith we may see this journey of ours as a
process of growth or a search – seeking meaning, depth, a
closer relationship with God and with one another, wanting to
make sense of things, discover and experience something of
the joy, peace, fullness of life that is God‟s promise and
purpose for us all. So we are searchers or explorers, for
exploration is what the Christian life is all about – an adventure,
a leap of faith.
A couple of months ago we saw a very good film called Meek’s
Cut-off, about pioneers on the Oregon Trail in the 19 th century.
For most of the time, despite having a guide with them, they
didn‟t really know where they were; and one of the women at
one point came out with the marvellous one-liner: „We‟re not
lost; we‟re finding our way‟!
Isn‟t this after all where most of us are? Finding our way. In the
first chapter of Acts Jesus assures and encourages the
disciples of God‟s continuing presence and support; then he
disappears (we are told „he was lifted up and a cloud took him
out of their sight‟), and as the disciples gaze upwards in
bewilderment the voice of angels brings them back down to
earth and focuses their attention on what lies ahead. Here too
there is a strong sense of the dynamic between the divine and
the human, of mystery and movement: upwards, onwards,
outwards, forward; the awareness of „the-beyond-in-our-midst‟;
the journey, the pilgrimage, the exploration goes on.
The Christian faith is after all about exploration rather than
about explanation; above all it‟s about transformation – the
promise of new life, new possibilities, changing lives, changing
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