I have to admit that many times I do not concentrate much when I watch TV - even the news. On 5th December 2015, I was slumped in my couch watching the national news when my concentration level suddenly peaked from 20% to at least 100%. It was a picture of Rawnsley site at Keswick which gave me the jolt. Storm Desmond had caused the River Greta to overflow its banks and flood the whole area which is now being used for the Keswick Convention. What hit me personally was that I had stupidly left a fair selection of bulky heavy tools and materials in the basement of Rawnsley Hall and the BBC live footage clearly showed that the water level was over a metre deep above this basement and the ground floor of the former school building was submerged in dirty water.
This was devastating for the town and many local people had their homes destroyed and devastated. I visited Keswick in February 2016 - although I had offered to visit immediately - to help the staff team deal with the emergency. By the time I arrived there was a lot of activity on site and these pictures illustrate the impact on the work of preparing for the annual Christian Convention at Keswick which had been running since 1875 - although I was not site manager then!
The first picture (top left) shows the kitchen just after the flood. Obviously, I received that picture from someone else. The other pictures were taken on my memorable visit to the site. The insurer assessors had been on site with salvage experts but the contents of the basement were categorised as 'disposable' - what that meant was that the insurance company would not pay out for them.
As I travelled back home to Ayrshire, I remember reflecting on this. I had plenty of tools and God compensated me generously for the loss of these tools and did not remind me that I should have rescued them from their temporary storage at the end of set down in 2015 when my car could not take any more tools. But far more significant for me were the lessons that God taught me. Firstly, I had a reminder that material things do not really matter. It is the second lesson, though, that I want to mention as I conclude this blog. Many people in our postmodern world find themselves 'on the scrap heap.' This world of efficiency and materialism has decided that they are no longer of any value. To use the insurance jargon, they are 'disposable.' They feel that they have been discarded and are no longer valuable to anyone.
Peter may have found himself in that situation after denying Jesus three times. But there is no such category in God's grace. None of us are discarded by him. He loves us individually and he sees value in us. There have been times when the tears have trickled down my cheeks as Satan has brutally reminded me of my failures. But then the Holy Spirit reminds me that God's own Son loved me so much that he died an horrific death on a Roman cross for me and like Paul I say - "The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me." [Galatians 2:20]
Maybe this blog is being read by someone who feels abandoned and disregarded by society. Maybe friends have let you down. Maybe even your church has treated you in such a way that you feel disposable. This is not how God sees you. You are a pearl of great value in God's sight.
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