Upside down

It is one time of year when I honestly feel a little bit upside down!

Here we are with the day's shortening, the leaves turning. Migratory birds have headed North for the winter, we lit the fire for the first time the other day and a light dusting of snow coated the mountains for the first time this Autumn.

The world is going to sleep.

And in the middle of it there are eggs, chicks, bunnies - symbols of new life! Riots of colour in shop displays, easter bonnet parades, chocolate coated smiles - ACTION and JOY amidst this time of rest, dormancy and quiet.

Topsy turvey, this feast day, a relic of ancestor immigrants longing for lands I have never been to.

It is upside down for this Land Down Under.

In this world, this dying world, this hurting world, this sad world, we gather together each week in churches to celebrate. To celebrate Joy. To celebrate Hope. To celebrate New Life! In the middle of death and decay we celebrate life.

Topsy turvy, upside down, longing for a land I have not yet been to.

Perhaps here in my country, this wide brown land that is tucking itself in for a winter sleep, perhaps we have it more right that it first appears?

"All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth." Heb 11:13