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FROM THE URC MINISTER
They are also more likely to have a map which shows areas accurately, instead of the rectangular maps which make the northern continents look larger than they are in proportion to tropical lands. As I was thinking what to write for ICN this month I heard a radio programme about the earliest maps. This caught my attention because geography was the subject of my first degree, and I have always had a fascination with maps. The programme reminded me that Greek and Alexandrian mapmakers and geographers around 300BC to 100AD portrayed their observations vividly, and calculated the circumference of the spherical earth pretty accurately. It was only later that Europeans regarded the earth as flat, or the earth as the centre of the universe. The rediscovery of Ptolemy’s maps in the 1400s started the modern age of exploration and eventually globalisation. On the way there were some mediaeval maps which put Jerusalem at the centre, because that city and what God did there were at the centre of people’s faith. Recent developments of satnavs put you, where you are, at the starting point of the map. And the Ordnance Survey now offers downloadable maps centred anywhere you choose. So what is important to you, when you look at the world around you? I wonder what your mental map of the world is. The programme told me that Facebook had compiled a map of all the relationships between the 500 million people in the world who are Facebook friends, representing their contacts as thin threads. The presenter pointed out that instead of features of the land, or government boundaries, the Facebook map took human relationships as the basis for its view of the world. He also said that some areas of the world, even with high populations, appeared very weak where not many can engage in this digital communication. I somehow think that a map of relationships may well fit God’s view of the world, as Jesus said to love your neighbour is so important. Yet it wouldn’t have gaps where people don’t benefit from the latest technology. Paul said, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” If you have a Bible, you might find it interesting to read Philippians 2:1-11 and think what kind of map that would produce. How might that map influence our view of the world at this time of remembering world wars, and current conflicts, and thoughts about our place in the world of the future? Bernie FROM ST GILES’ CLERGY
Committed Christians believe in life after death, and many on the edges of faith want to believe, but is it ‘all pie in the sky’ or is there substance to this belief? I base my faith on Bible promises, on the historical events in Jesus’ life, and on the experience of the Holy Spirit in my life. One of the many promises in the Bible about life after death is spoken by Jesus: ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him, will have eternal life.’ Eternal life refers to a better quality of life, and also a greater quantity of it, pointing to a life that goes beyond the here and now. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is described by the Apostle Paul as the first fruits of a more widespread resurrection. Jesus conquered sin and death on the cross, and rose again as the evidence of his victory, indicating that there is life after death. The quality aspect of eternal life begins when we become Christians, as we let God’s Holy Spirit begin transforming us. This quality of life that comes from being in a relationship with God is a trailer for spending eternity with Him. The glimpse of the afterlife that has convinced Professor Alexander can be experienced by all of us when we are in a relationship with Jesus, the one who has passed through death to the life beyond - we don’t have to wait for one of these more unusual experiences: we can get a glimpse of ‘heaven’ everyday. Every blessing, Adrian
FROM THE CHURCHES’ REGISTERS Baptisms at St Giles’ Wedding at St Giles’ Cremations at Breakspear Crematorium ST GILES’ CHURCH STREET PRAYER LIST Each Sunday at St Giles’ Church we pray for all the people who live or work in a particular road in the Parish. During November we will pray for the following roads: Nov 4th Oak Avenue If you live in one of these roads why not join us at our 8am or 9.45am services? You will be most welcome.
DROP-IN FOR THE BEREAVED. Third Monday of each month. St Giles’ Church Hall, 2pm to 3.30pm. A friendly, informal opportunity for a chat, over a cup of tea, with other bereaved people and bereavement visitors. The next meeting is on Monday 19th November (then Monday 17th December). Just come along, or ring the Rectory (622970) if you would like to talk to someone first. |
ickenhamchurchnews.co.uk
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Does your map of the world have Britain near the middle? Australians may prefer to have Australia in the middle, and the British Isles near the edge. 
I was e-mailed a link to a Daily Telegraph article published on 9th October. It carries the headline, ‘Afterlife exists, says top brain surgeon’, and continues, ‘Dr Eben Alexander, a Harvard-educated neurosurgeon, fell into a coma for seven days in 2008 after contracting meningitis. During his illness Dr Alexander says that the part of his brain which controls human thought and emotion "shut down" and that he then experienced "something so profound that it gave me a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death."’