Neil's blog

What a sad man I am, beating heavy weight issues like unemployment, economic recession & world violence to my blog focus are ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ (BGT) & Fitba’ (Soccer). Ashleigh & Pudsey pip Jonathan & Charlotte, Man’ City make every second count to edge out Man’ Utd, ‘Green’ takes over the Blues of Rangers, & Killie score 2 goals in the last minutes to secure 7th in the SPL.

But I’m a sucker for ‘happy endings’! There I was sitting with the reserve Killie players at Dunfermline, 1 – 0 down with minutes to go, when Liam Kelly (the lad whose dad died at the League Cup final) ended his season’s goal drought & 19 year old Jude Winchester scored his first senior goal, to give us a 2 – 1 win. Man’ Utd had won, Man’ City were losing with seconds to go, the end of it, so I left my computer to walk the dog, & couldn’t believe it when told that City had scored twice in injury time to lift the English Premiership.

But for me, the happiest endings of the weekend were on Saturday night on BGT, when ‘friendship’ won the day. The friendship & understanding between Ashleigh & her cute mutt is heart warming & the power of friendship which pop opera singers Charlotte & Jonathan displayed in overcoming public prejudice & Jonathan’s low self esteem is inspiring. It was a ‘Susan Boyle’ like moment when they first walked on stage before a sneering Simon & cringing crowd, & blew them away with their Pavarotti & Sarah Brightman like voices. Ashleigh & her ‘besto’ Pudsey won the final vote, but friendship won the day!

I hope Ashleigh can keep a level head & doesn’t get railroaded into anything by Mr Cowell, who wants to see Pudsey replace ‘Uggie’ (Jack Russell terrier from The Artist) as Hollywood’s top dog. Jonathan’s voice may carry him further in fame than Charlotte, but I hope their friendship lasts. Certainly, their example & encouragement to other young people will last long in my memory, indeed I’ve used their ‘first appearance youtube video clip’ in school classes, assemblies & church services to highlight the value & importance of faithful friendship in the face of a skin-deep beauty culture, where image is everything & people are bullied & made to feel like dirt due to the way they look & sound. Indeed, these friendships point us to the confidence building friendship we can know with God through Jesus, who will be our ‘forever friend’ if we’ll let him!

Sad man? Perhaps not, as St Paul puts it, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8 / NIV)

Life can be so sweet one minute & so sour the next, but ‘that’s life’ isn’t it and we’ve got to learn to deal with the ups, downs, swings, roundabouts & average daily plodding. Writing this blog I had one of those fabulous fleeting moments, which you wish could last longer but flies away as quick as it came. I nipped out to take a photo of cherry bloom to illustrate this ‘blossom blog’, got back to my keyboard, when suddenly the wind gusted & blue 20 seconds of ‘confetti like’ cherry blossom all around my window, a magical moment! And here’s where ‘believers’ have an undoubted advantage over atheists & agnostics, for such moments are deepened & taken higher by ‘spirit praise’ which gets one beyond the very visible & touchable to an intimate invisible ‘God-Parent’ who draws our praise & devotion beyond an awesome sunset or ecstatic experience to trust in our Maker who wants to be intimately involved in helping us grow up well.

Winning the Cup, honeymooning, witnessing the birth of your child, tasting an exquisite meal, seeing your child take their first steps or walk down the aisle, watching a hilarious movie or inspirational video clip, the list of moving marvelous moments is long, but they all pass so quickly. I love this time of year for the extravagant cherry blossom, which brighten our gardens & line our streets, greeting us like we’re in a ticker-tape presidential visit or ‘just married’ royal wedding walk. But sadly, with our blustery West coast Scottish weather, such bloom booty is blown fast away. Not so the personal relationship of eternal intimacy, which God can draw us into through such fleeting moments which force us to ask the question, “Surely there is a divine painter behind such beauty!?” Indeed there is not just a painter, but a parent drawing us into a personal daily relationship with Him/Her.

The Psalmist puts it like this,

“As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we're made of mud.
Men and women don't live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God's love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.
(Psalm 103:13-18 / Message)

Jesus introduces us to this divine painter & ‘God-Parent’, inviting us to join him in addressing God as ‘Our Heavenly Dad.’ Why not take time to stare at cherry blossom or similar fading beauty & listen out for what Your Loving Heavenly Father might say to you? But you better be quick before the blossom’s gone!

That’s it, the Big ‘Five Oh Dear’ is breached & RevaNelly stumbles on. ‘Help ma Bob’ (Sunday Post Scottish for ‘Mercy!’ or ‘I didn’t see that coming!&rsquo, I’ve not felt this good since I turned 21, cards, cakes, candles, cuddles & kisses, ye cannae beat it! It so happened that my 50th fell on a 3 service Sunday & I got 3 renditions of ‘Happy Birthday to You!” + 2 cakes! Mind you I was ‘cream crackered’ by 9.30 p.m. when I eventually put my feet up but it was great celebrating my birthday in God’s Service.

At the morning service, during the ‘prayer share’ time, someone thanked God for my mother, which was helpful. It reminded me of what a magnificent mother I have & the fact I wouldn’t be here or the person I am without her. Then at our afternoon ‘comfy communion’ for the housebound & infirm, I felt like a wee boy again among my pensioner friends 30 & 40 years older than me. They were an inspiration, telling me that age is ‘just a number’! Then at our monthly ‘Spice n Ice’ fun, food, faith & friendship evening service I laughed & laughed as Rhona got folk to recount memorable ‘Neil Moments’. Like the Nursing Home Service when one dear lady resident turned to another & said, “He’s aff his heid!” & the time I was deeply hurt about being named as ‘Bonkers Vicar, Neil Urquhart’ in a local paper, happy to be ‘bonkers’ but I’m no ‘Vicar’!

At our morning service someone also shared prayer for the family of another person who took his own life last week. This reminded me how blessed I am & makes me even more determined to help people find lasting hope in Christ. Life is for living to the Max whatever age you are & I dearly believe that Jesus Christ is the one able to help us realise our fullest potential for this life & the next. Now that I’ve passed the half-century I give you my birthday wish: Let’s choose & celebrate life!

Close your eyes and listen for the ‘Voice’ that could become the next singing sensation. Turn your back to image, makeup, look, bling & simply listen for a ‘sing’ to light up the world. ‘The Voice’ TV franchise, which started in Holland 2010, continues to wow worldwide. Its innovative approach is a refreshing alternative (even antidote) to: ‘… Got Talent’, ‘… Idol’, & ‘X Factor’ shows, which can be more to do with skin-deep IMAGE than ability. Jessie J, Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas), Danny O'Donoghue (The Script) and Tom Jones are the judges & coaches responsible for choosing the ‘Voices’ for their ‘final’ competing teams. I’m unsure if the show can avoid the ‘image’ & voyeuristic pitfalls of similar shows, but I love the self-deprecating humour, mutual support & camaraderie among the judges, their ‘constructive’ criticism & esteem building comments for contestants. Some of last weekend’s ‘sing-off’ duets were sensational!

A similar responsibility to ‘The Voice’ judges belongs to each of us. All around us in nature’s awesome beauty & terrifying power a ‘Voice’ is heard. Likewise through our conscience comes a ‘Voice’ to help us know right from wrong. But eventually we all want to SEE ‘The Voice’. The late great Rob Lacey helps us here in his translation of John’s Gospel.

“Nothing, No light, no time, no substance, no matter – the Voice was there. Before anything moved, mutated or mated, Jesus, “God’s Voice”, was there with God from the kickoff.

How come?

‘Cos Jesus, “God’s Voice”, is God. Before anything began, they had always been. Before there was even anywhere to be, they were there. Jesus got the name “God’s Voice” because he just spoke and stuff started. From nothing to everything, sparked only by the Voice. There’s nothing that doesn’t have the phrase “made by Jesus” stamped on it somewhere. His words were life itself, and they lit up people’s lives. His light could blast its way into the dingiest corner, and yet the people who preferred darkness still missed it.” (John 1:1-5 / Word on The Street / Rob Lacey)

I’m intrigued to see how the BBC’s version of ‘The Voice’ develops, but there’ll never be a ‘Voice’ to rival ‘The Voice’!

Dilemma: spend £1 for an hour or £2 for 2 hours on a parking space in Aberdeen? Surely an hour would be enough for lunch, thus penny pinching triumphed & I grudgingly forked out £1.

It was mesmerizing wandering in & around Aberdeen’s Union Street, while visiting our student daughter. Almost 30 years ago I myself was a shaggy unshaven undergraduate grazing in the Granite City, 4 great years of steep learning, belly laughs & ‘life-long friend’ making. Despite ‘oil money’ recession & relocation of shops to malls & the internet have left Aberdeen’s central street looking rather ‘tired’. But hey it was still rich with nostalgia & memories for me.

We visited Old Aberdeen, Seaton Park, and the new University library, which has put Aberdeen back on the architectural map, a ‘zebra-like’ cube covered in windows, which allow the northern light into its unusual atrium inside. There, seven study levels spiral upward like an upside down toilet bowl or layered wedding cake (I’m confident many other vivid descriptions have been found for this extravagant flight of fancy). I sat in the library it replaces for countless hours reading, writing & snoozing, so it was bizarre to see it being bulldozed beside the new ‘Tiger Tower’ (see photo). I wonder what present students will see on revisiting their ‘alma mater’ in 30 years time? £59 million well spent?

All this tripping down ‘memory lane’ reminded me that my choices are usually between ‘good & best’ rather than between ‘good or bad’. But choosing to do one good thing can mean avoiding a better choice. All the more reason in my later years to make sure I take time to listen to God & spend my time, talents & money on his ‘Better’ options.

St Paul puts it well, “So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11 / Message)

By the way, saving a pound on parking cost me a £30 parking ticket from a zealous traffic warden, not the best choice I’ve ever made. There was me hoping I’d be wiser & more ‘generous hearted’ by now! Ouch!