麻豆约拍

Good morning. The Cathedral in Pembrokeshire where I spend several weeks each year is built in an impossible place: on a boggy marsh in a valley beside a river. It used to be said that it was in a dip to hide it from marauders from the sea. In fact, the real reason is that the Cathedral had to stand on the spot where St David established his community in the sixth century. This didn鈥檛 matter so much when the building was small and wooden. But when a substantial stone Norman Cathedral was erected there five hundred years after David鈥檚 death, all sorts of practical problems emerged which are still being wrestled with centuries later. Despite the awkwardness, there is a definite sense that the Cathedral is where it is because it has to be there.

There are, of course, some situations which are abusive and intolerable: circumstances from which the only acceptable answer is to escape as soon as possible. Yet the Cathedral鈥檚 curious site may suggest something to help those of us who find ourselves in other places where, for a variety of reasons, we would also rather not be. We can easily become angry, disappointed or frustrated with the difficulties that we face, unless we gradually become aware that, despite everything, this is where we are meant to be. Christianity can be a comforting religion, but should never be a cosy one. It may help us cope with impossible places, but it does not always enable us to avoid them.

Lord Jesus, you know all about unavoidable impossible places. You wept in Gethsemane and cried out in anguish on Calvary. Sustain us in those dark situations where we sometimes find ourselves, in the knowledge that the Cross is never the end of our story. Amen