Eternity

By Belinda 

 From BBC Mobile News; Hereford and Worcester
PM tribute to Alvechurch ski trip coach crash victims 
"The prime minister has paid tribute to the victims of a coach crash, in which a Worcestershire teacher was killed. Peter Rippington, 59, a teacher at Alvechurch School, died and more than 20 people were hurt in Sunday's crash in northern France. Pupils and parents were among those returning from a skiing trip when their coach went down a motorway embankment. David Cameron said Mr Rippington was "much respected in the local community". He added that consulate staff were working to support those still in France. The prime minister was responding to a question in the House of Commons from Conservative MP for Bromsgrove Sajid Javid. Mr Cameron said: "The thoughts and sincere condolences I'm sure of everyone in the House will be with my honourable friend's constituent and everyone who's been affected."
And good news from The Birmingham Mail.net 


Coach crash
A TEENAGER woke from a coma after the school coach horror which killed a teacher – when prayers were said for her on Twitter.Suzie Warner, 13, was said to be improving in a Paris hospital after the tragedy, which claimed the life of 59-year-old Peter Rippington.The news broke after friends used the website to urge people to say prayers for her.One message said: “We all need to get #PrayForSuzie trending. Please help as she needs all our support after the trauma she has been through.”
Susan forwarded me this video clip of Frances Chan from another friend's Facebook Page. As I watched it, I was struck by its relevance to the tragedy in Alvechurch and how very uncertain life is. We can spend life planning for a few years of retirement or focusing on all sorts of empty pursuits. Peter Rippington poured his life out for children, in a way that will always be remembered by those he taught. His was not a wasted life, but he could not have predicted its brevity. His death inspires reflection and a pause to consider the importance of pursuing a life of meaning, which can only come as we live in harmony with God's purposes for our individual lives. 



Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks for the short video - it puts things in perspective - and it is good to be reminded that the trials and tribulations being experience at the moment are indeed just a moment in God's big plan. How often we forget that we are eternal beings - spiritual beings temporarily housed in physical bodies. One person put it that we are being trained to reign. Awesome, eh? Appreciate you sharing.
8:29 PM
Belinda said…
Dear Anonymous Friend, Thank you for your comment. You are right, the video clip sure does put things in perspective!
12:01 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage

Image
Note from Belinda: I read this prayer yesterday and again today--and then I read it to Susan after cell group, when we were having our "second cup" of decaff coffee together. I knew that she'd love it. She has a framed picture on her office wall of a little blond haired girl in a sail boat on a stormy sea. A fatherly sailor,with a weather beaten face; in a gray sou'wester, holds her close, as he capably mans the tiller. This prayer reminds me of that picture and influenced what I wrote earlier today, when I used the metaphor of ebbing waves to describe a lack of consistency and my desire to crash over the sandbar into the peaceful pool on the other side.  ( Susan sent me a link to the painting, which was done by American impressionist Robert Reid in 1888.  It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Be bless ed by the beauty of this prayer. OH LORD OF THE OCEANS, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the
Read more

Ere Zij God--Glory to God in the Highest! A Dutch Carol

Image
By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!
Read more

Samson Beaver and his Family

Image
I first posted this in 2009, a little show and tell about one of my favourite photographs. Back then it hung on a wall, but now it's in my bathroom where I see it every morning! I'd forgotten the history behind the story, researched when I first posted this and thought that current readers might enjoy it--a story from a time when this land was still being discovered, not so very long ago. This photograph was taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907. It is of a Stoney Indian named Samson Beaver, with his wife Leah and daughter, Frances Louise. I bought the photo on a postcard, on a trip to British Columbia and it hangs framed, on the wall I face when sitting at my laptop. I love it. Don't you just feel as if you could gather Frances Louise up in your arms and cuddle her? I get a deep sense of peace and happiness when I look at this family, sitting in the grass of a long ago fall. They are dressed in their best, beautiful c
Read more