Comfort Reading....

Exodus 20:1-2 And God spoke all these words: [2] "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Last time we went to the dentist it turned out to be a pretty expensive trip.... Anyway, while sitting in the waiting room and praying "please don't send me to the hygienist, please don't send me to the hygienist", I tried to take my mind of the sound of drilling, the screaming and the manic cackling coming from next door, by picking up one of the magazines left on the window sill. There were about a dozen mags, but only two titles: "Creative Homes - posh houses for you less well off people to lust after: this month how to hide your slaves so everyone thinks you're a domestic Goddess!" and "Bunkered" which turned out not to be a survivalist handbook about riding out a thermonuclear attack in a concrete hole, but a golf magazine. There was an article on the impending Ryder Cup, but it turned out to be for 2004, and so I had to content myself with an article on putting - "When striking the ball up hill and across the slope, right to left, remember to align yourself at 18 degrees to the gravitational pull of Uranus, taking care to avoid any interference from mobile phone masts and nearby ley line intersections. A small goat should also be sacrificed and a poultice of yak's milk and frog spawn smeared across your chest." This was followed by an article on fashion - "Course Wear - how to dress like a hood from Starsky and Hutch and get away with it!" It was depressing, all I had for help was a small pile of vintage magazines that in no other circumstances I would pick up. We need to start a campaign - save your old mags,don't bin them, and next time you are going to the Dentist take a bag and just leave it behind.... maybe then we'd get some variety: The Economist perhaps? PC Pro? Top Gear? Red? Glamour? MixMAg? People's Friend.....

It got me thinking a little - if someone I knew was about to go through a time of trial and great testing, is there anything I would give them to read to bring them comfort? Comfort isn't something soft like fabric conditioner. Comfort is supposed to prepare you for the task ahead, to fill you with hope for the future, and courage to face any darkness in the present. As a believer I know that the Bible is full of words of comfort because the writers knew that living in this world can be hard. Jesus himself says "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33. I think we need to learn to hold on to these promises more and learn to share them with love to those who need to hear them. And I think it is why God reminds the Israelites of his love for them here – that when they were suffering he came and rescued them. If they choose to be his people then they’ll have to make tough choices. He wants them to know that he’ll be with them no matter what. He makes the same promise to us. Today. Tomorrow. That’s comforting.

So sitting with articles for detergent and Pringle sweaters, it was almost a relief when I was summoned to the dungeon next door....