Dear All,

Deserts. Last month I referred to lessons to be learned from the film 'Lawrence of Arabia'. This month we are in the desert in the scriptures.
The desert experience was, for the Israelites, key to their identity as a nation, a 'chosen people'. It was in the desert that a disparate group of tribes and clans (descended from Joseph and his many brothers) finally came together as a nation, a nation that would move into itsown land under Joshua. How did this happen?

Key to this development was the leadership of Moses in helping the people to find ways of living together. The peoples' meeting with God at Sinai and the codifying of the Law (the Ten Commandments etc) fed into this work of 'nation building'. It took time to leam to live differently: as has been said 'It took one night for Israel to come out of Egypt but forty years for Egypt to come out of Israel'. Nothing in the life of the spirit can be rushed.

But alongside sharing a common way of living the tribes discovered a new way of worshipping together. Jonathan Sacks (the Chief Rabbi) highlights this in one of his books. It was in the desert that the people were instructed to create the 'tabernacle'. The Tabernacle was where the people were to meet with God and its construction engaged all of the people: the story of its creation (in the Book of Numbers) is absolutely clear that it was the work of all of the tribes. It engaged far more people than simply a priestly caste: artists and people of varied means all contributed to the work as best they were able - everyone 'found something of themselves' in this new creation even as the people reached out beyond themselves to worship the invisible God.

As the congregation from the Parish Church in Barnard Castle continues to worship in the Parish Hall (during the church's re-ordering) I think it is true to say that we, in some small way, are rediscovering a greater sense of community though our mini 'desert' experience and uncovering people's gifts and talents in the process. But on a national scale the people of God's time in the desert is a reminder to all Christians that there can be no place for exclusion on the grounds of race or difference from our common life: veryone's gifts are welcome. Churches of all denominations have made it abundantly clear that the racism of some extreme parties standing for election this year has no place in our Christian faith and should be opposed vigorously.
We're all in this together: all made in the image of God and loved by Him.

Alec