Pleasant Places

‘The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places’ (Psalm 16 vs 6)

We have just returned from a few days of leave on the Isle of Skye. In times past it was a rare year when we did not visit Skye at least once. In some ways it became a kind of ‘spiritual home’, Sadly, it is over 5 years since we were last there, but having spent these last few days on this amazing island, I suspect that it will once again become a place of regular ‘pilgrimage’. The beauty of the scenery, the re-connection with friends, the worship at the local church, the long walks – all these were food for the soul and deeply refreshing and re-creative.

To think of Skye as a ‘pleasant place’ seem altogether inadequate by way of description of a place of such dramatic beauty and rugged scenery. But in a deeper sense, Skye is indeed a ‘pleasant place’ which, over the years, became for us somewhere that feels like a gift of God, a source of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual renewal.

Over recent weeks I have been reflecting a lot on ‘pleasant places’. Looking back over our lives and my ministry I can see that not all the places to which we have been called, to which we have journeyed and in which we have spent time have been ‘pleasant’ in a normal human sense. And yet, while some of the areas in which we have lived as a family have not seemed outwardly ‘pleasant’,  often the people amongst whom we have lived, to whom we have ministered, with whom we have worshipped or of whom we became friends have transformed these locations and they became for us ‘pleasant places’ indeed!

And then there were other places where the work of ministry was not always easy and yet the environment and relationships were very ‘pleasant’, compensating in many ways for the struggles of ministry.

In yet other situations what was a very pleasant place in all respects for one of us, was not so pleasant for the other!

However, looking back over the past four decades and more, the overall sense is of being led by God to situations of challenge (sometimes), good friendships (often), and fulfilment (frequently). Almost always there has been that sense of being in the ‘right place’ – even when the going was tough. Pleasant places? Yes, I think so.

And now, with probably only two  or so years to go until I retire, I find myself back where it all started. As an Interim Minister I have been placed in a congregation in the South Side of Glasgow to assist them in their journey through a time of transition as they seek to come to terms with the past and set the course for the future. Although this congregation is a union of several congregations, one of the component parts, many of the members and the building in which it meets are all very familiar to me, for it is where I was baptised, nurtured in faith, first professed faith, sensed a call to ministry and preached my first sermons. How unexpected and wonderful (not to say, somewhat surreal!) is that?

So it has now all come full circle as – in the providence of God’s plan - I  return to somewhere that was in these formative years a ‘pleasant place’, full of hope that now, at the end of my ministry, it will once again prove to be a ‘pleasant place’.