{"id":9199,"date":"2021-09-28T10:34:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T10:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/?p=9199"},"modified":"2021-09-28T10:34:41","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T10:34:41","slug":"tvs-galvanised-my-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/tvs-galvanised-my-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"TV’s galvanised my faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout the UK lockdowns, I often spent my evenings lying down in the house \u2013 trusting in God\u2019s care. Suspended in that strange season, I buried my nose in more books, consumed more online productions and viewed more TV than ever before.<\/h2>\n

Now as the night\u2019s draw in and a new sofa season is rapidly approaching, I sense broadcasters tempting me with their creative offerings once again. But before I recline with the remote, let me tell you what the telly has taught me about God:<\/p>\n

Visualising Deconstruction:<\/strong> The Repair Shop<\/em> (BBC)<\/h3>\n

Observing the skilled experts of The Repair Shop<\/em> thoughtfully assess, lovingly deconstruct and carefully conserve all manner of precious family heirlooms is quite something. With patience and courage, they undertake the lengthy surgical deconstruction process. They remove every single shard of rust, every fleck of baked on glue, varnish, paint, oil or grime. All carefully executed without inflicting further damage on the already fragile artefact. Every trace of these ancient contaminants must be removed as they hold the potential to undermine the strength, structure and function of the object. Original materials which have been lost to the sands of time, or become too delicate, are either replicated or reinforced.<\/p>\n

The BBC team is eager, excited and engaged. Its conservation work generates joy. Watching the individuals at work, wholly immersed in a dedicated campaign of total restoration, forges a deeper understanding of how my Heavenly Father is at work in me. I\u2019ve learned that God too is a cheerful, diligent craftsman who delights in the work of His hands. Every aspect of my life is being lovingly restored by Him. <\/p>\n

Understanding Bounded spaces:<\/strong> Gardeners\u2019 World<\/em> (BBC)<\/h3>\n

Watching expert gardener, Monty Don, working in his own garden is an exercise in both beauty and peril. His garden, Long Meadow, seems idyllic. There is shade and sun; friendly dogs; a writing garden; a cosy shed. It\u2019s worth noting that this garden, as in the *garden of Eden described in the Bible's Book of Genesis<\/em>, is a bounded space.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve thought a lot about bounded spaces lately. This is mostly down to Walter. He lives under my neighbour\u2019s shed. I kid you not. Walter the Weasel is furry, cute and deadly. A cunning agent of chaos and destruction. A vicious predator, Walter can easily kill a creature twice his own size. Lately he has begun chewing holes in the base of the boundary fence, sneaking in, and helping himself to the unsuspecting bird life in my garden. I\u2019m not happy about the vandalised fence and the slaughtered birds. If the holes are blocked up he chews a new one. Walter can be held at bay but he can\u2019t be kept out.<\/p>\n

Much human effort goes into creating bounded spaces of both the physical and abstract variety. In our primal quest for safety and certainty, our guts instinctively communicate that there\u2019s something that needs to be kept out. So we build boxes. And bigger boxes. We build businesses. And we build belief systems. But here\u2019s the thing, even the sagely Monty Don is unable to keep agents of destruction out of his bounded spaces. He can only hold them at bay. Sometimes pests and pestilence utterly destroy the plant he\u2019s nurturing, invoking an inner savage with the secateurs.<\/p>\n

And if God\u2019s perfect garden, a holy bounded space, was breached (by design or default) by an agent of chaos and destruction (a snake) what chance have I against such foes? I\u2019ve learned that no matter how secure my bounded physical or abstract spaces seem, my perimeters are permeable. Metaphorical weasels may be held at bay, but because weasels are so very weasely, they will surely weasel their way in. I need not fear them; they\u2019re not dragons; they\u2019re just weasels. I must expect them. I must not let them blow me off course. I must stand against them. It would be na\u00efve of me to think otherwise.<\/p>\n

Valuing Journalism:<\/strong> Endeavour<\/em> (ITV)<\/h3>\n

The dynamics between journalism and law enforcement can be tense.<\/p>\n

In the fictional crime drama, Endeavour<\/em>, the tension is mostly played out between two central characters. Newspaper editor, Dorothea Frazil, (Abigail Thaw) works to pursue and publish the truth. DC Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans) works to prosecute the perpetrator. Both strive to hold the powerful to account, both play their respective parts as citizens in a nation under law. Nowadays journalists and \u2018the media\u2019 are frequently despised and subjected to considerable criticism. I\u2019m often disheartened by this, but when I study Abigail Thaw\u2019s character it renews my hope in the value of good journalism. Through her, God reminds me that He\u2019s in the business of recruiting outliers to become scribes, prophets, truth-tellers and jobbing journalists. I think God gets behind writers, and the act of writing, because it\u2019s one of the ways He brings things into the light and gives a voice to the voiceless.<\/p>\n

Experiencing Gratitude:<\/strong> The Victoria Slum<\/em> (BBC)<\/h3>\n

This fly-on-the-wall series follows a group of modern people transported to a replica Victorian slum deep in the bowels of London\u2019s East End. I expected to be more prepared for the scummy horrors of slum dwelling. My personal narrative casts me as an unspoilt, humble, working-class northerner. But while viewing this series God revealed a shed full of muttering ingratitude, generously daubed with a splodge of low-level resentment. God insisted that I let this go. And so I did. Now I\u2019m grateful that I grew up with a freezing brick privy at the end of our yard because it was private. I\u2019m grateful for that terraced house because it wasn\u2019t occupied by the whole street. I\u2019m grateful for that cold bed because I didn\u2019t have to share it. I\u2019m grateful for that hand-me-down doll because I could play instead of work. I\u2019m grateful for that wafer-thin slice of Hovis bread because I got one every day. I\u2019m grateful that I was the last child dunked into that shared weekly bathwater, because it was clean(ish) and warm(ish). I\u2019m grateful for my ancestors, who grafted in mines and mills because their past investment rewarded me with a future. I\u2019m grateful to my Heavenly Father, more than ever before, because he has revealed more of His goodness towards me.<\/p>\n

Closing thoughts...<\/h3>\n

As the liberty and liveliness of summer gives way to the warm embrace of autumn, consider the leaves changing and falling. Observe the drifting clouds; slow your thoughts down to the subtle speed of the sky; and watch as night gently falls. Though dark evenings will soon envelop us, God can communicate through the stillness, if we\u2019re open to hearing from Him.<\/p>\n

If you do only one thing, Allow yourself to lie down in the evening, and be open to receiving God\u2019s care for you.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Val Fraser is a well-respected freelance journalist based in the north-west of England.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Throughout the UK lockdowns, I often spent my evenings lying down in the house \u2013 trusting in God\u2019s care. Suspended in that strange season, I buried my nose in more books, consumed more online productions and viewed more TV than ever before. Now as the night\u2019s draw in and a new sofa season is rapidly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":692,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-content","category-homepage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/692"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9199"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9207,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9199\/revisions\/9207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}