Poem 3 Child at the seaside

Good morning ... A lot of my teaching about God as our Father comes from everyday experiences ..

I often use stories when I teach ... Here is one put to verse .. and since I focused yesterday on my grandson , I thought I would choose another one about a child , because they touch my heart .

I saw a little boy one day Walking from sea to sand The steps he took so carefully A bucket in his hand I knew he was returning To a fortress he had made To pour the water in the moat And watch it drain away And then he tripped ! He picked himself and bucket up And looking realised That more than half the water spilt As tears came in his eyes Then from the distant sand dunes I saw a figure coming His dad had witnessed everything And h e w a s r u n n i n g On reaching him he took his hand And walked back to the sea A moment of deep significance For the little boy , his father , and for me

You see

Some people see God as a nasty distant finger pointing judge

Who cannot wait to punish us for what we have or haven’t done

But for me and many of my friends we know Him as a Father

The kind that watches out for us

And runs to meet us as a child , to treat us as a son

He feels our hurt , He knows our pain

It’s called compassion

And

The father knows the water will not be

Enough to fill the moat

As soon as it is poured

It will sink and be soaked up

But he does not appraise the child

Of this futility

When you are young and very small

You do not know the things that grown-ups see

And life is an adventure

Jesus said I' come to give you life abundantly

Become as a child to follow me and see the kingdom''

And then :

The father let his son set out

But all the while He watched

In readiness to run and help

To place his arms around him

To speak words of encouragement

And walk the walk he walked with him

Jesus said to His friends “ I will never leave you …. “

“ I will always be with you “

And does that mean it won’t be tough

The seas be calm and never rough

NO

It means He’s with us in it all

However big , however small

john nuttall May 2018