Unfortunately I wasn't in the best of health during the week; my lovely wife Sue had kindly passed on to me a mild flu-like 'bug'. The first 2 or 3 days on the course were quite tough; my head felt 'foggy', and I seemed to spend most of the time either in a lecture or on/in bed!
From the Wednesday my health improved, due, I am sure, in no small measure to the prayers of friends. I managed to complete the course! Despite struggling at times to take everything in, I found the course helpful and thought-provoking. My big concern now, with a very hectic Advent/Christmas season well underway, is whether I will be able to do justice to my first assignment by the due date of 4 January!
I also hope that I will be able to make the time and opportunity to revisit my notes; we received such a lot of useful information. During one session, we were reminded of a prayer of famous adventurer Sir Francis Drake, which he apparently wrote on one occasion as he set off for the west coast of South America. I find it so challenging; it is difficult to think of a better rule of life:
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push us into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.
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