Hello Vicar, "I've sort of lost my doubt!"

In conversation with an atheist acquaintance I was surprised to hear them say that they'd become an agnostic, no longer being sure that God (or gods perhaps) did not exist. Feeling just the beginnings of that ever present sin, pride, at my part in influencing them, I found myself brought back to the earth with a bump! The reason for this was their attributing this new found state to Richard Dawkins book 'The God Delusion'

"The more the book attacked the beliefs, the more I considered them and found something coherent and consistent and this has got me thinking and I'm not so sure there's not something I haven't wanted to notice before."

We'd spoken on a few occasions about the many 'nice' Christians they'd encountered and seen them merely constrained to the 'mad but nice' bin; people who lived in the world of 'I want it to be' who pinned their hopes on someone whom, having been invented to salve their needs, lived their lives of belief in that same person.

The burden of proof is whose I wonder - Is it on the part of the believer or the doubter? That's the question isn't it?

You can't see gravity and yet let go of something and the effect of gravity is immediately obvious and gravity's existence is confirmed.

You can't see God either and yet let go of Him and what is the observable effect?  Is their an empirical test? Can we remove God from the equation and see some difference or add Him to the mix and find a precipitate in the test tube of faith or a 'pop' as the dying splint of faith reignites in the substance of God?

This is going to be a interesting journey indeed - thank you Mr D :-)

It's World Diabetes Day

I don't know about you but where I am, the most common ailment that I encounter these days is diabetes and today, the anniversary of Frederick Banting's (one of those who developed insulin) birthday is the day set aside to bring the disease into the spotlight.

This year is the last in a five year cycle that dedicated to education and prevention and so mark the drawing to a close of that particular campaign.

But what do we know about the illness?

The shock statistics (for me at least) are the estimation that more than one in 20 people in the UK has diabetes (diagnosed or undiagnosed). That means that something around 6% (or higher) has this condition and it is predicted that around 5,000,000 (that's five million) people will be suffering from it by 2025!

The frightening statistic is that which says around 850,000 people in the UK have undiagnosed diabetes.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?

First and foremost read this (it's the key statistics and figures on UK Diabetes)

Then read this and if you think some of them apply to you - talk to your doctor;

Type 2 diabetes: Develops slowly over a period of time - often only picked by optician's visit (that's the puff of air on the eye!) or a general medical examination. The main symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes include:

• passing urine more often than usual, especially at night
• increased thirst
• extreme tiredness
• unexplained weight loss
• genital itching or regular episodes of thrush
• slow healing of cuts and wounds
• blurred vision

Asking someone who works in this area what the greatest prevention was - their answer was:

Watch your weight for type 2 and being overweight go hand in hand!

Please take a moment to have a think about this disease and your own health - being aware of it might stop you offering those you know who suffer from it biscuits and sweets!!!

Please pray for those who suffer from it and for those who work to find a cure to this debilitating and life-shortening illness.