There are certain words that one often associates with England. Included in them are the following; kings, queens, pubs, castles, parliament, and rain. English weather is renown for being cold, windy, and of course wet. From drizzle to raining coming at forty-five degrees, it is as natural as clouds. Sun on the other hand is rare, extremely. One often refers to the fact that summer came last week, Wednesday to be precise. However, after five plus years of living here I think the sun comments are overblown even though they are directionally accurate!
In all my words describing England I have never, at least in my memory, used the word warm, hot or tropical. Last night I heard something I have never heard before. I listened to every member of the family register the fact that England was “hot”. It was a bit stronger than register but not quite at the complaining or wining stage. They were hot. It was warm. And things were the same as when we left cool England last week.
At times I find myself listening within the context of what I know for certain. Anything beyond my immediate knowledge is foreign and false. I know that it couldn’t possibly be true. I am certain that the information I am receiving should be treated with skepticism and doubt. I am confident of the boundaries and the probabilities of my sight lines.
I rediscovered that England is relatively hot when compared to the Artic. Minus thirty-five with a wind-chill that takes it to minus sixty makes England’s relative temperature seem quite pleasant. Fifty to seventy-five degree shifts will do that.
My confusion and blinders are not new. Others have had the same problem before. Yesterday reminded me that anything and everything can be possible – especially with God.
“Jesus said, ‘You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind hovering over the water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom.’” (John 3.5)
