Well they did it! While I was out today some builders came and reassembled the scattered stones of our demolished gatepost, proving true the words of the preacher in Ecclesiastes that there is a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them together.
Only thing is.... they forgot to put back the gate itself!!
Hmmm.. I wonder if I should phone them up and tell them they need to come back, dismantle the post again, and do the job properly?(Remember this all started with flickering lights!)
On second thoughts, perhaps we don't really need the gate after all. In fact it must be about 15 years since we last closed the gates over (when the children were small.)
Who needs gates anyway?
Well, someone clearly feels the need...
Since it was a very pleasant evening we went for a short walk down our road, past the first building site where the new villas are being erected, and then past the second site where some new flats/apartments are also being built. On a large billboard at the front of the building site is the architect's sketch of what the new development will look like.
Here it is:
And the description... "Situated in an exclusive, gated development of 26 luxury apartments with an enviable position in one of Carluke's most prestigious addresses...."
So whoever comes to live here wants to make sure no unwanted people enter their world.
I first saw these gated developments in the United States some years ago and they kind of made me sad. It's like going back to medieval castles: or even an admission, somehow, that community no longer exists. How many of you remember a time not so long ago when you didn't even lock your front door?
It also reminded me of these words of Edwin Markham:
He drew a circle that shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in.
There are far too many walls, barriers, gates and security fences in our world.
We need more bridges bringing people together
Well tonight... there is one less gate!
Today I met a very interesting man with a remarkable story to tell, but I'll have to share it with you at a later date. Right now I need to think of something to say at a High School Assembly tomorrow morning.
14 comments:
Hi Iain, As well as a church without walls we are now a church without gates. I suppose if you don't have any walls there is no need for gates?
"But we drew a circle that took him in." Excellent.
Yes, sadly we have many gated 'communites' in our country. The seem so forbidding! If you enter to visit a friend, you get stares from the neighbors who are checking you out; especially if you bring - shudder - children!
Glad your posts are back, sentinels with no gate. I was worried. ;-)
I like the new wall. :)
Well done at the assembly!
Thanks, Nic! It was a bit ad lib - no, correction, it was almost ALL ad lib.
YArp. Well done this morning! You would have never guessed it was all ad lib!
I got up out my bed specially to come to assembly! It was worth it!
h x
Aaw, thanks H! Btw, when I say 'ad lib' it doesn't mean I didn't think about it before-hand. It's just that having thought of the basic idea I decided to see how people reacted before choosing which way to take it. Must mean you lot don't scare me as much as you used to. :-)
Never mind the gates. My mother used to leave her door key under a brush at the back door - and everybody knew it was there - how trusting was that?
Hi Jean,
thanks for dropping in on the blog. Come again soon. Yes - it was a very different world not so long ago. It seems the more possessions people have the less safe they feel, don't you think?
It looks like the pillars of wisdom meets Footballer's Wives.
By the way, we leave our keys in the greenhouse. Iain, do you think you get many burglars reading your blog?
Richard, I don't know who all the people are who read my blog, although I know some of them seem to be from such diverse countries as Korea, Japan, India, South Africa, Argentina etc... etc.. I'm sure you'll be safe from them. As for those based in the UK, who knows? Maybe it would be a good idea NOT to give your address. :-)
Your gates are identical to mine-they must be Church Of Scotland issue-ours having been on our (former) Manse and in the open position for the ten years we ahve been in Hutton. Images on www.huttonian.blogspot.com
As I have posted recently, with our incumbent Minister steeping down without a replacement in June we will have two former Manses in one tiny Village. Is this a record?
Hi there "Huttonian" Thanks for dropping by. I doubt if there was ever a Church of Scotland standard gate :-)
Sadly, I suspect there are also many small communities with even more than two former manses.
But I hope your gateposts have had a quieter life than ours has recently.
Iain, Words from Circles. I realise they are not identical to Edwin Markham's but they do have the same sentiment.
He drew a circle that shut me out
he was afraid of what life was all about.
Whenever I saw him he'd be there inside him
locking his heart in a place to hide it.
But oh love and I knew just where to begin.
Yes love and I started a circle within
oh love and I.
We drew a circle, a beautiful circle,
a wonderful circle that took him in.
Thanks for sharing that, Alex. It's lovely!
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