Tunnels End

Tunnels always have at least one end, and many of them have two ends!

In some ways, my journey of the past few years has seemed a bit like being in a tunnel.

I could see the entrance, but I didn't know where the other end came out. The route to be followed was hidden from me, unknown. It was like looking into a dark tunnel.

I had been in tunnels before, and the photo above was taken on our canal holiday in 2001, on the Grand Union canal in England. Most times, if you keep following the path of the tunnel, eventually you will come out into the daylight at the other end.

So for the past few years, I worked my way through the maze of buildings at New College in Edinburgh, studying the maze of courses that would lead to my Divinity degree at the other end.


I also worked my way through various placements, at Cramond, Queensferry, Slateford/Longstone, Dalgety Bay, South Leith, and finally Winchburgh and Abercorn. There were 9 conferences to attend, and many essays to write, and meetings to attend. But eventually, last September, I received my Exit Certificate, as you can see here!

Since that time my wife and I have been working our way towards moving to a Parish and Congregation where I would serve as their minister. That journey has seemed like a continuation of the training tunnel. There have been some flashes of light along the way, but mostly we have been in the dark, not knowing where the end would be.

Now the tunnel end is near, we can catch some glimpses of what is at the end, but we are still in the tunnel, and will be for a few weeks yet. The congregation will have the opportunity to be with me as we worship God together. Then they will decide, Yes or No, in an election, by secret ballot.

So although an end is in sight, nothing is certain yet, and we have to wait and see what the outcome will be.

It is six years since I first began exploring the possibility that God was calling me into Ministry. Like every end, a new beginning awaits.

Easter is a time when we remember an ending, and a beginning that lay beyond. The disciples thought that their dreams were snuffed out, but instead the adventure went on, to a future they did not know and could not predict. They thought that Jesus had left them, and then they discovered that He was closer than ever, for ever.

Journey with me as we travel onwards into our unknown future. Even better, follow Jesus, and journey with Him, for ever.