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3 September: Simon Mason

Our First Anniversary! We met, as usual, at the Salvation Army Hall and enjoyed delicious curry from the Paradise Balti House - followed, by request, with apples, bananas and grapes - a healthy option!

Simon is a history teacher and is fascinated with all things historical. He introduced the idea of counterfactual history - "what if... " and recommended the film "Sliding Doors".

Simon gave three examples:

  1. 1066 - what would the UK be like now if the saxons had won?
  2. What would the country be like if Henry VIII's brother, Arthur, had lived?
  3. What would the world be like if Hitler had been killed in a car accident in the 1930s?

On a more personal level:

  1. What if we'd stayed at home this evening?
  2. What if we'd had a different curry?
  3. What if we'd married a different women - or not married at all?
  4. What if we hadn't become a Christian?

What difference might these choices have made to us - and others?

Back to history, Simon mentioned three Christians:

John Wycliffe - the Morning Star of the Reformation who said that we should honour the Bible, not the Pope. He made the first translation of the Bible into English.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - a brave German pastor who defied the Nazis and who was executed at the end of the Second World War.

Corrie Ten Boon - was imprisoned in Ravensbrook concentration camp for hiding Jews and who later showed great faith by forgiving one of the prison guards when they met after the war.

The lives and choices these three Christians made should encourage us in our Up - Out - In:

  • Up - more time with God
  • Out - our lives on our Front Line: where we spend most of out time
  • In - encouraging each other