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The Porch is the magazine of St. Edward the Confessor. It is currently edited by Helen Dawe and Valerie Malone and is published 11 times a year (there is a joint July/August edition).
Besides details of forthcoming services and events in the church, there are articles about the local area, and groups and bodies supported by the church.
Each month one or two articles from the magazine are reproduced on this page:
It is a 108 degree lazy day as I sit on the banks of the Luangwa River sometimes giving conscious acknowledgement to the hippos laughing nearby or the various animals warily drinking at the water's edge. Five days of the seven-day vacation have gone… five very special days. I am the guest of Dr. Dale Lewis, an evolutionary biologist, who is doing research on elephants as well as the white-browed sparrow weaver bird. We have walked through the bush five or six hours per day gathering data for his research projects. This has been mixed with hours of conversation centring on the wonders of "nature" (I prefer "creation"!) and ending with a sharing of views about the meaning of it all. Yesterday I was so absorbed with these issues that I nearly walked smack into three bull buffaloes.
Even the most unobservant cannot help but be impressed with the design of this relatively untouched part of nature. What a joy to walk the bush with one who is expert in observation. We saw a tree that was carpeted underneath with thousands of tiny purple flowers. The flowers had remained on the tree until a particular type of bee which is attracted to the violet portion of the colour spectrum came to gather nectar and pollinate the blossoms (fertilize the egg) in the process. The fallen flowers were evidence that the bees had done their work. If the bees should somehow fail, this particular variety of tree would cease to exist.
This afternoon we are going to collect honey from a hive of bees that has taken refuge in a baobab tree. Baobab trees are flowering just now…beautiful, large, white flowers. Bats seem to be the only creature attracted to this flower. Portions of the flower are eaten by the bat which in the process pollinates the flower causing the ovary to develop in to a mature seed pod. The pods are then sought after by monkeys, baboons and humans for the powdery, tart substance encrusted around the seeds. After savouring the powdery substance, the seed is then spat on the ground where it begins the germination process that may, if numerous other factors are favourable, mature into a large baobab tree.
Just now Dr. Lewis is examining samples of elephant dung. Among other things he is finding bean-like seeds that, having passed through the elephants digestive system, are now germinating. Thus the elephant becomes an agent for propagating certain plants.
The chain of facts is endless in support of design, interdependence. The system is in intricate balance. Yet there is an awesome force threatening the balance. That force is sinful man.
When sinful man confronts God's creation his selfish nature asserts itself. "I want ivory. I want meat. I want wealth." He leaves behind a trail of rotting carcases and sun-drenched bones. I have had the opportunity to examine numerous areas where this has been left unchecked.
This rich beauty of God's balanced creation exists only in the minds of the frail old men sitting under shade trees telling stories about the way things used to be.
You have sent us here to preach the Good News about Christ. Basic to this message is a conversion experience that effectively deals with the maiming, destroying "I" within man. The converted man begins to operate from the principle to "God's wants". This changes the way he views and deals with the creation. He sees it as God's system to provide quality protein for hundreds and thousands of years with a minimum of input from man. When harvesting the yield he is guided by a responsibility to insure the system continues to bear for perhaps hundreds and thousands of years more.
In addition, the converted man derives tremendous inspiration from viewing creation. He sees design which gives him new insight about his Designer. He becomes visually aware that everything God touches displays harmony and balance. This humbles and comforts. It drives him to his Bible to seek out more fully the harmony and balance God has for his own life.
I am now approaching thirty-seven years, balding, beginning to stiffen in the joints, struggling to make a respectable showing on the squash (racquetball) court, and without much of a retirement plan worked out yet. What shall I do with my remaining years? I must continue to preach the Gospel. Not one single living creature or object can remain in harmony without it. Its implications balance every facet of life.
John Douglas was an American missionary in Zambia in the 1970's, where Martin Baldock met him while working as a pharmacist in the same area. They have kept in touch ever since.