Foolish? Maybe, but Thrilling.

Sometime in the mid-nineties, after a day trip to the coast by train, two of my friends and I were discussing what might have been the daftest journey we could ever think of, just for the experience. Unfortunately, although we laughed about it and even gave it some consideration, common sense eventually prevailed and the journey never went ahead.

And that is a shame. Because such a trip would have been fondly remembered and still talked about many years later. And the expense of buying the tickets? By now, that would have been long forgotten.

So, what would this journey involve? Well, first a 73-mile, 118 km drive northeast to Bedford by car. Then leave the car parked at Bedford Station and board a Thameslink train to Brighton on the East Sussex coast, which is approx 110 miles, 178 km along the railway line running south from Bedford. The thrill of the experience was that the train passed through London midway through the journey without the line ending at one of the capital's terminus stations. Instead, the train would have passed through the heart of London, stopping at Kings Cross St Pancras, Farrington, City Thameslink, Blackfriars and London Bridge stations before winding its way through Surrey and Sussex, to finally end at Brighton terminus around three hours after leaving Bedford.

We would have spent several hours at Brighton beach before boarding the train for the northbound ride back to Bedford. Indeed, it would have been a long day, but for all three of us as singletons at the time, getting home very late in the evening wouldn't have been a worry, especially had it been a Saturday.

Brighton beach as seen from the Pier.

Of course, if I really want to do such a journey, indeed, I'm able to. But there are now several reasons why I wouldn't bother. First, two of us are now married. Although I've no idea what my friend's wife would think about embarking on such a senseless journey, I'm aware that my dearest wouldn't be that enthusiastic, although she'll come if asked. However, she would allow me a full day out on my own if only there was a way to get to Bedford without a car and without having to change trains in London. Then adding the overall cost, such a trip wouldn't be worth the expense.

However, without a car, the biggest deterrent would be the difficulty in getting to Bedford from my hometown of Bracknell in the first place - and the return home. However, according to a national newspaper, very soon the new Elizabeth Line will be opened for public use, and in the Autumn, according to the report, it would be possible to sit on the same train from Reading in Berkshire to Shenfield in Essex, a brand new line over 60 miles, 100 km long, passing under London and intersecting with the Thameslink line at Farrington. The opening of the Elizabeth Line should coincide with our Queen's platinum jubilee, thus celebrating seventy years on the throne and Britain's longest-reigning monarch.

Giving this new line a shot would be more tempting if no more sensible than travelling the Thameslink Bedford-Brighton line. At least, getting to Reading from home is a short journey, which is done quickly and hence, a curtain-raiser for the main show. However, with all its 34 stations, perhaps the fun doesn't really begin (in my view) until after stopping at Paddington, where the track goes underground through Central London.

I have another friend, a few years older than me, who used to work for British Railways. Therefore, he's entitled to free train travel for life. One evening in the Autumn of 2013, whilst I was sitting on a stationary train at Reading and waiting for it to pull out, this fellow saw me and took the vacant seat opposite mine. He then told me that early that morning he boarded a train to Reading, then took the non-stop to London Paddington. He then boarded a train from Euston (if I remember) to the northern town of Warrington, a fast, non-stop journey on the way to Glasgow. He then returned to London Euston, then from Paddington to Reading, where we met. All in a day. Indeed, to a sane person, a bit odd perhaps, then again, if he holds a magic pass for free travel, then why not?

I suppose it's like visiting a funfair or theme park. A few years ago, the son of a window-cleaner customer and I went to spend a day at Thorpe Park. Steve was a fairground fanatic, and he was also a member of a club that took its members to fairgrounds across the USA once, maybe twice a year. Therefore, Steve was used to "gutsy" roller-coaster rides. With me, it was somewhat a different story. Or was it because I was beginning to show my age?

After many thrilling rides, including a soaking on one of them, the Stealth was the finale for us. It's supposed to be a racing car shooting up an arch over 62 metres high at 80mph in just 2.5 seconds. I recall letting out a yell as the vehicle rolled down vertically towards the fast-approaching ground. Was this a necessity in life? Not really. But oh, wasn't it thrilling and never be forgotten?

The Stealth, taken May 2014.

A necessity in life. Only yesterday, after a great sauna, I was about to sit at the leisure centre atrium after buying a couple of items at the cafe. Just then, one of the Duty Managers who know me well, sat on the next couch to mine, complete with a laptop. I asked him if I can sit with him and talk. He was happy to oblige. After pouring out my complaint that the swimming lane at the pool had too many people in it, with skirmishes exploding when each got in the other's way, the conversation went on about the running of the Centre in general. Then he quipped that the services offered weren't essential to life, rather, they were to be enjoyed with the added benefit of health thrown in.

I can't say that I fully agree with him. Long gone is a life of hunting and gathering that required vigorous exercise or the need to work physically to earn a living. Instead, our lifestyles have become so sedentary that obesity poses a real threat, along with poor diet and low immune systems. Thus, I feel that vigorous exercise is a necessity but, like the supposed Bedford-Brighton train journey, using the Leisure Centre should also be an enjoyable experience.

Therefore, I find that visiting the Leisure Centre is both an essential and an enjoyable experience, I could ask myself, is going to church an essential need, an enjoyable experience, or even both? Or is church perceived as a place of quiet prayer, a place of solemnity, mourning, the Sunday Best suit and tie, a place for confessing sins and knowing that such confessions will need to be repeated over and over again throughout life, a place where judgement is promised if one doesn't shape up - or even a place where the leaders are keen to take your money?

Or is the church so archaic that Divine Creation is still taught when Science has proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that Darwinian Evolution is the key to the beginning? And so, a young churchgoer's faith is shipwrecked after a year or two at University and sees church life as totally unattached to living in the real world.

And yet, as Jesus Christ went about his ministry, he became the foundation on whom the church will be built, and his primary instruction is for each member to love one another as Christ loved them. And that is only possible with a proper understanding of salvation - that as a believer in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, God the Father sees you in the same way and as equally righteous as he sees his own Son, that you are in Christ and Christ is in you, indeed, the term Christian actually means Little Christ - the result of having God's righteousness forensically imputed or credited to you.

If this theology on soteriology is correct, then church life should be a very positive experience. Indeed, I, for one, have absolutely no problem in accepting a 6x24-hour divine creation only a few thousand years ago - against all the strong currents of the official scientific worldview.

The Christian life is by no means one of peaches and cream! Even Jesus promised his followers that in this life we will have troubles, but Jesus also reassured us that he had overcome the world. For example, right now, as I write this, my wife is happy typing on her desktop computer. At this moment she's not feeling any pain. But only yesterday she suffered a sudden eruption of pain in her calf muscle. Such pain and other symptoms are often caused by negative thinking. The emotional response from such thinking causes excess adrenaline to be pumped into her bloodstream. Her eventual reaction to this is pain.

To have trouble in this world for us also includes Alex my wife having an inherited genetic disorder known as Feingold's Syndrome. This incurable malady has given rise to a neurological disorder which causes much pain and discomfort. When pain erupts, it's very distressing and often I feel helpless. Furthermore, our youngest daughter is affected by this malady. This was manifest just two days after she was born when she vomited green bile. She had a blocked duodenum. Immediately after the discovery, she was rushed by ambulance to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for an urgent operation. While preparations were made, I was weeping in the intensive care ward and had to be comforted by a nurse. How thankful to God for the NHS! Without them, my tiny, helpless baby would have died.

But neither of us has or ever will turn our back on God. Both of us understand the meaning of what it is to be forensically declared righteous in the heavenly Court by God, thus making us fit for heaven. To believe in the Eternal Security of the Believer is a great bulwark against such tribulations along with such negative thoughts and feelings that arises from them.

Then imagine a whole group of people who all hold to this truth. Thus, when Alex is in pain, or even if I feel down, lonely, or hurt, some people are just a phone call away and believe me, even a chat over the phone has made me feel as if a heavy burden was lifted from my shoulders. 

However, as I mentioned recently in one of our online prayer meetings, we as a church are still too British for our own good! If only we could shed the culture of the stiff upper lip, our self-reserve and "the English home is his castle" ethic, then the church could be so wonderful, an ideal place of refuge and allowing the love of God to fill our hearts, including bringing comfort and hope to those who are distressed, those who are hurting, those who need encouragement, those who are lonely, and those who have problems that are too difficult to solve alone. Also opening our homes to offer hospitality to those in need are other acts of Christ's love, such as the hospitality shown in European countries towards Ukrainian war refugees.

The Church can heal those who are in pain.

I believe that life is meant to be enjoyed. Indeed, there may be pleasure in taking a journey that others would classify as odd or eccentric. There is enjoyment in physical exercise. But most of all, ultimate fulfilment can only occur when showing the love of Christ to others.