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Lateral Thoughts — a Different Perspective

Magnus Smyly views life from a different angle

Residing for three of my four years at York in West Moor Lane near to St. Lawrence court, I spent most of my time walking to and fro along the road leading from my department of Physics, past the five-a-side pitch and maintenance department to the highway. This ordeal can be slightly lessened by cutting the corner from the end of the hedge, across the grass, meeting the road near the old tennis courts that are now a car park.

From campus, the best line was always the left of the lamp post on the brow of the slope and left of the oak tree. From the highway it was the opposite; to the left of the oak tree and left of the lamp post. (If confused, draw, think or act out the scenario) The cause of this discrepancy is that from the highway one is blinded by the summit of the rise to the lie of the path further on. This so obsessed me that I once commented on this exact perspective mismatch to the (then) future chair of MethAng who was walking home with me to discuss the role of chair.

Consider a country that is described as suffering from “social breakdown, economic decline and the impotence of politicians to deal with the malaise in society”, “a country that needs prayer”.

A country that needs prayer for its “spiritual need”, “strident propaganda of new Age and eastern mystical cults”, “lethargy and compliancy of Christians” and an “influx of non-Christian religions” and where do you think of?

The quotations above are from a book called Operation World published by OM Publishing which looks at the geographic, economic, socioeconomic and religious status of countries around the world. It more importantly also includes a key list of prayer points for each country. I would thoroughly recommend the book to anyone.

For those who have yet to realise, this excerpt is from an external perspective reflecting upon the UK. As an unblinded foreign speaker at a mission weekend said in Reading recently, Christian mission is needed here, rather than there.

Magnus Smyly

Last modified: 25th November 2005