Caught by his own camera

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

In recent years, many car drivers have installed dashboard cameras, so that, if they are involved in an accident, the footage can be used to help establish liability. The trend has also been taken up by some cyclists, who have cameras fitted, not only for use in case of accidents, but also for recording careless driving by motorists. The photographic evidence is then forwarded to the authorities, and those who pose a danger to cyclists can be prosecuted, even if no collision has occurred. A couple of years ago, a cyclist in Ireland successfully implicated two drivers by this method. However, to his dismay, the investigators, on examining his video, found that he too had been guilty of breaking the law during his journey, and he was prosecuted, along with the drivers he had filmed.

In the early chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, Paul shows how people are guilty of having broken, not the laws of the road, but the Law of God: the holy, righteous standard that He demands of all mankind. In Romans 2.1-3, Paul addresses someone who criticises others for their misdeeds, but who, in doing this, is condemning himself, for he does "the same things". He states that God will judge everyone according to righteous principles, and that no-one should think that he will "escape the judgment of God". Like the cyclist, we may try to pronounce others guilty, but in so doing we are declaring our own guilt, for "there is none righteous, no, not one" Romans 3.10. "What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" Romans 3.19,22,23. We are all "without excuse" Romans 1.20, and deserve "wrath, tribulation and anguish" Romans 2.9.

A change of perspective!

Photo by Jerry Zhang on Unsplash

Photo by Nick Morales on Unsplash

Photo by Bethany Laird on Unsplash

I can remember on a flight I was looking out of the window at the white cotton clouds below, scattered over a mountain range. This is a perspective only seen maybe a few times each year. Looking down I could pick out villages & hamlets. I began to wonder where they were, who lived there, what did they do and what problems did they have. I glanced out of the window again, of course, the scene had changed. The cloud was more plentiful, I could make out a wooded area and in the distance a larger town. I did not know where it was, what size its population was and I certainly knew nothing of the very real problems that many people were facing that day.

20/20 Vision in 2020

In mid-2019, an eye-catching advert appeared: "Get 20/20 vision before 2020". It was from a company offering eye surgery, encouraging readers to have the operation before the end of 2019, so that by the beginning of the year 2020 they would have ‘normal vision’. It is now too late to have it before 2020, but doubtless the same business, and others, will continue to offer it in this New Year.