{"id":443,"date":"2013-11-30T10:44:08","date_gmt":"2013-11-30T10:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/?p=443"},"modified":"2013-11-30T10:44:08","modified_gmt":"2013-11-30T10:44:08","slug":"x-marks-the-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/?p=443","title":{"rendered":"X marks the spot"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><!--\n@page { margin: 2cm }\n\t\tP { margin-bottom: 0.21cm }\n--><\/style>\n<p>X marks the spot on the treasure map where the treasure lays hidden.<\/p>\n<p>As I finished <a title=\"E is for Equipping for Ministry\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/?p=123\">Equipping for Ministry<\/a> (almost four years ago) it was suggested that I might look to the future and write my own story, which might include a treasure map, shipmates, a tool kit, treasure, dragons, and possibly other features too.<\/p>\n<p>I identified my treasure as the Love of God, which is here and now, and doesn&#8217;t actually need seeking for. Someone else in the group said, when we shared our stories, that the treasure was for sharing with everybody. I liked that idea and it fitted the treasure I was identifying.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/treasure-map.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-444\" alt=\"treasure map\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/treasure-map-300x211.jpg\" width=\"490\" height=\"348\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I drew a map too, and the islands that I identified, where I might land and meet friendly people (<a title=\"Becoming Friends \u2013 or the Bumper Book of Quaker Fun\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/?p=33\">Becoming Friends<\/a>, Watford <a title=\"I is for Interfaith\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/?p=186\">Interfaith<\/a> Association, Quaker Quest), have been visited.<\/p>\n<p>I was quite fascinated by the dragons I drew, that lurked around the map (as they do on some antiquarian maps). I named them &#8216;fear&#8217;, &#8216;my agenda&#8217; and &#8216;the rut&#8217;. I hoped to tame &#8216;my agenda&#8217; and re-direct its energies constructively. I hoped not to get dragged down by &#8216;the rut&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/dragons.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-445\" alt=\"dragons\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/dragons-300x205.jpg\" width=\"513\" height=\"357\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now I come to a place in my journey where the map has run out. I&#8217;m not sure whether my path is blocked by a log I might sit and rest on, and perhaps, in due course, climb over to continue my journey. Or by red &amp; white danger warning tape saying stop, here, now, do not continue this way. I&#8217;m seeing gentle countryside around me, rather than seas and islands to explore. A time to take stock and review. Perhaps a time &#8216;to make your home a place of loving friendship and enjoyment, where all who live or visit may find the peace and refreshment of God&#8217;s presence.&#8217; (<a href=\"http:\/\/qfp.quakerweb.org.uk\/qfp1-02.html\">A&amp;Q 26)<span style=\"color: #000000;\">,<\/span> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">to wait, to let people come to me, rather than rush around going to this meeting and that meeting.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/log.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-446\" alt=\"log\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/log-300x188.jpg\" width=\"503\" height=\"323\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>What does your map look like? Do you see adventures? Dragons? Shipmates? Treasure?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>X marks the spot on the treasure map where the treasure lays hidden. As I finished Equipping for Ministry (almost four years ago) it was suggested that I might look to the future and write my own story, which might &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/?p=443\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=443"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":448,"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions\/448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stephanie-blog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}