When I was a child, our holidays each year were always the same: Two weeks camping on the slopes of a hill called the Golden Cap on the Dorset Coast. A couple of years ago I got the chance to return there for the first time in 35 years, and much had changed. The farmhouse where we got eggs and milk is now a holiday cottage; the cliffs I scrambled down have been tamed by footpaths and steps. But the Golden Cap had changed the most. In my memory the Cap is a mountain – fully the equal of anything in Snowdon. Climbing it was an expedition. When I returned I was surprised to see, with an adult’s eyes, a rather modest, gentle hill. The Cap had not changed, but my perception had.

In the time of Moses the Israelites sent out spies to ascertain what problems they would face in conquering the Promised Land. They each saw the same scene, but their reports varied greatly depending on their perception. Ten of the spies looked with the eyes of fear and doubt and they reported soldiers like giants and great walled cities – problems that could not be overcome. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, made a very different report. They saw with the eyes of confidence and faith, and they were sure that the Promised Land could be taken. What they saw depended on how they looked.

Through life, whether our lives as individuals or our life together as a church, there will sometimes be issues that we face. Sometimes, how we face them depend on how we look at them – with fear or with faith.

Have a happy summer, especially if you are going away on holiday. And if you end up walking a small child up a hill, be patient. It may be a hill to you, but to him it might be a mountain.