I’ve been in the countryside all weekend - somewhere north of Skipton.

The wonderful colours of autumn were everywhere.  

Even in all our sophistication of the twenty-first century, the changing of the seasons is something that is simply awesome.  It marks the advance of time, the power of nature, and the fact that many things happen regardless of humankind.

As I walked through the crunchy leaves I couldn’t help but feel God’s hand in this place and in my life.

I know this is something that many people feel.  But I also wonder about God’s hand in human endeavour.  On Thursday evening, thousands of people will gather in City Centre Manchester to celebrate the Christmas lights being switched on.  

But it will also mark the achievement of the efforts of many people over many years - the invention of electricity and light bulbs, building roads and streets, having the imagination to picture Manchester all lit up.  If we acknowledge God’s presence in nature, can’t we also acknowledge it in our own acheivements?

Whilst many people don’t want to know about religion, most admit that there is a spiritual side to life.

But how does this manifest itself?  For some it is a belief in some kind of entity that they call God.  For others it is linked to nature, or to feelings they have, or to something to do with ‘goodness’.

I am a traveller on the spiritual journey.  I seek a sense of the spiritual, of an awareness of the being I call God.

It is possible that I might find God in places where people of faith meet together, but that won’t be the first place that I look - for I believe that I will find God ‘out and about’ in Manchester.

Where is God in Manchester?  I’m looking, watching, listening - I’ll let you know as I journey through the city.