We got up early this morning to go to the beach (surprise, surprise), Tim was doing some coaching with the Enterprise fleet, Joanne went out in the rescue launch, and Emma and Ben took Poppycock out to join the coaching session.
It was a beautiful morning, the cold breeze of the last few days had altered direction and a warmth had filled the air and the water...
It was worth the early start...
I came home feeling relaxed and got on with some chores, it actually feels like a Saturday, so often I start work straight away that the whole week melts into one long stretch, even with our day off on Friday, because the twins are still in college we get up to what feels like a work day...but this weekend the weather has put us into holiday mood, my sermon is in bits and pieces inside my head at the moment I'll have to work on it later but now I am relaxed... even though I bravely took on Jon's bedroom! Jon has gone on tour with the Sixth Sense Drama Company, right now they are in Guernsey preparing for 3 performances of Macbeth, he'll love it... and I took the opportunity to attack his room!
I have been reading some Franciscan based challenges to simplicity, it strikes me that this is a deep need for today's fractured society. One thing it looks at is the constant need to communicate to be connected and how this has created a culture of doing rather than one of being, because we are always contactable there is a pressure to do all the time...
As we sat in the garden for lunch we received 4 calls from sales companies, we have blocked some but they get through somehow, it strikes me that choice, or abundance of choice brings its own stresses. My friend tells a story of a lady from Poland who was staying with her, she ran out of shampoo, and went to Tescos to buy some- the choice she was confronted with was too much for her and she left the shop in tears.
I crave a simple life yet I am a victim of my own double mindedness much of the time, falling too often for the lie... if only I had a**** then life would be good, complete somehow, the trouble is there is always another **** waiting to introduce itself to me!
Being on the beach this morning gave me a renewed perspective, and I'm not so sure it was simple the location so much as it afforded me the space to be at the start of the day.
Matthew 6:26-34 (MsgB)
Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen colour and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? [31] What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
