Eternal Echoes

Food for the body, food for the spirit.....

It was dark and cold when my alarm went off this morning, and the temptation to throw the duvet over my head and hit the snooze button was very real! Instead determination set in and I hauled myself out of bed drank a large mug of tea ate a cereal bar and after scraping ice from my windscreen and persuading the car door that it did want to open I set off for the pool.

I have to say that I am very glad that I did, not only do I feel much better for my 45 minutes in the pool and 10 minutes in the jacuzzi, but also my soul was fed by the glorious scenery that I drove carefully through to get there. It was one of those mornings when the sun still low in the sky was casting a glorious light through the mist, the few leaves that are left on the trees were perfectly back lit, in other places the frost etched grasses resembled crystals...

I am glad that my progress on the roads was slowed by the ice, or I would have missed so much beauty. I am equally glad that my progress in the pool has improved, I completed  1 and 1/4 miles before I relaxed for a bit, much improved on when I started swimming regularly again in September!

So feeling refreshed in body and spirit I head into the day....

If only I could find my mind all would be well!

That photo is from Sunday afternoon, one of these mornings I'll remember my camera!

 

Spiritual hunger- the reality... updated

So often ( and despite all the evidence to the contrary) I hear folk in church lament the fact that we live in a secular age, that nobody is interested in God any more. They blame Sunday opening - obviously Sunday is the day to be really spiritual, and they blame T.V., one elderly preacher explained to me that T.V. is too entertaining and that church cannot compete ( makes me wonder what he thinks we are offering).

I beg to differ, time and again I speak to people who are spiritually hungry, people who have had spiritual experiences and no way to explain them away, and today is no exception. Just as an aside I also believe that sometimes God gets us just where he wants us... and that will also unfold as I tell today's story...

First, I over slept and then because it was so frosty I could not start my car- the result I missed a meeting. After being grumpy and doing a bit of washing I decided to walk down to the Tots group that is run in one of my Chapels. I have to say that Tots is, in my opinion, the most effective outreach that this particular has...

Anyway having arrived at tots, not only did I get to cuddle a lovely 5 month old, but I also had an amazing conversation with two amazing women. We talked about religion and spirituality and they shared their experiences with me. One described feeling that God was everywhere, and how on a visit to Poland the Chapel at Wieliczka had taken her breathe away, they'd both been there in search of their family roots and had found spiritual roots too! One described that she felt an angel had sat with her while her son was in intensive care following an operation ( an experience I can relate to).

I have conversations like this a lot, lovely life-giving conversations with folk who struggle with the structures of church, who have been put of by harsh doctrine, but who want to connect with something beyond themselves even though they cannot name that something as someone...

I hope they found our conversation as life-giving as I did, and I hope that our conversation will continue. I want to help them see the someone I relate to, the loving and life bringing God, the God who releases and equips and inspires us for life rather than putting tight constraints upon us. The God who delights in our delight at creation, the God whose story whether we know it or not is intimately woven through our own.

Spirituality is an innate part of each one of us, and sometimes I find more freedom in people from outside the church when it comes to expressing their spirituality. Sometimes our structures do us no favours at all....

(Photo- the village pump- at Fairburn. North Yorkshire- maybe we need to look deep within to rediscover our true spirituality)

What manner of King is this?- pondering Christ the King Sunday...

1.      The Magi (first seeing Jesus)

 

What manner of king is this?

Born poor,

his first bed

an animals feed trough…

 

.. visited (we were told)

by filthy shepherds

in the night…

 

…is this a king?

 

What manner of king is this?

This grubby,

malnourished urchin

has no royal stature…

 

…am I truly expected to kneel

in the dust and dirt

before this one…

 

is this a king?

 

*

 2.      The soldier (at the cross)

 

What manner of king is this?

Dying on a roman cross,

beaten, bloodied, tortured…

 

stripped of his meagre garments

he groans in agony…

 

is this a king?

 

What manner of king is this?

where are his courtiers,

his friends?

 

 only  a few women watch at a distance

and wail…

 

What manner of king is this?

Are kings abandoned, broken, ruined?

 

*

 3.      Peter (after his restoration)

 

He knelt,

he washed my feet,

even knowing I would betray him,

he washed my feet…

 

…and he loves me,

how he loves me,

forgiving my betrayal…

 

…restoring my place,

as his friend…

 

This is my Lord, my God,

 

and yet he came,

he made himself nothing 
   by taking the very nature of a servant, 
   being made in human likeness. 
 And being found in appearance as a man, 
   he humbled himself 
   by becoming obedient to death— 
      even death on a cross!

 

What manner of King is this?

He is the King of Kings forever!

 

hope.....

 I went down into the village this evening and noticed that a few local shops have decorated up for Christmas...

...and I love it...

There is a sense of anticipation in the emerging Christmas decorations...

So often we see them as negative... but they are more often symbols of hope...

Ask folk about Christmas and they will talk about family, and unity, and hope...

... they will talk about well being and charity...

... they will talk about awareness of others...

WHY???

Maybe Christmas STILL instils a Messianic expectancy within us. We want, we NEED a God who moves amongst us to make things right...

...so maybe we should look towards being invitational rather than confrontational... maybe we should meet hope with hope, even when hope emerges a little prematurely for our liking...

What God is this.... (Lectionary musings. Isaiah 65: 17-25 & Luke 21: 5-19)

As I ponder this weeks scriptures I am very aware of the God I do not want to preach. Commenting on the lectionary readings the folk at Preaching Peace give us a timely reminder:

Year C begins and ends in apocalyptic, Year A will open with it. If apocalyptic is used poorly, it will manifest the need for scapegoats, thus revealing itself as Christian myth. The Left Behind series is a prime example of such thinking, this is a literature full of ‘good violence’ and ultimate scapegoats (people who end up in the hands of a retributive god). Their misrepresentation of the end should not keep us from reading the signs of the times. We might acknowledge that the time may be short but somebody had better tell rapture believers that when the final breakdown of human culture occurs and we humans set ourselves on a one way path to annihilation that the ABBA of Jesus will be with us all to the end.

So often I talk to people who use the Bible as a tool to beat up others and even themselves. They take passage after passage out of context to reveal a twisted caricature of the God of grace, showing instead a warped and vengeful God who hates all but those who manage to walk in his exacting ways! When I read the gospel text for the week although I am faced with Jesus stark and challenging prophecy about the destruction of the temple and the coming persecution, I am also called to engage with his reassurances to his followers and his encouragement to them that they have not been left alone and that if they stick with him they will win through:

It will go from bad to worse, dog-eat-dog, everyone at your throat because you carry my name. You'll end up on the witness stand, called to testify. Make up your mind right now not to worry about it. I'll give you the words and wisdom that will reduce all your accusers to stammers and stutters.

 ^16-19"You'll even be turned in by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. Some of you will be killed. There's no telling who will hate you because of me. Even so, every detail of your body and soul—even the hairs of your head!—is in my care; nothing of you will be lost. Staying with it—that's what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry; you'll be saved. (Luke 21:13-19- The Message)

The commentary from Preaching Peace goes on:

Apocalyptic as an anthropological category means that we can ‘read ourselves’ from the text. It plays to the ‘text reading us’ side of the hermeneutic. Every generation ought to wonder if they are in the last act. Hate and death and war won’t last forever but it will go out with a big bang! Are we ready?

We can read ourselves from the text, so how do we read ourselves in relation to God? Are we terrified of upsetting a vengeful deity, or do we have the confidence to approach a loving grace filled God who bears with our faults, flaws, and mistakes...

Jesus time and again reached out to the outcast, and gave hope to the hopeless...

Surely this is the God we look to and serve, this is the God who loves us unconditionally, this is the God revealed to us in Christ....

This is the God of grace and love, this is the God who says to us:

^17-25"Pay close attention now: 
   I'm creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain 
   are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy. 
   Anticipate what I'm creating....

 

...No more sounds of weeping in the city, 
   no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle, 
   or old people who don't enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal— 
   anything less will seem like a cheat. (Isaiah 65: 17-25- The Message)

Surely this is the God who longs to bless and build up, not to tear down and destroy... even though so often we get it wrong, live violently and destructively God comes to us bringing words of pece, calming our storms and bringing order from our chaos! This is the God of grace and love and peace, who calls us to worship him!

The coming of the King of Glory- a bit of reality....

An excellent video from UCCF:

Winter's on it's way Friday Five (Revgals)

Over at Revgals Singing Owl says: The picture is of my back deck after the first heavy snow last winter. I am looking at the weather forecast with a sigh of resignation. You see, our glorious unseasonable stretch of sunny days is ending and rain mixed with snow is in the forecast. The weather guy actually said, "This is probably the last nice day till spring, folks..." So, I am trying to plan ahead. Help me out, please. When it is cold outside:

1. What is your favorite movie for watching when curled up under a wooly blanket?

It depends on my mood, if I want something light then I quite like some of Disney and Pixar's childrens films. UP is a current favourite, as is the Ice Age series. I also like some of the old classics Like Breakfast at Tiffany's and also recent adaptions of Jane Austins' work, and also Miss Potter... so much choice, but then so many cold days ahead!

2. Likewise, what book?

I like to get a stock of new books to read through the winter; I haven't got a list yet, though I do have a pile of reading to wade through for my Masters... but procrastination strikes again! I do have plans to read through C.S Lewis's Narnia books again though!

3. What foods do you tend to cook/eat when it gets cold?

Soups! I have a freezer full of lovely soups made from our home grown veggies. I also like stews and casseroles, lovely warming comfort foods, not much of one for puddings/ deserts though!

4. What do you like to do if you get a "snow day" (or if you don't get snow days, what if you did)?

I like to get out and walk, there is something amazing about walking in freshly fallen snow, there is a special silence that blankets everything and I love it!

5. Do you like winter sports or outdoor activities, or are you more likely to be inside playing a board game? Do you have a favorite (indoors or out)?

Beyond walking no not really, but I will keep up with my swimming indoors of course to be fit for next spring when the sailing season begins again!

Un-churched....

An interesting Continuing Development in Ministry today here in the York and Hull Methodist District. I am left wondering though. A quick survey showed that  over 80% of those present identified themselves as "Churched" they had been brought up in the faith, Sunday School was important etc...

A further 5-8% identified themselves as De-churched, there was an openness to church for most of them even though it was not a part of their experience from day to day/ week to week.

There were VERY few, well only two or three of us who identified ourselves as un-Churched. No Sunday School, no encouragement to explore faith from our families, no real engagement with Christianity as children...

What does this say about how we approach mission? I often find myself at odds with colleagues who cannot identify with what it might be like not to have always known about God, with what it might be like not to know the fellowship of other believers...

I wonder where this leaves us when we explore mission to an increasingly un-churched  culture...

I have some ideas of course...

But I am just asking!

 

The glory of God revealed...

I now see the glory of God in this...

A testimony to God's grace!

Remembrance/ Veterans Day...

If I am totally honest I struggle with Remembrance Day/ Veterans Day. I struggle to relate, not because I don't care but because I do not understand war...

Both of my grandfathers fought in W.W.2, my husbands grandfather was killed in a submarine, and his son grew up without ever knowing his dad. My father fought in the Suez Crisis but never talked about it, both he and my grandfathers were of the opinion that this stuff was best left behind. I don't remember any of them taking part in Remembrance Day.

I watch the T.V. these days and see again and again reports of young men and women injured or killed in conflict, the cavalcades through Wootton Bassett have become a familiar and harrowing sight. Extended media coverage turned these events into something the whole nation finds itself participating in, we no longer simply know that families are grieving, we are invited to grieve with them. Friends and willing relatives are interviewed, life stories are told, and I wonder what we are creating. Yes each one was unique and loved, but...

I hear statements about just war, and the need for conflict in impossible situations, and although I understand that evil must be overcome I wonder if we ever overcome evil with evil, and cannot see war as anything but evil.

I find myself left with the question, are there greater and lesser evils? And as I contemplate the daily news I begin to realise the complexity that such a question opens out. I am reminded also be stories like this that the casualties of war are not always the obvious ones.

Don't misunderstand me, I am not without gratitude to those who have given their lives to fight for what was right. I simply struggle at times to know what that right is...

Some evils are obvious, the holocaust, and various incidences of genocide are without doubt sad reminders that  the capacity for people to treat other people as sub-human is terrifyingly real. And I agree, that we must not forget.

But we must not forget not only the atrocities that were and still are being carried out, but also the fact that each one of us holds within us a truly scary capacity to perpetrate such atrocities. I am challenged afresh by Jesus words:

"You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill. (Matthew 5: 21-22)

 

So I will lead two acts of Remembrance Sunday Services this week. As I lead them will remind myself and others that violence is only a hairs breadth away, and that I am capable of it..

LORD HAVE MERCY....