No Comparison

I have recently been checking out online grocery shopping, comparing the various supermarkets.  It's strange how they each claim to be cheaper than their rivals and 'prove' it to be so.  I don't quite understand how they can all be cheaper than each other except that of course they don't always compare the prices of everything we buy, only some things - how convenient!  But it is often good to compare as it helps us to make good choices, particularly of how we spend our money.  We are bombarded with adverts about Comparison Sites, whether it be about shopping, insurance, travel etc.  Facts and figures can be very helpful.  There are times, however when league tables and targets can have adverse effects as we have seen in the Health Service and when competing and reaching targets are sought at the expense of quality.  But on the whole, used wisely, the numbers game can be beneficial.

 In other walks of life, comparisons are not so helpful.  People can get into a great deal of debt trying to 'keep up with the Jones'.  They look at other people and what they have, the size of their house, the make of car, where they go on holiday.  This sadly is passed down to the children who compare the latest mobile phone or gadget. They want things that carry designer labels.  All the time they are comparing themselves and competing with others.  Healthy competition is good as we see on occasions like the Olympics and other sports events but can become dangerous when people are driven to eating disorders because they compare what they look like with the false airbrushed images they see in glossy magazines; or when children feel pressurised to be in the top group at school.

Somerset Levels floods 2014

Earlier in the week my attention was brought to a blog written by a weather man who was comparing what had happened in the Somerset Levels and what happened in Yorkshire a few years ago, saying that in the Yorkshire storms many more people were affected.  Living in Somerset I immediately wanted to answer, trying to give a balance to the whole picture.  Other people were comparing what has happened over the winter months because of the storms with what is happening in Syria or other troubled parts of the world where there is war and famine.  Others suggested that our overseas aid should be cancelled in order to give to those here who need financial help.  I began to think about this compulsion to compare and feel that it isn't really helpful.  If people are in need then they are in need regardless of what is happening in other parts or has happened in the past.  People in need, need help wherever, whoever they are and all our comparisons don't change that fact. 



Facts and figures is one thing but whether someone is considered beautiful, better, of value or worthy in some way - can that be decided by comparison?  I'm glad that God doesn't constantly compare me with others.  He doesn't compare us one against the other.  We are each unique even members of the same family, even identical twins.  In His eyes we are each worthy, loved, forgiven.  I want to be the 'me' that God made me to be.     

Where In The World Is He?

People, in general and even some Christians, seem to have confusing ideas about where God is.  Children are often told that God is in Heaven (wherever that is).  'Heaven' is often thought to be somewhere 'up there'.  It's as though God is thought to be someone (or something, depending on whether you have a faith or not) who is much bigger than we mere mortals and so dwells somewhere else other than earth, which is too small to contain Him.  And so comes the dual thinking of God as being 'other' and not part of our world.  It has been asked 'Is God up there, out there, in deep space or beyond?'  Someone once said that God is the beyond in the midst.  I rather like that thought.  It reminds me of the Psalmist who said 'I often think of the heavens your hands have made and of the moon and the stars you put in place.  Then I ask, "Why do you care about us humans?  Why are you concerned about us weaklings?"' (Psalm 8:3,4 The Promise Bible)  And so we have built up confusing theories about where God exists.

People are invited to 'accept God into your heart'.  What that really means is to follow the way of Jesus and accept that He is Lord and Saviour of your life.  But we seem to think of it as having some God space within our very busy lives where we allow God to reside and take His place as Lord.  But we still keep things separate, well ordered and everything in it's place - even God.  We go to the building we call God's House where presumably God lives and spend time with Him on a Sunday morning, in the endeavour to absorb as much as we can to get us through the following week when we are unable to get to His House because of our very busy schedules of daily living.  Scientists have concluded that the part of us that we call our soul is actually in the brain.  So if God lives in our soul then really He is part of our brain.  Maybe that part of our brain controls our religious feelings and tendencies?!

The Bible clearly tells us right from the beginning 'In the beginning God ' - God spoke and all things came into being.  Creation is a result of what and who God is; His DNA is in all things; He is everywhere; we are created in His image; as part of His creation we have His DNA running through us too.  So in a very real sense He is 'the beyond in the midst', not just among us but in us.  We really don't need to sing and pray for Him to 'come down' and be with us - He already is Emmanuel - God with us.  When Jesus said that we are the temples of the living God and that the Spirit dwells in us He was telling us that God is not distant and afar off but as the Psalmist says, He is interested in us and cares about us.  What we do and how we spend our lives does actually matter to Him.  Another Psalm asks 'Where can I go from your presence?'  He is everywhere.  

A rabbi once said that Jews did not speak God's name but breathed it - Yahweh.  He said that as you take in breath you say Yah and as you exhale you say Weh.  In that way every part of your life is lived with God and even with your last breath you are with Him.  You are living God's presence in the simplicity and persistence of breathing.  Breathing is not something we do consciously, at least most of the time.  We are alive so we breathe.  It reminds me of the beautiful song, 'This is the air I breathe, God's holy presence living in me'.  Thinking of God in this way makes the last lines so true 'I'm desperate for you, I'm lost without you'.   You can hear that song here.  So where is God?  Where in the world is He?  He is all around us; He is in us; He is the beyond in the midst; He is in every breath we take; He is the very air we breathe.  Yahweh.  Breathing God. 

Stormy Journey

In the UK we have experienced terrible storms that continue to batter the country.  The news has been full every day just about since Christmas, one storm after another and of the devastation they have caused in many places, particularly the damage that has been done in the southwest of the country.  Many have been flooded out of their homes and businesses have suffered, some losing everything.  Farmers have had to get rid of their livestock as there is no grazing land where they can put them safely.  Crops have been destroyed, trees have been uprooted ... ...  and the list of damage goes on.  Some of the most dramatic pictures that I have seen came from Dawlish on the west coast where the relentless storms and enormous high waves have corroded the cliff edge causing part of the cliff to collapse into the sea and leaving the coastal railway damaged and suspended in the air.  People living in nearby houses have had to be evacuated and put up elsewhere as their road has also been eroded by the force of nature.


The railway line is the main connection between the rest of the country and the furthest southwest tip of the country in Cornwall.  Travelling this route has now become a journey to nowhere.  Those wishing to continue their journey south have to get off the train further up the line and take a bus or some other mode of transport to continue travelling.  There are meetings being held to discuss whether it is feasible to repair the sea wall and road or whether it would make more sense to re-route the railway altogether.  This of course would bring added expense.  Those living in the houses affected by the erosion of the foundations are also contemplating whether they will be able to return to their homes or relocate while their homes are demolished.  Such tragic situations!  Drying out and a lick of paint will not be enough to save them when the foundations have proved to be inadequate.  On the east coast,  the continuous rain has caused landslides and homes have collapsed down the moving earth like a house of cards.  The term 'safe as houses' no longer can be applied to a building as being safe.  Torrential rain and fierce winds seem to make light of humanity's attempts at providing security.


On the Christian journey I have found that foundations that have served me well for many years have become inadequate.  New worship songs or some innovative activity will not solve the problem.  So I have moved out of the place I called my (spiritual) home and found new ways or expressing my faith.  When the journey I am on no longer gets me to where I want to be, then I need to change direction and take another route.  Millions of Christians worldwide have in recent years found the same to be true when the winds of the Spirit began shaking their world.  They have moved out of what had become traditional and organised religion - the 'safe' house.  The goal of oneness with God has not changed. The final destination remains the same but the journey is now taking a different route.

Repair or Replace

We continue trying to put right the things that have been damaged during the winter storms that seem relentless here in Somerset.  Last week the roofers came and mended the roof so hopefully we will no longer have any leakage when it rains.  A few of the tiles had slipped out of place and were quite easily returned and firmly fixed in their allotted spots.  Another tile was completely shattered and had to be replaced.  The engineer has also been to service the boiler and central heating system.  The boiler is a few years old but it is still working well and will be ok for another few years.  That's a relief!

Next it is the turn of the man who is coming to put up a new fence as the other one is now virtually non-existent.  (See photo)  That is of course weather permitting!  On the other side of the garden there was a panel of fencing that had been repaired again and again.  Bits had been added in order to keep it in place but the last storm was just too much and it eventually fell out altogether and is now lying on the grass leaving a great big gaping space into the neighbour's garden.  The sad thing is that as it fell it landed on top of a rather nice variegated holly bush, completely flattening it and snapping it off right from the bottom of its stem.  So I not only lost a part of the fence but also one of my plants.  I don't know if the holly bush will recover - I guess time will tell.  

I'm not one usually for just throwing things out and replacing them with new - not if I can make do and mend.  But sometimes mending is not enough.  Repairing will not do.  Some things need to be replaced.  But how we hang on to things that are no longer useful!  We seem loathe to do away with things that are familiar, even if they no longer serve their purpose.  Replacing things can bring upheaval and more work.  The old needs to be totally got rid of in order to make room for the new replacement.  We can't just nail the new fencing onto the old posts - they are part of the problem as they are no longer firm enough to hold the fence panels in place.  The whole thing including the posts needs to be removed to make room for the new fence.

There are of course life lessons to be learned here too.  How many things do I hang on to out of a sense of comfortable familiarity when I should be replacing them with something that actually serves the purpose - not just in the material things but also in the spiritual.  It can be costly to step out and replace that which no longer serves the purpose but sometimes repairing when we should be replacing can do more harm than good as I learned with my holly plant.  It can be unwise to try and hang on to things that no longer work for us.  Trying to repair and renew just doesn't give the result I need.  Instead of patching up the old, I need to replace it with something else that works for me.  We are told not to put new wine into old wineskins. (Luke 5:37)  Doing what is right for me might cost me and take a bit of courage and effort but well worth it in the end.