Being Jesus

This week I have finished reading another of Jim Palmer's books - Being Jesus in Nashville.  In it he sets out trying to find out what it would be like living in his home town of Nashville daily submitting to the now well-known phrase 'What Would Jesus Do?' WWJD?  Originally he thought that maybe he should start some project or plan to do something special.  When he studied the life of Jesus though he discovered that Jesus didn't set out to implement some plan but just went about his day-to-day living.  He got a bunch of friends to hang out and travel with and helped people he encountered along the way.  So instead of setting up some sort of help group Jim decided to just carry on as normal but always with the WWJD thought in mind.


He used to frequent a particular coffee shop and through regular visits there met a young woman who introduced herself as someone who had been involved with the media and had made a film about homelessness.  Jim was intrigued.  They chatted regularly when they were at the coffee shop.  Jim had for a long time been involved in helping the homeless, helping out at the shelter and donating money.  It was a cause close to his heart.  So it was a surprise when one day his friend revealed that she was homeless.  She went to the coffee shop so that she could use their free wi-fi.  That was her office.  The owner knew her and made sure that she had at least one meal every day.  Jim was a little taken aback as he had in his mind certain ideas about homeless people, what they were like and why they were homeless.  And suddenly here was this woman with whom he had struck up a friendship and she didn't fit into any of the ideas that he had about homeless people.  She still worked within the media setup but did not earn enough to cover a rent and pay for all the utilities, as happens in many countries without any sort of welfare system.  So here she was, a working but homeless young woman.


One day she offered to buy Jim a coffee.  At first his reaction was 'no way'.  How could he accept even such a small gift from someone who was homeless?  Should it not be the other way around - him buying her a coffee?  She insisted that she really wanted to buy him a coffee as a friend.  She then went on to explain that what a homeless person wants most of all is friendship, to feel accepted and not judged, seen as part of the human race and not some 'outsider' who is excluded from ordinary life.  She wanted to have that feeling of self worth being able to carry out the simple gesture of buying a friend a coffee  It's good that people give money or volunteer at a shelter for the homeless or help by giving a meal to a hungry soul but what they crave is real friendship.  People help but at a distance.  It was then that WWJD came to Jim's mind.  Jesus got involved with people.  He spent time with them, talked to them, where they were.  And so Jim realised that being Jesus in Nashville was not so much about helping out (although that is also necessary) as being a friend.


For most of us, I guess, the way we help is by giving money or being involved in some project.  Sadly when this is done through a religious setup it usually involves trying to convert people and getting them to join whatever religious group is carrying out the project. It's almost used as some outreach programme to get people in.  And many are left feeling that out of a sense of gratitude that maybe they should.   What would Jesus do?  Well I don't read anywhere that he insisted that anyone he helped should tag along to their nightly study group or join with them on their journeys.  More often that not he told them to go back home and remember their encounter and what he said and did.  He saw their real need and met it without any obligation on the recipient.  He was being a real friend when they were in trouble.  It's good to give money and get involved in some charitable work.  This is greatly needed in the world we live in.  It seems though that being Jesus in ... (wherever you happen to be) is not about money so much as it is about making someone feel wanted and included, learning about them as people and not just 'some needy soul'.  It's about giving them a sense of value as a human being and self worth.  It's being alongside them and not just about hand outs.  'What a friend we have in Jesus.'  Being Jesus - being a friend.

Identity Theft

The other day I received an email from an online friend (whom I have never actually met in the flesh).  At least that's what it seemed at first until I read the email.  It said that he (supposedly) was in the Ukraine and needed some money if I could help.  Of course the alarm bells sounded and more or less at the same time someone else wrote on his facebook page words to the effect that he also had received a similar email.  The poor soul had had his address book hacked and someone was trying to get money under false pretences saying they were him.  We hear a lot about identity theft and are warned to be on our guard against such scams.  The sad thing is that there are many ordinary people who pretend to be someone or something that they aren't - a kind of identity fraud.  They want you to believe things about them that are just not true.  They put on a 'mask' and appear to be a certain type when deep down their thoughts are quite different.  Or they exaggerate their job description to imply something a little different from the real truth.  It's meant to impress others.

We are adamant that you and I would never do this.  What you see is what you get, as they say.  Sadly I have to admit that taking on the name of Jesus and calling myself Christian has so often fallen short of what Jesus was really like.  The general view of a Christian by a non-religious person is someone who is homophobic, church-going, straight-laced, exclusivist who lives by a lot of rules that start with the word 'don't ...'  They live in their own religious bubble and don't have much idea of what goes on in the 'real' world, or so the thinking goes.  Not someone to have much fun with, a bit miserable really, someone you need to watch what you say when they're around in order to avoid a glare of disapproval.  But the real Jesus that we read about in the Bible was nothing like that at all.  He was known to like a drink of wine (or two, or three), was often invited to people's homes, was open to all regardless of their upbringing, reputation or background.  People travelled to see him and hear what he had to say.  For many he was like a breath of fresh air.  He understood them and always wanted to help.  There was no place he would not go or person to whom he would not speak.  

His friends were a mixed bunch from all walks of life.  They included the calculating tax collector, one who was a bit of a dreamer, the rough fisherman who seemed to lurch from one blunder to another, the quiet thinker, the competitive brothers, one who was a bit of a sceptic and the one whose over-zealous nature trying to force his hand caused the death of Jesus.  So different yet they all hung out together, travelled together, talked and discussed things together.  Some may have been quite observant of their Jewish religious traditions but others were most definitely not that religious at all.  I have to consider honestly just how many people I can count as real friends (not just acquaintances) who are not Christian.  Many Christians don't have any close friends who are outside of their particular church group let alone outside of the religion altogether.  It's very much the scenario of 'us and them'.  Those 'outside' are even referred to as 'in the world'.  They are not included.  How different from how Jesus related to people.   

  
Jesus said that he had come to serve, telling his disciples that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.  Oh dear!  How we exalt the big names in preachers or worship leaders.  The well known ones attract the crowds as they flock to hear them preach, almost to the point of idol worship.  (Reminds be of young fans going to see their favourite pop idol)  They are put on pedestals and regarded almost as 'the untouchables' - until they are caught out doing something wrong, that is and then they are thrown on the scrap heap of religious has-beens.  We still struggle to really accept that in God's kingdom there is no hierarchy.  There are no reserved places at his table.  All really are equal in his sight.  The person who cleans the hall is as important as the best known preacher.  Yet how often we judge people by the size of their congregation or following and those who have more 'followers' are deemed more successful.  I have seen people more impressed with someone who has a degree or title than someone who doesn't as though having been to university somehow qualifies you as a 'better' sort of Christian.  (I'm not against a university education but we must not confuse education and knowledge with spirituality and following Jesus.  They are two different things) Friendship is so often sought more with the well-heeled, well-spoken person with a certain lifestyle than a poor manual worker struggling to make ends meet.  Yet Jesus said that as the prophet Isaiah foretold, he had come to bring good news to the poor.  Everyone is  welcome, not in a patronising way but as friends.

There are many more aspects of Jesus' life that we could think of but this is enough for the moment for us to really consider deeply, personally and honestly.  So in retrospect we need to consider and ask ourselves  Am I really a follower of Jesus?  Am I reflecting through my life just what God is like?  Can people see God's love shining through my day-to-day living?  Am I taking his name in vain?  Do I call myself Christian, take his identity, saying that I'm like him but not taking on board some of the fundamental things that he taught and lived?  Have I committed spiritual identity theft?      

Some Hope!

Some hope!  When we hear that expression used, it often means that actually there is no hope as opposed to some hope.  It's like saying 'there's no chance that will happen'.  When we look at various situations in the world where there is so much pain and poverty, we could easily be forgiven for thinking that there is no hope for some people.  All efforts seem futile, especially if we're not in some position of authority where we can actually make a difference.  Some things are just beyond our control or our sphere of influence.  The problem is that when we think that we cannot make a difference on a world scale then it's pointless to try to make a difference anywhere.  So we just retire to our own little bubble and let the world go by.  I'm not suggesting that we should become an 'activist', join demonstrations or lobby members of parliament.  Not everyone feels they want to write to someone in authority to complain and often we have the idea that they wouldn't take any notice anyway so what's the point.


You know when a child falls and hurts themselves?  How often have we looked all sorry for them and promised to make it better.  We bend down and kiss the part that hurts declaring that now it's mended, the pain's gone and the tears stop flowing.  We know of course that a kiss doesn't actually heal the physical hurt (unless scientists come up with the theory that human saliva has healing properties) but the fact that you stopped doing what you were doing, paid attention and were prepared to sympathise made the child feel much better.  They were no longer suffering on their own.  Someone had bothered that they were hurting.  Part of the problem in society is that we are so busy doing stuff that we don't have time to spend just listening and sympathising with those who hurt when really that is what they need most.  It has been said that so often in a conversation, we listen only to think of what our reply will be when sometimes we need to just listen and let the other person offload their problems, share their situation with someone.  They don't always need you to find a solution, they just want to be heard or recognised and accepted.  

Making a difference doesn't need to be in terms of some mission far away in another country (unless of course you feel that is what you need to be doing).  Neither is it necessarily about being committed or involved in some project.  So the question is 'How can I make a difference where I am?'  Do you know your neighbours?  When was the last time you stopped and had a conversation with them, not just passing the time of day?  Do you disagree with some of the things that big corporations want to inflict on us?  Have you thought about signing a petition?  The more people who show they disagree, can have some effect.  Nowadays sharing things on social media can have long reaching results and has the potential to really make a difference. Is there a community centre where you live?  Or some charity you could give some time volunteering with or doing a charity run or walk or the like?  Do you go to any activity or meeting that is not connected to your particular church or faith centre?  Do you have any friends who are not connected to the religion you follow?  The answer really is - get out of the box, move out of your bubble.  There is a world out there that is desperate for someone just to listen and maybe lend a helping hand.  It's amazing the difference you will make just by saying, 'can I help?', or 'I can do that if you want.'  There has recently been a photo that went viral of a young police constable who helped to carry the shopping bags of an old man and accompanied him to his house.  What a shame that such things go viral because they are becoming more unusual and things like that happen less frequently.  We can reverse the trend and make the positive things happen more often.  

I read the other day words by the Dalai Lama from his Little Book of Wisdom entitled 'For the Good of All':

Even if only a few individuals try to create mental peace and happiness within themselves and act responsibly and kindheartedly towards others, they will have a positive influence in their community.

We tend to think that things work by trickling down from the top towards those at the bottom when actually it works the other way round.  When those on the bottom, the ordinary, everyday, move and are noticed making a difference then it influences those in higher places of authority. I finish with this video I saw the other day that caught my attention.  It is a very good lesson in that even the smallest can make a difference to the big picture.

You don't need to understand the science behind it in order for it to have an effect.  Never consider that what you do won't make a difference.  It can.  You will.  Be the answer.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere I go.  Shops have had their festive decorations up for quite some time.  Every time you go into town you can see people carrying boxes, wrapping paper and all things to do with the Christmas season.  As far as I am concerned, the cards have been bought and written - well most of them anyway.  Some need to be posted early to go abroad, others to different parts of the UK and others I can deliver by hand locally.  Presents are either bought or ordered.  Some are already wrapped but still quite a lot to do.  Tomorrow (Sunday) is the first Sunday of Advent.  The last day of November is when I usually sort out the tree and decorations ready to be in place for the 1st of December.  So I guess you could say 'it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas'.  Or is it?  At least it's like what we in the west have made it become.

It's actually nothing like the very first Christmas.  How different!  There was no tinsel or decorations, no turkey dinner with family, no relaxing and being entertained.  The King of Kings was not surrounded by servants or lived in a palace with all the comforts of the hierarchical, rich lifestyle of those in authority.  Paul in his letter to the Philippians describes it as God emptying himself into the physical, human presence of his son.  This emptying was expressed by being born illegitimately to a young teenager in a place that was kept for the animals.  No family or friends to visit and celebrate.  Instead he was visited by lowly workers doing the night shift and foreigners who probably didn't even speak the same language as Mary and Joesph.  The subsequent years of his infancy were spent as a refugee, an asylum seeker, an immigrant in a foreign land.  He knew from experience what it was like to be hungry and a stranger and to be fed and accepted and taken in.  He had lived life in the lowly margins of society.  He emptied himself until there was no more to give.  

Having said all that, I do love Christmas and I love to celebrate as we do now with decorations, great food and exchanging of presents with loved ones.  And I don't suggest for one minute that we should stop doing that.  Be happy, enjoy time with family and friends, taste the good food, relax and enjoy the break but spare a thought for those who maybe have to work over the holidays.  Be thankful for what we have but remember that there are some who don't have a place to stay or family to share Christmas dinner with.  Some people now, instead of sending and posting Christmas cards, are giving the money they would have spent on that to a charity in order to help feed the hungry or give a bed to the homeless.  I must admit that I haven't done that, (I like the idea of greeting friends with a card) but I admire those who do. 

An activity that many engage in over the months leading up to Christmas is the filling of a shoebox with goodies to send to a child in some far away place.  This week I read of a young Filipino girl who 14 years ago received a shoebox at Christmas sent from a young boy in America through the very well known Operation Christmas Child scheme.  She was so grateful for that gift that she later tried to contact the boy to thank him.  She was unsuccessful but later in life, she was able through the social media to make contact with him .  Their friendship grew until recently they got married and for wedding presents they requested that people donate shoeboxes for the charity to continue the work that had brought them together.  You can read the full story here.

I guess that to make it really look like Christmas, we should enjoy the festivities but also give something of ourselves, empty out a little of the much that we have in order to help others, a kind of antidote to the madness of Black Friday.  That is the real message of Christmas and what God meant Christmas to look like.  'Insomuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me.'  Emmanuel - God emptying himself into every walk of life for all people everywhere.  That really is something to celebrate!


   

Everywhere, All The Time

This week I can't seem to get away from the fact that God is everywhere, all the time - maybe because He IS everywhere, all the time.  I guess the thought process really began last week when an online friend blogged about breathing God.  He talked about the Hebrew word for God, Yahweh, and how that really referred to breathing so that even just breathing you were actually saying the word Yahweh.  If you have 2-3 minutes you can read his blog entry by clicking here.  It is the post dated 6th November entitled Breathing.  The point I'm making is that all life breathes all the time wherever it finds itself.  In the beginning God breathed life into the universe, His breath, His presence into everything.  No life exists without His living breath and presence within it.  


Then this week another friend shared on Facebook the picture opposites saying in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson that wise people see miracles in ordinary things.   It seems to me that we tend to go looking here, there and everywhere for some expression of the power of God when He's all around us in the ordinary, everyday life.  I have often mentioned and will always be amazed at the cycle of nature and the seasons.  The very variety and detail of creation is astounding and documentaries seem to come up with new things all the time.  Some people have a tendency to imply that God can be found only in certain places or certain situations or certain times as though you need to go through some formula (usually involving special music, readings or prayers) of conjuring up His presence, even asking Him to come and be with us when God Himself clearly says that He is in all thing all the time.  Jesus also told us that the Holy Spirit is within us.


A couple of days ago the thoughts on God being everywhere continued when I read the daily meditation of Richard Rohr.  He is a Roman Catholic Franciscan priest whose daily meditations give much food for the soul.  You can subscribe to receive his daily thoughts on the website here and enter your details at the right hand side to subscribe.  He quotes Boniface when he says, 'By God's power, presence and essence, God is the one whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.  God exists uncircumscribed in everything.' meaning that God is everywhere.  Boniface goes on to say:

God is therefore all inclusive.  God is the essence of everything.  God is most perfect and immense within all things but not enclosed, outside all things but not excluded, above all things but not aloof, below all things but not debased.  Finally therefore, this God is all in all ... ... Consequently from Him, through Him and in Him, all things exist.



He is so powerful, He is everywhere at all times.  He is so spectacular, He makes so many miracles look like ordinary.  His presence is alive in every breath of every life form.  God is in everything and everything is in God.  It's time to stop searching here, there and everywhere.  Wherever I am, He is.  Or as St. Francis said 'The whole world is our cloister'.  As long as I breathe, He is within me.  Or as the song says, 'This is the air I breathe, your holy presence living in me.'   He is Yahweh, the I AM, the ever present breath of life, everywhere, all the time.

Making Space

It's that time of year when the nights are closing in and the temperature begins to drop a few degrees, when we need to make sure that everything is ready to withstand the winter and whatever bad weather it throws at us.  The trees are shedding their leaves and it's time to trim back, get rid of dead flowers and branches and generally tidy up and sort out in the garden.  For me, part of that preparation for winter has been to give the garden sheds and fence their annual top-up coat of paint/creosote.  This year I've been doing some sorting out in the sheds.  Oh dear, how we accumulate 'stuff', a lot of which I really don't know why it's there. It's so easy to just take something we don't really use much and shove it in the shed, out of sight, out of the way.  At the bottom of our garden we have a very old brick bunker/shelter, possibly used during the war for a family to keep safe(r) during air raids.  When we moved into the house 5 years ago, the shelter had quite a few old doors, wooden posts and other bits and pieces in it.  A couple of weeks ago a very good friend and neighbour from down the street (Pete Davies for those who know him) and his teenage son (Ben) cleared it all out for me .  So that set me off to clear out our other sheds and declutter.


It's amazing just what you find when you have a clearout.  I discovered a small garden hand fork that I had totally forgotten about.  It had been a gift from a friend when we moved in here and was part of a set with secateurs and small trowel.  It was special for me as after years of living in an upstairs flat, where on opening the door to go out, you saw stairs, now I could open the door and see a garden.  I use the secateurs and trowel but can't remember the last time I used the fork - years probably.  The truth is that some things that we think are lost are not really lost at all, they are just abandoned and forgotten underneath a pile of clutter.  When we begin to move things and get rid of all the carefully kept rubbish that we have accumulated, we can come across something we thought had gone forever but all the time it was just waiting there for us to rediscover its whereabouts.

What a difference a declutter makes!

On property programmes they often tell clients that it is best to declutter if they want to sell their homes more quickly.  The truth is that potential buyers want to see the house and not the present owner's personal clutter or family history depicted in photos.  They want to visualize how they would fit in and how they would adapt it to their own needs.  On a spiritual level. many people express that same thought when they say that they want God/Jesus but not the church.  Just like the potential house buyer, they are really not interested in all our personal religious add-ons of our particular preferred expression of faith.  Just like in the bible verse when some people approached one of the disciples saying, 'We would see Jesus'.  Really people just want God and not have to accept all the other bits that some religious people seem to think is a part of God.  They present the gospel as a package deal, you can't have God without all the extra do's and don'ts.  And frankly, they're not buying. 

Over the past few years I have had much spiritual clutter that I have got rid of in order to see God more clearly.  Some people like to live in clutter.  That's not necessarily wrong but it can often cover something that we need or have been looking for.  Much of the spiritual stuff that we accumulate is actually other peoples stuff that is not necessarily what I need or want. and I need to see God for myself, not through the eyes of someone else.  If my relationship with Him is personal as we all claim it to be, then it must be my relationship and not just a copy or cloned duplicate of how someone else tells me it should be.  And so I continue to declutter my life and rediscover treasures.  Less is more - less religious 'clutter' and more God.  We have much to consider and learn from creation and on a regular basis 'declutter' the bits that no longer serve the purpose, discard them and make way for new growth in a new season.

Mam Said ...

My sister has recently made contact with a lady who used to live near to us when we were all growing up.  That started us reminiscing about her and her family.  One day, the lady who lived 3 doors away from us (the said lady's mother) came and knocked on the door of our home.  She wanted to talk to Mam.  She was obviously upset about something.  Mam invited her in, put the kettle on and 'suggested' to us that we should go outside or upstairs and do something.  We knew that that meant that we were not to be around when they were talking adult stuff!  The woman's young teenage daughter (who had recently contacted my sister)) had told her that she was pregnant, and I'm talking about the late 50s early 60s - not at all acceptable!  Mam sat and listened.  They drank tea and talked for quite a while before the woman went back to her house a little less stressed.  That young teenage daughter, now more than 50 years on, is a mother and grandmother and still very happily married to her childhood sweetheart.  The thing about Mam was that our home was open to anyone who needed help, whoever they were.  My sister and I smiled at the thought that she probably knew some intimate secret about most of our neighbours who had at some point confided in her.  She didn't preach at people or spout Bible verses at them, didn't invite them to accompany us to church on Sunday, didn't even criticise them and never repeated a confidence.  Whenever we made some snide comment about anyone, her reply was always, 'God loves everybody and so should we.  It's not our place to judge.  Our job is to help.'  She didn't just believe in God's all-embracing love, she lived it.

The death of Atahualpa, ruler of the Incas

The news recently has had much to concern us about terrorism, kidnappings and persecution.  Many are sharing thoughts and prayers for Christians who are in such a position in Iraq, and rightly so.  How dreadful that they should be threatened with death just because they don't want to accept the religious biases of their captors.  I couldn't help thinking though about many centuries ago when Christians did the same thing.  We are often reminded of the crusades and how still today they are remembered by many but we sometimes forget about the persecution of those of other faiths during the Spanish Inquisition and hardly ever think about the thousands of Incas who were slaughtered because they couldn't understand the Trinity and didn't want to embrace Christianity.  They were a peace loving race of people who had a very good way of life when they were suddenly invaded by a people who had travelled thousands of miles across the ocean, killing and stealing as they went.  All who didn't accept their way of Christianity were mercilessly annihilated.  The verse 'he who is without sin let him cast the first stone.' comes to mind.  


I am not saying that we shouldn't be concerned and intercede for those we love, those who belong to our particular religious group.  Of course we should.  But sometimes I think it is easy to feel that somehow God is more concerned about Christians than others.  We often don't give a second thought about a situation unless some westerner or Christian is involved as though somehow it's not as bad if someone from another religion is suffering but woe betide if it happens to a Christian!  Let us be clear, God is not a Christian.  God is God.  God doesn't love Christians more than he loves anyone of another religion.  It's like, yes, but God leans more in favour of Christians than other religions surely.  After all we accept his son as Saviour, others don't.  The story of the Prodigal Son tells us differently.  God loves all whether we accept his ways or not, remain within his household or reject him.  We are all equal in the eyes of God and he never stops loving us, no matter what.  Jesus cried out to God to forgive those who killed him.  God is Love, all-encompassing and unconditional Love.  Of course He hates the persecution of Christians.  He also hates the persecution of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists or any other religious group.  People suffer persecution for many reasons.  How many times have we heard of  a young woman being killed to restore some idea of 'family honour' when she didn't want to marry the man of her parents' choice?  The 200 young schoolgirls are still missing in Nigeria, taken into captivity just because they were female and seeking to be educated and going to school.  Homosexuals are being killed in parts of the world just because of their sexuality.  There are those who are persecuted because of their nationality/tribe or shunned and left to die because of some disability.

God's love is all-embracing,  all-inclusive, unconditional.  I ask God that he will help me to not be narrow-minded, thinking only of my own particular religious group but

to see all people as he sees them,  be concerned for all his creation, wherever they are and pray for all who are persecuted for whatever reason.  As Mam said, 'God loves everybody and so should we.' 

Talking My Language

This week I have watched a couple of absolutely fascinating programmes about 'talking to the animals'.  Through modern technology we are now able to decipher many of the noises made by animals.  Researchers have discovered that what they thought were simple grunts and shouts of (possibly) fear at the approach of some danger, are actual sounds relating to particular situations and the sounds change depending on the form of danger or situation - they are actual words in animalspeak.  Some creatures are even 'bilingual', understanding the particular sounds made by an entirely different species.  Other creatures that were thought to make no sound at all but only gestures have been found to use sounds that the human ear cannot hear.  I won't bore you with all the details of all the discoveries (if you missed it and are interested, you can catch up on BBCiPlayer) but I will mention the amazing Honey Guide bird that has conversations with the people of the Masai Mara.  The bird knows the exact spot of the bee hive but can't retrieve the honey because of all the bees - their stings would prove fatal for such a small bird - but it knows that the men of the Masai Mara have ways of getting to the honeycomb.  The bird communicates with the tribesmen with a particular call that is used only for the purpose of contacting humans.  The men call back with the same call and follow the bird until it leads them to the hive.  They get the honeycomb which they then share with the bird by way of a 'thank you'.  Amazing!  We talk about 'dumb animals' but it seems that the ones who have been dumb are us humans in believing that they can't and don't communicate with other creatures within their own species and with those of other species.

We can look at some people and judge them to be a bit OTT and noisy when they might actually be hiding behind a front to disguise the deep loneliness that is their reality.  Someone who can appear stand-offish and keeping themselves at a distance might really be afraid of getting too close to someone.  They may have been hurt too many times in the past and now don't trust either their own judgment or the words of anyone else.  They just don't want to go through the experience of being judged or misunderstood yet again so they prefer not to mix too much.  If someone is a bit grumpy, they might not be bad tempered but be feeling taken for granted and unappreciated when all they want to do is strive to please those around them.  So taking a tip from the research into animal speak, maybe we should listen carefully to the sounds instead of judging too quickly.  Why are they the way they are?  Why do they say the things they say?  What do the sounds and actions really mean?

When we say that someone is talking our language, what we mean is that they understand where we're coming from.  They not only hear the sound of our words but know exactly what we mean.  We feel that they can relate to us in a way that goes deeper than sound.  Befriending in this way takes time and effort.  The programmes took 2 hours to share with the general public but the actual research has taken years.  An article can be read in a few minutes or a sermon can be preached in half an hour (some more, some less) but really getting to know and understand a person's deep longings and needs takes much longer.  It takes observation, continuous contact and a willingness to really listen, not just to the words that are spoken but also to what is not said.  People are often silently crying out in their pain, loneliness and unhappiness but how often we just hear words but don't understand their language.  They are in need for someone to talk their language, know what makes them tick and understand what they are really communicating.  

This is not done through big gatherings but on one-to-one.  It is possible to talk to a load of people all at the same time but really getting to know them and what they are saying is a different ballgame.  You can sit in the garden or the park and listen to all the bird songs but identifying each individual bird and knowing what each separate call signifies is completely different.  It is comforting, refreshingly reassuring and in a sense liberating when someone knows exactly what you mean, when they talk your language.  Listening and not just hearing, seeking to understand instead of dismissing out of hand, that's the key to learning another language.  I pray for a world full of linguists. 

Mixed Feelings - That's Ok

Contrasting thoughts, the ups and downs of life, you win some you lose some, disappointment and happiness, painful wounds and joyful celebration, feelings that most people have much of the time.  This week we have been very happily eating the strawberry crop from our garden which this year is abundant.  Some things I planted have progressed well while others have not.  The potatoes and tomatoes are doing great, some carrots are growing while others - nothing!.  The peas and peppers have been quite badly eaten by something - snails and ants probably, despite putting out preventative measures.  I was wondering why it is that snails and ants never seem to go for the weeds in the garden but always enjoy devouring things that I have planted and which we hoped to eat ourselves.  They say that thrushes and blackbirds eat snails so I thought maybe I should put up a notice in bird language, 'Free snail feast here! Chirp, chirp'.  I know, I know, all are God's creatures and all that but quite honestly I don't feel the same towards the snails that eat my plants as I do towards the bees that pollinate them.  Selfish of me I know.  Mixed feelings - disappointment and happiness. 

This afternoon I am going to a wedding.  It's more than seven years now since my friend separated and finally divorced from her husband.  My mind went back to those days of trauma and upset.  He moved out and she kept the house so she said that in all fairness he could take what he wanted.  I had said that for that first weekend when he left, I would stay over with her so she wouldn't be alone.  That first night we slept on the floor - he had taken the bed!  Earlier that evening we had gone to the local chippy for comfort food and we sat there for some time in the restaurant part of the shop. We went there as it was just something we didn't have to make ourselves or clear up afterwards.  She talked and I listened.  We did that quite a lot, her talking and me listening.  But today she is getting married again - a very nice man, loving and caring.  Actually they had a quiet wedding at the registry office earlier in the year and wanted to invite their friends to their home for a blessing and a time of sharing together now the better weather is here.  Mixed feelings - painful wounds and joyful celebration.



You may say, that's life, and so it is.  What really bugs me though is when so-called well-meaning individuals come out with things like, 'All things work together for good to those who love God', 'Time is a great healer', It'll seem altogether different in the morning'.  These words are probably all true but ... ... the thing is that when you are actually going through some disappointment or trauma the last thing you want is for someone to come out with something like that.  Actually what you really feel like doing is shouting at them 'Just shut up!  Life sucks and I feel like crap!'  Oh my goodness, you can't say that!  But if we're really honest that's what we would like to say.  If you sometimes feel like that, don't worry.  You're in good company.  The good news is that we can get angry with God and He takes it.  If you're not sure about that then read the Psalms.  They are full of people who blurt out their anger at God.  The writer of Ecclesiastes says 'So I hated life ... ... All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.'  Hey, even Jesus at his crucifixion felt abandoned by God and shouted out questioning why God had left him to die alone.

Life is a bundle of mixed feelings and that's ok.  It's the same for everyone and if anyone tries to say differently I for one would take what they say with a pinch of salt.  They may smile (rather condescendingly) and quietly say , 'Don't worry'  or offer some other unhelpful advice but that doesn't really help.  If anyone is hurting you don't have to find an answer to their problems. Just walk with them for a while so they're not on their own.  God can take it and He will sort it in His own way and time.  Here's to life - with all its ups and downs.

Roots and Community

I've been thinking these past few days about our roots and community.   Some friends have been visiting my neck of the woods - the northeast of England, where I was born and lived until my early twenties.  They have been visiting all the touristy places - well why else do you go on holiday?  They went one day to the living open air museum at Beamish.  The man was explaining about the mines and how the coal was retrieved and bagged etc.  Because of the broad Geordie accent particularly of miners (known locally as Pitmatic), there was a misunderstanding in what he said - it made me laugh.  It took my mind back to my childhood as my father was a miner for years until ill health caused through coal dust on the lungs and a serious stroke forced him to retire early.  He died at only 69 years of age.  I remember visiting friends who worked with him down the mine in the small mining village of Backworth and how everyone knew everyone else and the whole community was there for each other.  Those days are long gone - the mines are no longer producing coal and such village life is not so usual any more.

This was reinforced this week as we remembered those who had died in the terrible accidents in the mines of Wales and there were photos of the whole village being out, helping each other in their time of need.  Such community spirit of those by-gone days!  How many of us (and I include myself) know the names of those who live in our street or even a few doors away from us?  What do we know of their struggles or problems?  Sadly these days there seems to be an unwritten code of 'keep yourself to yourself'.  I know that life has changed and we no longer live the way we used to.  Many are very private and don't wish to share things with others.  But it seems a shame that we have lost something of that community spirit in the interests of 'progress'.

We hear of community work and think of projects where people go into communities and carry out activities for the children or elderly in order to give them something to do to occupy them.  I'm not saying this is wrong - it is commendable there are those who are concerned enough to actually do something about it.  But it isn't really being in the community - it's more like visiting the community with our plans to 'do some good' and then going back to our, often more privileged world.  Sadly it's more likely to get a reaction about being do-gooders who haven't really got any idea how the other half live.  

Many groups of Christians are known as Community churches, possibly because they consider themselves to be in and part of the community where they live.  However, many of them go each Sunday and 'commune' together and then go home.  I ask, does meeting together in small groups during the week really make us a community?  When the early Christians met together it was out of a real sense of need for each other's encouragement  in difficult times.  That's why Paul says that we shouldn't stop meeting together - we need each other's support, being a real community.  Community is living alongside each other, knowing what the other is going through because we have also experienced it.  It's not always about coming out with the appropriate verse of scripture or repeating what we feel we ought to say but it's more about just being there, crying together if that is what is needed.  The Lord's Supper shouldn't be about a small wafer or mouthful of bread and a sip of wine but sharing a meal and chatting together, really getting to know each other and being friends, regardless of sexual orientation, religious views, education or social standing.  

I remember many years ago in Buenos Aires being at a meeting with the then Assemblies of God minister Juan Carlos Ortiz and he was telling us that a lady in his church group had gone two consecutive evenings to hear him preach.  He asked her why she had come again and she said that she loved to hear him preach to which he replied, 'You shouldn't be here every night.  If you were here yesterday, today you should be at home inviting your neighbour round for a barbeque.  I don't want to see you at every meeting.  You hear me preach one night and then you go home and live what you've heard.'  Or to put it another way, from a blog I read this week - 'being the church and choosing community is more than small groups on Wednesday nights: community is doing life with the people living next door to you.'  And another quote from the same blog - 'come out of cocoons and commune.' (Taken from Ann Voscamp's blog A Holy Experience)

It's good to remember our roots - it helps us to understand so much more about ourselves.  We may have moved on from those days but it would be a great shame if we lose the real sense of community in the pursuit of progress and modern living.

What a harvest!

I have been inspired this week by two particular blogs.  The first by Sarah who writes about harvest; how she remembers celebrating the harvest festival in her post 'Harvest in a tin' and asks how can we relate to it today?  The second was by a lady called Jamie who considers how we often seem to be thinking that things will be 'Better when'.  We seem to pin our hopes in the future instead of enjoying the present.


It's true, as Sarah says, that most of us who live in towns don't really relate to harvest as being produce that we have nurtured from seed.  How many can truthfully say 'we plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land'?  I know my friends Jo and Ian in Latvia can but most of us reading this won't.  Many have moved away from the traditional celebration with fruit and vegetables displayed on a long table.  In modern times many congregations opt to bring tinned food for the celebration so that it can later be given to food banks and help the homeless and those who are unable to provide for their families.  Financially things are not as we would like and we need to count our pennies more than ever.  We no longer have the luxury of eating out occasionally but on the other hand we have never gone without a meal or needed help from a food bank, not like many others in the UK and in other parts of the world.  And so at this harvest time I thank God for His continual provision.

We are hearing much in the media these days about the National Health Service.  The great thing is that it is free at the point of need.  Ok, you may say that nothing is free; everything must be paid for at some point by someone.  It is true of course that all my working life, I like all other workers in Britain, have put my required share into the system each month.  While I worked I was fortunate in my health so didn't need to use the NHS as much as some people might - although I cannot say that I never went to the doctor's!  But now in my more senior years I do need regular medication to help me live with the physical failings that seem to be part of getting older - and as an OAP my prescriptions are free.  What I need is there when I need it without worrying about how much it's going to cost me.  What a blessing!

The other day while in the garden I saw a beautiful butterfly.  I love butterflies.  I think that most gardeners don't like what they have evolved from - caterpillars.  The caterpillars seem to love to eat everything that we want to eat.  But I'm reminded that the birds also love to eat the caterpillars and nurture their young on such treats.  So as I love butterflies and enjoy having the birds visit my garden, I guess I need to have the caterpillars - as long as they don't eat too much!  To get back to the butterfly I saw the other day - a rare sight now in October - it was just resting on the trunk of a tree, wings open, soaking in the benefits of the autumn sun.  (See photo) Such a sight is priceless.  I don't need a load of money in order to enjoy such a beautiful creature.  I stayed for a few minutes just watching it and realising how little time I just sit and enjoy the blessings of the moment, not worrying about the future or what if ... ... Soak up the pleasure of now!

So although harvest isn't maybe what it used to be, I have been considering all the blessings I do have. 
I am fortunate enough to have a pc and access to the internet in order to shop, browse, learn and communicate with friends and family. 
Harvest time/autumn is a wonderful time of the year bursting with incredible colours, especially in the trees as in this beautiful photo. 
I have two wonderful sons and a very inclusive extended family. 
I woke up this morning grateful that I have another day full of possibilities.  I take my tablets and carry on doing all the things I enjoy doing.  
Things may be better when ... ... as Jamie reminded me but right now I have much to thank God for.  I am taking great pleasure in the now moment - a bountiful harvest of countless blessings.

Adapting to change

We have had a few changes this week.  Over last weekend we learnt that our next door neighbour had moved out.  It was a surprise as no-one seemed to be aware of it until some men were there emptying the house of things that she hadn't wanted to take with her.  She was a single mother who had personal problems and although she had 6 children, she herself was rarely seen outside so it was difficult to really get to know her.  We are now waiting to see who our new neighbours will be and what they are like.  It is a 3 bedroom house so we expect a family with children.  It will be interesting to see if friendships develop at some point in the future.



The other day the man who has helped me with the large back garden for the past couple of years delivered the news that at the end of October, at the end of the season, he will be giving up that particular job as he is training to be a coach driver.  He hopes to start his new job in November.  We have quite a good sized lawn and knowing that he comes regularly and keeps it under control, is a great help and relief.  For the rest I manage to potter about and see to fruit and vegetables and tend the flower beds.  So come the spring, when things begin growing again, I will have to reconsider whether I'll be able to manage it all on my own or look for someone else to help.  Who knows, our new neighbour might be just the person!


Last Saturday my son started a new part-time job - 12 hours a week as a cleaner at an Express branch of a large supermarket.  He works 2 hours a day for 6 days, starting at 5.30 in the morning.  Fortunately it is within a 5 minute walk from our home but it still means a very early start to the day.  My plan was to continue sleeping and get up when he returns but as I am aware of him moving about, I am usually wide awake by the time he goes out at 5.15 am.  I have found it a very good time of the day to read, iron, catch up on Facebook (or my blog) or just think and organise my day.  Yesterday was his day off (although eventually he will get a Sunday off) and it felt as though I had a good lazy start to the day - I slept until 6 am!



Choices that we make for ourselves often means some change in our daily routine.  The thing in all these situations is that sometimes things happen in our lives because of the choices of other people that need some adaptation on our part to the new circumstances.  I have no control over when other people move house or change jobs but their choices can affect me in some way.  Life is continually evolving and we have to sometimes change direction in order to compensate and cope with the change.  This week I also received the latest newsletter from Martin and Gayle Scott.  He was commenting on things that had changed and people with whom he had connected who had since moved to another country.  The comment that caught my attention was - 

Our strong encouragement is ... not to focus so much on what has been but to look to see where and to whom he (God) wants to connect you.

It's such a temptation and pull to stay comfortable and stick with what we're used to.  We're fine just as we are, thank you!  But in life, the reality is that things keep changing and evolving and we have to move and adapt to the changes - whether physical, emotional or spiritual.  Here's to change!

Honesty

Every other weekend my nephew has the pleasure of having his lovely 3 year old son to stay with him and his mother at their home.  Oliver is a typical 3 year old, full of curiosity and the innocence of a child becoming aware of new experiences daily.  You can almost see his little brain working as he processes new things, growing and learning with each new encounter.  He always enjoys his food as the photo clearly shows - he is in ecstasy enjoying the delights of some chocolate cake.  He especially likes vegetables - not always so common in small children.  His Grandma (my sister) had made a lovely rice pudding to have after dinner.  Oliver tried a spoonful and then just sat looking at it, not wanting to eat any more.  His Dad, Darren, told him, 'well tell Grandma what you want then Oliver', to which he replied, 'I want pudding ... ... a nice one!'  Aahh!!    The honesty of children.  There was no real problem with the rice pudding - the granddaughter enjoyed it and others ate it but Oliver just didn't like it.  I guess that goes for most of life -  we are all so different, some liking some things while others not. 

A day out at the zoo with Grandma.

What I liked about this anecdote when I heard it was the fact that Oliver felt so comfortable and safe in his relationship with his dad and grandma that he didn't have a problem in saying exactly what he wanted.  He wasn't afraid that maybe if he said the wrong thing that he would be told off or punished.  He loves spending time at their home and has no problem when his mother leaves him there.  And yet how often when we talk with Father God do we choose our words carefully; we seem to use a special 'God/prayer' language; some words we wouldn't dream of using, even if we use them frequently in daily conversation with others.  It's as though we feel we need to be on our best behaviour - after all we want to make a good impression and not give God the wrong idea  - as though He didn't already know exactly what we're like.  It really is ok to tell God how we really feel - He's big enough.  He can take it!  When Jesus says we must be as little children, I like to think that includes their openness and honesty.  And there's a lot to be said for being so comfortable and safe in our relationship with Him that saying it as it really is, isn't a problem.

I also saw this picture on a friend's status on Facebook this week.  It was actually an article about a newspaper (not in the UK) saying how it distorts things and ends up telling untruths.  I found it a very powerful illustration of how we can so easily get caught up in one part of our Christian living, focussing on a few, specially chosen verses of the Bible instead of looking at the whole picture.  The danger about homing in on one particular aspect (say sexuality, worship, creation, end times ...) is that we lose sight of the bigger picture of God.  These things have their place but are only part of the big picture.  Again I think it's about being honest to God, ourselves and each other about how we really feel and think and not just what we have been told or feel we ought to comply with in order to fit in with our particular congregation.  I think that feeling comfortable with being really honest also applies to the Christian family we choose to be part of.  Let's not distort the good news of God's gospel by focussing on only one small part of it and maybe giving a totally erroneous idea.

We think that we are teaching our children but actually they are teaching us - quite a lot if we let them.

Departments of Life

The thing about large department stores is that you can do a varied shop all under one roof once you know where the different departments are.  The annoying thing, however, is when some manager decides that it would be better to change things around.  This happens especially in supermarkets.  You go in knowing where you want to head for and when you get there, the thing you want is no longer there - it has been moved!  Aarrgh!!  How often have I spent time just looking for what I'm looking for!  We like to know where everything is - everything has a place.  Parents, especially mothers, know very well the frustrated cries of 'where's my ... ...?' or 'have you seen my ... ...?'.  Some things in life seem best if they are in some sort of organised compartments.  We want to know that when we go and look for something that it will actually be there.

We carry that into other aspects of our lives. We talk about work/home balance.  In our minds we separate things into home, chores, employment, leisure, quality family time etc ... ... and God.  We allot God a space in out busy schedule - usually a Sunday morning.  During the week we try to keep to our carefully programmed schedule so that each department of our lives is maintained and in order.

The trouble is that we cannot do that with God.  It's as though we 'cater' fro Him and invite Him into our weekly 'God space'.  The truth is that it isn't possible for God to fill our 'God space' because He is already everywhere.  We are wrongly urged as children or seeking adults to 'let God into your life' when, as Jesus says, the Kingdom of God is already within us.  We are temples of the Holy Spirit.  The Psalmist reminds us,

Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I run away from where You are?  If I go up to heaven, You are there!  If I make my bed in the place of the dead, You are there!  If I take the wings of the morning or live in the farthest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will hold me.  (Psalm 139:7-10)

Sometimes we get things totally the wrong way around.  We seem to think of God as part of our consumer lifestyle - an object to be possessed and stored in the right place along with all the other objects.  Some try to keep Him in a 'box' and take Him out when they remember or think of Him.  Some expressions imply that He lives in a particular place - God's house.  He is not an object, even a very treasured object.  He is not confined to one place - He tore down the confines of the curtain in the temple.  He is rather the One who wants to share our lives, every part of our lives, each compartmentalised bit of it.  We do not invite Him into our space but instead God invites us to enjoy living in His presence wherever we are.  I am not closer to God on certain days or in certain places (unlike the old saying that you are closer to God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth) even if that's how I may feel at times from my finite human perspective.  God is everywhere and so I cannot be closer to Him than I am at this moment in time, wherever I happen to be.  So I'm not going to ask Him into my life but rather ask Him to reveal Himself to me each day wherever I am and whatever I'm doing.  He is my constant friend and companion on life's journey.  He is in all and through all, ever present.