Where Are The Superheroes?

It's no news to my friends that I am a big fan of Dr Who.  In our home we have quite a collection of Dr Who DVDs dating right back to the very first story with William Hartnell.  The truth is that I like all that fantasy stuff and superheroes.  It's pure escapism.  The world is in crisis and there's this person with extraordinary super powers that just appears out of the blue, fights our battles for us and saves humanity from disaster.  I wish real life were that simple but we all know that in the various crises that are happening all around us all the time, the superheroes with super powers aren't anywhere to be found.

Some people use religion as some sort of fantasy role-play game with God as the superhero.  He is just waiting for some human crisis so he can leap into action, descending from the sky and using his super powers to put things right for us.  If he doesn't appear then we are at fault - we didn't pray hard enough or loud enough (as thought God is deaf!) or more likely we don't have enough faith.  So instead of feeling helped by God we are guilt ridden because the continued crisis is obviously our fault.  According to the Bible, God's way of solving the world's problems was not by zapping everyone into extinction but by loving them into his kingdom through the self-sacrifice of his son.  After feeding the 5000 the people wanted to make Jesus king.  Jesus knew that the people only wanted him as king because he gave them to eat and they thought that with him as king there would be an end to hunger and poverty.  His reaction was to walk away.  That wasn't how God works.

Undoubtedly God does intervene on many occasions in our lives.  We can all testify to some time when God seems to have just taken control and got us out of some crisis   But he's not like some superhero suddenly appearing out of the blue.  He is already here.  In the beginning his spirit breathed life into the earth.  The whole earth is his design with his DNA throughout and we are part of that creation.  Jesus urges us to follow him, be like him.  He showed us how to live according to God's plan.  He said 'I and the Father are one' and so are we.  God doesn't want us to be passive, waiting for him to descend and use his powers.  He wants to solve the world's problems with and through us.  It's not about a superhero/human relationship but a partnership working together.  It's not so much God with us and God in us.


There is the saying that we are the people we have been waiting for.  There is no superhero who will come brandishing his sword or stretching out his arm and thrusting out a power surge to floor our enemy.  God takes no side in war, religious or otherwise.  He wants to work through us to solve the problems of war, famine, poverty, persecution and injustice.  He is not 'out there', he's 'in here', in us and wants to use us.

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.' 

Uncontrollable and Windswept

Next week the children return to school after their summer break.  There is nervous anticipation as they enter a new school year and some begin the main school for the first time.  Parents are making sure that they have everything ready.  Occasionally there is some last minute shopping to do.  So it was with the young mother and her son who were on their way into town.  She thought that everything was in hand and she had been well organised buying the new uniform at the beginning of the holidays with the idea that once she had purchased what she needed, any left over cash could be spent on days out.  Just a few days ago she decided to try everything on once more just to make sure all was ok.  To her amazement, the trousers were now too short for her son.  She knew he had had a sudden spurt of growth but hadn't realised that he had grown that much.  So she had to go and buy some more trousers.  Ah, a lesson that all parents learn - you can't organize your child's growth or control their height.  You can give them healthy food and make sure they eat and drink all the required nutrients of a balanced diet in order to be healthy but you cannot control or organize just how that will actually work out in reality.  Some have sudden bursts of growth while others just steadily get bigger.


This past week the weather hasn't been very nice, reaching temperatures more like winter some days.  In the south west we have had quite a lot of rain and wind so I was looking forward on Thursday to what I had thought, according to forecasts, was going to be a bit brighter and I would be able to get out into the garden to do some weeding and tidying up.  Weather wise it was another day of disappointment.  In the morning I had gone to my sister's for a coffee and chat as I normally do once a week but on the way home, the sky was getting darker and the clouds looked threatening.  There was the odd spot of rain on the bus window and so my good intentions for the garden would have to wait for another day.  The experts are able to forecast the weather and their accuracy is getting better with all their modern gadgetry.  Although they can keep us informed as to what will probably happen, they cannot control or organize the weather.


And so it is with life. Some things just cannot be organised or controlled, no matter how we might prepare or think we have life sorted.  Sadly some people think that you can actually organize an outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God.  The idea is that through prayer, hard work and good organisational skills, souls will be won for God's kingdom.  We can plan and have projects and get people through the door into the building but that doesn't necessarily mean that they have come to a personal friendship with the Almighty.  Often those who 'organize' a revival find that within a couple of years, things have pretty much gone back to the way they were before all their efforts.  We humans have a tendency to think of this firm called 'The Kingdom of Heaven' whose CEO is this huge personality called God.  Some in the planning department think up projects and activities and then go and present the plans before the CEO (God) and seek his approval to put them into action. I have heard leaders come up with a 5 year plan for their congregation and claim that within so many years there will be so many in the congregation and so many outreach projects.  It didn't happen - because you can't organize God!   



It's actually the other way around.  We need to ask God what are his plans and seek his help in living them out.  We can do our best, be very active and committed, participate etc etc but accept that we must let God be God and do things his way.  We talk of the 'wind of his spirit and just like the wind in real life, we cannot control or organize it according to our self-made plans.  We just have to go with whatever comes.  The secret of a good relationship with him is to be totally accepting of whatever he is doing and be ready to go along with the moving of his spirit, wherever that might take us.  Here's to being wind-swept. 

What Sense!

I was on the bus going into town to do some shopping.  Many of the usual faces that have a similar weekly shopping routine were also on the same bus.  Some were deep in conversation while others sat in silence in the world of their own thoughts.  The bus slowed as it got near to the roundabout and lined up behind a couple of cars waiting its turn to navigate around the roundabout.  Suddenly my eye caught something moving just to the right and in front of the bus.  It was a squirrel scampering across the road, missing any moving vehicles with such agility before jumping up into a tree on the other side of the road.  It was so quick I almost missed it.  I don't think anyone else actually saw it, except I reckon the bus driver must have noticed.  Its speed and agility were quite outstanding.  I thought of other creatures known for their speed - the cheetah, the fastest land animal that can run up to 75 miles an hour.  However, the peregrine falcon is the fastest member of the animal kingdom being able to travel over 200 miles per hour.  Wow, we would need to travel by car in order to compete with a cheetah and the peregrine is twice as fast as an express train.  We still claim that humanity is the superior species!


Scientists are beginning to learn the secrets of many species of creatures.  Have you ever tried to swat a fly without success?  That's because the fly sees in slow motion so our quick action with the swatter appears slow to the fly giving it enough time to escape before the swatter reaches the place where it has been.  Some creatures, like the North American caribou, see in ultra violet light while others see in infra red, allowing them to see things that we have great difficulty making out.  There is a moth that can smell a future mate from up to 7 miles away while rats and moles smell in stereo, helping to locate food.  Other creatures can hear sound inaudible to the human ear.  Some dog owners use a special high frequency whistle to attract the attention  of their pet - something they can hear but we humans can't.  Other animals hear and use very low frequency sounds.  There are many such instances of heightened senses in the animal world that are impossible for humans.  When I think of the wonders of the natural world,  it makes me aware of my limitations as a human being, in speed, sight, smell and hearing.  Humanity is just beginning to tap into this wealth of knowledge and using it for good as in ultra sound scans and infra red cameras and binoculars that enable you to see in the dark.

The sad thing is that most of the people (if not all) on the bus that morning were totally engrossed in their own world of thought and conversation and quite unaware of life that was going on around them.  I felt that I had just had a glimpse for a few seconds into a kind of parallel universe where life was lived without our being aware of it.  When we consider the incredible variety and abilities in the natural world that is all around us, how can we not marvel at our wonderful Creator?  What a Wonderful World!  Indeed!!!  I know that many live very busy lives and aren't as fortunate as I am in having the time to just be, observe and think.  But I guarantee that if you can possibly make time, you will greatly enrich your life by doing so.  Our God is a great big God and there is a whole great big world outside of the bubble I call my life.  So much to see and so much to learn.  Up until now I have only mentioned animal forms of life but the whole of creation has so much to teach us if we would stop, look, listen and learn.

Lord, remind me to make time to just be in your creation and be aware of what you want to teach me.

Holiday

This post is a little later than usual as this past week my son Diego and I have been away on the Isle of Wight.  We got back after 9 pm last night because of a delay on the ferry crossing.  This morning has been about sorting out cases, washing and shopping for those fresh essentials that don't go in the fridge or freezer.

We have never been to the Isle of Wight before and I have often thought about going but never made it until now.  We had a lovely few days being driven around by our very helpful and good-natured South West Coaches driver.  Now I no longer drive we look for alternative ways to have days out and holidays and found the coach company very good.  It's nice for someone else to do the driving.  It means that I can enjoy the passing countryside as well as being less tired and stressed by traffic.  

I took a few ebooks with me with the intention of spending some time reading and thinking but that didn't happen.  Instead I enjoyed the conversation of people I hadn't met before and was able to soak up all the new experiences and what was going on around me.  We visited some very interesting places and saw some historic sites and some new innovations .  I didn't go looking for some deep meaning or mini-sermon in situations.  God is everywhere but we don't need to go looking for some spiritual lesson.  I worshipped and sensed God's presence just by simply enjoying the things I saw and living fully in the moment of what was happening.  

So this week I just want to share some photos from those few days away.

Osborne House - the summer retreat of royalty

excellent indoor show of fountains 'dancing' to music

The model village - this is where we had a drink in the real Griffin Hotel
but discovered it was the most expensive in the town!

the model village at Godshill

the model village

Diego in the model village

in the botanical gardens

in the botanical gardens

in the botanical gardens

me beside the fountain in the botanical gardens

the steam train that took us on an hour's journey along the country track 

Shanklin old town

Shanklin old town

tea rooms in Shanklin old town where we had a very nice cream tea
with apple and ginger scones - very yummie!

Roots

This week has seen the return of a TV programme that I really enjoy watching - 'Who Do You Think You Are?  For those who don't know, it traces the ancestry of celebrities and uncovers some very interesting and sometimes unusual and hitherto unknown facts.  There are always surprises and often tears as the stories unfold about their forbears.  Sometimes the celebrities begin to understand just why they are, feel and do as they do as they clarify some mystery from the past.  A couple of years ago I decided to trace my ancestors on both sides of the family, right back to the 1700s.  I remember as a child that two of my uncles had a shoe repair shop in our local town and I used to love to go and watch them mend the shoes and breathe in the smell of fresh leather.  I was told that the shop originally belonged to my paternal grandfather but looking further into the family history I discovered that there had been bootmakers in the family since the early 1800s, the business having been handed down from father to son over several generations.  The roots of the shoemaking business lay way back in the roots of our family history.

When I am weeding in the garden, I prefer to dig the weeds up by the roots in order to get rid of them instead of spraying them with chemicals all the time.  Occasionally though that is not so easy, on the paths and the front drive where you can't really dig them up.  The alternative is to get some weedkiller and spray them and let the chemicals do their work.  The best ones of course are the ones that you spray on the leaves of the weed and the chemicals go to work reaching right down to the roots underneath the ground.  Otherwise the weed seems to die but then comes back again as the roots go on feeding the plant.  To be effective, you have to get to the roots.

A close relative of mine has recently been in hospital and undergone quite a big operation.  She had been in a great deal of pain for a long time, months becoming years.  She has taken pain relief to relieve the symptoms until eventually the pain was becoming so bad she was sent to see a specialist at the hospital.  Various tests and scans were done in order to look deeper and ascertain the real cause of the problem.  Eventually the day came and she went to the hospital, a bit nervous but really having reached the point of just wanting the pain to go away.  After a time of recuperation she is now well on the mend but more importantly is without the constant pain that she had to put up with for so long before.  Once the specialist was able to get to the root of her problem, then the situation could be dealt with effectively.

The trouble I find in life is that too often we concentrate all our efforts on the symptoms that a problem produces.  A few decades ago, people weren't so eager to visit a psychiatrist or counselor to talk through problems in case they were thought by others to be a little deranged.  In fact such professionals were sometimes considered a bit suspect and often referred to in a rather derisory way as 'shrinks'.  Nowadays we understand that they saw the importance of going back in order to dig deep and find the root cause of a problem.  This often turned out to be not a physical problem at all but some hurt, fear or sense of inadequacy or exclusion or maybe loneliness, things that are hidden so deeply inside that others are not aware of itheir existence.  We think that we are sorting out a problem when the real problem is something quite different, hidden and not obvious until we delve deeper.

I feel that so many problems in the world, on both an individual and group level, whether that be family, friends, tribes or nations, could be solved if only we really addressed the root of the problem.  We waste so much time and effort treating and reacting to the symptoms when the real problem is still there often festering underneath so that the problem we think we have dealt with crops up again and again.  So often we ask the wrong questions!  There is no point in doctoring and treating the hurt and pain if we don't deal with the root cause of that pain and hurt.  Jesus knew that very well when he told the crippled man that his sins were forgiven.  He then told him to get and walk.  He knew that the man was concerned that his physical limitations were because of some sin.  He needed to know that God had dealt with that problem.  People are hurting and in pain and we waste time on superficial symptoms instead of really dealing with their root point of need and giving them the help they're silently crying out for.  Let's not waste time looking at the outside, the symptoms, the appearance of a situation but go to the roots and see where the help is really needed.
  

Tunnel Vision

I've been thinking all this week about tunnels.  Not sure why unless it's because they have been mentioned on the news.  But I've been thinking about them not in the sense that the news has been referring to them - as somewhere to hide people and ammunition.  I have been thinking more of tunnels we encounter on journeys and what they symbolize.  Yesterday I read a blog that talked about a woman who referred to her recurring depression as a tunnel.  She felt that it was like being in a dark tunnel and she couldn't see the way out of it until she decided to go to a counselor.  The dark tunnel of depression is something that many people struggle to cope with in their lives.


But my mind was more on the idea of tunnel vision.  It is a perfect description of that particular sight problem.  People can only see what is in front of them while all around is unclear and a bit blurred.  They are unable to see to the sides and need to turn their heads to bring something at the side into their line of sight.  I remember as a child travelling on a train through a tunnel and straining to see the light at the end of it, knowing that that small dot of white so far away was the point we were heading towards and then we would be able to see everything clearly again.  While you're in the tunnel, you cannot see what's outside of it.  Your vision in limited.  All you can see is the light straight ahead.  You are unable to see anything on either side so as far as you are concerned, straight ahead is the only possible way - it's all you can see.


Once you're out of the tunnel you become aware that there is a whole big world going on outside the tunnel.  Other people are also travelling in the same direction but by roads that run alongside the railway track.  You might think that your way is quicker and more sure but you miss a lot of what is going on around because your vision is totally centred on the light at the end of the tunnel.  I have said this before but it's what has been nagging in my head all week - we need to accept that there is more than one way to travel.  Ours is NOT the only mode of transport in life's journey.  Many are headed in the same direction with the same ultimate goal in mind but choose to travel a different way having varying encounters on the way.  That doesn't mean they won't get there.  It just means that they're not sharing our carriage with us just as others may choose not to share their road vehicle.  Just because in the tunnel, looking straight ahead they cannot be seen on the adjacent road, that doesn't mean they don't exist and that they're not travelling to the same destination.

We have always maintained that our way is the right way and therefore the only way.  God is the destination but he is also everywhere and in all things.  Whichever way we travel in life, let's not be affected by tunnel vision thinking that what we see is the only way.  It isn't!  This may seem contradictory to all that we may have thought or believed.  I like to think of it not so much as a contradiction but rather a paradox or as Richard Rohr puts it: 

Paradox is the ability to live with contradictions without making them mutually exclusive, realizing they can be both/and instead of either/or.

Bee Yourself

You can just about see the tiny white flowers near the top of the bush.

I spent some time the other day trying to trim back and tidy up some overgrown bushes at the bottom of the garden that had become a sort of mini forest.  It's a part of the garden that is mainly to make a natural barrier between our garden and the garden of the neighbours at the back of us.  So I like it to grow big and quite thick but it still needs the occasional 'haircut'.  While I was cutting away I noticed one bush had some tiny white flowers that I had never really noticed before.  They were so small that it is difficult to actually see them among all the foliage.  I couldn't help thinking that if that were a human they would possibly reason that hardly anyone ever goes to that part of the garden in the far corner at the back so why bother.  No-one would notice if it produced any flowers or not so what's the point?  But being a plant, it does just what it's designed to do.  Producing small flowers was something it just did in the annual cycle of life and it didn't depend on being noticed or appreciated.  It flowered anyway!

Taken from the BBC Springwatch Facebook page, 20th July 2014

We have heard much lately about the bees and how we need to look after them.  They are considered to be the most important pollinators of food crops.  It is thought that a third of the food we consume each day depends on pollination mainly by bees.  The inset picture shows some very interesting stats about bees and what they do.  We are encouraged to have a bee-friendly garden by planting the plants that will attract bees.  Local councils are encouraged to leave spare ground as wild meadows for bee-loving flowers to grow in the wild.  I was very interested to learn that bees don't actually go so much for the exotic types of flowers but are more drawn to the ordinary British flowers including most of the wild flowers.  It's really quite mind blowing to think that so much depends on such a small creature.  It doesn't have the size of an elephant, the fierce roar of a lion or the strength of a grizzly bear to make an impression.  It's so small that it flies from flower to flower without many noticing it at all.


The Bible verse comes to mind about how God uses the weak to confound the mighty and the well known story of the shepherd boy David defeating the giant Goliath.  The thing is that so often we look for success in size and strength.  You are taught from childhood that you have to climb the ladder of success at work.  People try to impress others by saying that their relative or close friend has such and such a position at work or a certain car or large house.  Some love to show off their suntan to give the impression (rightly or wrongly) that they have travelled to some far off land (implying a certain wealth?)  In many walks of life (even church life) there can be a sort of competition for popularity and trying to be more active and involved than someone else.  Some people spend their lives comparing themselves with others and aiming to copy them or be like them.  It gets to the point that often people can feel a bit of a failure for just being ordinary, with no particular talent to share.  They have a rather apologetic attitude and are always striving after some false goal to achieve in order to 'make something' of themselves.  Yet throughout the Bible and in creation God shows time and again how he loves the ordinary.  


The flower at the bottom of the garden just did what is was supposed to do.  The bee just gathers pollen and nectar to keep his extended family fed and surviving every day.  It doesn't know how important it is in the big scheme of things - it just does what it is meant to do each and every ordinary day.  And that is all that God asks of us.  He just wants me to be me.  He made me me because that was his plan and that is my purpose - just to be me.  If that entails just doing the ordinary, everyday things then that is what I should do.  Who knows in the big scheme of things what that might mean or lead to.  I might never know but that shouldn't stop me from being who God made me to be.  Even if you think you don't make a difference or nobody notices, like the tiny white flower, do it anyway.  No competing or comparing with others.  Just bee yourself!   

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. 

Live Now

This week my nephew shared on Facebook a photo of his 4 year old son, Oliver looking very smart and all grown-up in his new school uniform ready for when he starts school in September.  Time seems to have just whizzed by since he was born.  I remember holding him when he was only a few days old.  He was so tiny and fragile and now suddenly he's off to school!  His first tooth, his first step, his first word are all now just memories.  He now chats away and absorbs new information all the time.  He seems to know things about how things work and which button to press, things that take me a while to assimilate.  On seeing his photo, many memories came back of my own children also and how each precious moment soon becomes a memory.  It was a sharp reminder for me to cherish the present and live now to the full. 



Of course not all memories are so pleasurable.  Some leave scars and hurt but all are incorporated and woven into the tapestry of our lives and go to make us the people we now are today.  I wouldn't be the person I now am if I hadn't had the rough as well as the smooth.  But all experiences good or not so good can leave us some worthwhile lesson.  You never really learn patience if you've never had to wait for anything.  You don't learn about hope until you feel down.  Having to live without something helps us to learn the real value and appreciate what we do have.  Remembering the past is not really the problem.  The real problem is when we keep dragging the past into the present.  What has gone cannot be changed.  It has contributed to who we are today so be thankful for it and let it go.  All we have is the now.  That is why we need to enjoy the now to the full because it will soon become another memory. 


There are those who are always hankering after some future excitement or big thing.  They spend time (and often a lot of money) going from one big conference or gathering to another and totally miss the point that God is right where we are, here and now.  We don't need to go looking for him, hoping that if we can get to that big meeting, He'll show up and bless us.  We are the temple of God and He resides in us.  Where we are, He is.  Not everyone can write like J K Rowling or J R R Tolkien.  Only a few people have actually reached the moon.  It would be a dysfunctional business if all the staff were managing directors.  Who would actually make the goods or clean the premises?  It is good to have dreams and ambitions but some miss so much because their minds are on something else, always striving.  Wherever we are and whatever we do in life, God is in us and shows Himself to others through us.  Theodore Roosevelt gave some very sound advice when he said, 'Do what you can with what you have where you are'.

Today is a gift - use it and fill it so that  tomorrow you will have beautiful memories.  Look around you whatever your circumstances and find something to make you smile.  Our children may be grown and left home already, or maybe you don't have any.  You can still fill your today in such a way that in the future you can look back and smile.  God's will is for us to live life to the full.  Here's to a future full of happy memories.

What If ... ... ?

What if... ... ?  This is a question often asked in the UK when trying to arrange some outing or inviting friends to a BBQ in the summer - what if it rains?  We always feel the need to make some other arrangements just in case the weather is not on our side that particular day.  It's not just the weather of course that involves thinking of contingency plans in the event that our ideas and organising skills don't go to plan.


Because of the winter storms and the problem with the tiles on the roof of our house and the subsequent leak (as mentioned in previous posts) we have had to deal with a little problem of damp in one of the bedrooms.  It was only one wall that was affected and so we really decided that a couple of tester pots of paint of the same colour would work out cheaper than buying a larger pot.  I really didn't want to have to buy a 5 litre pot of paint to paint just one small wall.  It was a well known brand and so we thought that we would be able to get it easily.  We did raise the question 'What if ...   we can't get a matching colour?  What will we do?'  We carefully considered alternatives - that wall could become a feature wall of a contrasting colour or we could just paint all of the bedroom walls a different colour.  As it turned out it wasn't that easy but eventually we did manage to get what we were looking for, after trying a few DIY stores. So the wall has been restored to its former condition.

This week I read an article about someone who had been part of the set up at Mars Hill mega-church based in Seattle.  The church now has 14,000 members in 15 locations in 5 states.  The article quoted something Mark Driscoll, one of the co-founders of the church, said.

Mark Driscoll

'What if the church (referring to Mars Hill church) stopped growing?  What if we shrunk?  What if everything fell apart?  What if half the staff left?  Would I still worship Jesus or would I be a total despairing mess?'

I am not interested in discussing mega-churches or anything about Mark Driscoll.  Some like him and his books and some don't but I kept thinking about this quote.  What if ......?  


Many cannot understand people like me who no longer participate in any organised form of church yet still claim to be just as sincere in their faith and commitment to God.  Once you really get hold of the truth that God really is everywhere, that the Holy Spirit dwells within us and that the Kingdom is here with us now, then there really is no problem.  Last year, after two and a half years of being unemployed my son (who shares the house with me) got a job where his working hours include every weekend - Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  So our weekend is now on a Monday and Tuesday.  On Tuesday we have a full roast dinner, sit together to eat, watch a DVD together and chat, often about spiritual things.  Our time together on our 'Sunday' is possibly more relaxed than for many who attend some place of worship.  We spend real time together, chilling and chatting - our day of rest. 



The danger lies when people think that the organised church way of doing things is the only way and that without it they would be lost.  What if ... ... ? illness meant that you could no longer go to the building? you had no means of getting there? (here in Yeovil there are no buses on a Sunday and not everyone has their own transport) you had a job where working on a Sunday was a requirement?  or many more 'what if?' situations you might think of.  Like Mark Driscoll asks - would you still worship or would you be a despairing mess?  The organised church for many is a very helpful means of connecting with God and others but there is the danger that the means actually becomes the end in itself.  And then the worship is not so much about God but about the system, the means that we use to connect with Him.  Jesus would meet people in their homes or in the countryside all the time more than in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  He would talk to anyone and everyone regardless or status, gender, nationality or work and not just Jews who conformed to religious rules and expectations.  His friends were from many varied walks of life, different personalities.  How many Christians have close friendships with people who are not within the church set up?  He worshipped his Father in the everyday things, using them as illustrations in his conversations about God and Kingdom things.  He showed us how to worship God and not the system.  What if ... ... for whatever reason we were denied the church system as we know it today, what if .. ... the whole system crumbled, would we still be Christians?  Would we still make time for God, connect with Him and follow His ways?  What if ... ... we understood that God still exists outside of the system and that He's just as real and loving and wanting a relationship with us?  What if ... ... once again He ripped the 'curtain of the temple' and chose to show Himself outside of the confines of the religious building?  Who would follow Him?  We must not replace God with the religious system, however helpful it may be - it is not the be all and end all of things.  The system is not God, only a means to God, only one path of many.