In a world filled with pressure, uncertainty and growing mental strain, the words of Jesus offer a compassionate invitation: come to me and find rest for your soul. Anyone who is a parent or grandparent watches the daily news with a particularly heavy heart. The prevailing threats and uncertainties are difficult for anyone to bear […]
There are some paintings, writings and people in life that kick-start fresh thinking. In what they express, you can see a richness that may challenge and enhance your own understanding. Have a read of this to stimulate your thinking on how you interact with the world.
Things are not always what they seem. The adverts often don’t live up to their promises; scams and ‘fake news’ have led to a lot of distrust and let-downs. You can see the featured matchstick conceals a trick for much is done with smoke and mirrors! Have you ever been taken in or missed a sleight of hand? Often it is done with intent to make you look foolish or to rob you of something that was important to you. The more precious the gold you carry, the more a target you become. Hackers of all descriptions are out there to break through into your security and steal from you. Followers of Christ carry treasures that make them a target for attacks to destroy faith, to ridicule and deceive with seductive offers.
Sometimes it’s hard to know if you are coming or going – perhaps it’s both! Maybe it’s tough to know the difference because it’s a confused and confusing world that doesn’t deal well with endings and isn’t sure when a beginning has occurred. When have you arrived? Where are you going? We do not know what is coming with the certainty we all crave. What do you hope or think might be coming? Advent is a term linked to adventure in that it is ‘towards a venture’. In that sense, it hints of risk, excitement and some uncertainty but taken for itself, it simply means ‘the arrival of a notable person or thing’. You could say that the sun rising at dawn heralds a daily advent and so life is one continuous series of advents as preludes to the final adventure. Could you accept life as a series of beginnings rather than a series of endings? So here’s a light to reflect on that idea.
We all carry them, even landscapes – scars. Sometimes they are exposed and we try to hide them. Sometimes they cannot be hidden. Sometimes they are hidden from plain view but they can be detected if you look carefully. Every scar has a cause from injury that was either intended or unintended and has made a lasting impact – only time will tell if it was for better or worse. Apart from the more obvious visual physical scars, there are often internal scars due to the behaviour of others, our own personal choices or from apparently random events. Although these may be unseen, they are nonetheless real and can be perceived in a person’s changed behaviour, confidence and even faith. Do you carry either visible or invisible scars? Have you caused scars in others? The walkers in this coastal path have mainly been oblivious to the scars that their feet have been making in the landscape as they have enjoyed the walk – is it possible that you have done the same?
The world is heating up. Do you wonder why? There are lots of culprits that are cited – cars, carbon and cows could begin the list. Perhaps it could justly continue with politicians, population and pride. Will the list end with the greed of nations, peoples and individuals like us, like you, like me? Are we bringing it upon ourselves and find we cannot change our all-consuming behaviour that devours not only the earth’s resources but all those ‘others’ who stand in the way of our corporate and personal consumption? Can it be any surprise that there are consequences from personal, national and world behaviour? It’s no good eye-balling the next cow you meet and trying to shift the responsibility on to her because of our milk or meat consumption! The world is heating up and we all have to consider our personal responsibility. Young people and scientists are sounding the alarm – it is a wake-up call in more ways that we might imagine.
When David was racked with guilt, he longed to be cleansed so that he could be ‘white as snow’. Despite the murder of Uriah and adultery with Bathsheba, there was a route for David out of the dark shadows to renewed joy and purity. That route’s signpost is the same for everyone for ‘all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) – confession. From the mightiest royalty to the poorest pauper, there are any number of ways we can lose our joy and intimacy with God but there’s only one way it can truly be restored: ‘Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin’ – Psalm 32:5
A clean slate, a fresh beginning and a new flowering – these are the yearnings of the soul. It’s not so much to do with the ‘severity’ of the sin as with the state of the heart and how we handle the little word ‘IF’.
What does the word ‘comfort’ mean to you? To some, it means a lovely handsome slice or two of cake! For others, it’s going to be booking a holiday, getting the pay bonus, soaking in a long hot bath or perhaps resorting to the bottle. One list of the top ten comforts taken abroad includes tea bags, slippers, tomato sauce, your own pillow, a dressing gown and a photo of a pet! Maya Angelou had a very hard life but said this: ‘The best comfort food will always be greens, cornbread, and fried chicken’. No doubt we all have our own lists but these are all comforts for the body which have a temporary value. How about the comfort we need for the soul?
Do you have a ‘tree of peace’? It might be a ‘metaphorical tree of peace’ or a real one as in the picture where you can shelter in the ‘heat of the day’. To have both ‘outer’ and ‘inner’ peace is something most precious but they are in short supply these days. The pace of life exhausts us while the noise of life means silence can be hard to find. John Lennon asked us to ‘imagine all the people living life in peace’ and yet his son told another story:
Like all the good gifts from God our Father, forgiveness is something we need and something we must share. You could apply that to most things – our time, our money, our love … our smile!
At their request, Jesus gave his disciples a model prayer, which included asking ‘our Father in Heaven’ to ‘forgive us our sins . . .’ followed immediately by ‘. . . as we forgive those who sin against us.’ (Matthew 6:12). Stephen, the first Christian martyr, echoed Jesus’ words from the cross as he was stoned to death for his faith: ‘Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing!’ (Acts 7:60). The parable of the unforgiving servant ends with the sobering words ‘if you do not forgive neither will you be forgiven’ (Matthew 18:35).
