Forgotten
Life has many doors – some we pass through and some we don’t. Don’t miss this vital door.
Tag: salvation
Rescue
Unless you’ve ever needed to be rescued, a photo like this Lifeboat may fail to touch you. However, if you have experienced life-saving rescue of any kind, then it can’t fail to touch you. Sometimes we need rescue without even realising it. One such tragic case was 5 February 2004 when 21 Chinese illegal immigrant […]
Your Story
If you were to ask Vincent Van Gogh about his life story, you would either get a complex answer or a picture like ‘The Starry Night’. He was the son of a pastor and wanted to become a minister but his complicated road led him instead to serve God through artistic expression, as he said: ‘to try to understand the real significance of what the great artists, the serious masters, tell us in their masterpieces, that leads to God.
Boxed into a Corner?
There are many ways we can feel boxed into a corner – for example:
- Being defined by others rather than who we feel ourselves to be
- Finding ourselves trapped in a circumstance or role with no apparent way out
- Feeling locked into a church denomination.
For this duck, it’s as if its wings are clipped and it has no choice but to stay cornered in its hopeless situation. However, it makes a difference if someone has ‘got your corner’ and is actually with you – like a Coach in a boxing match to show you the way out. If you have someone with you, you are no longer alone or without help. Being stuck can be a thing of the past.
Victory Over Defeat
Do you live in the shadows or in the sun? If you take a few minutes to consider the highs and lows of your life so far, how do you think it adds up? We all want to live on ‘victory hilltop’ but often find ourselves in the ‘valley of defeat’. This can be related to achievements, finances, relationships, moral decisions, faith and our walk with God. Rather than being a steady progression, for many Christians life seems more like a game of ‘Snakes and Ladders’ – one minute riding high and the next crashing down a spiral of disappointment when apparent success has given way to abject failure. This woodland walk is beset with pitfalls from unseen hazards in the shadows but there is a better path heading towards the light. How to get on the path where gains outweigh losses and victory triumphs over defeat?
- ‘The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile’ – Plato
- ‘Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory’ – Frederick William Faber
The Lamb
If you take a long look at this lamb, you will find yourself thinking all sorts of things. You might be struck by its innocence, its powerlessness or you may wonder about its future. This lamb has not done anything wrong, it has no defences or weapon and it may end up on someone’s plate as a favoured dish before it ever gets to be a mature sheep. Does it not strike you as extraordinary that the Most Mighty One to walk this planet Earth was called ‘The Lamb of God’? This lamb is associated with meekness not with majesty, with the Will of man rather than the Will of God. To understand why Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is called ‘The Lamb of God’ it’s necessary to consult both the Old Testament and the New – once truly understood never truly forgotten. Why a lamb rather than a sheep? A sheep is reared for its wool but a tender lamb gives its life.
- ‘Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together’ – Genesis 22:7-8
Enlightenment
What do you see in the picture? People perceive, analyse and imagine in different ways but for this challenge there is only one right answer. Enlightenment will come as you read on! The very word ‘enlightenment’ can be taken in three ways – simply, it could be the process where someone is given greater knowledge and understanding about a subject or situation. It can also refer to a spiritual opening of the eyes or to a European movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries. More of that to come but first, how much of life is shaped by conspiracy theories, shadowy speculations and secret societies, some of which were created during the ‘Age of Enlightenment’? There are those who claim to have special knowledge which can lead to cults being formed, rituals being practiced and controlling power being wielded. Human beings are drawn to these darker things.
- ‘I think the Enlightenment is leading us into a dark hole, really’ – David Hockney
THE JOURNEY
How many times have you heard it said that we are all ‘on a journey’? This is applied indiscriminately to individuals going through a time of change, organisations seeking to reinvent themselves, political parties going through necessary redefinition, countries facing upheaval and even churches dealing with difficult issues. To say we are all ‘journeying’ is true but what does it actually mean – travellers we? Some individuals and communities choose travelling as a lifestyle – travel writers make a living out of it, travel documentaries entertain, ‘travellers’ move on together in community, ‘tramps’ keep moving away from something that haunts. Would you say that your life is life a journey? If so, where have you come from and where are you going? ‘These boots are made for walking’ goes the old song by Nancy Sinatra – how many miles, how many tears, how many smiles?
- ‘Life is just a journey’ – Princess Diana
TRAPPED
To be trapped physically in a snow drift is very scary and you might wonder about your survival. Erik Weisz made his career out of sensational escape acts in the early 1900s. He was better known as Harry Houdini – despite appearing trapped in chains, he always managed to escape. Many today are genuinely trapped in all manner of circumstances – poverty, illness, success, failure, poor self-image, relationships, lack of relationships, anxieties, fears and phobias of all kinds. It’s ironic to think that everyone begins their existence ‘trapped’ inside the body of their mother and finds freedom through birth. Sadly, it doesn’t take any of us long before we become trapped through many snares, disbelief and cynicism turning a double lock. Happily many find freedom through a second birth!
THE ANSWER
You could go down a street, house to house and person to person looking for the answer. The question is what is the question?! If you get to the end of the street, whichever country, whatever the style of housing, you might come to a House of God where you should find the answer. You can only give an answer to the biggest questions if you have first had the answer yourself. If you have, then that answer will be known by you, seen by others who know you and can be known by others who badly need to find the question so they can find the answer by finding you!
- ‘People talk to people who perceive nothing, who have open eyes and see nothing; they shall talk to them and receive no answer; they shall adore those who have ears and hear nothing; they shall burn lamps for those who do not see’ – Leonardo da Vinci