I read somewhere that we have on average some 70,000 thoughts per day – and these thoughts cascade in all directions within our mind. Unless we have a star to steer by we will be lost. Let the light of Christ be our star then let us look upon the darkness as giving clarity to the to the light. Then Christ will come into our hearts and he will lead us to safe harbour.
If we want to live our life in Christ and profess ourselves as fishers of men we have to accept our cross and follow the Lord. As “fishers of men ” our boat is the church, the seas that surround our boat are the various temptations that befall us and our net that we use is the true word of God. To be in the church we must believe in the church given to us by Christ. Anything less makes the craft that you sail unseaworthy and the ways of the world will swamp you and you drown. So, before you can become a fisher of men you must be caught in the net of the Lord.
The great Paul tells us to “share in suffering as a good soldier for Jesus Christ” (2 Tim 2:3). Now you may ask, as a soldier what weapons do we need to engage the enemy? Again Paul comes to the rescue. He tells us that we need the whole armour of God to withstand that evil day. So, we need to gird our loins with truth and put on a breastplate of righteousness. On our feet we need to wear the gospel of peace. On our head, the helmet of salvation and in one hand we carry a shield of faith and in the other the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. Our earthly mission is to pray, keeping alert with perseverance, supplicate the saints and a to boldly preach the mystery of the gospel. Then we are indeed good Christian soldiers.
We are our best friend or our worst enemy. Why? Because we give emotional value to everything around us. Situations in life are simply that – they happen to all of us – but the emotional value attributed is what makes us soar like an eagle or sink like a stone. So get it right! Admit that you cannot do it on your own; believe it; live it – and then, and only then – you can become a follower of Christ, and as a follower then an ambassador of Christ.
What can we give God who has everything. At the divine liturgy, we elevate the gifts to be changed by the Spirit whilst rightfully declaring: “your own from your own, we offer you in every way and for everything.” We acknowledge everything that we have is God’s. So when we offer alms or good works we are doing no more than transferring stewardship of those alms and good works to another creature who then becomes accountable for them to God. You see, God wants us to be good but he also wants us to be fair. Now, as to what is fair?… Now that is the sticking point isn’t it?
Let ask revisit the book of Job: “then the Lord answered……. out of the whirlwind: who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me..” (38:1–3) Who could withstand the Lord? And the name to be inserted at the place indicated by the……? Why, anyone who forms judgement against the Lord when things do not go right in their lives.
Food for thought – A home truth for all those ditherers, fence sitters, vacillators and procrastinators: A life that is not purposed has no meaning. If you do not know to which port you are sailing to then no wind is favourable. If you do not know the direction you are travelling then how can you set your course to get there? If you do not steer towards salvation then how can you be saved?
This week a random thought: have you ever stopped to think why whales and dolphins do not drown, whilst asleep or, for that matter, why some birds such as frigates and albatrosses always seem to be flying: how do they sleep? Or, how migratory birds such as swifts are able to traverse vast distances flying it over 10,000 feet, taking into account wind drift to remain on course and flying whilst sleeping on the wing? Science tells us that they are able to “switch off half of their brains” so they can achieve sufficient rest to carry on. Science can tell us what happens but it cannot tell us why it happens. Only God can: “How magnificent are your works, O Lord, your thoughts are exceedingly deep. A man without discernment shall not know these things, and a senseless man shall not understand them (Psalm 92:6 – 7)… I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing to my God as long as I exist;” (Psalm 104:33).
Courage is like an never-ending spring. This week I looked to inspiration from the song “the Rose” written by Amanda McBroom: “it’s the heart afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance. It’s a dream afraid of waking, that never takes chance. It’s the one who won’t be taken, who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying, that never learns to live”. So don’t suffocate in your timidity – be strong, be daring, seize the moment and take courage to risk all for salvation which is within the reach of all.
Scepticism is heaven sent and healthy as it tells us to search out credible evidence. Scepticism is devil sent when there is a wilful denial in the face of the credible evidence so found. Thomas, our every man, saw man and discovered God. For us to now deny the testing by and the conclusion of Thomas is not only diabolical but puts us on the side of the devil .. Do you know what side of the divide you are on?
People are clamouring that they have been deprived of Christ as a result of the measures taken by government to protect us from COVID 19. They lament they cannot attend church. I just wonder, once restrictions are eased and things return to normal whether these same people will flock to church on a regular basis. My hope is that they do but I anticipate that sadly, things will return to pre-virus normality. It seems that we only miss something when it is taken away from us but when we know we can access that same thing any time then we tend to ignore it. Perhaps we need to suffer more to learn and reinforce the lessons that we will soon, no doubt, forget.
If there is one upside to what is going on in the world today it surely must be this: active lives have slowed down which means we appreciate the simpler things in life more. The loving smile of a spouse. The joy of rediscovering one another and yes – even getting to know our children. There is no point in always finding the negative in life. Embrace the positive and “rejoice in the Lord. Again, I say rejoice ”
Stay safe, stay sane, stay positive and above all stay in the love of the Lord.
In these days of darkness, depression and despair it is difficult to cling to the positive. But this is not the end – this thing will pass. We will get through it. In the past we have had such similar calamities yet we continue in faith as God’s people. Let us live in hope and confidence that the Lord is with his people always – and we should never, ever forget that – whatever may befall us. As the great Paul said: “rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice”. (Philippians 4:4). May our joy in the Lord strengthen us all.
Let us all have a joyous disposition and in the face of this particular adversity see the glory of God. We all have the ability to love, to pray and to praise God. That hasn’t changed. If we have the ability then our response should be to glorify his name. Two words: response and ability. One directs us to what we are capable of doing and the other word directs us to the response that we should be having. Hence our responsibility, and especially in these times, is to love, to pray and to praise God in all things. May He keep us all safe.
These are queer times that we are living in. They are times of uncertainty and doubt. These difficult times and how to best navigate them is our theological challenge. The theological opportunity is that we use these times to hold out to those who are less believing than us that it is the word of God within the church that gives us our hope. Remember, now that we are precluded from our mother church we have a golden opportunity not only to reset our values but also to reflect on our understand the true value of what we are presently precluded from.
From the service of the “Blessing of the Loaves”: Again, we pray that this holy church, and every city and country, may be protected from anger, plague, famine, earthquake, flood, fire, sword, foreign invasion, civil war and sudden death; and that our good and loving God may be merciful, gracious and kindly disposed, and may divert and disburse all anger and disease coming against us, and deliver us from His own just threat hanging over us, and have mercy on us.
Why is the prevailing view that faith in God and science are mutually exclusive? Science cannot contradict the existence of God, therefore science must allow for the possibility that God exists and that the proper role of science is to explain the system of knowledge covering the truth of God’s creation.
“Come and see” is the invitation, “follow me” is the commitment. Commitment leads to action in Christ and action in Christ brings us closer in communion with and at one with Christ. Do you see how one thing follows from the other?.
It occurs to me that there are two sorts of Christians. Those who pray for what is good and profitable for their souls and those who pray for what is good and profitable for their human condition. St James warns us when he declares “you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions… Whoever wishes to be a friend of this world makes himself an enemy of God.” That is as stark as it gets. Our choice… Our consequence!
What makes us happy? Money? Money can buy things – so can things make us happy? If by happiness we mean love, joy and gratitude then there is only one place to obtain happiness and that is in Christ Jesus. Christ loves us super abundantly and that love sparks within us so that we experience grace and its rich gifts that are freely and graciously given. You see if you seek and thirst for love joy and happiness you can only find those things that you are seeking in a person and not a thing.
Each prayer is a small investment in our spiritual bank account. One prayer by itself may do little but by building prayer upon prayer we grow more receptive to the voice of God. As we get used to prayer then the more we pray the more we want to pray and the more we want to pray the more we begin to recognise the ” why” of God’s purpose for us.
Life promises so much but delivers so little. Without any consolation it is dreary, burdensome and even boring. So what gives life purpose? The answer is finding Christ. May we to be able to say: “Lord, now you letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word.” The peace of Christ does not guarantee that the boat that we sail in will not be tossed by the storms of life, but what it does guarantee is that we have left our boat in the hands of the master navigator.
Life lessons have meaning only if you are prepared to learn from them. Better a new lesson learned than the same lesson repeated endlessly. Everyone grows old but not everyone grows wise.
To someone not used to asking, having to ask for help strips them of some of their human dignity and worth. To refuse them is to crush that dignity and worth. Before we ask is anyone worthy of our help let us put ourselves in the shoes of the other. Remember, God has never created inferior human beings. We are all equal in his eyes.
Determination is a wonderful thing. It motivates us not to give in, to keep on fighting, to acknowledge oppression but to overcome it. Sometimes we do not always succeed in what we set out to do but unless we have a fire in the belly we will get nowhere. So we press forward and press forward even further when we think we can do no more. If we can understand that about our human nature then why do we have difficulty in finding time, motivation and effort to serve Christ?