This mediation, and I disagree with some of it, but taken on the day it is the thrust is correct to emphasis Humilty.

This Christianity comes not from the head or the gut, but from the soul. It is as meek as it is quietly liberating. It does not seize the moment; it lets it be. It doesn’t seek worldly recognition, or success, and it flees from power and wealth. It is the religion of unachievement. And it is not afraid. In the anxious, crammed lives of our modern twittering souls, in the materialist obsessions we cling to for security in recession, in a world where sectarian extremism threatens to unleash mass destruction, this sheer Christianity, seeking truth without the expectation of resolution, simply living each day doing what we can to fulfill God’s will, is more vital than ever. It may, in fact, be the only spiritual transformation that can in the end transcend the nagging emptiness of our late-capitalist lives, or the cult of distracting contemporaneity, or the threat of apocalyptic war where Jesus once walked. You see attempts to find this everywhere—from experimental spirituality to resurgent fundamentalism. Something inside is telling us we need radical spiritual change.

Shalom

We are watching Jesus make his way to Calvary. This is a week when I find Jesus drawing ever closer. He is a God man set on a saving mission but the signs of the human man jump out as he interacts with people, the money lenders at the temple, the anxious man in the Garden etc. The records from the Gospel writers highlight this so vividly for us.

Tomorrow night at our Holy Week Service Donald Ker, when we watch Jesus at the Table, I know is planning a service to help us engage with Jesus in the upper room. I hope many can get.

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) – was an English poet, educated at Oxford. Entering the Roman Catholic Church in 1866 and the Jesuit novitiate in 1868, he was ordained in 1877. Upon becoming a Jesuit he burned much of his early verse and abandoned the writing of poetry. However, the sinking in 1875 of a German ship carrying five Franciscan nuns, exiles from Germany, inspired him to write one of his most impressive poems “The Wreck of the Deutschland.” Thereafter he produced his best poetry, including “God’s Grandeur,” “The Windhover,” “The Leaden Echo,” and “The Golden Echo.

I have copied below his Easter Communion Poem for you inspiration. I like the language of Pure Fasted faces, reflecting on the giving up of food during lent, and therefore the taste of Bread and wine become all the sweeter. The sack cloth and how a bag of bones are strengthen as the rise from their knees have been “fed in the sacrament, united us with Christ and given us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet prepared for all humankind

Easter Communion

Pure fasted faces draw unto this feast:
God comes all sweetness to your Lenten lips.
You striped in secret with breath-taking whips,
Those crooked rough-scored chequers may be pieced
To crosses meant for Jesu's; you whom the East
With draught of thin and pursuant cold so nips
Breathe Easter now; you serged fellowships,
You vigil-keepers with low flames decreased,

God shall o'er-brim the measures you have spent
With oil of gladness, for sackcloth and frieze
And the ever-fretting shirt of punishment
Give myrrhy-threaded golden folds of ease.
Your scarce-sheathed bones are weary of being bent:
Lo, God shall strengthen all the feeble knees

Shalom.

I have a busy end to my week with the B.B. display, Friday and a lovely wedding all day Saturday, My mind is already on next Sunday’s preparation. I have chosen to look at John 12, where Jesus begins to predict his Death. How hard it must have been for his followers to accept Jesus was working on a bigger canvas, and they would have to trust him.

I remember when Colin Parkinson’s parents Bill and Joan, said they were leaving Cregagh Methodist to move to Ballymena. This was over 30 years ago but as a young Christian I was devastated. Joan, particularly, had been so formative in my early years as a believer and I could not think of keeping on without knowing she was there, and then who was going to take her place in leading the C.E. Little did I know It was to be me and a few others who would take over the this role. It took 4 of us to replace Joan.

But I wanted to say Lord, this is wrong, I didn’t see the bigger canvas of what God was doing in the Parkinson’s world, I was only concerned about mine. It took a little time but I got my Spiritual compass back and understand.

We are to easily focused on number 1 and forget about others. This poem/ prayer my help re-focus.

From Saint Ephraim of Syria (4th century):

O Lord and Master of my life,
take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk,
but grant rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King,
grant me to see my own transgressions and not to judge my brother,
for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen

Shalom

Hold on, were we not told in Psalm 110v1 that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This fear is defined by awe and respect small children have for a parent. The other,stifling fear is marked with potential harm, upset and anxiety.

To be contemplative is to begin to put fear in the context of Love. Love is the ultimate reality and unless we clean the lens we could miss this and allow fear to blind us of being loved. In a wiped mirror we see what is there and not the distortion.

Have you been loved well by someone? So well that you feel confident that person will receive you and forgive your worst faults. That is the kind of security the soul gets from God. When your soul lives in that kind of security, it no longer plagued by fear. If God can receive me, who I am not to receive myself, fears and all.

The above are taken from Richard Rohr’s book Everything Belongs.

Shalom

Anyway, the movie was gently engaging, with a few moments causing an outburst of laughter. It is the story of a group of elderly people who think a visit to a “dream Hotel” will take them out of misery and give them back their lives. That even in old age life can be fun, full of colour, smiles and laughter. Some of the dialogue was funny, including, “I am so old I don’t buy green bananas anymore.” Or If I can’t pronounce the food’s name I am not eating it. However, the one that struck me was, “Everything will be all right in the end, so if everything is not right, it’s not yet the end.”

So you may be asking, “Where is the spirituality in all of that, Brian?” Well, it comes from our Easter book where Richard Rohr focuses on purifying the lens through which we see life. Rohr encourages us to see Jesus as being a person who has come to save the world and not the one to form a religion called Christianity. How corporate religion is more concerned about who is right and wrong instead of holding the tension of life and death- Like those in the movie. And it is through this lens we should face life.

In an age where people attain celebrity status for next to nothing and young people are driven to copy this achievement Rohr takes us back to our own uniqueness and quotes St Francis who said on his deathbed, “I have done what was mine to do, now you must do what is yours to do.” We must find out what part of the mystery of life that is ours – find that unique truth and live it, not someone else’s truth.

We all can’t be a Chantelle or Mother Teresa, (who would have seen those two be compared} we waste our time living a life comparing ourselves to them or others for that matter. They have done what it was theirs to do; now we must do what is ours to do. “To learn not cope but to thrive” another quote from the movie.
Or as Jesus said “ I have come that YOU may have life , and Life in all it’s fullness.

Shalom

Exercise to begin with- good hour walk with one of my walking buddies, Tom, home and sort out a few things.

Some letters delivered on the way to Pond Park Primary School, for Key Stage 1 Assembly on the theme of Mothers days. What a great school full of enthusiasm and talent. We really are so blest to have such great teachers, Principals, class room assistant in our schools. I love the contact with the schools through Board of Governors and these assemblies. I still get the thrill of the children from church recognising me and giving a shy wave.
Then of for a quick coffee- or for me tea- with one of our young leaders. She had sent me a letter andwas offering to give more leadership to the children and young people. How good is that- an offer, instead of me going and asking. I sometimes feel that people’s hearts sink when I come on the phone with “oh no- what does he want. The good news is I have had two offers of help from young people recently. What encouragement our young people are, full of life, possibility and hope. May we always encourage them

Then quickly over to the ladies Bible study, get technology ready and let them watch another of Nicky Gumble offering on the sermon on the mount. We all knew how to relate to the subject- worry, that we are worried when we have nothing to worry about. We learnt to combat worry by living the present; gain perspective and serve the Kingdom- and introduced some to TOMS Shoes- see www.tomsshoes.co.uk for more detail. Some tea and chat. Then out to the car to email and text some people, and then delivered leaflets to Forthill Primary School for a Damask Event. Lunch was a sandwich on the run, while getting the car washed- I had promised a week earlier.

Next was a very significant meeting in the YMCA in Lisburn. With a few other Suicide support groups in the S.E Trust area, Horizons is tendering for a Family support worker for families affected by Suicide. This progress is so dry but necessary and I hope this can be achieved, but the meeting took 1hour and Half. So we are at 2.30p.m. I have an appointment at 4p.m so I contact a lady who is going through tests, but she is not in, so fill the gap with a call with man who is getting back to health.

So to Maghaberry for my 4p.m. call. A Family with the cutest baby to arrange his baptism. Lovely to see a couple who I married 4 years ago grow and be blessed with this like guy. Great to catch up. So start to head home when the phone rings. It is the lady having tests to tell me sorry to miss my call and give an update on things.

Home for tea, with Lesley and Nicola, and to a night of meetings. Well that was what I thought but over the previous days a couple had been trying to get me about something urgent. So agreed on 7p.m. and I have learnt not get ahead and pre-judge a situation, but I was not prepared for a couple who had been together a long time asking about renewing their vows. Again just a wonderful opportunity to be involved in someone’s lives in a positive way. They are so committed to each other and want to renew their vows in church as they were married in the Registry Office. So working that out took a time.

So that was the day. Well not quite, it finished as it started, with exercise, Nicci and I going for a run.

So later when I led my head on the pillow, fiddling with my new Kindle, I realized God had given me such a great day and reminded I am privileged to serve God in this way, so it was rather a day of Mayhem with some Method in it.

Shalom

Brian

I listened to a debate on Radio Ulster on Sunday, it was about “were the Presbyterian’s right to be so closely linked with the signing of the Ulster Covenant.” Usual panel had been formed, A minister for, one against, a historian to give it context and someone from the “other” side, The person from the Catholic side was Brian Feeney, social commentator among other things. He said at one point, and I can’t even remember the question, “If you are talking to God, that’s alright, but if God is talking to you, you’re nuts, crackers”- If that is not his exact words, it is close enough.

I have been commenting on big I and little I, ( which my computer will not let stay as little i] but there is a degree of big I when you say “God said to me” However it seems to me to be even more arrogant to make our minds up about something, someone or one situation without listening to God. To allow our thoughts not to be filtered by the Contemplation of God. Otherwise our thoughts will centre around BIG I – what will this cost me, will they inconvenience me, whereas through Gods filters it may be very different.
Ours is a culture of comparisons, where we compare ourselves to other peers, To me the trap is, She is a better preach than I, why couldn’t I have said it like that, He is so wrong to take that stance. We look for the best, prettiest, most talented, most successful and through comparison stifle ourselves. God wants to us to know freedom and live life free from comparisons.
To stop comparing and Listen to God- crackers or not- will replace this attitude of comparison, even competitiveness with God’s love. Allow Love to form your assessments
To quote Richard Rohr “ Prayer is not one of 10,000 things, it is that by which we see 10,000 things. Or Julian of Norwich, the 15 century mystic wrote “the Lord looks on his servants with pity and not with blame. In God’s sight we do not fall: in our sight we do not stand. Both of these are true, but the deeper insight belongs to God.

Shalom- and take a moment to find that contemplative place.

Some more thoughts from Richard Rohr’s Book “Everything belongs” – Gift of Contemplative Prayer

Living Life at the circumference, not daring to go to the heart of issues and life is where most of us enact life. Rohr wants to move us more toward the centre, so he encourages us never to lose the “Beginners Mind” that ability to think and question, to retain the holy mystery of life and see God in all kinds of loving places.

Next he looks at our ego’s. Many famous people do not need their ego’s encouraged, not least Oscar Wilde who reportedly said “I have nothing to declare except my genius.” Or “I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.” Or George Michael is honest enough to say “The whole business is built on ego, vanity, self-satisfaction, and it's total crap to pretend it's not.” I wonder is that true of many more aspects of life than just the music business.

Rohr points out that those who live in Contemplative Prayer live in the now- focused on the present- and not in any silly daydream. Do you ever find yourself facing up to anticipated events, usually with conflict involved and talking the situation out in your mind. I have done it many times and you know in my day dream – I always come out on top, I win, I put the other person down. I WIN. Strange how reality is never that straightforward. Egocentricity, usually has with it control or something or someone. To give that up requires major surgery or Christianity may be more comfortable with the Word, conversion. The move from the BIG I to the little i. Rohr argues we can only do that when we let love. The major transformation of love can only happen when we decide not to compare, differentiate, judge or control, but to love. TO live in the moment of love. Potentially this moment has no competition, and when it has no judgements to pass, then the heart of Love can grow from moment to moment. Strangely enough it was Oscar Wilde who said “It is the nature of the ego to take, and the nature of the spirit to share.”
Or Jesus who said “ Unless the grain of wheat dies, it remains just a grain of wheat”

Shalom

So to the second part of my aeroplane story.

The little lad by the window enjoyed the flight immensely, even at one point crying out, “Look at the steam, Dad!” to which he replied, “Son, they are clouds.” The best line came when we landed when the young boy exclaimed, “Daddy, we are back where we started!” I suppose to him Belfast Airport just looked the same as Glasgow one. Dad had to convince him that we had journeyed across the sea and was now in Scotland. I suppose in the young lad’s mind we had just done a complete circle as destination meant little to him.

The journey of Lent asks us to think afresh about our journey with God there is a story in the Bible where Jesus encounters a blind man. Jesus, by making a mud pie and touching the man’s eyes with the paste, gave him sight. The interesting thing is that all the believers struggled to see this miracle. The disciples got caught up in the cause of the man’s blindness, was it his sin or his family’s sin. The Pharisees were even more judgmental, they couldn’t allow Jesus to be a miracle worker because He did not keep the Sabbath and miracle workers keep the Sabbath.

Their understanding of God, their religion, kept them going around in circles trying to explain away the new destination the blind man had now found. In Richard Rohr’s book “Everything Belongs”, he encourages us to keep what he calls “a beginner’s mind”. To quote him, “Religion has lost sight of Jesus’ message … religion has not tended to create honest humble people who trust that God is always beyond them. We aren’t focused on the great mystery … religion has tended to create people who think they have God in their pockets, people with quick, easy, glib answers.” Rohr is so right to keep mystery in front of us God always has to be somewhere beyond our understanding that leads us into paradox, into darkness, and into journeys that never cease.

So on our journey from the circumference to the centre, retaining a beginners mind will help make that possible

I love weekends off, especially when we have planned something. So it was to Glasgow Lesley and I went to catch with two friends and stay in their house, eat their food and generally disrupt their weekend. Lesley wanted to spend some time in the Glasgow shops so we got the early plane. Full it was to, but it provided me with another Aeroplane Story, I have three now. So here it is. In the row immediately in front was a family, mum, dad, little boy of 7, maybe 8, Granny and Gramps. Well this must have the lads first aeroplane journey, and the excitement fill ever sinew of his body, Can I touch this, What does this do, look the wings are moving- well actually he said “ the wings are broken dad, we can’t go”
May observations were of two things.

Firstly I just loved watching and listening to the dad enthuse his son about this flight, Look at that, hey want a reading light on, look at the engine, all of it two lads, one big one small just enjoying the event. Dad, dad get your seatbelt on. I liked that dad, he didn’t worry that I overheard every word, His son was having a new experience and he wanted to be part of the magic well done sir, and I was reminded again of the joy of sharing in a young person life, and how we can fill it with excitement and feed of that excitement ourselves.

Just today someone sent me this,

You know what I think I will keep part 2 until tomorrow

Shalom- I hope not a frustrated one.