Reflections

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2008-05-15T07:37:00.001+01:00

'If you make my word your home
you will indeed be my disciples,
you will learn the truth
and the truth will make you free'.

The above is a bit of advice from Jesus about how to move towards Christian maturity. To make my 'home' in Jesus word means that I should be grounded in scripture. But this grounding isn't from a book learning point of view only it is also from a Holy Spirit perspective. To me the bible is not dead words on a paper page - to me the Holy Spirit lives in the word of God as read or as spoken. Time after time I have seen its ability to affect lives and attitudes and to even bring peace into a room. But this often can't happen instantly - it is something that happens after we have chosen to live in the word already. Dwelling every day with the word and meditating on it inorder to let it soak into our lives. It isn't a quick fix either it is something that comes after time spent being faithful

Live a Lover's Life!

2008-03-02T10:33:00.002Z

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

The above passage is very important to me it is a 'way marker' for me telling me 'go this way follow the way of wisdom!'

It arrived one morning unexpectedly in my email from a friend who had been praying for me and followed a prompting from the Holy Spirit to send it me. What he may not have known was his timing was excellent and appropriate. Because of what he did I have kind of adopted it into my spiritual life. I thought I would share that with you as a little example of the way one life can bless another. It is one of the readings that helps keep me on track. I go back to it quite regularly and read it and ask myself "am I doing that?" Of course I wouldn't say I ever succeed in loving like that but it gives me inspiration and a point to aim at.

Prayer for Ash Wednesday

2008-02-06T22:43:00.000Z

Come Holy Spirit
we ask you to bless our homes
and our loved ones.

Come Holy Spirit
inspire in us a love for our neighbour,
whether they live near to us or far away

Come Holy Spirit
renew our faith! Rekindle in us a faith that trusts
in your loving kindness

Come Holy Spirit
teach us simplicity of heart, gentleness of Spirit and a joy in living

They will soar on wings like eagles

2008-01-19T10:11:00.000Z

The title is a quote from the prophet Isaiah.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
(Isaiah 40:28) NIV

I think it reminds me to place my trust in God. So that even in the difficult times I will remember that he is there and present for me and the rest of humankind. My experience as a follower of Christ since my decision point to follow him 38 years ago IS that God is love and that His love manifests itself in many ways. His love is individual and he understands our unique difficulties.

The image of being borne on eagle's wings is a consoling one because it conveys an impression of majestic protection. Maybe we can't see yet that God can be like that. But I hope that my faith experience might encourage you to turn to God in prayer. When you pray times of healing will come to you. And God is the kind of God who allows himself to be found when we search for him. Speaking to us through Jeremiah (one of his prophets) he has said to us

I know the plans I have in mind for you - it is Yahweh who speaks - plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you. Then when you call to me, and come to plead with me, I will listen to you. When you seek me you shall find me, when you seek me with all your heart; I will let you find me.(Jeremiah 29:11)

Some people's faith conversion is a big bang revelation that eclipses all that has gone before in their life. But for the majority it is more a trickle down effect from God to us. Convincing us slowly through grace and circumstance that His love is present to the world.

Alone with the computer?

2008-01-08T21:26:00.001Z

A few years back we heard in the media about an American man who had himself legally renamed dot.com.guy and who then moved into an empty property with just his computer. He then undertook to dwell in this house for a year and survive by ordering anything that he needed over the internet. The man himself was quoted when he entered the house as saying, "I'm going to come out being a loon".

For me this story captures something about our present generation. We pride ourselves on being the connected generation. We have more ways of being in touch with each other than ever before and yet in the midst or this technology we are strangely alone. I think in the first week dot.com.guy received something like 6,000 emails. But I can almost guarantee that those emails didn't satisfy his hunger for human company. Perhaps that is part of this generations problem we can manage to churn out the quantity of communication but can we really manage quality in communication?

Certainly in terms of technology we have made huge strides and we have much to congratulate ourselves for, yet when we look at the history of the last year that has just finished we can also see that there is much that we (humankind) can be ashamed of and how technology can be used for good or evil

Yet despite this God is still interested in us! In the bible there are several love letters to us from God. They express in words that which we may one day come to experience. That God loves us with the creative love of a parent.

Knowing this helps us to guard against the isolation that finds its way into our spirit. We can do this if we quieten ourselves from the noise of the world and dwell on the generous nature of a God who freely bestows upon us the richness of creation.

Unlike dot.com.guy we don't have to "order in" creation. It is just there daily and perhaps that is why we forget about its abundance.

We need to remember that what we have is given freely by our creator and that when we embrace God's generosity we find a quality of life that is both fulfilling and powerfully loving. To be in relationship and to love in relationships is what makes us fully human.

So sorry dot.com.guy you really cannot live by the internet alone! But instead by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God! if we try to live only by technology we will come out of it incredibly isolated and alone.

We can use all these new methods of communicating but we need to do so with discernment and almost at each step weigh the value of what we do. What really counts in our lives is how successful we are at being with each other.

God's love for us manages both quantity and quality - but he is infinite and his capacity is infinite. By our nature we ourselves have limits and each of us is called to live and love.
within our very individual (and unique) God given capacities. What one person can manage
easily can be very different and difficult for another.

This year help me Lord to strive for kindness to others and a considered approach in my use of technology.

Live Simply - week 4

2007-12-26T08:26:00.001Z

It seems fitting this Christmas to be looking at the part of the Live Simply promise that says that we choose to live in solidarity with the poor. This is because today we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. God With Us who was born into the humble surroundings of a stable. He dwelt amongst us in grace and truth. Living simply and in solidarity with the poor he taught us about God and the love that God has for each one of us.

At the start of Luke's gospel Jesus uses words of the prophet Isaiah to announce the purpose of his own ministry "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." (Luke 4:17-21).

It seems to me that if we are to be true followers of Jesus we need to take on the same priorities that he has. One of the ways that we can do this is to take steps to understand that in his ministry he reached out to the poor.

He exercised what the church now calls a "preferential option for the poor". The church has come to recognise that when you serve the poor you are responding to a call that comes from God and so you serve Jesus himself. This may sound strange so I suggest that in order to try and understand further you meditate this week on the following:

"I tell you, indeed whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine you did it for me!" (Matthew 25:40). The longer passage can be found between verses 31 and 40

A quote from St. Augustine "God does not demand much of you. He asks back what he gave you, and from him you take what is enough for you. The superfluities of the rich are the necessities of the poor. When you possess superfluities, you possess what belongs to others." from an Exposition on Psalm 147:12.

Putting together this reflection over Advent has challenged me to review my own priorities. Especially this week!

Live Simply - week 3

2007-12-22T08:34:00.001Z

This week I focus on the part of the promise that says that I will live sustainably. A close friend of mine has already pointed out that this is the area I will have most difficulty bearing mind my various failings with recycling!

To deal with the why first. It stems I believe from the inter connectedness of all things. My actions or lack of action will have an effect on someone on the other side of the world. We had an example of this only this week on the news. When they told us that the price of maize has increased because of the USA's increased success at turning Maize into ethanol. This has a knock on effect of increasing the price of all sorts of products that use maize. Some of which I would never have thought of. So like it or not we are connected to the other side of the world. What we buy or don't buy and what we do and don't do has an effect. To discern what is the right action is the challenge that faces people of all faiths. To live sustainably means that we are living in obedience to the command to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. If you are looking for a loophole you might say "the people on the other side of the world are not my neighbour!" Jesus once answered the question "who is my neighbour" with the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25). His words to the enquirer always reach my heart and remind me that if I am to live the gospel authentically I must have goodwill of all people in my mind and in my actions.

So in 2008 I will resolve to make more of an effort to have in mind how I use and share the world's resources. I will find out how to do this as well!

Live Simply - week 2

2007-12-13T08:16:00.001Z

Last week I looked at the Live Simply promise. This week my aim is to reflect on what it means to fulfil the part of the promise that says we will 'live simply'.

I have had to think long and hard about this and I want to share with you an approach that works for me using two passages of scripture.

To live simply I need to remember that the true value of my life is not to be found in what I own or how much I have in my bank account. Or even in how fancy my possessions look when compared to those of my friends. To remember that at the end of my life I can take nothing of this with me.

It seems to me that the important thing is that I focus my hearts desire differently. My true riches are to be found not in the material world but instead in my relationships with others. Jesus said 'your heart will always be where your riches are' Luke 12.34. I need perhaps to say that phrase to myself regularly. So that I can change where my heart is at. To refocus my heart so that my decision is that my riches are now going to be found in relationships. And that I am no longer so concerned with the accumulation of wealth. The assets that I do own I surrender to use for building relationships or building community.

The second piece of scripture that I found useful is from St Paul.

Philippians 4:12-13, TLB. "I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or hunger, plenty or want; for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power"

He talks here - and I think elsewhere about living in times of plenty and in times of hardship and yet being content in both. And I think that is what happens when we give up the unequal struggle with our possessions and discover the peace that can be found in Christ.

Live Simply

2007-12-04T09:15:00.001Z

On Saturday I went to Westminster Cathedral to a CAFOD service of rededication to the Live Simply promise.

The three elements of the promise are to to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor. More can be found on the CAFOD website.

As my advent exercise and in readiness for the coming of Jesus at Christmas I thought I would begin a four week reflection on the promise. This week is a general one, week 2 Simplicity, week 3 sustainably, week 4 solidarity.

The question that I want to look at first of all is why we might want to get involved in this at all. I think for me the reason is based in a call, which I think comes from God, to recognise what I have in common with the rest of humanity. And the need I find that I have to give a good answer to the question "do I make the world a better place by my actions?" and I think in Christian terms this is rooted in the call to love. You will remember that God asks that we love ourselves and our neighbour in the same way that we love ourselves. For me that love also means together with the rest of humankind keeping the world in a good or better state than I found it!

Christ the King

2007-11-27T08:13:00.001Z

The passage below is beautiful. It speaks about Jesus. A prophecy before he was ever born. But we can take the words into our life. I pray that the Lord will give me a disciples tongue... may he make me like an arrow that he can use for his Kingdom. I am sorry that this reflection is brief this week. I am renewing my strength for the start of Advent next week.
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Isaiah 49:1
Listen to me, distant nations, you people who live far away! Before I was born, the Lord chose me and appointed me to be his servant.

2:He made my words as sharp as a sword. With his own hand he protected me. He made me like an arrow, sharp and ready for use.
3:He said to me, "Israel, you are my servant; because of you, people will praise me."
4:I said, "I have worked, but how hopeless it is! I have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing." Yet I can trust the Lord to defend my cause; he will reward me for what I do.
5:Before I was born, the Lord appointed me; he made me his servant to bring back his people, to bring back the scattered people of Israel. The Lord gives me honour; he is the source of my strength.
6:The Lord said to me, "I have a greater task for you, my servant. Not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations - so that all the world may be saved."
7:Israel's holy God and saviour says to the one who is deeply despised, who is hated by the nations and is the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you released and will rise to show their respect; princes also will see it, and they will bow low to honour you." This will happen because the Lord has chosen his servant; the holy God of Israel keeps his promises.
8:The Lord says to his people, "When the time comes to save you, I will show you favour and answer your cries for help. I will guard and protect you and through you make a covenant with all peoples. I will let you settle once again in your land that is now laid waste.
9:I will say to the prisoners, `Go free!' and to those who are in darkness, `Come out to the light!' They will be like sheep that graze on the hills;
10:they will never be hungry or thirsty. Sun and desert heat will not hurt them, for they will be led by one who loves them. He will lead them to springs of water.
11:"I will make a highway across the mountains and prepare a road for my people to travel.
12:My people will come from far away, from the north and the west, and from Aswan in the south."
13:Sing, heavens! Shout for joy, earth! Let the mountains burst into song! The Lord will comfort his people; he will have pity on his suffering people.

Blessed are you who are poor

2007-11-20T00:00:00.000Z

To begin with read Jesus words linked here in Luke's gospel

Here was a man whose words were like fire.

I think even now Jesus words can penetrate our comfortable world and challenge us so that we can dare to be different.

Here is a man who presents to us an altered perception of what it means to be living the human life. Here is a man whose words can make us question our existing value system and drag us out of our introspection.

Jesus trades in paradox. We start to listen to him and when we hear him say "HAPPY", "POOR", "KINGDOM OF GOD" in the same sentence we begin to question what he could possibly mean.

How can poor people be happy? How can the hungry be satisfied? In a way the beatitudes are one of the most frightening passages that Jesus teaches. Because what he says invades our life. We spend most of our lives working hard to feed our family, clothe them, pay a mortgage, buy a car (and of course be a success in the process) and yet Jesus comes close to us in today's gospel and says "alas for you who are rich: you are having your consolation now."

It is not something that we should explain away or dilute. Jesus words are addressed us all at an individual level. To each one who listens they are a challenge. They are a challenge to our hearts and directly to our interior lives. Jesus is prompting us in a very direct way to change the orientation of our lives, so that we put the God Who Is Love first and everything else second. He is inviting us to have spiritual integrity and part of having this is to be able to detach from material possessions so that they no longer own us.

You could also say that Jesus words are addressed to us so that we change our hearts from stone to compassionate hearts of flesh. This invitation is from a Jesus who wants to usher in the new reign of God. A lot of the teaching in the gospel of Luke is about the "Kingdom of God" and how to bring it into our lives. Jesus expects his followers to be "yeast" in society, to have integrity. Changing society by their very presence. If our hearts are in the right place then this starts to happen. Christians are not called to be passive. If our faith does anything for us at all it should stir us into a more pure kind of love which isn't selfish.

...and yes then the beatitudes start to come true. We are happy (or happier) when we change and live by the gospel.

Of course we are only human and will struggle with temptation and even fall back at times. But what we need to watch is that the over-all direction of our lives is going the right way. That is towards God and towards each other and not the other way...

The goal is worth it

2007-11-13T08:02:00.000Z

If you want to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast. Do not be alarmed by adversity, but attach yourself to the Lord and do not leave him.

(Sirach 2:1-11)

Wow! A hard word from the Lord.

Now I have read it again slowly and tried to stand back from those words inorder to see if I can work out what it means to me. The first question is surely trials happen to everyone? Do you have to be a Christian in order to have a hard time? The answer is of course no! There are plenty of decent non-Christian people around who have a hard or harder time. But the message seems akin to training advice! To an athlete we would say 'no pain - no gain' and we would expect them to take it on board. And expect the pain as part of their training regime? To a Christian who wants to be a disciple we would need to say prepare yourself for trials - emotional or physical pain. But the goal is worth it.

But it also says 'Be sincere of heart and steadfast' - this must be more important than that within us that endures adversity. It is our Spirit led hearts and faithfulness that gives the prime witness to others. If our sincerity of heart leads us to have the loving kindness of God in our lives - then we are on the right track. We are just human imperfect beings though! So we will stumble and fall. How we handle that is important and I will write about that soon.

You are God's work of art

2007-11-05T23:59:00.000Z

Something today prompted me to think about the fact that we are all loved and appreciated by God. Quite literally we are all God's work of art and we are his handiwork and he is pleased with us. In fact more than that he rejoices in us.

But you might not feel that this is true. Well how then can I convince you?

If you are a believer already then I could quote some scripture to you that might convince you if you already believe in the power of the word to reveal the truth about God. Or I could talk about the person of Jesus and his life death and resurrection.

But I wish that I could find some way of explaining to you that the biggest reason why I am a Christian and a believer is because of my experience of the Holy Spirit and the love of God experienced in my day to day life. My biggest discovery in my life is that when you pray to the Holy Spirit your prayer will be answered. You need to be open to the fact that when you pray that God will answer you. Maybe not totally in the way that you would expect or even want. But the beginning step is opening yourself to the possibility that what I am saying is true. If you feel that there is just a glimmer of a possibility then why don't you try? My journey started when I was about seventeen and my prayer was a simple one and probably a bit cheeky but God answered anyway! He is not looking too closely at your words it is your hearts intention that speaks most to him. May God's Holy Spirit be with you this day and all your days - to strengthen you and bless you.

postscript
If you need them here are two texts from the bible that have helped me over the years:

Ephesians 2:10 "you are God's work of art" Jerusalem Bible

Jeremiah 29:12-13 "Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart." GNB

Listen! Wisdom is calling out

2007-10-29T07:42:00.000Z

I went on a meditation retreat on Saturday with some friends.

During one of the quiet sessions I found my thoughts turning to the following reading:

Listen! Wisdom is calling out. Reason is making herself heard.
On the hilltops near the road and at the crossroads she stands.
At the entrance to the city, beside the gates, she calls:
"I appeal to all of you; I call to everyone on earth.
Are you immature? Learn to be mature. Are you foolish? Learn to have sense.

The wisdom that we should seek is not the wisdom of the world. If we base our wisdom on the way of the lord our wisdom will be unselfish. Under God's unworldly and different priorities to act unselfishly reaps rewards. The rewards are not in terms of material wealth but instead in terms of spiritual and also the well being of our mind. To the world to act unselfishly is folly but it is good for our souls and our happiness!

God is at odds with the wisdom of the world and the "you scratch my back if I scratch your back" approach to our relationships cuts no ice with him. We can see this very clearly in Jesus own life. He didn't accumulate riches or even have a house to live in and yet we judge him to be the most serene individual that ever lived. His unselfish love led him to sacrifice his life for us. There was simplicity in his life that so often escapes us in our lives. He lived in obedience to the word of God and allowed it to reign sovereign over his desires.

The worlds wisdom is what can derail us from this aim. This is the sort of worldly wisdom that tells us how to make a fast buck at the expense of someone else's serious misfortune. The letter to the Galatians gives us a way of understanding the distinction when it says:

"If you sow in the field of your natural desires, from it you will gather the harvest of death; if you sow in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit you will gather the harvest of eternal life."

As Christians we are called to be different, we are called to be people who dare to allow God to have a say in our lives.

We are called to be a people of the Spirit who enable God to be present in our society. To let the Spirit direct our lives we need to be able to discern our individual way ahead. We need to know the difference between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world, we need to find a way through prayer for the spirit of the living God to fill our hearts and our lives.

On Saturday in the peaceful and beautiful surroundings that I found myself. I felt that God's voice was gently calling to me that the way of wisdom starts when we quieten down enough to listen to his voice speaking in our lives. And that we do this by allowing time for daily prayer and meditation.

"I call you friends"

2007-10-22T21:55:00.000+01:00

Those words from Jesus really reach me. They are the extraordinary statement of the new relationship that exists between humankind and God. They are in a way a declaration of love for humankind. After all true friendship is a love. There can be a stage in a relationship between two people where it changes and grows and there is a dawning realisation that it has moved on to a deeper level. In a similar way this is Jesus speaking out loud what he and the disciples might have known in their hearts for some time.

Maybe it is just a tiny phrase to us that is hidden away in a longer speech that Jesus made at the last meal that he had with his companions. But my belief is that it is very important. The other things that were said at the meal are important. But they all stem from, or are motivated by, the friendship love expressed. Jesus is the tenderness of God expressed in human form. Jesus fully human yet fully divine is the message of God for all of us. He teaches us that God is not too far away for us to reach. And that His command to love (though difficult) is not impossible. In fact it is the only thing that can make our lives worthwhile.

Of course the next thought is how do we respond to the friendship that God is offering us. I was thinking about that and remembered a poem by Kahlil Gibran that I have kept in a little notebook for years.

"and let your best be for your friend.
if he must know the ebb of your tide,
let him know its flood also.
for what is your friend that you should
seek him with hours to kill?
seek him always with hours to live."

I will think again about that poem this week.

Post Script: The quote from Jesus is to be found in the gospel of John if possible read the whole passage which can be found at John 15

Choose Life!

2007-10-17T07:58:00.001+01:00

I have been thinking a lot this week about how we have a choice every day between what is good for us and what is bad. At some levels this daily choice is between life and death. Sounds extreme doesn't it? But the accumulated effect of our daily choice and unconscious choices (habits) pile up. With physical choices this leads to ill health if we choose bad things and good health if we choose good things. I think that is true of our spiritual life as well. Yes , we have a spiritual life!

In fact it was one of the readings at mass that set me off thinking about all this. Do I choose life on a daily basis? And in a way just as importantly can I teach myself to choose life.

This was the reading

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (New International Version)

“this day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

After all when it comes to it we have one chance at our life. We live once and deserve to live to the full. Can we make that choice? To choose what blesses our life and that which enriches it at a physical and spiritual level.

"Pray, but row to shore"

2007-10-08T08:37:00.001+01:00

"Pray, but row to shore" I was reading a while ago and I found this old proverb. I love it. It is quite profound really. It emphasises for me the fact that although we pray we need also to act. To use our free will to go down the path the spirit leads. It is no good sitting in the middle of the lake (for example) in despair, not moving and praying and praying to be rescued when instead we could start rowing. We might not get to the shore but at least if we are moving that way we are increasing our chance to be saved.

Lord in my life help me to pray and row. And please Lord tell me where to row to.

"Your words are spirit Lord and they are life!"

2007-10-01T08:44:00.001+01:00

I believe that these words that come from the gospel are true and can have an impact on our lives. That is why I want to share this log with you.

I also want to invoke a special time of Kairos into my life and the life of any reader who chooses. That line "Your words are spirit Lord and they are life!" is from a psalm.

I believe that God's 'words' are revealed to the world through the scriptures, through Christian tradition and by listening to the voice of God which comes to us in other ways, for example from those who have wisdom or from listening to God in prayer time. Our God can speak to us in visual ways as well. The important thing is that they are living words! Not dead words! Words that can reach our hearts!

Sometimes there are special times a time appointed by God, where a group of people (or even a person alone) can reach a new understanding - a new knowledge of God.

There is something about the scriptures that is very nourishing. Somehow time and time again they can speak to different situations and bring to those that listen the voice of God.

And I have learnt that it is very true to say that there is power in the word of God. This power is positive. It is the power to convince or the power to let the truth bring people to an understanding of God's nature and sometimes to come to an understanding of the need to change direction in their lives. To bring people to an understanding of God's kindness and mercy.

As I say because it speaks the truth the word can sometimes bring us to a stage of sorrow sometimes even to be moved tears but this is really only the start - although we are called to recognise that we are sinners we are not meant to wallow for ever in the dreadful realisation of our sinfulness. The realisation is only there to make us wake up and turn back to God. once we have woken up we need to turn to God straight away and experience his love and mercy.

" Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold."

Good day!

2007-09-23T18:08:00.000+01:00

From now on this is where I will be posting my thoughts about various matters Christian and otherwise.

If you are looking for the St Gertrude's web site it is linked as aside. If you are looking for the the old St Gertrude's web site that is also linked!

I am a deacon in the RC Church and if you wish to know about what a deacon is please look at http://www.diakonia.clara.net/deacon.htm

I hope you are having a pleasant day so far – best wishes Simon