Wherever I might go

 We have been exploring a new part of the country this week, staying with family near Eastbourne. We've seen a glorious sunset, the awesome chalk cliffs of East Sussex, the rolling downlands, ancient villages and towns of this area and experienced slightly drier conditions than we're used to in Wales!

It is different, certainly busier and definitely wealthier. But we have learned over the years that wherever we go, be it somewhere exotic or within the UK there are always things of wonder to gaze at, countryside to stand within and feel at peace, monuments created by human hands that cause us to praise the skills of ancient craftsmen.

This is a wonderful world to walk upon on our journey through life!

Yours, Lord is the Glory
in everything I see;
a country scene,
mountain stream,
sunrise, sunset, rain and snow.

Yours, Lord is the Glory
wherever I might go

Yours, Lord is the Glory
in everything I hear;
a roaring sea,
bumblebee,
laughter, loving, a tender poem.

Yours, Lord is the Glory
wherever I might go

Yours, Lord is the Glory
in everything I feel;
a special place,
warm embrace,
accepted, helped to become whole

Autumn Leaves

I was enjoying a walk through the grounds of a country house at the weekend, which at this end of the year means walking over a carpet of fallen leaves of all shapes and colours (you can play 'spot the tree' above with the photograph I took!)

One of the wonders of nature is the way that deciduous trees shed their golden brown leaves in Autumn (or Fall), to be replaced in Spring by the vibrant green of new growth. In a very real sense, something has to die in order that new life can follow. But not only die, of course, for the leaves that fall will break down in the soil and provide nutrients for the tree to feed on through the year to come. 

It's all part of the rich cycle of life.

It's a short jump in logic from thinking about trees to considering God and ourselves. On the Cross Jesus shouted 'It is finished!' before dying. Like the leaves that fall to the ground his task was completed. He had nourished those who were his followers, provided food for those who were in need of sustenance, and given the authorities much to chew over. Now he was to die, and rise again that all might know new life in the Springtime of his Kingdom.

And for ourselves? We live our three score years and ten (plus a few hopefully!) and leave this world with whatever impact we have had on it, for better or worse. For Christians hopefully this has involved the feeding of others, the sharing of love and truth, things that will live on and nourish another generation. 

It's all part of the rich cycle of spiritual life!

And of course, leaves that grow old take on a beauty all of their own :¬)

A prayer for this night

Through the dark hours of this night
protect and surround us
Father, Son and Spirit, Three

Forgive the ill that we have done
Forgive the pride that we have shown
Forgive the words that have caused harm
that we might sleep peaceably
and rise refreshed to do your will

Through the dark hours of this night
protect and surround us
Father, Son and Spirit, Three

A Morning Sunrise Moment

 

I arise to-day :
might of Heaven
brightness of Sun
whiteness of Snow
splendour of Fire
speed of Light
swiftness of Wind
depth of Sea
stability of Earth
firmness of Rock. 

I arise to-day :
Might of God
Power of God
Wisdom of God
Eye of God
Ear of God
Word of God
Hand of God
Path of God
Shield of God
Host of God

(from The Book of Cerne, 9th C)

Harvesting Thoughts

Took a harvest service this morning which was themed on 'God's Abundance', and used resources provided by the Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF), particularly relating to Cambodia.

What came across were two main points, I hope! Firstly that God provides for our needs, but also provides that we might share, not hoard (nb Israelites and the Manna in the desert). Secondly, that it doesn't take a lot to make a difference. Just as a small amount of yeast can make a loaf rise, so a small gift can be multiplied.

6 chickens given to a Cambodian farmer can be grown, bred, eggs sold, seed bought, crops grown and the initial gift passed on to someone else such that a whole community can benefit.

It doesn't cost a lot to make a difference!

Bit Choppy Today!

Although today was beautiful, with warm sun filtering through misty cloud and wind blowing out to sea, the incoming tide in Pembrokeshire was awesome. I guess it was scenes like this that attracted the early Christian saints such as David to establish themselves and their followers at this end of God's world - they were continually reminded of the power of the Creator in the countryside within which they eked out a living from the land, served their God and spread the Word.

Today we seem to have lost a sense of awe about the world we inhabit. We have also become ignorant about it. Our knowledge of science can sometimes blind us to the spiritual, and we fail to see God’s hand in the natural laws that govern this world. J Wallace Hamilton, writing in ‘Who Goes there? What and where is God?’ says ‘An amazing thing has happened in our way of thinking. In a world that could not for one moment exist without the activity of God, we have conditioned our minds to a way of thinking that leaves no room for him. So many of our wants are provided by what seem to be natural and impersonal forces that we have lost sight of the great provider in the midst of providence… if you ask a child where milk comes from, he won’t  think of saying “From a cow.” He will say “From a container.”’

Early Christian monks in Ireland had no such problems and were still well connected to the God who provided for all their needs. They were quite taken with stories of the Desert Fathers (who found a spiritual solitude in often remote and harsh countryside) and looked for a similar wilderness where they could give themselves over to God. A lack of real desert did not put them off. Certain boggy areas were set aside for prayer (some place names still have the element 'disert' in them), and they turned to the one wilderness that they had in abundance – the Atlantic Ocean – and set off in flimsy leather and wickerwork boats in search of ‘the desert in the ocean’

They were looking for land where they could settle; land which could supply them with water and food; land where they could be alone with their God, and hundreds of monks set out on the potentially perilous journey across the ocean trusting not in navigational skills but God to keep them safe.

I watched a man in a kayak ride the waves today and thought.........'Rather you than me, mate!'

Some quotes here from a Bible Study I wrote a while ago called 'ConneXions' which has a Celtic theme running through it...

The Rhythm of Life

 

Today was apparently the second highest tide of the century here at Kidwelly. I went down to the quay hoping that there would be a stiff breeze giving a great picture, only to find that it was as calm as.... calm can be, which truth be told is actually good. A high tide and high wind is bad news for a lot of people living close to the valley which feeds into the estuary here.

But it did remind me of the natural rhythms of nature and life in general - the tides, the seasons, the migration of birds, night and day, our own body's rhythms - they are at the centre of what we are and the world we live in.

Christine Sine, in her new book (Click Here)  'Light for the Journey - Morning and Evening Prayers for Living into God’s World' reminds us that rhythm should also be at the centre of our spiritual life as we commit ourselves to regularly spending time in prayer, Bible study, meditation and listening to God. This is a habit that has got lost amidst the rush of everyday life, but that was appreciated by the early Christians in our land.

The Patience of Love

I've been revisiting that lovely passage from 1 Corinthians 13, and stayed awhile on verse 4 

'Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.'

The Greek word used for 'patience' in the New Testament refers to people rather than to circumstances. It describes someone who maybe has it within them to be angry and want some form of revenge against someone who has wronged them, but yet will not do it. 

It is used of God's relationship with humankind, so that must be our model - we must have the same degree of patience with people as God does with us.

Ouch!

But what that also tells us is that it is not a sign of weakness to refuse to be provoked, but rather a sign of strength that shows love victorious over that which challenges it. 

Love is patient, it endures, it loves, it triumphs.

It troubles me....... Creation Science

This is an attempt by scientists, mainly in the US, to redefine scientific thinking by stating that creation as depicted in Genesis is an accurate scientific model. It troubles me not only because I believe that Genesis is not science, but because it is divisive – driving Christians to different poles of opinion, and also driving seekers away from the church because they can see neither sense nor reason in such an approach.

I just want to make a couple of observations, because there's plenty of learned discussion on the web. Let me start by quoting the ancient writer Origen, an early Christian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Christian Church. He said this of the Creation story in Genesis,

“What man of intelligence, I ask, will consider that the first and second and the third day, in which there are said to be both morning and evening, existed without sun and moon and stars, while the first day was even without a heaven?  And who could be found so silly as to believe that God, after the manner of a farmer 'planted trees in a paradise eastward in Eden' ... I do not think anyone will doubt that these are figurative expressions which indicate certain mysteries through a semblance of history.” 

Origen, writing at the end of the first century suggests the pictures within the creation story are not to be read as straightforward history but as symbolic stories which express 'mysteries through a semblance of history'. Great thinkers such as Augustine, Calvin and Galileo are united in seeing the main purpose of the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:4a as theological, not scientific.

 

Its main purpose was to set out the Hebrew understanding of creation over against the ideas that were prevalent in the cultures among whom the Hebrews lived. It was a picture that the ordinary man or woman in the street could relate to, and one that reflected a monotheistic culture.

 In the ancient word there were many creation stories, and the prevalent culture in the region was one of polytheism, or many gods, and their creation stories tend to begin with the origin of the gods, one of whom brings the universe into being.

In Genesis there is one God, creator of all that exists. The existence of God is assumed. Genesis is essentially about purpose rather than science. An understanding of God’s purpose in creating the world and its creatures.  An understanding of the purpose of humankind in the mind of God and their place in the bigger picture.

 

To treat the creation story as science is confusing and unhelpful. It also assumes that you accept the universe to exist as in the picture above, which would have been the understanding of the writer of Genesis. I'm guessing that not many creation science folk hold to that view?!