Month: April 2020

It’s always weird thinking of Easter in the middle of Holy Week, but here goes. The Lectionary link is here. Here’s John 20:17… “Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'”” ‘Noli me tangere’ (don’t touch me’) is not as good a translation as what we read above, ‘Do not hold on to me’, but in one form or another, these words Jesus said to Mary Magdalene have triggered loads of artistic responses. In the joyful story of resurrection, there is also loss, separation. “Do not hold on to me” – anyone who has loved someone else will recognise the pain of separation.

We can Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, text, phone, send letters to those we love, but “do not hold on to me” – not for as long as the pandemic lasts.

God of all loving,
on the joyful day of resurrection,
we remember also all those people,
who cannot cling to
or hug, or kiss, or shake the hand of
the ones they love,
because of the virus,
or for whatever reason.
May they know, even in their pain,
that they love truly
and are loved still.
May the love of the living Jesus Christ
be with us all.

Living God,
we pray for bus drivers,
at risk of infection,
in need of protection.
We pray that they will be able to go about their work safely.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

I discovered, by digging deep into our camera’s menus, that I can do ‘spot metering’. Therefore I can now take pictures of things like last night’s beautiful moon. It’s not like an astronomer’s picture, but it’s better than I expected.

The moon connects us to our past, because it still governs some religious festivals in the Abrahamic religions. For instance, it still controls the date of Easter. One of the Lectionary passages for Good Friday is from the ‘letter to the Hebrews’. The writer reminds the listeners of Jeremiah 31:33 … “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,”” (Hebrews 10:16). The letter-writer has gone on at some length about priesthood, and Jesus being the high priest, in ways that would only really make sense to someone of Jewish heritage. But if you read the next verse in Jeremiah, you will see that the prophet sees a time which is the end of all priesthood. People won’t need to teach one another about God, because everyone will know God, from the highest to the lowest.
It is the end of priesthood. Nobody can claim to have unique, special knowledge of God, because everyone can know God.

Living God,
help us to know you
and not be afraid.
Help us to know your love.
Help us to know your solidarity
in times of stress.
Help us to know Jesus,
suffering with us,
and leading us to life.
Help us to inhale
your Spirit
and to know you
ever more deeply.

We pray for Mr Johnson, and all who love him. May he recover, we pray. We pray for all people worldwide who are suffering because of this virus. May their suffering end soon. We give you thanks for the courageous work of medical staff. Give them strength we pray. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

The weather here is restless, showers and sunny patches alternating. In common with millions of people in the developed world, I am indoors and also a little restless. I fear for what will happen in countries with no adequate health system.

God protect all people at this time, people like me and people different from me.

The Lectionary for Good Friday is here. A couple of notes … Isaiah 53:8 “By a perversion of justice he was taken away.” I would want to associate this with Jesus and say that there is nothing fair or right about Good Friday: it was horrific. But read on … Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.” That’s something harder to associate with Jesus. How could God will such a thing? Maybe there’s a clue in the words of the Lord’s prayer (old-fashioned version for no good reason except that it’s easier to remember)… “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” … which suggests that there’s a way God’s will in heaven is different from that currently on earth, and it needs to be prayed for, for it to happen on earth. God’s will on earth is circumscribed by the painful and messy realities of life with billions of other people on this planet. I don’t know. But this week, we remember one who suffered, and whose suffering, I believe, gives hope and offers solidarity to the millions who suffer today, Monday the 6th April 2020.

Jesus has walked into Jerusalem, the great and holy city. But he has come to confront the darkness there and everywhere… he meets darkness, not with more darkness, but with love. This is the struggle within us too, and I believe he is our companion.

God of love,
we do not know what battles you had to fight,
we cannot imagine.
But we believe that you are a close and loving presence
for us in our battles.
O God, do not be far from us in this time.

Even when they are behind you, the crowd can be terrifying. They are so powerful – and you cannot be sure where they will turn next. I can’t really imagine how Jesus and the disciples felt going into Jerusalem, and each of them saw the future differently anyway. Consider it possible that alongside the joy and exhilaration, there was an edge of fear.

God help us when we are fearful, comfort us in sorrow, and affirm us in our happiness. Amen.

When Saturday comes, it seems very much like Tuesday … or Monday … or any other day. There’s no sport, and not very much else to give shape to the week.
Except that for these few months, Janet is measuring the days against her End to End walk on the same dates last year. You can find this at her LEJOG blog. There’s a fresh thing to think about every day.
…and at least in my head and in social media, Sundays and scriptures mark another fixed point in every week.

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” – so it says in tomorrow’s Psalm.
Who would have thought that underpaid and under-respected care workers would turn out to be essential?
Who would have thought that the despised Jesus, the donkey man, would turn out to be crucial in people’s lives and in the life of the world?
How will this happen, though? If the builders rejected this stone; who sneaked in, in the middle of the night, to put it back in place? It’s only a metaphor, though, I don’t want to push it too far: but who will give Jesus the same honour and ‘sexiness’ as for example cars or cosmetics, and who will walk his way?
The crowds honoured him when he walked into Jerusalem, but that was only temporary – it seems he may not have been the messiah they were looking for after all.

It cost me over £5 for a 100g jar of coffee this morning: someone’s doing alright out of this business. I can afford it fine, but some can’t. I hope Tesco staff get some kind of bonus at the end of this.

Living God
give us the grace to walk the Jesus path,
to live as you call us to live,
to give and forgive
as you do.
Sometimes it’s hard to do,
and we ask for strength.

We pray for all people
who are affected by COVID-19,
and we lift up this suffering world to you,
trusting, hoping,
that you know and care for
all your children,
that you love all of your creation.