Month: June 2020

From the Lectionary…

Exodus 19:7 “So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.”

Matthew 10:1 “Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.”

Both Moses and Jesus got people together and gave the instructions. Working for God is a corporate thing – we have other people alongside us – we are not alone.

Another morning of fumbling to put on a face covering in the rain outside the shop. OK so far though.

Another largely cloudy morning. The air was fairly still…

There’s still enough water in Torside Reservoir to make reflections.

It’s never particularly seemed to be my world, but being retired seems to have increased my sense of disenfranchisement. I shouldn’t complain – standing on the sidelines moaning has never been very useful – I ought to be thinking of something to do. Reading in the Lectionary about ‘call’ and new beginnings leaves me with a bit of that hunger.

Some of the Bible readings for Sunday are about beginnings. And in various ways there are elements of call+promise=>deal. Odd for a person of my age (typical of mainstream church members) to be reminded of beginnings and the possibility of being called to something new. But it’s by no means out of the question…. Watched a dedication service of the Iona Community last night on Facebook, and it was inspiring. Anyway, Sarah laughed: have you ever had that thing when you wonder, did that person really just say that?

Today we walked beneath a shield of cloud.

A steady rain is falling, and I think I’ll not do my exercise just now – although I may not eat any less.

Today is Trinity Sunday, baffling for scientists and fun for artists.

God of life, we thank you
for creating the generous rain,
to make the earth fruitful.
We thank you for coming to us in Jesus,
who walked the roads of Palestine,
who knew the feel of rain on his head
and the intensity of the sun on his brow,
who suffered because of us,
and who lives to offer us life.
We thank you that you are Spirit,
you will go where you want,
do what you do,
fall on us like rain,
stir us up like a rushing wind,
and we shall never nail you down.

An early morning walk to the shop in he rain. Quite enjoyable progressing through empty streets … except putting on a face covering outside the local Tesco was a damp fumble. Target achieved, except for nuts: I decided since it was only I who wanted them, it wasn’t worth going round again and possibly squeezing past a shelf-stacker to look for them.

BTW, we had a spell of clapping for carers – what about people who stack shelves – that seems pretty essential to me.

God of love,
we pray for everyone who has a dangerous job,
army, fishers, doctors, nurses, hospital cleaners and porters,
care workers, food shop staff, bus drivers, taxi drivers,
and many many more.
God keep them safe,
protect their going out and their coming in.

Do you think President Trump measures the success of his presidency by the number of ‘likes’ his tweets get? It would explain a lot.

Walking, you can know how you are doing, in that you can measure the distance. This morning, a short walk between showers up to Rhodeswood Dam and back via Padfield. Quite a few people around, despite the iffy weather. The guerilla cheerer-up has been down by the lane, too…

We thank you God
for people who make our lives cheerful.
We thank you for Jesus,
who offers the world love and healing,
a love stronger than death.

When I got out of the door this morning, I was greeted by the smell of burnt moorland. It stayed with me, more or less, for the whole of the morning walk. I guess with the wind more in the north, it was blowing straight down from where the fire has been, on Saddleworth Moor. I know freedom is sacred and all that, but would it be too much of a problem to ban the sale of disposable barbecues until the moors were properly wet – which they may be soon – we’ve had some nice rain.

Came across this today…

…maybe the track by the reservoir was a route somewhere at one time.

Trinity time: In Genesis the writer is trying to tell us how God created order from chaos, and the first we know about it is the ‘wind that swept across the face of the waters’ – i.e. spirit. As to God in Christ, other Bible writers have said how Jesus can bring meaning out of tragedy.

God forgive us when we mess up your creation:
we may not all have the spectacular stupidity of those
who set fire to the moors,
but we do our bit to make things worse,
and ask you to forgive us.
Strengthen and encourage us, we pray,
to work to heal the world
and make things better.

Nice to have some cooler, breezy weather and a splash of rain at last. The mix of wet and dry patches emphasised the roots of this roadside tree…

Meanwhile, life’s still grim for millions of people. It is the year of terror: terror of a tiny virus, terror of racists in the American police, terror of a life with no income, and hunger knocking at the door. And the people we call ‘terrorists’ are completely outclassed by all this.

Never mind, life is restarting, and our betters will soon be able to get hog-whimpering again.

God forgive us for our carelessness of others,
our casual dismissal of people unlike ourselves,
and our faithlessness.
At the same time, dear God,
we struggle to understand
why this virus has come.
Do we need to forgive you for it?
Is it your doing?
If we are to thank you for this
amazing, created world,
does it not also include the agents of death?

A small walk around the block this morning, just to get the motion furniture woken up. Dog walkers on Rough Fields enjoying the last day of fine weather. Quite a few people on foot on the pavements. If by now you’re yearning for a verb, ‘waft’.

Trump’s doing quite well at the moment. It suits him to have his country in flames, because it’ll be a chance to look tough.

I don’t like it, any of it. Deepening rifts in societies, a devastating virus, people dying, economies struggling to breathe. The odd thing is that (to simplify a bit) those nations which prioritised life over money and locked-down soon and hard are now in a better position to start their economies again.

God, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy,
God have mercy.

Trinity Sunday is coming…

I’m sure it’s reasonable to try and describe God – after all, you would describe your parents, or your lover. And it is argued that Trinity is God’s own self-revelation – although you have to probe around a bit in the Bible before you can get such a neat description. So I don’t feel it’s right to object to saying God is Trinity. And it’s a useful way to plan prayers I’m told.

But it just feels as if as soon as I open my mouth to speak of God, I’m making God less than God really is. Besides which, like every word, ‘Trinity’ has a load of random associations – lightships on the sea, rugby in Wakefield, ‘Three-In-One’ oil, etc..

Today was another fine day. As the path took me nearer the A628, I caught a little noseful of HGV brake-lining smell.