Month: November 2021

From Sunday’s lectionary, this start to the deuterocanonical Baruch reading, “5:1 Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.” Of course what is inside mattters a lot, but don’t underestimate the influence of what clothes we wear. Changing our clothes can be a powerful symbolic action. Elsewhere, Paul invites his readers to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14) and uses the same metaphor in a number of places. His hope is that what we ‘put on’ will influence what’s inside us.

So, it’s Advent: get ready to put on your glad rags.

Minimal blogs for a few days. Normal service will be resumed soon.

It’s Advent – Jesus is coming.

The rough gales expected down the east coast do not sound like a blessing. But in the circumstances, the half moon does sound like a blessing (relatively low tides).

People say, ‘lucky to be alive’ when they are been unlucky to be in the accident at all.

I’m tempted to say it is all just random, and divine blessing or lady luck has nothing to do with it. And so it is, but we are blessed by God to live in the world with consistent laws – and even randomness has its own laws.

And … when I read this;- “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28), two things cross my mind – we are in relationship with God, and God can rescue meaning from any situation … and secondly, God is bigger than time itself – when is just weird even to think about.

Come, Jesus, come into our world –
– as if you were ever absent –
– come again into the minds of the human race,
into our minds.
Come to our streets, our hospitals,
our homes, places of love or abuse;
come to or work places,
and our places of fun,
our transport and our armchairs.

Come to make peace,
to give a voice to the voiceless,
to stand by those who are
on the receiving end of violence,
to suffer because of all the wrong
we do to one another,
and to speak words of hope.

Come, Jesus, come into our world.

I said yesterday about Paul buttering up the Christians of Thessaloniki, in the hope of making their love and togetherness continue to get better. Which leads me to wonder whether, by telling group of people they are doing well, do you encourage them to do better or do you make them complacent? This may be relevant to churches, to say nothing of MUFC.

When is it hairdryer time? The writers of the New Testament weren’t reticent in that respect either.

Reading 1 Thessalonians in Sunday’s lectionary, it sounds as if Paul is buttering up his readers before he sets about giving them some instructions for living. The overall impression I get, though, is of love shared in Christ.

The 25th will be the international day for eliminating violence against women…

God of love,
we pray for an end
to violence against women.
May the end come soon.
May the secret violence,
happening behind the closed doors
of our friends, family and neighbours,
of workmates and fellow churchgoers,
… may the violence end.
We pray for all women who feel
desperately alone and afraid,
with seemingly no-one to protect them
from those who are violent towards them…
…may they find shelter and safety.
We pray that all public places
may become safe places.
We pray that you will protect women
from violent and biased judicial systems.
We pray that you will strengthen
everyone who works to keep women safe.
And if all this sounds wildly optimistic,
because violence runs deep
in the human soul,
God bring a new beginning we pray.
May the strong learn peace.
And may peaceful people learn
to be strong and to stand up.
In your mercy, God,
hear our prayer.