Wednesday, 25 December 2019

Celebrating


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‘Come and join the celebration; it’s a very special day;
Come and share our jubilation;
There’s a new King born today!’


The day has dawned! A child is born to us, our Saviour, Christ the Lord!

On this Holy Day let us celebrate his coming as the Word made flesh: God with us.

Just as I wish that the Church might make more of Advent and the deep and rich themes of that season, instead of simply observing it as a ‘Christmas-in-advance’, I also wish that we would make more of the whole Christmas Season (which simply begins today and lasts for the next 12 days) instead of moving on too quickly once Boxing Day has passed! The biblical accounts of the Visit of the Magi and the tragic Slaughter of the Innocents, and also the profound theological insights of the prologue to John’s Gospel demand and deserve much more in depth reflection than we tend to give them.

But that argument is all for another day.

Today is a day for celebrating. It is a day for rejoicing in the Birth of our Lord Jesus. It is a day for giving and receiving.

So, let’s celebrate today this joyous thing that has happened!

And, those of you who read my blog from time to time, might wish to join Jane and me in a special and personal celebration, the news that our daughter is announcing to everyone today that she is expecting our first grandchild!

We are very excited about this!

It will certainly make a big difference to Christmas Days from now on.

May you all have a very happy, blessed, peaceful and joy-filled Christmas Day.


Tuesday, 24 December 2019

Expecting


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‘He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child’.
(Luke 2: 5)


The waiting is almost over! It is Christmas Eve. What are you expecting tomorrow?

Children will be expecting the visit of Santa during the night, and presents around the tree in the morning. This expectation will lead to mounting excitement!

Some folks, on the other hand will be expecting nothing more than just another day. No family, no gifts, no celebrations and no difference. Remember them and pray for them and consider if there is anything you can do to change their expectations.

Rather unusually, I am expecting a very quiet Christmas Day. Most of the family will not be with us this year. And so, with one of our sons, a friend (and our dogs!) a simple, relaxed Christmas Day is what I am expecting.

Of course, Mary was expecting her first child; the one who had been promised and who would be named Jesus. The word ‘expecting’ is now so associated with pregnancy that we simply say that ‘so-and-so’ is ‘expecting’, and we know what that means -  a baby is coming!

Usually, that news of someone expecting brings with it excitement as well as a bit of anxiety and apprehension. All the more so in the case of Mary. Young and vulnerable, she is a far away from home, in a strange place, after a long journey, and with her pregnancy surrounded by suspicion if not scandal.

I wonder if these circumstances and her inevitable anxiety in the face of them (and in the anticipating childbirth itself) would completely overwhelm her excitement. Expecting (in the specific as well as in the wider sense) can lead to negative as well as positive emotions. There will be many people who (sadly) will be expecting Christmas Day to bring nothing but disappointment, tension or misery.

But it is sad that ‘expecting’ has so many negative connotations for so many people. Just Google ‘expectation quotes’.

I did and the first quotes were;

‘The best way to avoid disappointment is don’t expect anything from anyone’

 ‘Don’t blame people for disappointing you, blame yourself for expecting too much’

‘From now on I will expect nothing and just accept what I get’

...and so they go on.

What a pity.

For whatever reasons, expecting is not primarily regarded in a positive light, but a negative one.

Those of us who speak of Christian hope and who seek to live out that hope in how we view the world, surely bring a different perspective to the idea of ‘expecting’. While we know (and must never deny) how dark and bleak this world can be, and while we too will have known, and will yet know, the depths of disappointment, we must keep on expecting the fulfilment of God’s promise.

And as we expect that tomorrow we will celebrate the birth of that hope so we can live in the expectation of the final fulfilment of the promises that were heralded at his birth.

I will not give up expecting, and will not allow my expecting to be overcome by negatives.

And as well as looking forward to (and expecting!) a simple but relaxing and enjoyable Christmas Day, I am expecting to be able to share some good news in tomorrow’s final post in this series.

Much to expect then!

Watch this space!!

Monday, 23 December 2019

Receiving




‘To all who received him... he gave the right to become children of God’ (John 1: 12)


Yesterday I was saying that Christmas is a time of giving. If that is the case then (self-evidently) it is also a time of receiving.

And yet, some folks do not find it easy to receive. There are the lonely and isolated folks who may have few if any who will be giving to them. How can you receive that which is not given?

There are the stressed and overworked who are struggling to get enough together to give their family what they consider to be a ‘proper’ Christmas and then are too anxious, exhausted or debt-ridden to receive even the joy and satisfaction of their family's pleasure.

There are those who shop and prepare and cook and serve on Christmas Day for family (including some of the distant members whom they may not much like), who receive little thanks (if any), who are too washed out by it all to receive the satisfaction of a job well done or too pressured to receive the rest and relaxation that many others take for granted.

And so on.

Thankfully, I receive a great deal at Christmas, and I appreciate the fun, festivity, family time and food that this season affords. After the Christmas Morning service, I am even able to manage some rest and relaxation after the preceding weeks of extreme busyness!

However, I have also discovered that Ministers can sometimes find it difficult to receive much from worship services. Personally, I can find it very difficult to receive while I am giving in these situations, and even if others are leading a prayer or the choir are singing a piece, the fact that the Minister has overall responsibility for the worship makes it difficult for me to simply ‘receive’, to allow God to speak, to challenge, to offer his peace and presence, to bless (although I have found it much easier to receive in Team Ministry settings).

This year, with all the services before and around Christmas, we made the decision to go to Glasgow Cathedral yesterday evening for the Festival of Lessons and Carols.

It was wonderful!

With both Jane and I being Ministers and being so busy at this hectic time, it was a delight to simply take time away from the relentless round of services, to be ‘incognito’ and just two in the crowd, to have no responsibility for the service whatsoever, to allow the wonderful music (and it was superb!), the familiar scripture readings and the prayers in this ancient and inspiring setting to remind us of the grace and generosity of the God who gave his Son, born the Babe of Bethlehem.

I so appreciated simply receiving, allowing the worship to inspire me and the sense of God’s presence and peace to wash over me.

It was a gift which I gratefully received.

It was made even better by meeting up with the Cathedral’s Musical Director, Andrew Forbes, and his parents, Duncan and Gil, whom we knew from Perth days where they belonged to the North Church of which I was Minister for 11 years. Small world!

It is more blessed to give than to receive, but we all still need to learn how to receive. We cannot offer much if we are empty; we cannot bless if we have not allowed ourselves to be blessed; we cannot spread peace if we ourselves have not made the space to receive God’s peace; we cannot give if we have not first received.

And this Christmas time, may we be willing to receive into our lives the Word who became flesh, Jesus, Child in the Manger, Babe of Bethlehem.

In the words (in Scots) of one of the carols sung by the Cathedral Choir yesterday evening;

O my deare hert, young Jesu Sweit,
Prepare thy creddil in my spreit.
And I sall rock thee to my hert...

Sunday, 22 December 2019

Giving


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‘...remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  (Acts 20: 35)


Here we are, on the 22nd of December, with just three days to go.... and I have all my gifts ready for Christmas Day! This unusual achievement is giving me a great deal of pleasure! Admittedly, it is somewhat easier this year as our family won’t be giving and receiving presents until some time after Christmas Day as we will not all actually be together on the day itself. So when I say I have all my presents ready for Christmas Day, that actually has not involved me in a great deal... but, still, it feels good!

As people (and advertisers) keep reminding us, Christmas is a time of giving. Presents are exchanged and we give gifts to our loved ones and friends. At the church in which I am currently serving, the children’s Christmas Party was held yesterday, and – as is traditionally the case – at the end of the party Santa appeared (would you believe it!) and gave gifts to all the children. As he did so, he kept making chuckling noises and uttering a joyful ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’. He seemed to get a great deal of pleasure out of simply giving.

And there is certainly a great deal of pleasure to be found in giving gifts.

For Christians, our giving reflects that generous, gracious and loving gift that God gave us in the sending of his Son to be our Saviour.

And it is as I think again about the implications of that gift that I wonder if our giving really does reflect God’s giving to any great extent.

Unlike God, we tend to give to those who give to us, or those who are expecting a gift.

Sometimes our gifts may cost a lot of money, but they are rarely ‘costly’ in any other way.

So, how would it look if our giving really did more fully reflect something of God’s giving?

I suppose what I am wondering is what it would look like for me to give something more than presents... to give myself, fully and freely to God and fully and freely to others.

What would that mean for me in terms of service and sacrifice?

What would the implications be for my time and my priorities?

To which people would I be giving?

How would that change my life?

And might I discover that it truly is more blessed to give than to receive?

Saturday, 21 December 2019

Believing


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‘Christianity isn't any less true just because it's less widely believed’
(Sam Wells, priest and theologian)



The other day, in the car, I heard part of a programme on Radio 4 (‘Inside Science’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000cc1v). They were discussing how difficult it can be for us to grasp some of the more complicated aspects of maths and physics. And so, it was said, we explain a lot of it using analogy and metaphor.

Hmmmm.... so it seems that some things in science are so far beyond our grasp or language that we have to explain them in a different kind of way to allow us to understand and grasp the concept (if only a little!). Think of the famous space / time / gravity analogy of a rubber sheet and a ball. But of course all such analogies are limited... even misleading. But we need them to begin to access the deeper truths.

Interesting.

As a Christian I am constantly amazed and bewildered that some of those who do not share my faith reject it on the basis not of what most Christians actually believe about God and life etc, but on some crude and inadequate pictures of God that at best may have had some limited value in a Sunday School class for young children, or at worst are simply the creation of presumption.

So when someone says ‘I do not believe in God’, it can help the conversation to ask in turn ‘And what God is it that you don’t believe in’. How often it transpires that the God they do not believe in, I don’t believe in either!

Analogy and metaphor are necessary in language about faith, but they can too easily limit, distort or mislead, just as they can in science.

This is not to say that we can approach faith in exactly the same way as we do science. It is simply to say that there are some parallels in terms of the use of language to attempt to describe the indescribable.

At this time of year, many people who would not regard themselves as ‘believers’ nonetheless find themselves wondering, questioning and even attending church and singing carols! What is it that draws them?

Nostalgia?

The attempt to engage with what they presume to be a ‘traditional Christmas’ (which is of course nothing of the sort, but a Victorian / Dickensian construct)?

An appreciation of the music, atmosphere, candles etc?

Very possibly.

But is there not something else going on, at least for some? Perhaps it is a longing to believe even although they do not. Perhaps the recognition that at some deep place within, there remains the spark of belief. Perhaps the Christmas Story (even those bits that may be considered by some to be analogy and metaphor) speaks of something beyond the story itself that is ultimately true and this stirs in the heart some brief awakening of faith.

At Christmas there are opportunities for us all to think again about our ‘believing’ or ‘unbelieving’ and ask some questions about these. But we might also look at what is stirring within us... our feelings... our deeper sense...not simply our thoughts.

The child within us may not be wrong! Do we need – at least for a moment – to set aside doubt and denial, cynicism and calculation?

And just because we need to speak of some of these very deep things in terms of metaphor and analogy does not mean that the analogy or metaphor are actually what believers believe! (or at least, not all that they believe!)

And just because, in this moment of our history, because fewer people in Western Society are believers, does not make Christianity untrue. Truth is not determined by majority opinion.



Friday, 20 December 2019

Hurrying


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‘The shepherds said to one another “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about”. So they hurried off... ’ (Luke 2: 15-16)


It is not only shepherds who are hurrying at the moment. It feels as if almost everyone is dashing about in the hectic pre-Christmas rush. I read this morning that the roads are expected to be somewhat busy today as folks engage in what the headline described as the ‘great Christmas get-away’ (is that a thing?). They are hurrying off to be with family (or to escape, perhaps?). People are hurrying to the shops to get last minute presents and food. Ministers are hurrying to get their Christmas services completed.

There’s a lot of hurrying going on!

For myself I hope that in the midst of all the hurry I may still find some time for pausing and pondering and praying. Time to rest and remember and reflect.

I hope you can find such time too.

But hurrying is not always a bad thing!

If we risk being late, it is much better to hurry than to loiter.

We would expect emergency response vehicles to hurry to or from any incident and not hang about.

And if we are in danger of missing something, then hurrying is essential.

The shepherds hurried off because it was important that they see this thing of which they had been told. It was important and urgent. They would not want to miss this!

It was not something that they could dare to put off until another time.

Can we be in danger of putting things off? Of tarrying, loitering or waiting when in fact there is something terribly important and urgent that needs done or seen or decided that cannot wait or ought not to wait?

When God speaks or calls or acts and we are invited to respond, it is not time for hanging about and dithering! It is a time for hurrying to make our response.

I cannot keep putting off that to which God is calling me, or that to which he is directing me.

It is time to hurry up!

Thursday, 19 December 2019

Seeking


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‘Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?”’ (Matthew2: 1-2)


I find ‘seeking’ an interesting word and concept. It implies something a bit more than simply ‘looking for’.  It has a sense of a strong desire to find, a determined and deliberate search, a striving for, a pursuit of something.

It seems that this was what the Magi were doing as they travelled from the east (possibly Persia) in search of the new born ‘King of the Jews’.

‘Seeking’ also describes something of an important period of time in my own spiritual journey. As a teenager I had drifted from any real faith and had wandered a bit onto paths that were not likely to lead anywhere terribly good! But through that period of time (possibly a couple of years) I was definitely ‘seeking’ for something... I just was not sure I knew what it was. I tried many of these paths, but not with any sense of finding that which I sought’. ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’ (U2) comes to mind!

But I was certainly determined. I very much wanted to find whatever it was that I sensed I lacked and for which I looked. It was a deep and burning desire within me. I was certainly striving after something.

When I ‘found’ Jesus (or he ‘found’ me) I knew at once that this is what I had been seeking all this time.

But it is that sense of determination, striving and longing that I recall. I wonder where that sense of ‘seeking’ has gone and why it does not now feel so urgent.

Not that I have ‘lost’ Jesus, you understand!

But I am aware too that I am not always fulfilled or living ‘life in all its fulness’, not always experiencing the Spirit’s love, joy and peace etc. So where is the urgent, deliberate and determined ‘seeking’?

Perhaps I am not as wise as I sometimes imagine myself to be!

A few things to ponder in all of this methinks!

Wednesday, 18 December 2019

Preparing


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‘As is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “A voice of one crying in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him’”.’ (Luke 3: 4)


Preparing, preparing, preparing....

I think I am almost there! Presents purchased, food ordered, wine selected... just some last minute cards to send, the presents to wrap (not my favourite task) and – of course – the dinner (or my part of it) to cook.

Oh, and then there are the services to conduct! But at least my preparation for these is pretty well advanced. So all good!

In almost every respect, this is a time of hectic and frantic preparation. In fact, there is so very much to prepare that we can be in danger of missing out on the most important preparation... the preparation to which the words of John the Baptist (quoting Isaiah) refer.

John was calling people to prepare the way of the Lord by turning their lives anew to God, receiving forgiveness for their sins and being alert to the coming of the One who was greater than him.

Turning our lives anew to God...

Receiving forgiveness for our sins...

Being alert to His coming....

These remain the means of preparing the way for His coming; for the celebrating of his coming as the Christ-Child, for the readiness to meet him when he comes again, and for the openness to discern him and greet him as he comes to us every day.

Prepare the way for the Lord!



Tuesday, 17 December 2019

Anticipating


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Anticipation (noun): excitement; waiting eagerly for something that it is known will occur; nervous expectation; being prepared.

This is the time and these are the days.

It is the same almost every year.

Somewhere between 10 days and a week before Christmas Day, I begin to realise that Christmas is soon and I begin anticipating it. And I suppose I mean ‘anticipating’ in the sense of the various aspects of the above definition. I begin to get excited (not regarding Santa and presents, but about services and dinner and family and so on). I start waiting eagerly for the various elements to occur. And while it seems sad and Scrooge-like to some, I most especially eagerly await Boxing Day which is my absolute favourite day of the year, not because it is all over – for it is not! (Christmas has only just begun! – but because it so wonderfully relaxed!). And there is undoubtedly also an element of nervous expectation; will the services be ok? Will the dinner be fine? Have I chosen the right wines? And of course there is that aspect of anticipation which is about being prepared.

And so, with that mounting sense of anticipation, this morning I looked out my Christmas jumpers and Christmas waistcoats.

I am very much at one with the Iris Johansen quote above ‘Anticipation makes pleasure more intense’. In fact, I sometimes find anticipating an event (and remembering it, for that matter) can be even more pleasurable than the event itself.

I wonder where this sense of anticipation comes from. Why do we anticipate at all? I suppose it has something to do with being prepared. But there is also something about anticipation keeping hope and expectancy alive.

And that is where I begin to wonder if my sense of anticipation which affects so many aspects of my life reaches to my anticipation of, preparation for and expectancy of the coming Day of the Lord.

I sometimes fear that in this respect at least, my sense of anticipation has been dulled and dimmed, and perhaps as a result so also are hope and expectancy.

Something to ponder, pray about and address, I reckon.



Monday, 16 December 2019

Dying


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[Isaiah said to Hezekiah] ‘...thus says the Lord: “Set your house in order, for you shall die”’
(Isaiah 38: 1)


This verse was part of the passage of the Bible I read in my own morning prayers today. It is rather sobering, isn’t it? Not terribly jolly.

It hardly seems fitting in this festive period when all the focus is on joy and fun, and when we are looking forward to the birth of a baby, the coming of a new life.

Of course (you will not be surprised to hear me say!) it is my view that we think this because we have lost touch with the true meaning of this Advent Season; we rush prematurely into Christmas celebration; we focus on the superficial and the sentimental, even in church.

However, in Advent, we are encouraged to look towards the ‘end times’, and that includes facing up to our own mortality and living with that awareness – not in some kind of morbid or gloomy way, but as those who have faith and hope; those who know that while this life is passing, there is the promise of resurrection and final completion. But also living as those who know that we will encounter God ‘face to face’ (however we understand that).

In the end, Hezekiah did recover! But of course he, like all of us, died in the end.

Dying is part of living. We are all dying, and while that may encourage us to live soberly and thoughtfully, it should not stop us living joyfully. But the awareness and acceptance of our mortality may well enable us to hold onto the things of this world more lightly and may assist us in focussing our lives on those things that are truly important.

I suspect that those who live with a positive and joyful awareness and acceptance of their mortality, live also with a lightness and a hope in their hearts. And those who live with the hope that is set before us, live well. And in living well we can hope and pray that we may also – when that time comes – die well.

Sunday, 15 December 2019

Refocusing


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‘When we become completely preoccupied with the mystery of the Incarnation this feast will be more peaceful, more meaningful, and it will change us.... we establish a focus on ... Jesus, the true reason for the season...’ (Sarah Metts)


The marking of the season of Advent goes back many, many centuries. While it is not certain just when it began, it was known to be observed from as early as 480 AD.

In more recent times, the dominant themes of the season have turned to preparation, anticipation and hope. But originally Advent was a penitential season which had a period of fasting associated with it, known as the Nativity Fast or the Fast of December.

While some of the more penitential dimensions to the season may have developed and evolved, the emphasis on refocusing remains one of importance and value.

This is a time when we can look once again at our own lives, priorities and values; a time to reflect on what is really important; a time to challenge ourselves anew; a time to prepare to receive the Christ Child once again into the lowly manger of our hearts.

A time for refocusing.

So perhaps today we will have a short time to pause and gaze on the Christ Child, the Babe of Bethlehem laid in the Manger, and allow our lives to focus again on him, on his majesty concealed in meekness, his divinity embodied in flesh, his riches clothed in poverty.

And as we focus our gaze on him, so may our lives and our living be refocused to be shaped by his values.


Saturday, 14 December 2019

Sorrowing


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‘A sword will pierce your own soul too’ (Luke 2: 35)


One of the problems (so it seems to me) of contemporary Christmas celebrations is the pressure put on folks to adopt an air of joy and merriment, no matter what they are feeling, experiencing or facing. It is a kind of enforced jollity, and sometimes those who do not (or cannot) comply are accused of being Grinches or Scrooges.

Not that there is anything at all wrong with celebration or even occasional frivolity! I am looking forward to the silliness of family games after dinner on Christmas Day, the Christmas Cracker jokes and silly hats, the ludicrous Christmas jumpers[i] and so much more.

But spare a thought for those who are not able to wholeheartedly join in the frivolous fun, superficial silliness or manufactured merriment; the recently bereaved, those facing mental health challenges, the families or relationships where there is tension or brokenness and so on and on.

Not surprisingly (and not unreasonably!) at Christmas time in church and worship we tend to focus on the joy of the season – and it is joyful! ‘Joy to the world’, ‘peace on earth and goodwill to all’, etc.

But the Gospel narratives contain other threads. A few days ago  I mentioned the reality of fear and anxiety that repeatedly appears in the Nativity story (‘Worrying’ posted on 9th December). But there is sorrow too. The dreadful actions by King Herod in massacring the infants of Bethlehem is an horrific act recounted by Matthew who quotes from the Prophet Jeremiah ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more’ (Matthew 2: 18).

Sorrow... deep sorrow.

And when Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus to the Temple according to Luke’s account, the elderly Simeon foresees what lies ahead for Jesus, and for Mary. He says to her ‘a sword will pierce your own soul too’ as indeed it will as she lives to see her Son crucified.

Sorrow... deep sorrow.

So let us not forget that the Gospel accounts include such sorrow, and in our rush to prematurely anticipate Christmas (or – once it is past – prematurely move on from it!) let us not ignore these strands in the Incarnation story.

Let us not forget that there are those who cannot so easily engage on all the festive fun and frivolity of others because they are sorrowing... deeply sorrowing.

And let us not forget that when we or they are sorrowing, there is one who is with us and who knows what and how we feel; Emmanuel, God with us.





[i] Just for the avoidance of doubt, and in case you are thinking of questioning my eco-friendly credentials, I do not buy a new Christmas jumper, but wear one of the few I have that were bought many years ago!

Friday, 13 December 2019

Pondering


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‘Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart’ (Luke 2: 19)


Have you ever heard someone say something to you, and  you were particularly struck by their comment? Perhaps it was some insight or even a compliment. You may then have found yourself ‘treasuring’ these words and may have continued pondering them.

After so many utterly marvellous and remarkable things had occurred for Mary, and once the shepherds had departed, Luke tells us that Mary treasured their words (regarding the announcement from the angels about the birth) and pondered it all.

What a lot it must have been for a young lassie to take in. No doubt it will all have felt very unreal and unbelievable, not to say terrifying (one the one hand) and amazing (on the other).

Some weeks ago, someone with whom I was speaking said something that took me by surprise. They were suggesting that I possessed a certain quality which I would never have attributed to myself. My first instinct was simply to regard it as a kind (but likely flattering and not entirely accurate) compliment. But the more I reflected on what this person had said – and the way they had said it – the less it felt like a compliment, and the more it felt like it might be a word of insight.

That scares me a little, as to possess the quality this person mentioned would bring with it certain implications. It is a very good quality and one to which I might have aspired. But if I do possess it, then it also demands something of me.

I thought about it on and off for a few days. And then someone else, entirely independently said much the same thing to me.

It has all rather taken me aback. I am still not sure that I agree with their assessment.

But what I am doing is ‘treasuring these words and pondering them in my heart’ and – indeed – weighing up the rather daunting implications of their possible insights.

I wonder if you too have had something said to you that you might instinctively wish to dismiss, but you really would do well to treasure and ponder... and even consider whether, in what has been said, there may be a wee nudge from God – perhaps a call to something?

Thursday, 12 December 2019

Pausing


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‘Practise the pause. When in doubt, pause. When angry, pause. When tired, pause. When stressed, pause. And whenever you pause, pray!’ (Lori Deschene)


And so, here is another confession!

Every year in the days preceding Advent, I tell myself that this year I am going to try and pace myself through Advent and take time to pause and ponder and pray. I tell myself to ensure that I find the time to reflect and worship, to take time for people and take time for God.

And then, every Advent it gets to around this time and the hectic reality of the last weeks and days before Christmas begins to descend and the stress levels begin to climb, and the time I promised myself for pausing, people, pondering, pacing and praying gets squeezed out. Most years, by the time it gets to Christmas Day, and the crazy activity of the preceding days comes to a sudden halt with the pronouncing of the blessing at the end of the Christmas Day Service, the adrenaline that has been keeping me going completely disappears, and in spite of presents, dinner and family, I just want to sleep!

And every year I tell myself that next year it has to be different, and every year it is just the same!

And today it has hit me again that I am getting stressed and time is running away from me and....

...and – pause.

Pause and breathe.

Pause and rest.

Pause and pray.

Let us all learn to pause this Advent time even in the midst of the busyness... especially in the midst of the busyness!

There are more important things to attend to than simply ‘getting it all done’!