Without ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:15-22

See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

Prayers like curses

muttered under our breath

spoken inside our head

filling our agitated brains

masking our less charitable thoughts.

Prayers like blessings

shining from our eyes

escaping through our smiles

shaking through our laughter or tears

rhythmic as our breathing.

The whole world

bathed in prayer.

Every morning

an exhortation.

Every evening

a benediction.

Pray - without ceasing.

LLAP

Proverbs 3:13-16

The True Wealth

Happy are those who find wisdom,

and those who get understanding,

for her income is better than silver,

and her revenue better than gold.

She is more precious than jewels,

and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

My newsfeed is full of weirdness 

- llamas on the Interstate

- dresses of indeterminable colour

(Something to do with Science)

And crime

- A terrorist being named

(And if knowing someone's name brings power,

hopefully he will soon be apprehended)

- one of my teenage pop idols

being convicted and imprisoned.

And sadness

- the death of Mr Spock

who refused to be defined by that role

but signed his final tweet with

Live long and prosper.

I'm still sifting

and dredging

to find wisdom

But it's out there somewhere.

Loyalty

Ruth 1:16-17

But Ruth said,

“Do not press me to leave you

or to turn back from following you!

Where you go, I will go;

where you lodge, I will lodge;

your people shall be my people,

and your God my God.

Where you die, I will die—

there will I be buried.

May the Lord do thus and so to me,

and more as well,

if even death parts me from you!”

A soft heart that could not bear

to see another suffer?

Or a stubborn mind

that would not be moved aside.

The softness

and the steel

go hand in hand.

Caring demands tenacity,

singularity of purpose

the will to make a difference

and the stamina to go after the desired goal.

Anchored in a heart filled with love.

Second chances

Jonah 3:1-5

Conversion of Nineveh

​The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

Sometimes we resent it

when God gives second chances.

We've already judged and condemned,

passed sentence too.

And it doesn't involve another chance.

Fortunately God's mercy is not ours.

God's reservoir of grace overflows

even in the unlikeliest places.

Especially in the unlikeliest places.

And those expecting only condemnation

find themselves the recipients

of a gift so overwhelming

so transforming

that life can never be the same again.

Becoming like children

Matthew 18:1-5

True Greatness

​At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Spontaneous

Impetuous

Trusting

Idealist

Inquisitive

Creative

Real

The qualities of children that often diminish with age.

Greatness involves recapturing that spirit 

of imagination

and exploration

that ability to find joy

in every new discovery

to expect the best

of experiences

and people.

To find toilet humour

in the gravest circumstance.

And to throw love

and compliments around

like confetti

- why?

Just because.

Greatness and humility

All wrapped up in a child.

Beloved of God.

Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-22

Forgiveness

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

Jesus was a hard man

Took no prisoners

Called a spade a spade

Didn't let folk waffle

Was highly sensitive to hypocrisy

And spoke some harsh truth

But when he spoke of forgiveness 

And then went on

to practice what he preached

he raised the bar

way beyond 

what most of us 

are capable of reaching.

And it's not just about ability

It's about the will to forgive.

Quite frankly

Id rather go on living with resentment

than roll over and forgive

I'd rather hold on to that edge of anger

than gather the energy

to have another go at building a bridge.

The work of forgiveness

demands too much energy.

It seems easier just to move on

and chalk it up to experience.

But Jesus was a hard man.

He didn't simply roll over.

He didn't simply smile sweetly

and allow others

to go on hurting 

to go on betraying

He lifted forgiveness up to God

in an agonising cry.

"Father forgive"

And, if we can do no other...

If the time for building bridges is past

If the time for enduring more hurt has expired

We call on God to do the work that we can't

And we move on

singed, perhaps a tiny bit broken

and certainly scarred.

And we find our healing

in the love and forgiveness of God.

Compelled

Mark 1:12-15

The Temptation of Jesus

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Driven into the wilderness

Compelled  to follow the Spirit's prompting 

Driven to wrestle with temptation 

and the meaning of life

Communing with wild beasts

Waited on by angels

Newly affirmed by God

in the waters of baptism.

and forced to wait 

on the right time.

The right time 

to release the Good News

and preach repentance.

The right time 

to acknowledge

the Kingdom of God

is here.

Savouring the moment

Matthew 9:14-15

The Question about Fasting

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

In any day

In any hour

If we are connected

If we are passionate,

Compassionate beings

We move through 

the whole gamut of emotions

Sorrow, joy, insight, bewilderment,

All out there

All within us

Ready to be embraced

or allowed to emerge

All full of health

Life giving

Unless we suppress our feelings

And then we are assailed 

by dis-ease

Living for the moment

brings a life of its own

and allows what is hidden

to emerge

and be changed by the light

when the time is right.

Getting it on

Isaiah 58:6-9

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator shall go before you,

the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,

the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

It's sobering to realise

that our alcohol free Lent

doesn't make any difference

to the addict who has lost everything of value in life.

Or that our fasting leaves no impression

on the hungry

Our spending more time in the house of God

does not offer the homeless shelter

And our prayers do not bring about justice.

Our Lenten journey misses the mark

when we retreat into piety

and shelter in the Spirit

instead of stepping out

tentatively or boldly

on the path that God treads.

Feeding the hungry,

welcoming the homeless

speaking up for the oppressed

freeing those imprisoned

by hopelessness and depression.

Those are the tasks 

that make our Lenten journey worthwhile.

Going into those wilderness spaces

that folk endure every day

and seeing the footprints of Christ

who has travelled this way before us

and who shows us how to journey

caring for one another

sharing love and compassion

making a difference along the way.

That is what Lent requires.

Losing it

Luke 9:22-25

“The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?

Losing it - a term we use in all sorts of ways, from losing our minds to losing our youth, to losing our temper. However we use it, it's rarely in a positive sense.

Here comes Jesus, as usual, turning things around, encouraging us to think differently. To see losing as something positive.

For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.

Why don't we like the feeling of loss? It speaks of lack of control. Whoa - and that's scary. To not be in full command. 

Jesus asks, even demands, that we put ourselves in that scary place - for God's sake!

It's not a surrender.

It's not a passive giving in.

It's a kicking and screaming, brakes on, full on slide into a place where we can stop struggling enough to know ourselves caught - and held - by one who brings life beyond our imagining, beyond our limited vision.

Losing ourselves in the love and grace and life of God.

Losing it - to find life.

Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:12-13

Yet even now, says the Lord,

return to me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

rend your hearts and not your clothing.

Return to the Lord, your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,

and relents from punishing.

The camera never lies

is no longer true

Everything can be edited

smudged out

recoloured

enhanced.

Mistakes can be rectified

or turned into features

until the finished composition

bears little resemblance

to the original subject.

So is the potential 

for children of God today

to be recreated

in the likeness of God.

The smudge of ashes on our foreheads

a symbol of the potential 

of the transforming love and mercy 

of the Creator.

The repentance in our hearts

a beginning on the road to change 

that starts

with a single step.

Returning to God

whose editing is filled

with compassion and love.

Following Christ into the desert

to discern anew

our image and purpose

as children of the living God

at large in the world today.

Lent looms large

Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day, Mardi Gras, call it what you will - it's the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, when we take time to contemplate Jesus' sojourn in the desert. Folk engage in all kinds of disciplines to help them mark the 40 days. This year,,I've put together a book of daily readings and reflections to help along the way.

It's available on the sidebar of the blog. I'll also post new reflections here each day of Lent.

However you choose to observe Lent, may you be conscious of the loving presence of God in your every day.