I’m trying to get back out walking again as I’ve gotten out of the habit. So this morning I headed out to my usual place, Hillsborough Lake, which is just beautiful. As I came back around the lake I took a seat for a short time just to soak in the beauty of all that was around me and what struck me was the mixture of manmade and natural noises.
By the side of the lake there was a family of geese with their brand new goslings soaking up the sun, splashing in the water, the chatter and quacks of a couple of ducks nearby, the tweeting and chirping of birds in the trees, an aeroplane passing overhead, a fly buzzing past, the wind in the trees, a truck driving past, a dog barking in the background, the clink of glass as someone recycled old bottles, the honking of geese across the lake, the noisy engine of a truck passing by, the flapping of a swans wings and the splash of water as it runs across the top of the lake, chatter and conversation as other walkers come past, joyful shouting and laughter as a child sees the ducks and throws bread, another truck.
So many different noises breaking through the silence but each one breathing life into a place of beauty that was created so wonderfully by the Master Craftsman, a place of silence but yet a place of a wonderful sound track of God’s creation.
This year over lent I'm following the BRF devotional lent book once more and this year it has been written by Andrew Watson and follows the Israelites journey through the wilderness. There are many wonderful insights in it and I would like to share one from todays reading which has been thinking about the name of God...I AM WHO I AM...something which I find particularly powerful.
That story of Yahweh's faithfulness and Israel's failings is our story, too, as we humbly take our place in God's great history of salvation. Many further chapters of that history have been lived and published: the stories of Joshua and Samuel, of David and the Prophets, of Jesus' incarnation, life, death and resurrection, of the Spirit who prompts us to cry out 'Abba, Father', and of the Church that bears his name, each chapter better fleshing out the person of the great I AM in the face of human courage or human fallibility. Yet there is always more to come...
(pg69, Andrew Watson)
What is there still to come in each of our stories...that's the exciting bit, we don't know, but we can be sure that God does and will always remain faithful, guiding us, leading us along our journey. No doubt there will be surprises along the way andthe destination may not be what we expected but it'll be a fun, interesting and exciting journey none the less.
So I'm working on an assignment that feels never ending at the minute but I came across this wee quote...
Those who know that God will one day wipe away all tears will not accept with resignation the tears of those who suffer and are oppressed now. Anyone who knows that one day there will be no more disease can and must actively anticipate the conquest of disease in individuals and society now. And anyone who believes that the enemy of God and humans will be vanquished will already oppose him now in his machinations in family and society. For all of this has to do with salvation.
David Bosch, Transforming Mission
The Prodigal Son is one of those well known parables that it can be very easy to read without looking for anything new in it as you think you know the story and its interpretations so well. But today i've been given a little bit more of an insight into the older brother...the one who was left behind and feels so left out.
The character of the older brother seems to be a direct reply to the Pharisees and scribes, in response to whose criticism Jesus told the three lost-and-found stories. The older brother is the upstanding but critical Pharisee who not only knew the religious rules but actually kept them all. in our context, the older brother is the upright, devoutly religious person, the respected yet resentful churchgoer. He is the ultimate insider someone who controls the committee meetings, holds the keys, keeps the books, reads the lesson, leads the intercessions. But in the story it turns out that he is not inside at all, but outside, because even though we may live on the property, a cold heart removes us from God's presence into a darkness of our own making. No matter how perfectly we keep our religion, it's our heart that places us inside or outside God's presence.
Maggi Dawn
This certainly made me think - How's your heart doing today??
Today is my first full day fast this Lent. I decided to fast a full day once a week and it's been going ok...so far! But todays devotional reading was particulary appropriate!
...life is about more than physical appetites and desires...
...One of the purposes of the Lenten fast is to remind us daily that we are physical creatures and live a physical existence. In a society that is both over indulgent and excessively body conscious, perhaps one of the challenges of Lent is to befriend our own bodies and find a good balance between taking care of ourselves and simply living comfortably in our own skins. At the same time, Lent reminds us that we are more than mere animals: we have spiritual and moral capabilities. We are governed not only by our appetites and needs but also by our will and our imagination.
Maggi Dawn
I'm not so sure about that last line about our will and imagination - are we governed by them in a spiritual sense just as our bodies can be governed by physical desires, and is one or the other easier to contain or control...now that's certainly something to think on!
I'm trying to follow a devotional book throughout Lent to Easter Sunday, so any points that I find particularly thought provoking will most likely end up on here and will hopefully get you thinking too.....
Fasting in the Christian tradition is essentially about recognising that there's nothing we can do to improve ourselves...
In the end, Lent is about denying ourselves some of the essentials of everyday life in order to focus on the reality that we depend upon God for life itself...
If our Lenten fast is understood well, it will relieve us of the need to try harder, achieve more, feel more worthy. It will ground us in the firm and unshakeable knowledge that we are human - we are but dust, and to dust we shall return - but that to be human is enough, under the loving gaze of God...
Maggi Dawn
My prayer for this Lent...
Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ,
For all the benefits thou hast won for me,
For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me,
O most merciful, redeemer, Friend, and Brother,
May I know thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
And follow thee more nearly,
Day by day.
St Richard of Chichester
Lent begins with a challenge to clear out the mental and spiritual clutter and so discover how to live life to the full...
Maggi Dawn
