Seeker

Growing up in Kent, England, I was familiar with parts of the Pilgrim's Way to Canterbury . This leads to the site of the medieval shrine of Thomas Becket, a former Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral 850 year ago today, 29 December 1170 by 4 of King Henry II's knights.  The knights believed they were doing what the king wanted by getting rid of the man King Henry II had described as "this turbulent priest". Thomas Becket was a friend of King Henry II but defended the independence of the Church against the King's wish to have more monarchical control of the church in England. The disagreement over authority, fuelled perhaps by personality clashes, lasted for years. For more on the story leading up to the murder (or assassination) take a look at Richard Barber's article, 'The unholy feud that killed Thomas Becket'. Thomas was neither the first nor last Archbishop of Canterbury to be murdered, but he was the only

  What do you call the day after Christmas Day? Boxing Day? The 2nd day of Christmas? Or St Stephen’s Day? Christians have observed the Feast of Stephen, Deacon and Martyr on 26 December since before the church chose to celebrate Christ’s birth on 25 December. It is discomforting to remember the 1st known Christian martyr in the season of ‘comfort and joy’ that is Christmas. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of a baby named Jesus, born to Mary, born to save. But if we stick only with nativity stories, we might forget the baby in the manger grew up. When Jesus grew up and began his good-news mission, some people rejected and others welcomed and followed him. Stephen followed Jesus. You can read Stephen’s story in the New Testament, Acts Chapters 6 and 7 . That tells us Stephen was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”, “full of grace and power” who “did great wonders and signs among the people.” Stephen didn’t choose to die a hideous execution. He did choose to be one of Jesus’

“First Coming” He did not wait till the world was ready, till men and nations were at peace. He came when the Heavens were unsteady, and prisoners cried out for release. He did not wait for the perfect time. He came when the need was deep and great. He dined with sinners in all their grime, turned water into wine. He did not wait till hearts were pure. In joy he came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt, to a world like ours, of anguished shame he came, and his Light would not go out. He came to a world which did not mesh, to heal its tangles, shield its scorn. In the mystery of the Word made Flesh the Maker of the stars was born. We cannot wait till the world is sane to raise our songs with joyful voice, for to share our grief, to touch our pain, He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice! Madeleine L’Engle. From A Cry Like a Bell, 1987 Image Credit: Pixabay

In the Northern hemisphere, today has the shortest number of hours of daylight. The further north you are, the less light you will see. I'm writing this in mid afternoon light, but today it is nearly sunset time. Where I am, the sky is heavy with rain clouds and it's raining, so there's even less light than usual. I'm longing to see evidence of the nights getting shorter and the days longer, a process that begins after today. After sunset today, it may be possible to see a 'Christmas Star', a bright light in the sky when the planets Jupiter and Saturn will appear close together, although in reality will still be 400 million miles away from each other. This is a very rare event. In the UK it may be possible for some people to see it by looking south-west from about an hour after sunset. But, given the current weather, I'm not expecting to see it. It is a dark time for the world in so many ways today. We are in the middle of a pandemic, which where I live is

There are only a few more days of Advent to go before the celebration of Christ's birth comes on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this last week of Advent feels very different this year. And when Christmas comes it will not feel the same as other years, due to restrictions to protect ourselves and others from transmission of the virus. Perhaps as an antidote to the anxiety many of us feel, I'm drawn more at this time to music that is soothing. Lullabies have greater appeal just now than some other musical genres. That is why I am revisiting, the beautiful video by Christine Sine, about 'Awaiting the Christ Child'.  Christine Sine is the founder and creator of Godspace - a site well worth exploring. In the video 'Awaiting the Christ Child' the music is Christ Child Lullaby played by Jeff Johnson. The theme of the visual meditation by Christine Sine is encouragement to await the coming of Christ with expectation and joyful anticipation.

You came to this world for the poor in spirit, the broken-hearted, those held captive, those lost in sin. You came to this world to bring good news, wholeness into lives, to bring release and to forgive. You came to this world to guide your people from a desert place to a kingdom of love and grace. You came to this world to show how far love is prepared to go, and on a cross showed heaven and earth. Halleluiah! Amen. ©John Birch, faithandworship.com Image Credit: Daily Verses

  Due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, many of us have been forced to step outside our usual way of living and working. Some have found it's been a time to reassess what's important, which relationships matter most, what's urgent to do and what needs to be let go. It's also been a way to discover how much we need the help of others, just to get by. About 2000 years ago John the Baptist deliberately chose to step outside the way most people lived. He entered a desert experience, like going on an extreme retreat, in order to experience God. Dressed in camel hair and eating wild locusts, we would have found his appearance strange. Through choosing that lonely 'camel hair road', living simply, he could be alone with God. As a result, he saw what was important and urgent. John the Baptist became a voice for God calling people to prepare for God's coming by reshaping their lives according to God's way of justice and mercy. You can read about John and his urgen

Advent begins today on this 1st Sunday of Advent. The Advent story starts in darkness, with people who struggle in a world gone wrong and long to see a glimmer of hope. If all’s well for you today, thank God for that! But someone near you or far away is feeling a depth of darkness. Sometimes we are in darkness, or alongside others in their darkness, desperate for God to do something to put things right, crying to God with Isaiah, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down” (Is. 64:1). Advent is about the coming of Christ. Christ’s coming is the answer to each prayer cried in darkness. That cry was answered in Jesus’ first coming, the Light of the world breaking into human life as one of us, to share our darkness, to bring us to light and life. Advent also looks forward to when Christ comes again in light and glory. In the meantime, in the gospels, Jesus urges us to, “Keep awake”. In Mark 13: 24 – 37, Jesus uses the image of a doorkeeper who must stay awake, ready for the hou

In this time of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve got used to maintaining social distancing. We try to stay 2 metres apart from people outside our households, except in certain permitted circumstances. As humans we are adaptable. Keeping apart from others is becoming a way of life. I feel concerned about the adverse effects of that on people’s mental health. Most of us have adapted, but staying apart from those we would normally be physically close to isn’t natural. Humans are created as social beings. We need each other. I support the rules, for my own and others' protection, but long for them to end. While we continue to find ways to live with a pandemic, I draw comfort from the knowledge that God doesn’t distance himself from us. One of my favourite sentences in the Bible is from James 4: 8  “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” That sounds as if we have to take the initiative in bridging the distance between ourselves and God. Thankfully, we don’t. If we want to to &qu

As far as I can remember, today is the first Remembrance Sunday when I have not attended a Remembrance service in church or an Act of Remembrance at a war memorial. I hated such events when I was a child and completely failed to understand why they seemed so important to my parents, grandparents and their generations. As a teenager I was highly critical of the way that Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day events appeared to glorify war - or so it seemed to me. I was wrong. Since then I have begun to understand why it is so important to remember both lives lost in war and those who survive. It is important to honour both the dead and the living. It is important to remember the worst people do to each other, the best people do for each other, the courage and selflessness shown in war as well as the pain, fear and brutality. It is important to acknowledge our human failure to live together in peace as diverse children of one God. It is important to remember in order to strengthen the comm

Today is the day to remember especially those we love but see no longer because they have died. 2020 have been particularly hard for those who have been bereaved this year without being able to be present at the death, or attend a funeral, or having a funeral that was very different from what they would have wanted in 'normal' times. 2nd November is known in the Church of England as the 'Commemoration of the Faithful Departed' or 'All Souls Day'. On 2nd November 2018 my post for All Souls Day asked, 'should Christians pray for the dead?' I gave a partial answer, which was neither yes nor no. Part of my answer was that it depends how you think of intercessory prayer (praying for others). I referred to Michael Ramsay, a former Archbishop of Canterbury who wrote that true prayer for others isn't so much making petititions or using any words. It's being with God with others on our hearts. Some people find it helps to light a candle or place flowers

Today the church celebrates All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows Day. Some of the other days in the year are dedicated to named saints, like St Andrew's Day that falls at the end of this month. Today, 1 November, All Saints Day, is a day to give thanks for all the saints, not just the special ones. I like the way Paul used the word 'saints' to mean something very different from unusually special people who end up with a halo in a stained glass window. Whenever St Paul wrote to a church he wrote "to the saints...", all the Christians in that place. His letter to the Romans begins, "To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints...". It's a calling most of we Christians don't live up to at all well. We "called-to-be-saints" are saints-in-the-making, ordinary fallible people who make mistakes. We're not perfected saints in heaven. Well you knew that didn't you? At the head of this post is an image of an oil pai

This modern icon of Mary Magdalene was written by Brother Robert Lentz. It is in Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. I'm posting this image today because it is the feast day of Mary Magdalene. The Syrian inscription means 'Equal to the Apostles'.  Icons are intended to be like windows through which we may glimpse something glorious. They point beyond the image of the saint, to encourage the one who contemplates it to worship, not the saint, but God. In this icon, Mary Magdalene is pointing with her right hand to the egg held in her left. In some Christian traditions an egg is a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. According to John's Gospel, Mary Magdalene was the first apostle of Jesus' resurrection. She, with other spice-bearing women were the first to discover the empty tomb on the 3rd day. In the garden near the tomb, Mary Magdalene had a special enounter with the risen Christ and rushed to tell the disciples, "I have seen the Lord". They didn'

You may know Jesus' parable of the sower. The problem with thinking we know a story, is we stop listening. The point of a parable is it provides something to grapple with – so it may change us, as our listening goes deeper. That is, if we do take time to really hear it. At 1st glance a parable is a simple story. But there’s always an unexpected twist to disturb pre-conceived ideas. Any farmer or gardener knows seed is precious, but the farmer in Jesus' parable of the sower is shockingly careless with the seed. He scattered it all over the place, instead of broadcasting it carefully on the best soil of the field. What farmer wastes seed like that? That’s the first shock. But there was more. Jesus’ hearers looked forward to God’s kingdom coming on earth. The prophets spoke of God sowing his field and bringing in the harvest – a picture of God rescuing his people. But Jesus’ story wasn’t what his hearers expected to hear. It wasn’t about God sowing Israel in its own land a

Going through many weeks of lockdown due to the Covid19 pandemic has been a challenge. For many it has been an exhausting time. It has meant more work or more stressful work for some. For others, the exhaustion has come from worry or grief about losing a loved one, a livelihood, a way of life that no longer works. And for everyone there is so much about the future that is confusing or unknown. And many of us are fearful. Do you feel worn out and burdened by it all? You know you have to keep going, but the challenges of the immediate future are daunting. That can feel like standing at a rock face you have to climb. You have no idea how. The need for a novice climber is a skilled coach to come alongside, rope himself to you to tackle the climb together. He shows the way, understands your fears and limitations, guides you over tricky bits and holds you if you slip. He says, ‘Relax, together we can do this’. In Matthew 11: 28 - 30 Jesus invites the “weary and burdened” to come to him fo

My last post 'Hearing the Call to Freedom' was a story of how a young bird recognized a familiar call. It got me thinking again about hearing God's call, that can so easily be suppressed by the many voices competing for our attention. In a post I wrote some years ago, I wondered whether today's  always-connected digital age prevents or helps people to hear from God? During the lockddown due to the current coronavirus pandemic, I sometimes feel more distracted than ever before by the images, sounds and words coming to me through my PC or smartphone.  Do all those messages, tweets, shared  music, news feeds and visual media add to a constant noise that stops me hearing God’s word? Do all those online services, zoom meetings, however good or well intentioned, amplify or mute that still small voice of God. A whisper of a word that I would hear if only I would stop for silence? I've found myself remembering the story about Elijah in I Kings 19 and how he encou

We were having a morning coffee in our living room when a Great Tit flew in through the open window. It was a young bird, rather unskilled in aerial navigation. In its panic to escape the terrifying humans, it eventually found a safe perch on a curtain rail. We didn’t want to alarm it further, so making sure all the windows were wide open, we moved out to the garden. We hoped it would find its way out. Some time later I crept back in. The bird seemed to have gone. It hadn’t. It had moved to another curtain pole. My entry caused frantic flying. It flew hard against the unopenable part of a window and fell to the floor stunned. Was it dead? Eventually the young Great Tit rose to its feet, but stayed there, occasionally lifting a wing. Was it injured? Could it still fly? Yes, it could. When I moved the sofa to give it more space, it flew up to the windowsill, where it remained motionless. I went outside to continue to watch it. Was it scared to move? Was it waiting, as young b

Today is Ascension Day, a Christian celebration of Christ's ascension into heaven. Ascension is a mystery. In one sense Christ leaves this world. He is also given to us. Not confined to 1 place, Christ is in heaven at the heart of all things, accessible to all who seek him. Christ took our humanity into heaven. In the Ascension, Christ’s glory is both revealed and concealed.  In a world where weapons, wealth, winning elections or controlling the media means power, it’s not surprising many see as ridiculous the Christian claim that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. We Christians claim that the most powerful are as nothing compared to the cosmic King Jesus. To celebrate Jesus’ Ascension is a daring act of faith. It’s audacious to claim that the son of a young Jewish girl, born more than 2,000 years ago and executed on a cross, is alive and now reigns over all. We’re not simply saying Jesus’ teaching influences us. We’re saying Jesus is both human and divine, seated in t

During the Covid-19 pandemic many are isolated. Some are not alone but feel alone. We've become more aware of our human interdependence. We need each other and need the reassurance that there is always someone who can be alongside to help. The fear of being abandoned lies deep in us all. Jesus saw that fear in his friends as they struggled with the idea that Jesus was leaving them. The gospel reading for today the 6th Sunday of Easter, John 14: 15 - 21, takes us back to the night before Jesus died. The disciples’ world was falling apart. What started as a celebration meal became something disturbing. Judas had gone to betray Jesus. Jesus had warned Peter he would deny him. Jesus kept speaking of death and departing. Into that fearful atmosphere Jesus promised, “I will not leave you orphaned” and then promised, “I will come to you”. They wouldn’t be alone. I once saw a documentary showing a bear with 2 new-born cubs. One cub died soon after birth. 3 weeks later the mother died.

This photo is of a Syrian Bedouin shepherd in 2009 taking his flock through the ruins of Palmyra. I like this 2st century image of 'the good shepherd' protecting the vulnerable. Today, the 4th Sunday of Easter, is often known as 'Good Shepherd Sunday' because, for those churches that follow the Common Lectionary, the gospel reading is always from John 10 where Jesus speaks of himself as the Shepherd of his flock. Today's gospel reading is John 10: 1 - 10 . ‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know