Seeker

Have you ever had an 'awesome' experience? Many of you will say 'yes'. Some may say 'lots of times'. As an adjective, the word 'awesome' has become debased. It is now often used for anything someone likes, enjoys or admires. I dislike this modern usage. I think that truly 'awesome' experiences are rare. I understand a truly 'awesome' experience to be one which leaves people awestruck, brought to their knees in silent wonder or paralysing fear, or prostrate on the ground, completely overwhelmed. 'Awesome' occasions may be deeply emotional. Think of an athlete completing a spectacular victory, or collapsing on the ground at the finish of a long gruelling race and hearing the roar of the crowd. 'Awesome' events may be moments of spiritual illumination. This can happen as we gaze at a beautiful landscape or painting, watch an amazing sunrise, or listen to great music that stirs the soul. 'Awe...

Today Christians remember and celebrate how Jesus' promise to his disciples was fulfilled, that they would receive power to be his witnesses when the Holy Spirit came upon them. And they did. And they were blown out of their privacy onto the streets to take the message of Jesus to festival goers in Jerusalem and eventually, through them, to all the world. Here is the start of the Day of Pentecost story from Acts 2, the momentous occasion that gave birth to the Christian church in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."   (Acts 2: 1 - 4 NRSV) The problem for Christi...

Why is Holy Cross Day on 14th September, not Good Friday?  The tradition goes back to the 4th century and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem made by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine. She went there after her son and his empire had adopted Christianity. She wanted to find and preserve sites associated with Jesus. One of the sites that was identified for Helena by local people was the area just outside the ancient city wall of Jerusalem that had become traditionally associated with the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus which took place 3 centuries earlier. Legend has it that Helena discovered part of the wooden cross of Jesus and believed she’d discovered the site of Calvary and the resurrection tomb nearby. She built a chapel on this site, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , which was dedicated on 13 -14th September 335. On 14th September, as part of the festivities, what was venerated as part of the 'true cross' was held up for worshippers to see. So 14th Sept...

Her reputation has been so tarnished by speculation and false connections, but for me Mary Magdalene, whose festival is today, is an inspiration. Mary Magdalene is a role model of faithful discipleship . She stuck with Jesus when things got unimaginably tough. With other women she witnessed Jesus' crucifixion when other disciples had run away. Mary Magdalene is a role model for Christian witness.  After she met the risen Jesus she told others what she’d seen and heard. When a woman’s evidence was seen as dubious, how odd that God chose a woman to tell such news and bring such hope! You can find the account of how Mary Magdalene met Jesus in the garden after the resurrection in Easter Sunday 2015. Postscript: I've just read a helpful reflection by 'Digitalnun' which draws together the threads of Mary Magdalene's bad reputation and her role as a good example of discipleship. In reference to Mary's encounter with Jesus in the garden (John 20) she ends with...

Should Christians obey Mary, mother of Jesus?  I ask that today because it is the festival of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Some Christians may raise hands in horror at the idea of obeying Mary. Many years ago I was stopped in my tracks by something I read about Mary. I think it was in a book by John Gunstone, an Anglo-Catholic priest in the Church of England. When asked about his attitude to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he replied, "I obey her" . I found this shocking, until I understood what he meant. This was a reference to the only instruction Mary gave that is recorded in the gospels. She was at a wedding in Cana with her son Jesus when the wine ran out - a social disaster (See John 2: 1 - 11) . Mary instructed the servants, "Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you." And they did. Water became wine as the first John's gospel's signs revealing Jesus' glory. What Jesus told the servants to do at that wedding was simple - fill up water jars, draw som...

Today is the Christian Festival of 'The Transfiguration of our Lord'. As every Harry Potter fan knows, 'transfiguration' simply means a change of appearance or form. The transfiguration of Jesus we read about in the gospels is not magic, it is miracle - by which I mean something only God can do. This particular miracle is also revelation, an epiphany. Although we cannot see God, God is revealed in many ways - for Christians God's revelation is supremely in Jesus Christ. The story of the transfiguration of Jesus is recorded in  Matthew 17: 1 - 9 ,  Mark 9: 2 - 10  and  Luke 9: 28 - 36 . It is also recollected in 2 Peter 1: 16 - 18. The event of the Transfiguration is a glimpse of glory, a window into something so wonderful it can only leave us silent. After the event Peter, John and James "kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen". Luke 9: 36 NRSV They must have felt completely out of their depth when the appeara...

This morning I saw the sunrise. I have seen it before, but not very often during these last exceptionally wet weeks of winter. What a welcome sight, what a lovely sign of hope after so much rain and storm, a brief shining before the clouds gather and the downpours begin again on our sodden land. I especially noticed it today because of the old saying that if the sun shines on 2nd February so that an animal can see its shadow there will be at least 6 more weeks of winter. If Candlemas be fair and bright, come winter, have another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,   Go, winter, and come not again. Well, it looks as if we're going to have a mixture here today, some 'fair and bright' and some 'clouds and rain' so who knows what weather is coming in the next 6 weeks. February 2nd is the day the church celebrates 'The Presentation of Christ in the Temple', also called 'Candlemas' i.e. the feast of candles. The old tradition began w...