Seeker

On the 22nd day of Advent the #AdventWord2018 is #persist. To run a marathon you have to persist. You have to persist through months of training when you wonder if it will be worth it. And then there is the day of the race itself when those who are determined to reach the goal however long it takes are rewarded. Mary, the mother of Jesus, along with Joseph, had to persist through a rocky hilly journey to Bethlehem for a compulsory census and tax payment. They had to persist through whatever worries they may have had about finding accommodation and paying the tax. They had to persist in faith that Mary's baby would be the One got promised, the Saviour. If that was really the case, why didn't God make it easier for them? Mary had to persist through the pain of labour, probably knowing that many other women died in childbirth and the infant mortality rate was high. Humanly speaking, there was no guarantee of a rewarding outcome. It's only when you are nearly at th...

The last word in the Advent Word calendar is 'believe'. If you google the word 'believe'in a search for images, you will come across a lot of phrases like, 'believe in yourself', 'believe you can do it', 'believe you can succeed'. Many such phrases can be useful, for example in encouraging someone who is lacking in confidence to keep on trying to do something. But they ignore the great need of individuals and communities to believe in something beyond ourselves, to commit to something or someone greater, to turn outwards rather than inwards to our own selfish concerns. It's the last day of Advent and also this year it is Christmas Eve. Christians are celebrating the birth of a baby something over 2000 years ago. I believe that God gave Jesus out of love for the world and all the people in it. Our family crib scene has a manger in the shape of a cruciform coffin. The baby Jesus lies on that piece of wood, a reminder that Jesus came to g...

"Unless I put my finger in the mark of the nails..." So said Thomas. I have always warmed to Thomas the apostle. I like the way he asked questions and wanted to discover things for himself rather than rely on 2nd hand evidence, even from trusted people in his own group. Any new movement or ancient institution needs people who have the courage to ask honest questions, even when that disturbs accepted truth. Sometimes such people voice the questions that others also have but dare not voice. In Malcolm Guite's  sonnet St Thomas the Apostle he describes he describes Thomas as: "Courageous master of the awkward question, you spoke the words that others dare not say and cut through their evasion and abstraction." You can read the text or listen to Malcolm's reading of the whole sonnet  here . Today's Gospel reading is John 20: 19 – 31 . It begins with the risen Jesus meeting his disciples in an upper room, breathing the Holy Spirit on them...

T his Advent I am reading Stephen Cottrell's book 'Walking Backwards to Christmas'.  It is written for those who thought they knew the Christmas story well. Each chapter has a key character telling the story from that person's point of view. The 'backwards' element is immediately apparent in the first chapter in which Anna the prophet tells her story. Anna does not appear in the birth narratives until after Jesus' birth and the church usually remembers her story after Christmas. She was a faithful old woman who lived in Jerusalem and spent all her time in its temple. Along with Simeon she met baby Jesus when Mary and Joseph brought him for ritual observances after Jesus' birth. Her name is the Greek and Latin form of the Hebrew name 'Hannah' and means 'grace' or 'gracious'.  Only 3 verses in Luke's gospel tell us something about Anna: "There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. ...

3 July is the feast of Thomas the Apostle, one of Jesus' 12 disciples and possibly the person who took the gospel to India.  If you want a brief biography of Thomas the Apostle from the Bible and later traditions, you can find one  here . I have always warmed to Thomas. I like the way he asks questions and wants to discover things for himself rather than rely on 2nd hand evidence, even from trusted people in his own group. Any new movement or ancient institution needs people who have the courage to ask honest questions, even when that disturbs accepted truth. Malcolm Guite's post 'Thank God for doubting Thomas' includes his sonnet St Thomas the Apostle. I particularly like how he describes Thomas as: "Courageous master of the awkward question, you spoke the words that others dare not say and cut through their evasion and abstraction." You can read the text or listen to Malcolm's reading of the whole sonnet here . 'Is believing: hearing, see...

If you don't believe in God, why would you sign up to an experiment that commits you to pray? Not just once, but for 2 or 3 minutes every day for 40 days, starting on 17 September and ending on 26 October 2012. This is an interesting idea. H/T to Red on Apples of Gold for alerting me to it.  The presenter of Premier Radio's show 'Unbelievable' is inviting atheists to take part in The Atheist Prayer Experiment . This is based on the philosopher Tim Mawson's paper, 'Praying to Stop Being an Atheist' which will be sent to all taking part in the experiment. The idea is to use the 'experimental method' as a way to investigate whether or not a God exists but asking something like 'God if you're out there, reveal yourself to me'. "We only ask that anyone taking part commits themselves to finding a quiet meditative 'space' and praying there for two to three minutes each day as earnestly as they can for any God that there mig...

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee long weekend is over. Life has returned to normal. Although I suspect many people in the UK spent the weekend as they usually spend weekends. Not all were caught up in Jubilee fever. But it was a wonderful excuse to party - Her Majesty's 60 years of dedicated service to God and to others. This post is a round-up of some posts and links that caught my attention over the weekend. John Elliott's post on Sunday about how Britain celebrates the Queen's 60 years - in the rain  describes the cold wet river pageant, wonders if the weekend events showed a country in denial given the economic realities and inequalities and writes in praise of royalty rather than 'fixed' presidents.  An illustration of the inequalities of our society is the situation of the Unemployed bussed in to steward river pageant who worked unpaid and had to spend the night before sleeping under London Bridge. Sometimes there's a fine line between voluntary wo...

After a few days break from this blog I'm not ready to post anything original, but I do like this image by Fr. Stephen which goes to the heart of today's gospel reading John 20: 19 - 31 . I've read several good posts on this theme. Here are a few I like: 'Archdruid Eileen' at The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley posted No Doubting Thomas .  Kathryn posted one of her sermons  Thank God for Thomas on 'Good in Parts. Pam has a reflection in Over to You in Pam's Perambulation. Jan's artwork Easter 2: Living into the Resurrection  at the Painted Prayerbook is worth a look. Finally, my post yesterday over on The Big Bible Project, Is Believing: hearing, seeing or doing? Image by Stephen Cuyos, CC Licence

It's New Year's Eve so here's some fireworks - and below, a prayer for the New Year 2012, witten by Christine Sine with some of the traumatic world events of the last year in mind and posted on her website Godspace God the eternal rock is with us, From year’s beginning to its end, In hard times and in good, God is with us from year’s beginning to its end. God almighty is faithful, Present in each day and every moment, Drawing close in every act and deed, God is faithful through all eternity. God is trustworthy, Yesterday, today and forever, Sustaining, enlivening, making all things new, God the eternal rock is with us this day and evermore. Looking for something different? Try my previous New Year's Eve posts:  On Not Making a New Year's Eve Resolution Hogmanay Image: by Anthony Cramp, Creative Commons

It's the 3rd day of Christmas. (There are 12 days of Christmas ). My true love hasn't yet presented me with 'Three French Hens' today, so I'm making do with this image of a painting by Annalein Beukenkamp . My true love is at this moment offering tea and Christmas cake, so this won't be a long post. It is alleged by some that the 'three french hens' in the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' represent the virtues of faith, hope and love. Alternatively they could refer to the 3 gifts of the wise men from the East who visited the infant Jesus. On the other hand the song is probably pure nonsense and just for fun.

A question asked by @biblesociety in a recent tweet was: " Someone's recently put a question on our wall: 'what can I do to strengthen my faith?' How would you reply?" As @Seeking1st  I tweeted an instant answer as follows: "To strengthen your body you feed and exercise it. To strengthen your faith you do the same. Both are needed. So is rest." I thought that at least for my own benefit I should expand on what I mean in a blog post. There is a paradox in the idea of wanting to strengthen faith. Faith is a gift of God, so if my faith is weak, is that God's fault? I think that like any gift, to be any use, faith has to be received and used. Or in other words has to be fed and exercised. But just as the body would become ill if deprived of sleep and constantly fed and exercised, so faith needs rest. How do you feed faith? I think a basic diet to strengthen Christian faith includes prayer, Bible reading (or listening) and corporate worshi...

On the Leeds-Liverpool canal at Bingley, Yorkshire, England, is a staircase of 5 consecutive locks. The photo is here to illustrate my selection of: 5 blog posts worth a visit this week: Dave Perry reflects on the rogation-tide custom of 'beating the bounds' in relation to his faith and role as a Methodist minister. Take a look at 'Beating the bounds of faith: longing to be found and desperate to find'. I love the lake district photos and story of the ewe and lamb seeking and finding each other. Thinking Anglicans provides links today to last week's  Church Times guide to women bishops . These articles from the special feature are temporarily available to non-subscribers. In the last of a candid and moving series of posts on living with the scars caused by abuse, Lesley Fellows writes about 'Recovering from abuse - freedom' .   Bishop Alan is 'Doing God in Dresden' and wonders why it's OK for the President of the Federal Re...

If you're a high-ranking official serving a dictator, what do you do when your conscience won't allow you to obey the latest dictat? Much will depend on where your true loyalties lie. Whose interests are you really serving? How effective is your indoctrination into the prevailing culture? How courageous are you? Are you prepared to take the consequences of disobedience, whatever they may be? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were provincial rulers in ancient Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar. They were Hebrews from Jerusalem. They'd been head-hunted, or more accurately conscripted. They'd had 3 years intensive training in Babylonian culture and language. Even their names were changed from their Hebrew ones. To stengthen his power the King wanted to create unity in his multicultural kingdom. He organized a worship event on a grand scale which all the dignitaries and officials had to attend. It was the dedication of a 90 foot high statue . He decreed all...

I've never run a marathon or half-marathon or even a 10K run. But I know people who have and do. I admire their commitment to training. The annual London marathon   will take place in a few days on 17 April. The runners I admire aren't the super athletes who complete the route in amazingly short times. It's the people who take 9 hours or more, some with considerable disabilities, but who make the finish eventually, through dogged perseverance. It's only when you are nearly at the end that you can see the goal in a marathon. In faith that it will be worth the effort, you just have to keep on going without being able to see the end for most of the run. It helps to have good mentors and role models, other people to run with and the inspiration of past marathon runners as well as spectators egging you on. The life of faith isn't about goals you can see, but promises you trust enough to act on. This sort of faith is practised by people who are in it for th...