Thinking about love

Avoiding truisms is tricky when writing about love, after all it's been covered in so many ways. I'm aware, over the past few months, how many people struggle with loving and being loved in many different ways.
Fundamentally we all need it and because of that it becomes hard to quantify and reflect on without that reflection becoming trite or devaluing the very thing you want to value most.
The phrase from 1 Corinthians 13 "love bears all things" seems to cover it for me. Love is not about perfection but reality: accepting someone for who they are, not what you want them to be. Continuing to accept when life is messy, full of misunderstandings and mistakes. Continuing to bear not with the person, but to bear the person, to carry them when they can't stand up. To know somehow that whatever happens LOVE Himself will give you the love you need to keep going; and to want nothing other than to do this.

Palm Sunday meditation

See, your Saviour comes,
meek and lowly of heart,
not on a charger, armed for war,
nor on a thoroughbred, nervy and proud;
but on a donkey's colt.

A colt, unbroken, yields willingly.
The crowd recognises a different kind of power
and responds, "Bless David's son,
our promised restorer, among his people
given honour."

Yet the challenge of this meekness
is so great, unsettling all the worldly
hierarchies:
Resistance foments, insinuates, whispers,
"Did God really say you must not
grasp at power?"
The age-old temptation is re-spoken
and only One can counter its
sickening effect.

Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.

Have mercy on our weakness, our willingness
to hear those threatening thoughts.
Have mercy on our choice of force over
submission.
Redeem our nature, body, mind and spirit.
Call back our hearts to heaven's outstretched
arms of flesh.
Then, in your mercy, make us merciful.

Freedom Day

Today is Freedom Day, marking the 200th anniverary of the passing of the bill to abolish the transatlantic slave trade. Many of you will be aware of the work of the Stop the Traffik global coalition to highlight the awful current slavery experienced by many children and adults across the globe.
At lunch-time today the Skipton churches were manning a stand at a local supermarket and encouraging shoppers to sign the global declaration which will be handed to the U.N. in the summer. One man came up to sign and said to me, "We shouldn't have to be doing this in this day and age.". He is absolutely right, but the fact remains we do need to do it!
Micah 6:8, " But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love. And don't take yourself too seriously - take God seriously." ( The Message version.)
www.stopthetraffik.org/

Not understanding

For much of last year I was pretty unwell, well just unwell really. My long-suffering family suffered long and we were all relieved when things got better. So why have the last couple of weeks been so hard?
Compared to last year I'm still much better, but I've a bad couple of weeks ending up with needing time off work. Why is that so bad? It isn't; except that it seems to be.
Things do get relativist just when you don't want them to.
So thinking relatively: it's relatively amazing that any of us is here; relatively sane; relatively comfortable and with relative support.

Finding the way in

Well here I am at last. It's taken ages to get back to the way in. Although I had the right information (or so I thought) I have not been able to log in for ages. I tried the help section and nothing helped. I waited for e mails that never came. Then, finally, one did! It made sense and so here I am again.
It reminded me of something Lisa said ages ago in church, that when you realise you've gone along a dead-end, or have got lost, the only thing to do is to go back to where you knew where you were.
I think this is true in every situation. So much better than trying to dig a way through the undergrowth.
However, just because something is true and sensible doesn't mean we always remember it.
This time I hope I will and not just regarding blogging!

new year

Although we know they really should be avoided, new year resolutions draw you in. You start thinking and next thing you know ....
However, it may be possible to make short term resolutions, or preferably a short term resolution. Short term goals become more important than long term, as the day of reckoning is never far away.
The most important thing may be the resolving, anything else is a bonus first time around.