Lent26

 I cant think of anything to say today so here are a couple of my poems which i hope you will enjoy.  Ive picked some on the topic we started off with this Lent - getting older Ageing  This weathered wall where mosses grow and lichen, imperceptibly slowly creeps like greying hair across an ageing face does not mind the passage of time. The russet bricks have seen many a storm crumbling in places, so well worn with mortar cracking in the joints arthritic ,yet still surviving with a will. How many youthful hands have trailed their fingers here? How many snails ascending from the earth below have added to the slow decay I witness here today? But in neglect a wistful grace elevates this oft-passed place for eyes that deign to see. May my ageing be so engaging Divine Chiropractor  I am older now the daily grind, the wear and tear have unaligned my bones I'm out of kilter, strained and stressed limping through my day Sore, I come to You You size me up, then lie me down and...

Yesterday someone I dont know particularly well asked me for some advice.  I said I'd do my best and settled down to listen to her story.   It turns out that just about every twist and turn in her journey was a road Id already travelled down.   From being the kid of divorced parents to having married a man I met on the internet and everything in between.  We both kept stopping to smile at all the weirdly specific ' me too!' moments.  Im pretty sure we all have times when we wonder what on earth is going on.  Why do we have to go through that experience?  How could God possibly ever bring anything good out of that mistake?  Why have I ended up in this place with these people at this time?   And then there's a moment like I had yesterday where we see God piecing together all the seemingly random incidences of our lives to bring connection and understanding and advice for someone else.   Its soooooo good.   Goo...

Today Im thinking about a verse in Proverbs 27:6    The wounds of a friend can be trusted but an enemy multiplies kisses.   What that means is that when someone really loves you they will tell you the truth even if it hurts you or is uncomfortable.  Flattery and ignoring issues and thinking we are being kind by not addressing issues actually puts us in the enemy's camp. Judas. And Jesus.   What I cant quite get my head around is that at the last supper Jesus calls Judas out in front of the eleven and seems to quite clearly indicate that He knows who will betray Him.  Why did Jesus do that?  He must have known that it wouldn't make any difference.  Judas had already arranged the plot to have Jesus arrested.  In two of the gospel accounts Judas isn't named and the other disciples worry that it might be them  ( Mark 14:19,  John 13:24 ) but in the other two accounts it is clear that Jesus is talking about Judas.  So Im...

 Last night lying on the sofa watching the telly for some reason my mind started to freewheel on the word ' settle'   I started to wonder how one word added to another word could have so many different meanings.   To settle means to become established. to stay, to occupy.  To settle up means to pay the bill.  To settle down means to stop roaming and become permanent.  Or to settle down means to come to peace after disruption. To settle on means to decide on something. To settle for means to compromise.  You can settle an argument by coming to agreement.  A settle is a seat like a monks bench.  The more I thought about this extraordinary word the more fascinated I became.  Im a word nerd. No apologies.  Its why you love me 😂 The word in English comes from the Latin to be seated.  Which makes sense because being seated back in the day indicated permanence, authority, certainty.  Jesus is settled at the right ...

 We have had all sorts of weather this week.  Hail and snow and sun and rain.  Yesterday it was windy with some rain followed by some sunshine.  Cold.  Hard to believe it was the first day of summer.   On the way to church we pass a wind turbine and I was surprised to see that despite the trees most definitely moving, the blades of the turbine were still.  It was the same on the way home from church even though the wind was even stronger by then.   I noted that the turbine didn't have one of those little rudders which can rotate the blades to face into the wind.  So despite the fact that it was windy no power was being generated because the turbine wasn't facing the right way.  This got me thinking.  Often I know that the Holy Spirit is moving but somehow I dont seem to be moving with Him.  I can sit in church knowing that where two or three are gathered He is there,  knowing that the worship is uplifting and the...

 The clocks have gone forward overnight in the UK which means that we have all had an hour less sleep than usual. This led me to wonder what the Bible has to say about time.   As it turns out it has quite alot to say - so here are a few verses which stood out to me.  Hopefully some of them will stand out to you too. Psalm 139:16   ESV  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them 2 Corinthians 6:2     For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  2 Peter 3:8-9  But do n...