Shark Nets

Looking out over the King's Beach at Caloundra today - I asked Debs what the all the perimeter buoys were for out in the sea. She said that they marked where the Shark Nets were so that swimmers knew not to go beyond that point, for safety reasons. The nets prevent the sharks from coming in near the shore and swimmers.

I suppose the obvious thing for an Australian swimmer is that you just don't go beyond those shark nets. Or that if you do it is a calculated but perhaps stupid risk. But when you are a visitor you are not even aware that the sharks are there!

This week so far from home and with so much that has happened this week, Debs and I have been chatting about all sorts of things. One of the things we feel we need is to have the understanding that the deceiver can so easily get a foothold in our lives if we let him.  We need something like Shark Nets in our spiritual life in order to help us to prevent negativity influencing us.

One of the key ways of doing this is have a prayer life that includes both action and contemplation this can help protect us from the sharks.

ACTS is a frequently used mnemonic to describe the parts of prayer

A =  Adoration,
C = Contrition
T = Thanksgiving
S = Supplication

Daily we need to have these in our prayer process! We are vulnerable when we don't.

Contemplation is something we need so that we can hear the still small voice of the spirit speaking to us in our life. If we are to be spirit led we need to make the time to listen for promptings. And when we get them we should act on them!

Are you aware of any sharks circling your spiritual life that would seek to diminish it?  If you are aware what action do you need to take?

I am being brief today and stopping there but here are greetings to you from Australia!

Prayer this week is from St Patrick ...known as the Lorica, or St Patrick's Breastplate, I do encourage you to say it!

   I bind unto myself today

The strong Name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same,

The Three in One, and One in Three.

   I bind this day to me forever,

By power of faith, Christ's Incarnation;

   His baptism in the Jordan river;

His death on cross for my salvation;

   His bursting from the spiced tomb;

His riding up the heavenly way;

   His coming at the day of doom:

I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power

Of the great love of cherubim;

   The sweet "Well done" in judgement hour;

The service of the seraphim;

   Confessors' faith, apostles' word,

The patriarchs' prayers, the prophets' scrolls;

   All good deeds done unto the Lord,

And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today

The virtues of the starlit heaven,

   The glorious sun's life-giving ray,

  the whiteness of the moon at even,

    the flashing of the  lightning free,

The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,

   The stable earth, the deep salt sea,

Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead,

   His eye to watch, his might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need;

   The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, his shield to ward;

   The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,

The strong Name of the Trinity,

   By invocation of the same,

The Three in One, and One in Three.

   Of whom all nature hath creation,

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

   Praise to the Lord of my salvation,

Salvation is of Christ the Lord

This week I am mostly thinking about marriage...

As preparation for Saturday I have been thinking this morning about 1 Corinthians 13 and reading something I wrote a while ago for a niece of mine.

Funnily enough we decided not to use this reading at our wedding. But I love it so briefly here are some thoughts on it.

The highest calling that each of us has is to live a life that is filled with love. What else could make us happy?  It is as if we have a thirst inside us that only love could satisfy. We humans need to receive love and to give love. Whether it be as parent to child, child to parent, friend to friend or of course the love that exists between a married couple.

Christine Aged 9 said that in a restaurant "It is  love - if they order one of those desserts that are on fire. They like to order them because it is just like how their hearts are ... on fire."

I agree with this young lady our hearts do need to be on fire for the one we have chosen as our marriage partner.

We should as it says in the bible "live a lovers life" - to be passionate in our love is what we need. Even if it makes our partner giggle! Better to be passionate than 2 dimensional.

We should give them our best!As far as we are able, within our capacity, we should love at full tilt, with no reservations...

We should not be afraid to serve them and they should also not be afraid to serve us in turn. I remember a poster that I had on my wall for a while when I was a young man "Where love rules, there is no will to power" - by serving and looking to the others need we are purifying our love of the distortions that power can bring if used wrongly. We need the creative power of the Holy Spirit in our marriage.

Please pray for Deb's and I this week end!

Dear Lord, You know all about me and love me anyway. Help me to be real in my loving, help me to learn how to love - Amen 

Thoughts about Iona,

This little island has had a significant impact on Christianity for two main reasons.

First it is where St Columba's landed in AD 563, bringing with him Christianity to the Scottish people.

Secondly it is the spiritual home of the Wildgoose Community. A community that has been blessing for many people since it was founded 1938.

It was like a pilgrimage for us, rising early on the Friday and heading off to be sure to get the 7am flight to Glasgow. Then by car and ferry and many birding stops to Mull and beyond to the tiny island of Iona. On the way we saw the awesome beauty of God's creation, including Otters swimming, an Osprey flying and a Buzzard perched so that we could see him clearly in all his finery through our telescope. Creation too is God's message to us about the Father's love for variety and beauty.

At our first prayer stop, pictured below, we had a reading etc from a book we had brought with us.
My heart was struck by these words, that seemed to be there to prepare my heart for marriage "It is possible to travel alone. But the good traveller knows that the journey is human life and needs company. 'companion' means.. The one who eats the same bread." Debs of course is my companion, friend and lover! All these things are necessary for marriage to work, with the grace of God's Holy Spirit too in generous measure.

And from Jeremiah we learnt about our new heart:
"This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:33-34 NIV

The House of Prayer we stayed in was a beautiful welcoming home thanks to Sister Jean. And for two days we became family with the other visitors. Two lovely American women Pat and Marie and two Norweigan Dominican monks Haavar and Arnfinn. Eating breakfast and dinner together. Talking, sharing and with good humour together.

At this meeting at the crossroads was an interesting mix of Christian people, proving that there is fellowship across the divides. We can be one...just as Jesus asks.

This will be a long blog if I tell you everything. So let's just today think about kindness...

I have mentioned in previous blogs "the loving kindness which is the heart of our God ".... Well read here what our brother friar Haavar had to say about it in his sermon linked here.

On the descent into Columba's Bay we experienced the unexpected kindness of a stranger - who appeared from nowhere and offered to take a picture of the three amigos. We exchanged brief friendly words and the information that we were on a rather eccentric Bucks's weekend involving prayer and birding. She seemed shy but did say what she was doing. She then went on ahead stopped in her tracks and came back. She said that she wanted to give me and Debs two green stones known as Columba's Tears - she did this and then hurried on her way. Needless to say I thanked her for her kindness. I was quite touched - the unexpected kindness of strangers does indeed reach the heart very quickly.

So for me the predominant theme of the weekend was that God was telling me that he wants me to learn his kindness. To not be afraid to accept it from others, but also to be more consistent in my attempts to show it to other people. Especially whilst in London - that busy place - oh God let me help the traveller and to see them through your eyes. And thank you for the humour and patience that John and Chris shared with me.

We are but fallible people like clay pots! "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." That is, if our intentions are good God will cover our weakness.

Dear God, please help me to be more consistent in the practice of kindness and help me to recognise need in others and do what I am able to help them.

My house shall be a House of Prayer

By the time you read this I should be well on my way to my Bucks Weekend. John, Chris and I are going to the Scottish island of Iona. It is planned to be a time of birding and prayer. We are praying also for a time of Kairos.

We will be staying in a House of Prayer. This last bit seems to have been planned by God! It has significance for me because for some time Debs and I have been living with the vision that our home will become on marriage a House of Prayer. We have been practising praying in the run up to our wedding!

God introduced the idea to both our hearts individually, and so when we started to talk with each other about it it was like we were already prepared to say yes to each other.

The difficult bit might be the how. But we are already becoming more intentional about our prayers. Also deliberately seeking to be intercessors. To assist people with or without faith by coming alongside them and praying for their intentions.

Our experience is that prayer changes things. That if you want things to improve you pray. The cynic may say that this is not empirically measurable. I would say that it is measurable but not using your yard stick. Just in the same way that electricity is not visible to the naked eye.

The interesting thing is we are not going to be the only House of Prayer. We have heard that independent of us God is planting at least two others. One of which we learnt is going to be in Clarkson Street, near the Church we are part of.

The title of this week's post comes from the quote "my house shall be a House of Prayer for all nations" from Isaiah 56.7 in the old testament. Which is also quoted by Jesus when he cast out the money changers "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" Luke 19:46 NIV

So you can see perhaps why I am excited to be going to Iona. And to be staying in a House of Prayer.

Dear Lord, please help us to know again the power of your Holy Spirit in our lives. Help us when we pray to realise our own weakness but allow us anyway to draw strength from your love. Amen

I will post at Www.yourkairos.com if there are additional readings /thoughts

Act justly, love tenderly, walk humbly with your God

I want to return to the subject of a recent post, to think more about one of the things Fr Greg had said. See "A Time to Pray"

Unfortunately I made "typo"that altered the meaning somewhat, I published "To love the way you want to love is control" (still unpacking that one! I think it is about making our love conditional, choosing to love)

I meant to type "To love the way you want to love is control" (still unpacking that one! I think it is about making our love unconditional, choosing to love).

The word unconditional makes a big difference... If we only love the loveable people we are doing an easy thing. But God is calling us to be disciples of love.

Of course love has many shades of meaning and we can use this almost to get out of doing too much about it. But authentic Christianity demands an authentic attempt to be as loving as Christ. And that is I think where choice comes in.

One Saint said that "to love is to will the good of another" and that can act as our working definition of love in this context. An elderly priest that I used to minister with was fond of saying to me "love means to treat everyone with good will." That is where the unconditional bit comes in. It is the challenging bit of do we treat the smelly tramp with respect even though he could be said to have not earnt respect. But maybe we start (or continue) at the easier end of the spectrum, with family and work colleagues. Thinking about not what they can do for you but what you can do for them. Then move on to the more radical. Of course every now and then someone will get in your face, when they do remember "that a soft answer turns away anger."

Giving up control is not easy. Let me assure you I am no saint. But I have learnt that when I do so it releases God's grace into my life, things start to be different. Less bleak in fact.

In the same way forgiveness also changes things. To refuse to store up wrongs in our memories and to keep "short accounts" changes the dynamics of our relationships.

Dear Lord, please help me to be different, help me to build your kingdom. To love tenderly and to give and receive forgiveness mercifully. Amen

Peace be with you!

It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. "Peace be with you," he said. After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you." Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ( John 20:19-22 GNT)

As St Augustine says, "we are an Easter People and alleluia is our song." Authentic Christianity hinges on the belief handed down from the disciples that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead after being killed on Good Friday. For us it is what marks him out as more than just a wise man who had a way with words. Because resurrection can only be achieved using God's power.

I guess some of us need proof of this and some question it. And this is the what Gamaliel the high priest himself wrestled with, when he was being asked to imprison Jesus' followers. He said this: "....so in this case, I tell you, do not take any action against these men. Leave them alone! If what they have planned and done is of human origin, it will disappear, but if it comes from God, you cannot possibly defeat them. You could find yourselves fighting against God!” Full passage here Acts 5:34-39 GNT.

For me that is one of the proofs that Jesus is the Son of God, if he was just a Charismatic holy man leading a sect it would have died out. A couple of thousand years later no one would have known about it. Instead from the seed of Jesus life, death and resurrection and of a crew of 12 hand picked misfits Christianity has been formed. As Gamaliel says it has to come from God. It has to come from God to have survived the folly and mistakes we have made in the name of religion. The Holy Spirit is the soul or animator of the church and makes it come out of disaster into victory when we let it. It leads us out of darkness into His wonderful light.

So I put it to you that the hand of God is on history and also on our lives today. We can't always see it but it is there. Imagine spray painting with your child...you get your little one to stretch out their fingers on the paper and spray paint their hand and the paper. When she removes her hand the shape is there but the hand is not. But we can understand that her hand was there originally because we can see the silhouette! Well human history is like that we can't always visibly see God, but we can understand by the imprints left on our lives and the lives of others. The times of grace and of awareness of his presence.

There were over 500 witnesses to the presence of the risen Jesus. That is considerably more than would be needed for a court of law to say that it was proved beyond reasonable doubt. How many witnesses do we need to believe?

Are you a scoffer? Maybe not ... if you are this is what God has to say "look you scoffers! Be astonished and die! For what I am doing today is something you will not believe even when someone explains it to you!" Acts 13.41

Dear Jesus, renew my knowledge of you. Let me receive the Holy Spirit into my life and may it melt my doubt and strengthen my faith. Help me please, I pray, to move forward from this day seeking your love and sharing your peace. Amen

I will turn your mourning into dancing

Imagine if you went for a meal with a friend and they started talking all mystical about death and life and how you should be serving one another, you might begin to feel a sense of unease. Track to 24 hours later the same friend, was arrested, betrayed by another of your mates, subjected to a show trial, sentenced to death, whipped, beaten, nailed to wood, displayed in agony for the world to watch dying....

Then as if that wasn't enough an earthquake, an eclipse and a thief quoting scripture. You have lived with this man for three years... You knew that his cousin John was beheaded. But you never even guessed that death would come for Jesus too. You have walked and talked with him, listened to his jokes. Listened to him goad the Pharisees... Cooked his meals, fished with him, climbed a mountain with him, heard all his stories, more than once each, so that you too know them, prayed every day with him with a strange intensity that could bring an incredible peace.

You have seen him bring healing to people's minds and incredibly also to their bodies. You were there when you heard Peter say to him "You are the Christ, the son of the Living God" when Jesus had asked him "who do you say I am?" ever elusive to questions. Like a quizzical Rabbi.

Now you are locked in a room with others that had travelled with Jesus, shaking with fear, from anxiety that they will come for you next. How could it have come to this. That Jesus, your friend and 'brother' went through this. You think about his last moments. How even at the last gasps he was praying a psalm

One of your friends in the room with you is reciting Psalm 29, saying over again "I will turn your mourning into dancing."

For Reflection:

Who do you say Jesus is?

Dear Jesus, reveal to my heart afresh today what your death was all about. Send your Spirit to me where I am praying, let it open my eyes to the fact that you took on my sin and have given me the route out from it. Let me accept again today that you are my Lord. Let me travel with you over the next three days into the resurrection experience. Fill me again with your joy and turn my mourning into dancing. Amen