Live from the heart

I’ve got a To-Do list longer than long and feel slightly stressed by that. By a deadline which is looming for giving a talk which I don’t feel I have time and space to prepare in the way I normally would. 

Someone said to me this morning that it’s people’s stories folk like to here. Tell my story in the context of the meeting. 

She is right. I tend to over-prepare. This time I shall prepare as well as I can and leave the rest to God, to prompt, inspire and guide me as I choose my words and my stories and their application.

Priorities. Other things are in there right now and they have priority. A whole variety of things going on, all of which I want to embrace fully and offer whatever I have to help people get over their current hurdles and onto the next, smoother part of their journeys through life.

I determine again to live from the heart. Not the head.

An uphill struggle

He was cycling up the hill, and he wasn’t even out of breath. He was able to wave and smile. His wheels didn’t wobble at all.

That’s what fitness does for you. Your body is strong and able to whiz down the brae or pump up the hill without ache or breathlessness.

I’m in training spiritually now, with more focus, more enthusiasm, more excitement than I’ve had for some time. I’m expecting to see God work in amazing ways, and I’ve got my spiritual antennae tuned to his wavelength. 

I remember the strength of the passion of my first love for Jesus, born again all those years ago. And I am determined to fan it into flames again.

So that when I encounter the uphill struggles in my life, I can take them on without wobbling or losing my breath.

With his grace and strength, this is possible.

Too sweet?

Can anything ever be too sweet?

Well, yes.

I have just made my first attempt at short crust pastry. I know it’s incredible at my age, but I’ve stuck to the oil pastry I learned at my mother’s knee and it’s served me well.

But I saw this recipe for plum and almond tart, and thought I’d give it a whirl.

What I didn’t realize as I measured out the icing sugar into the butter-flour mixture, was that the batteries of this marvellous high-tech digital weighing scale, had jiggled loose. I did think it seemed a little more sugar than I’d imagined was needed. But I went ahead anyway.

It was when I was weighing the marzipan that I realized just how wonky they were. I pulled out my trusted old scale which tends to leap around a bit, but at least gives a ball park figure which has always worked for me before.

So the upshot is – look out, Doug and Joey, as we all may be whizzing with sugar overdose when we go to watch the Passion at the AECC. 

I didn’t realize that loose batteries could result in the weighing scale being so erratic. I’m sure that’s why God wants us to maintain a tight connection to him. When we fail to ground ourselves in God, our thinking grows erratic and our actions betray that we are no longer taking orders from the Top.

Jesus didn’t mention sugar. But he did talk about salt and light, and without secure connections, our lights will definitely fail to illuminate anything.

May your Good Friday be sweetened by the promise of Easter morning. It’s so much better to walk through Good Friday this side of the Cross.