The Pianist

 

The pianist’s nimble fingers flew with apparent ease across the keyboard as she breathed vigour and life into the explosions of notes. Written long ago, the music of Chopin and Bach, Beethoven and Britten sparkled in her interpretations.

We were an intimate gathering, a select few, and she was a star, giving us a glimpse of heaven, so with each conclusion the applause reddened the palms of the audience, eager to show our appreciation of the technique and talent, embarrassed at the poor numbers. Another hangover from Covid lockdowns? Or a sign of the soaring cost of living? Where was everybody?

No-one lights a lamp and covers it under a bowl, Jesus taught. Instead, it is put on a lampstand or a hill, where it can give light, where it can shine and reveal the beauty of the one who is the light of the world.

The renowned pianist revealed the light within her magnificently. She was given a talent and she shared it with all who would listen.

Jesus has lit a light in every believer. I may not be a talented musician, but I pray that the one who is the light of the world will shine through my every encounter today.

 

Vicious Weeds

 

While I’ve been distracted harvesting some of the fruit – raspberries and strawberries, currants, cherries, brambles, and now apples – couch grass and nettles have crept in among the roses, entwined themselves among the sweet peas and marigolds. I never noticed, and then suddenly, yesterday, it was all I could see as I passed them on the way to water the greenhouse tomatoes.

Choking the flowers I nurtured, these unwanted weeds were ferocious in their resistance to my trowel and fork. A rogue cherry tree had taken hold, its roots resting on the roots of a rosebush also gone rogue, bearing rose hips this year. I had just enough time before the rain fell, to dig and cut and wrestle the roots out as best I could, leaving a small expanse of bare soil.

It won’t be long before that bare soil is filled with another scattering of weeds.

When Jesus expelled the demon from the man, he encouraged the delivered individual to be filled with the Spirit of God now, lest an even more vicious cohort of demons should invade the vacuum of his soul. A vacuum is never stable, always open to accept whatever will stabilise it.

Go on being filled with the Spirit, Paul encourages. Coming to God, being cleansed of sin and restored through the blood of Jesus, is a daily routine for a serious believer, and offers the delight of being filled again with the Holy Spirit so that God’s beauty and love and presence can be fully experienced in the daily routines of life. May I be filled again with the Spirit today, strengthened and enabled to walk in the peace of Jesus and extend kindness and hope to everyone I meet.

The Robin Trembled

 

The robin trembled, hunkered down in the corner of the entrance lobby. Obviously, the cat had been disturbed and, thankfully, released her before dealing a fatal bite.

Speaking to her softly, I approached the robin slowly, and carefully enfolded her in my cupped hands. She sat still, making no attempt to escape, allowing herself to be carried outside to the window ledge to recover.

The cat stayed in.

After an hour or so, the robin had regained enough strength to fly away, and she was gone. Such lovely, friendly wee birds.

Consider the birds, Jesus taught. They don’t work, but the Father not only feeds them, but knows each one and cares for them.

How much more does he care for you, Jesus asked his disciples? Where is your faith?

Hurricane Ian has wreaked a terrible path of destruction through Florida and is now regrouping for an assault on South Carolina. The wind outside my window is wild and strong. The world is assaulted by storm forces from every direction: natural disasters (as a result, often, of our profligate living), wars, political and economic turmoil, relationship challenges.

As I cower in the corner of my world, Jesus comes to me, scoops me carefully into his cupped hands, and gently soothes me. He carries me to a safe place and gives me space to breathe, to be restored and refreshed so that once again I, too, can fly.

Thanks be to God.

Pumpkin Pie

 

The pumpkin pie cooled on the counter, releasing its tantalising aroma into the kitchen. Mom was outside. I was probably around four years old as I tentatively brushed my index finger on the top of it.

I was horrified as my finger lifted a skim of the pie top, leaving a noticeable mark. I rummaged in the kitchen drawer to find a knife which might smooth it. Made it much worse. Shoving the dirty knife back into the drawer (never thinking to cover my tracks), I withdrew hastily outside to play. Maybe she’d believe I hadn’t been in the kitchen…

Half a guilty hour later Mom called me in and confronted me with the evidence of my crime, including the pie-stained knife. I had no excuse. This was the pie for Thanksgiving, and now it indelibly bore my fingerprint and a smear from the knife. I spent the next half hour behind the bedroom door, a frequent punishment.

Thinking about the ‘referendum’ in eastern Ukraine, where 98% ‘voted’ to join Russia, I am amazed at the cruel and calculating bravado of a world leader who is increasingly pushing the world into a major conflagration. Now the gas pipelines have sprung leaks. I wonder if he could use a knife from the drawer to cover up his fingerprints, which are all over this operation.

Jesus taught, For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.

I don’t think half an hour behind the bedroom door will be enough, somehow.

 

Perfect Creation

 

Somehow I managed to hem the neck opening of the Barbie cape on the machine without pinning my fingers to the velvet. Have I just forgotten how fiddly and tiny doll clothes are, or have my fingers lost their nimbleness over the years? Hmm.

Creativity in whatever form it takes can be so satisfying – when it goes right.

God must have thought that on the seventh day. He looked at his creation, and he saw that it was good.

That was before his creatures exercised the free will he’d so graciously granted them, to choose to disobey. What a mess we’ve made of the perfect world he blessed us with!

 

 

Faithful to the End

 

Precision. The impeccable precision of yesterday’s state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II was breath-taking. Involving so many hundreds of participants on the ground, moving the casket, playing the sombre music, singing and speaking and silences…and they didn’t have months to practice the detail.

But although they didn’t have months to practice exactly what happened yesterday, all those involved have had time to practice and perfect their gift: be it preaching and presenting the gospel so clearly as Justin Welby did, singing like the angels as the choristers did, or marching in time and in step and in the right direction as so many of the uniformed services (and their horses) did.

Always be ready, Peter advised those to whom he wrote. Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

The stage is set. A hush fell over much of the world yesterday as billions watched the faithful servant Queen be laid to rest. She set the stage. Now is the moment for followers of Jesus Christ to step forward and share the reason for the hope they have. We don’t need to have all the theological answers. We just need to be prepared to share what we know, our own testimonies of God’s interaction in our lives, and of the truth revealed that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world and offers salvation, peace, and hope to all who love him.

May we be as faithful to our calling as Queen Elizabeth II was to hers.

Delayed

 

Mary and I usually meet at 9 on Monday and Friday and walk together for an hour. Same route, down the road and back.

She was running late this morning, so we were delayed by about ten minutes, during which time I watched from my prayer window as the farmer moved his large herd of cows up the road and into the field round Mary’s house. Had we been walking on time, we’d have been in the middle of that herd of cows and calves. A daunting prospect.

Today Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest. A wonderful Christian woman, selfless in her service. I pray that whatever the plans are for the services today, with an unprecedented number of world leaders and public well-wishers converging on Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and Windsor, that the Lord will be in the detail of the day, occasioning delays if needed to avoid any malicious intent.

May she rest in peace, and may her bereaved family have time and space to grieve in private.