Bunches of Roses

Don gave me a big bunch of multi-coloured roses on Saturday. I’m not very good at floral art, so as usual have stuck the whole bunch into my biggest vase, where they look colourful and beautiful and remind me of his love.

I have lots of greenery in the garden, though, and was thinking that with a bit of time and a modicum of talent, I could fill two or three vases with greenery and intersperse the roses through the house.

B&B guests would enjoy the beauty of the roses, on the landing or in the dining room.

It made me think of Christians, bunching together on Sundays in our church services. We probably look colourful and maybe even beautiful and remind the world of the love of God. If the world is even watching, or aware of us.

Come Monday mornings and we are scattered to our work places and neighbourhoods. We are interspersed amongst the greenery of non-Christian settings, where we can bring beauty and colour as we live out the life of Jesus in our daily lives.

It’s easier to bunch together and join our voices in praise of God. More challenging to show the beauty of Christ in a secular setting. 

But exactly what the world needs. To see Jesus in us. To experience his peace, his joy, his beauty. So this week, I am going to be more aware than ever of maintaining my integrity as a believer in the midst of my daily routines.

Fed by the Word of God, and the prayer that unites me with Jesus by the power of the Spirit.

Think I’ll be a red rose. A sign of love.

Black Holes as Light Sources

Still thinking about that programme on quasars. Black holes which suck in matter and yet emit the brightest light anywhere in the universe.

I was thinking about Christians. If we are living as we are called to live, close to God, then we should have an effect on all which surrounds us. Perhaps sometimes we even might absorb things such as offenses and sins against us, forgiving them and the purity of that action emitting an incredible light.

I am remembering people who have had much to forgive. The father in Eniskillen whose 21 year old daughter was buried in a bomb blast alongside him. He lived, she died. His first words in an interview later were that he forgave her killers. He absorbed the hate and returned a bright shining light.

I think of all the stories I read recently in Desmond Tutu’s book, stories of victims forgiving horrendous crimes committed against them or their loved ones. Absorbing the violence, emitting the light.

Quasars seem to be unique, eating whatever matter strays into their gravity and burping out intense and enormous light.

Christians are also unique. I don’t know how easy it is to be a quasar (!), but to live such a forgiving Christian life is not easy nor always the norm, but should be the aim of us all.

With the help of Jesus.

Black holes

A programme last night on black holes challenged my intellect and amazed me. I am so inspired and impressed by the sheer breath-taking intelligence of scientists who search for truth in the natural world, through observation, theory, mathematical plotting, etc. I watch amazed, almost understanding and sometimes surprising myself as I pre-empt what is about to be revealed.

Thus as the narrator described how scientists discovered the black hole at the centre of our galaxy and have been observing a huge gas cloud which is gradually being eaten up by this hole, he said that nobody knows why black holes have such intense light at times nor what they really do. It seemed a possibility to me that the hole is almost a window onto a new universe perhaps, or galaxy, where matter from this universe is being birthed. 

He then cited that as a possibility, and equated black holes with quasars. I have never studied physics, and struggle to keep up, but just love this stuff. The sheer size of it all is mind-blowing and the intricate complexity, the way everything has a purpose and is serving other things, just points again to the certainty of an intelligent creator God. 

A powerful being who spoke the universe into being and breathes life into you and me. A God of love who creates for the sheer joy and pleasure of it, who loves without condition and encourages us each to grow as far as we are able – intellectually, spiritually, physically. 

Whatever one's feelings in the aftermath of the Scottish independence referendum, they have to be dwarfed by the beauty of life itself.

Life is such a gift, from such a Giver. I am so grateful.

Scotland Decides: Frozen Shoulder

Just back from another visit to the physio. We first got to know each other through the slipped disk in the back. We’ve moved on now to the frozen shoulder.

Well. So, a frozen shoulder occurs in stages. First there may or may not be an injury, but whatever triggers it, the shoulder becomes intensely painful to move. That may last any length of time, depending on ... nobody knows what it depends on. Just is.

Then it becomes restricted in its ability to move. The pain diminishes except when the arm tries to move into positions which the shoulder refuses to allow. Frozen. This may last from 4 to 24 months depending on ... nobody knows what. Just does.

That’s where I am right now. Stuck. Unable to move in certain positions. It could be much worse. I can still do most things and maneuver pretty well if I avoid putting my hand over my head or behind my back. 

The physio explained that the problem lies in a bit of soft tissue which embraces the socket, and which has thickened and thereby restricts movement. The body needs to reabsorb the thickness so it is thin enough to allow free movement. 

Sometimes pain locks us into certain mindsets. Emotional pain. Mental anguish. Psychological hurts. Childhood traumas. 

We want to avoid triggering the pain, so we learn to avoid thinking about certain things. We just don’t go there. We wall ourselves off, and as we do so, we become frozen, diminished in our ability to move, to think ‘outside the box’, to be compassionate perhaps, or forgiving. 

Frozen emotions lead to all sorts of problems. God addresses one in Scripture when he talks of our hardness of heart. He understands how hard it is to change our hearts ourselves, and as a tender and loving Father he promises to do it for us. ‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you...’ Ezekiel 36:26

My prayer for this day when Scotland decides its future, independent or united in Great Britain, all who feel passionately on both sides will be blessed with hearts of flesh, compassionate and understanding of one another’s points of views and ready to work together under whichever government wins, for the good of the people of this land.

We all struggle with areas of our hearts, of our minds, of our memories, which we’ve hardened off and which have frozen. May God renew and soften all of our hearts so that we may live lives of mercy, grace and love, inspired and enabled by his Spirit living in us.

Peace to you.

The God of Hope

Just back from a few days’ break in sun-soaked Paris. Heaven. 

Each morning we awoke to an intensity of light from the high windows and sun blazing overhead. It was like California, warm and inviting. Outside on the streets, tall apartment blocks (oh, that Parisian architecture is so attractive!) shadowed the streets, but once down along the Seine one could fully bask in the light.

And that is what the Parisians, and the millions of tourists, do, every day it seems. I wandered onto the riverbank the second day and sat down on an installation, I suppose I would call it. Fairly basic thick 4x4’s of wood offered seats, back rests, even beds for those so inclined. A wee footbridge to a further stretch of riverside, obscured by a planting of trees, sheltered a row of double chaise-longues for those who wished to snuggle up and watch the world go by. Every bed was taken. This was Paris, after all.

The world definitely was going by, one bateau mouche after another packed with tourists all training their cameras and phones onto the Eiffel Tower to get that unmissable shot. Fun to watch the number of selfies being snapped. Two companions, rather than photograph each other, stood side by side taking selfies. Am I just old fashioned or is that definitely odd?

Anyway, we returned to Scotland, land of the mist and gloom. Awoke this morning to a dullness, a gloom of low cloud-cover. Funny that the flight took under 2 hours and yet the intensity of light and temperature is so diverse.

Scotland is in the final throes of an historic referendum, and on Friday morning we will awake either to an ‘independent’ Scotland (how independent can it be if it still uses the pound and belongs to the EU?) or a Scotland which is still part of Great Britain. Either way, we are on the brink of seeing many changes.

Some will awaken on Friday morning and feel the strength of the light has reached a new intensity; others will awaken and perceive a deepening gloom.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and the light of the world. My prayer is that at the end of this historic referendum on independence, everyone will get more than anyone bargained for, as Christians have dropped to their knees in greater number and with greater passion than usual, asking God to bless this great country once again.

Whichever way the vote goes, my prayer is that we will move away from the secular society we have become and embrace the faith of our ancestors, that we will no longer be intimidated by the proponents of political correctness and tolerance but will understand and share our faith in the God of love and creation, that we will come together to work in harmony for a just and fair society.

As Scotland thinks again, let it remember the God who loves unconditionally, who saves all who call on him, and who blesses us every day as the sun rises and sets, rises and sets, rises and sets. May the God of hope fill us all with all joy and peace as we trust in him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Whatever Friday holds, God and I can handle it.

Expectations and Preparations

Political pundits proclaim a tight race in the Scottish referendum, where polls have the Yes and No sides running neck in neck with the Yes having a momentum surge. Rumours are that some individuals and businesses are shifting assets south of the border, just in case. Preparations.

I sat in my prayer window this morning and was amazed at the intense activity of dozens of birds, mostly swallows, swooping and swallowing breakfast to fuel them for today, and beyond, for they will soon line up and head south. 

Signs of the times. Jesus told us to be alert and to be aware of the signs of the times. Why? So we can recognise him and hear his voice and follow his lead. There are many ominous signs globally right now, with wars and rumours of wars, famines and murders and natural disasters. 

Much insecurity. Much to inspire fear.

But Jesus told us not to be afraid. Fear negates faith and faith drives out fear. I know I’d rather live and walk in faith than to be cowed and paralysed by fear.

So we’re not to be afraid but what else? We are to be ready, like the virgins trimming their lamps which were full of oil. We have a part to play in world events which involves more than sitting at the side and waiting for rescue. We are to be storing up truth, promises from Scripture, and speaking them out. 

There is power in the spoken word. We are not to believe the devil’s lies, but resist them and speak out the truth which Jesus is, which he has shown us. 

Speak out the truth. Speak words of life. There is power of life in the tongue. Use your tongue today to speak life into situations which seem dead. Speak life into relationships, into hopelessness, into political situations. 

Speak life. Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full. Be filled with the Spirit and overflowing to all those around you. Faith. Hope. Love. Powerful weapons in the armour of God.