| The Church of the South Pacific |
Acts 10:9-16 Wrote:9 About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 Then he heard a voice saying, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ 14 But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.’ 15 The voice said to him again, a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ 16 This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven. I deviate from my devotional material, which continues on the theme of sacrifice, to a thought I had a couple of months ago and I have been meaning to write about. It's a thought about politics and our deeply tribal, politicised culture. We live in an era where whatever we say, we are almost instantly labelled, so that we might be categorised according to the political schema of our time and then either listened to and welcomed or vilified and ignored. A good example of this (and there are many to choose from across the whole political spectrum, so please don't think I'm taking a side with this), might be the recent career of J.K. Rowling, whose - I believe - heartfelt and reasoned but certainly not compassionate stance against certain trans rights has resulted in her being vilified by much of the progressive Left, despite having mostly belonged before this. I've written about nuance before and this is related to that, but I want to speak about it more strongly in relation to God and the passage quoted above, which forms part of an historic crossing of boundaries as the gospel is transmitted from a solely Jewish culture into gentile Greek culture. Peter has this dream just before getting an opportunity to speak to a God-fearing gentile about Jesus and the dream is clearly intended to prepare him for the taboo he is about to face -a Jewish man entering a gentile house, not to mention the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob choosing to reveal himself to a gentile. God presents Peter with a different taboo subject: the eating of ceremonially unclean animals, as forbidden in the Torah. Peter rejects the unclean food, as he has been taught, but God's message to him is surprising: "What God has made clean, you must not profane." I believe we live in a society that runs according to the opposite rule: "What we have declared profane, you must not honour", and it does so because we have reduced people to a set of ideas we either agree with or don't and, increasingly, if we disagree significantly with any one thing, then that's it. The line has been crossed. The weight has been found wanting. Now, perhaps ironically, this is how God appears to be with sin, particularly in the Old Testament. As I said last night, no matter the good we might do in the world, we are not perfect and perfection is God's standard, so any slip up (and an honest person will realise that we fail to be perfect constantly) is enough to condemn us. The difference with God is that he has always offered an alternative, firstly in the sacrificial system of Judaism and now, ultimately, in the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Both of these systems offer forgiveness for sin and reconciliation with God, just as was being offered to the 'unclean' gentiles through Peter. An equivalent attitude of understanding and forgiveness does not seem to be common in our culture, today, however. So, whilst for many today the Church of Christ seems irrelevant or even immoral and not worth listening to, I believe we still have a role to play in the politics of our world, not by taking any one side, but by following the path we believe is right according to God and yet treating those who disagree (and because we're human and fallible, sometimes that will include other Christians) with respect and dignity, understanding and forgiveness, for God forgave us first and offered us the chance to be judged more kindly than against pure ideological perfection. And though, of course, we get it wrong - perhaps more often than not - we are still "What God has made clean..." and we must treat others likewise. How much do you show forgiveness in politics? Do you ever consider what you have in common with your political opposites? Is there any room for understanding when the stakes in politics seem so high? What might it feel like to be forgiven and accepted in your imperfection, ideological or otherwise? Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond! Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi. Salma 145:8
Tonight's reading was about Brendan the Voyager. An Irish Saint, at one point in charge of over three thousand monks, Brendan believed Good was calling him to set sail across the western ocean, truly the great unknown, with no destination vouchsafed to him. Brendan did just that with fourteen followers and the Voyage of Brendan, as it's known became a fantastical tale filled with miracles and allegory. Whatever you make of that, the voyage itself - Brendan leaving Ireland with his fourteen to sail into the great waves of the Atlantic - probably happened, which means Brendan really believed in God's calling him on that journey, with nothing guaranteed to him.
This is, like all the examples I've read about this week, a kind of sacrifice, or martyrdom. The Celts categorised three kinds of martyrdom, white, green and red, with only the latter involving actual death. The others were to do with sacrificing part or all of your life to spiritual discipline and the work of God. Brendan's decision to obey God's call was one of these lesser martyrdoms, but with the possibility of becoming red martyrdom as his tiny boat was tossed about on the massive ocean. But this account is also about journeying, something that was also deeply important to Celtic Christians. They believe in the importance of peregrinatio, of journeying with and for God, both physically and inwardly. I see my vocational discernment process as a journey, one God has called me to make, but He hasn't guaranteed the outcome, only that the journey must be made and that it will change me. Much of the time, I like to think I know what the outcome will be, but, in truth, even if I'm selected for training and eventually ordained, there's no telling where God will send me next, what people I will work with or for or against. I have to trust that He will land me safely on some far shore, the mountains of which I cannot so much as glimpse upon the horizon. And it may yet be that I'm thrown off what I see as my intended course and land back where I started, with only the journey itself - and me - having changed. That too I must trust to God. But I'm not special. We are all on journeys, afterall, and none of us knows what great adventures or terrors lie over the next swell. And perhaps we think it is our journey which we have plotted, or perhaps we feel we are merely letting the waves themselves take us wherever they may lead. But I believe that God is ultimately in charge and that, if we let Him, He'll lead us towards His kingdom - not a place, but a way of being, of living, of building society and culture and of caring and supporting and nurturing others. His kingdom is the one true destination we are all trying to reach, whether we know it or not, but the journey is not always easy and you cannot arrive unchanged. I'm reminded of an ancient Egyptian blessing, which I only know because Commander Ivanova quotes it in an episode of Babylon 5. "May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places you must walk." And I would add, "May He lead you safely into His Kingdom on the other side." Do you see your life, or some phase of your life, as a journey? Do you believe in destiny or fate, or that some hand guides the paths you walk? Did you ever feel called to make a journey you don't expect? Did you make it? What happened? What do you feel is the destination towards which you're headed? What will you do when you get there? Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond! Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi. Salma 145:8
Tonight's reading asked me to think about my Christian life and contemplate how it could be 'more', after describing how the ascetic Celtic monastic rules had been seen as 'heroic Christianity' by the Franks in contrast to the more urbane Christianity of the continental Latin church.
I think we all spend our lives looking for something 'more': more money, more success, more knowledge, more talent, more pleasure, more friends, more time, more love, more meaning. Whatever our particular 'more' is, it is often elusive or ephemeral. No sooner do we think that we may have found it, than it proves unsatisfying, not enough. Though the Christian faith is often advertised as a remedy for such thinking, it too has within it a yearning for more: more love, more joy, more peace, more patience, more goodness, more faithfulness, more gentleness, more self-control; to choose but one scriptural list of possible 'more' goals (the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5). Ultimately, we long for more God, but not because we are unsatisfied with Him - we know and have experienced that He does satisfy - but rather with ourselves, for we can never hold onto our perfect Lord for long. Christ may have defeated sin, but as long as we live on earth it still gets in the way. So we do long for ways to be better Christians and, it's true, some of the steps we might take along the way end up being backwards rather than forwards. Still, though there is much we find hard to find up and many virtues we struggle to develop, there is something attractive about that heroic, self-sacrificing Christianity. Early on in my vocational journey, I read a book about Deacons, the lowest of the three ordained orders. The word deacon comes from a Greek word meaning servant and this book stressed the servant nature of Deacons, whilst pointing out that Bishops and Priests are still Deacons, too. They are all servants. Christ was a servant to his followers. Heroic, self-sacrificing, servant, Christ-like faith... Another list, another set of 'more's. If there's one thing that separates this Christian yearning from a more worldly one, it's that the true object of our yearning - Christ - is also the one who is with us, like a personal trainer, helping to build us up in an those things, so that more is truly possible and our own limitations need not limit our development. I long for my Christianity'to be 'more'and I pray Christ will carry me there. What do you long for more in your life? Do you feel like you will ever be satisfied? Does dissatisfaction drive you as a positive or negative force? What would have to change for you to long for God? How might such a longing change you? Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond! Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi. Salma 145:8
(02-27-2021, 07:10 PM)Seraph Wrote: Does dissatisfaction drive you as a positive or negative force?For me, its both. Or, better worded, sometimes one, sometimes the other. There are times when Im dissatisfied with where I am, so I put my head down and power through. Then, when I look up to see how far Ive made it, the lack of forward motion (Relient K anyone?) and progression is VERY disheartening. Thats when I usually feel like giving up the most. Right now, 52 weeks into what we were told was going to be a "short 6-week quarantine," Im struggling (along with countless others) to find satisfaction in anything - not even spending time drawing myself closer to God. And its not about the time, its about finding the motivation.
"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011 One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium (02-27-2021, 08:20 PM)Rebeltopia Wrote:(02-27-2021, 07:10 PM)Seraph Wrote: Does dissatisfaction drive you as a positive or negative force?For me, its both. Or, better worded, sometimes one, sometimes the other. There are times when Im dissatisfied with where I am, so I put my head down and power through. Then, when I look up to see how far Ive made it, the lack of forward motion (Relient K anyone?) and progression is VERY disheartening. Thats when I usually feel like giving up the most. I guess, in the end, that's were discipline comes in. Making something a habit in spite of motivation is a challenge, but, from my own experience (and I am really demotivated) it's definitely worth it. I find that setting time aside for this helps motivate me in other areas as well and has made the pandemic a more bearable experience also (though, I'll freely admit, I am only really looking forward to the end of this for the sake of others). I'll be praying that you can manage your motivation and find a pattern of prayer and worship that works for you. In the meantime, there's always here. 
Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond! Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi. Salma 145:8
Mark 8:31-38 Wrote:31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ When Jesus speaks of His death in the passage above, Peter is appalled, for, thinking in purely human terms, he sees death as defeat, but Jesus goes on to explain to His disciples that death, of one sort or another, is actually part of what it means to follow him. It's a perplexing lesson and one the disciples will not truly understand until after Jesus' crucifixion. I wrote, earlier, about how the Celtic Christians acknowledged three different kinds of martyrdom, only one of which actually involved physical death. They understood how giving one's life to Christ at all, whether in following a rule of life, giving up titles and privileges, heading into monasticism or journeying into the unknown, was all a kind of death: a death to oneself, or at least the self you had previously built up and honoured. Jesus speaks of denying oneself, and we might readily interpret that as 'denying ourselves stuff', and of course it may mean that, but Jesus doesn't actually use that wording. What we are to deny isn't our right to luxuries, but rather our very selves: to live as if we were not at all! That's a hard thing to take in, especially in an age very aware of the rights of the individual, in which we are encouraged to deny ourselves nothing that we can attain through legitimate means (and sometimes beyond even that). We are increasingly taught to be honest about our needs and desires and to seek them out for self-fulfillment. Loving ourselves, after all, is the first step to loving anyone else. You're probably expecting me to reject all that, now that I've built it up in opposition to the passage, and certainly Christians across the ages have done just that, proclaiming that a focus on our own desires is sinful and wrong. I think it's rather more complex and subtle than that, however. From the perspective of the individual, it makes perfect sense to seek fulfillment and there can be genuine issues, such as mental ill health, which can come about from denying who we are and what we want in life. I don't believe Jesus is about suppressing or condemning the individual in that way, however, and my reason for thinking so is how he dealt with his own rights. When the time is right, Jesus becomes pretty upfront about who he is and what that really means, yet he still does not take what is due to him, but rather follows His father's plan, even though it means His own painful and ignominious death. As the early Christian hymn that Paul quotes in Philippians puts it, Philippians 2:6b-8 Wrote:though he was in the form of God, Jesus does not demand his rights, but denies them, both in obedience to God the Father and for the sake of the rest of us and it's this latter I want to emphasise. Many of the issues non-Christians have with the idea of self-denial is the thought that we should suppress something of ourselves for the sake of God. Increasingly, there are many who would see such an attitude as immoral and, of course, if you do not believe in God, it's hard to disagree. But, for the sake of argument, what if we removed God, temporarily, from the equation, what are we left with? There's still the community picture to look at beyond the individual and the idea, which resonates with me, that in denying ourselves we meet work towards fulfilling the needs and desires of others. In this context, then, focus on the self is… well… selfish and it's there that Jesus accusation of an unfaithful and sinful generation hits home and that's also where mere secular ideologies which contain similar thinking (like some kind of Socialism) often fall down. In a perfect society, then, we would all be fulfilled and whole because we would all be working to make sure that is the case. Our natural selfishness, however, means that this is far from a perfect society and human nature may forever prevent it from being so, but Christianity (to bring God back in) is essentially a utopian religion, for the Kingdom of God which Christians are helping to build is just that perfect society, held together by a perfect God and a perfected humanity. But to build this Kingdom and to honour the God who inspires it, enables it, and for whose sake it will be completed, we must make sacrifices. We simply cannot create a society of mutual dependence and support without first offering that support without reciprocity. Instead, we must draw on God for our needs to be met and we make Him (and His utopian goals) our desire, putting all else aside. This means two things: firstly that there will be times when we acknowledge a right or a healthy desire and yet do not seek to take it up or have it fulfilled, but rather deny ourselves and focus on God and His Kingdom instead, for His sake and for the good of others; secondly, it means that God is actually worth it, for He isn't some heavenly killjoy, bent on repressing our genuine expression of ourselves, but rather He is with us to see us and all humanity fulfilled in a much deeper and more lasting way. God is, in many ways, the ultimate activist. Of course, this is still a hard lesson to learn, much like the level of self denial society is beginning to learn it needs to combat climate change, and we will probably spend our entire lives trying to learn it, occasionally fighting against it, but we are fortunate that have a God who loves us and who will help us as we do so, if only we would turn to Him and ask it of Him. We must, it's true, deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him anew every day. Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond! Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi. Salma 145:8
You might have noticed from my signature, but the Church of the South Pacific has a Discord server which exists with the hope of creating a community of discussion and also prayer. It's not very active right now, though that's slowly changing, and, tonight, there has been some discussion about prayer, which led me to think that that's what this reflection should be upon.
Prayer is a difficult topic for many. For most of my Christian life I have felt that I am not "good enough" at prayer, that there had somehow been something missing from my prayer life and, to be fair, there probably was to some degree, but I do not think it was what I feared it might be. You see, I was given a model of prayer by those around me in Protestant Evangelicalism (which is by no means wholly nor solely guilty of this) in which fervent prayer is lengthy and detailed and, if you didn't know what you wanted to say and couldn't stretch it out much, could make the idea of praying aloud in a group setting very intimidating and praying in your own quiet time? Somehow that still made you feel inadequate. Now, there's nothing wrong with that kind of prayer in itself, but it's certainly not the only, nor necessarily the best kind of prayer, depending on the situation and, I would argue, the person praying. Prayer is relating to God and, whilst it's easy to get fixated on formalities in such a situation, God knows we're all different and that we don't even relate to each other in the same ways, nevermind to one who knows us infinitely more intimately. So, what should prayer contain? Jesus gives us a basic formulation, which it is always helpful to pray if you have nothing else, in the 'Our Father' or 'Lord's Prayer'. This has been adapted into liturgy (the 'script' of worship) by churches ancient and modern and the version I pray regularly looks like this: The Lord's Prayer Wrote:Our Father in heaven, Some of that is extended from Jesus' words, but the form is there and that tells us quite a lot. There is adoration: worshipping God, and seeking His will for the world. There is supplication: seeking the fulfillment of need. There is reconciliation: seeking forgiveness for the wrong things we do and the detent to forgive others. There is deliverance: protection from the lure of sin and the evil in the world. All these things can and should be prayed for, in whatever way seems best, but they aren't all that we can pray. Jesus famously prays to have the looming suffering of execution and death taken from Him, but only if His father wills it and this type of prayer might seem familiar to anyone who has prayed with a group of other believes, but Jesus is also often seen giving thanks in the gospels, often just before eating and these brief prayers of thanksgiving are also important. Jesus also spends a lot of time throughout the gospels alone, particularly early in the morning, and these prayers we rarely get to hear. Perhaps there were no words at all? There is certainly something to be said for just sitting in God's presence, allowing yourself to be aware of Him and of your own need. There are also formal prayers, like the Lord's Prayer, various rosaries, the offices of morning and evening prayer and many more, which can give you words to pray and scripture to digest even when it's the last thing you feel like. Including such things in the rhythm of a Rule of Life can be helpful ways of making sure you pray regardless of what words you have within you. Some formal prayers focus on repetition and some are even very short and designed to be repeated over and over again, mantra-like. These too have value. I like the Jesus Prayer from the Orthodox tradition: The Jesus Prayer Wrote:Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, It's designed to be repeated over and over in silence, alongside your breathing, but focusing on the meaning of the words so that they never become mere syllables. The idea is that, in invoking the name of Jesus, we draw closer to Him in silence. I find it helpful for managing anxiety and reminding me of Christ's presence and my own condition. There are yet many other ways to pray, like Taizé prayer, for example, which I do not have the experience to go into, but I would encourage anyone struggling with prayer to just give it a go and try different things. Start with a regular practice of saying the Lord's Prayer, maybe, and work from there. The important thing is not to treat it like summoning a genie, but rather to allow yourself to be transformed in the presence of God (because, after all, He already knows what you need). Sometimes, the best thing to pray is simply, "teach me how to pray". We are promised that He is listening. Do you ever pray? Do you have a particular style or pattern? Do you pray at set times or just when it occurs to you? Have you ever been particularly aware of the presence of God? What would it mean to you to experience that? What ways might you try to change your prayer life or perhaps you might be considering trying prayer for the first time? Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond! Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi. Salma 145:8
This week, my book of devotional reflections for Lent is looking at how the ancient Celtic monastic communities and modern New Monastic communities all thrive on a Rule of Life, a set of rules by which to live, safeguarding oneself from certain sins and sticking rigourously to the spiritual disciplines of prayer and the study of scripture. There have been many such Rules of Life and many individuals have produced their own personal versions for daily life.
It was recommended to me by my Spiritual Director (someone I meet with on a semi-regular basis to hold my spirituality to account and keep it fresh) that I should attempt to develop my own, so I've been considering this over the past few months, trying to determine what my Rule of Life should be for this period of my life. So far, I've focused mainly on sticking to the offices of morning and night prayer and relying on the Jesus Prayer throughout the day, but this is really only the beginning of a Rule. In my efforts to research existing Rules, I came across a great resource from Practicing the Way - a Rule of Life Workbook - designed to help you make the necessary decisions to pin down a Rule that works for you. If any of what I've been writing about for the last two weeks had interested you, then you might like to check it out. Another thing that really spoke to me, however, is the very simple, yet challenging Rule of the Northumbria Community. Their Rule is summed up in two words: Availability and vulnerability. As I said, simple, but challenging, because to be available means to be open to the needs of others and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Vulnerability is openeness, too, but an emotional rather than practical one, which lets others in and allows God to change us, even though designer could be very painful. Though my own Rule is far from pinned down, I think that I would like to adopt these two words into it. They are certainly part of how I want the Church of the South Pacific to be. Do you operate by a Rule of some sort, secular or religious? How important do you think it is to live by a disciplined routine? Could you accept the Rule of another? Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond! Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi. Salma 145:8
In the Church of England's 'Live Lent' reflection for today, we read about Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well and the power of her sharing her story and I was left to think about what part of my story might I share here that perhaps I haven't already. The obvious one is how I became a Christian at all and so, briefly, I will try to tell it.
I grew up in a nominally Protestant family in Northern Ireland. I had churchgoing relatives, but, aside from one Sunday before we had even moved to NI, when my mother dropped me into Sunday school so that she could attend a local service, no one in my household went to church of considered themselves "religious" in any way. My primary school was typical for Northern Ireland in that it has religious assemblies and regularly taught Bible stories in class. I learned them as stories with no deeper meaning for me, though I knew people in my class who took them very seriously. I was, instead, interested in science. I wanted to understand how the world worked and to learn all kinds of different things. Separately, I was interested in magic and mythology, crystals and talismans and whatever else was shiny and mystical (though I didn't really believe). I think I was fairly unpromising as potential converts go. It wasn't until the summer before I started secondary school that things changed, but when they did they did so dramatically. My new school rab a camp for all the boys going into first form to help them get to know one another and some of the staff. The staff running the camp were Christians, as were the older boys serving as leaders and in the evening there was a time of worship. Perhaps 'code this was NI, none of this felt strange, but my reaction to it was. As the gospel was explained to me, night by night, I found that suddenly I cared about it a lot and felt that I needed to do something about it. I joined the evening prayer groups and sought to understand what I was getting into, but most of all just wanted to talk to God and find out if He was really there. I was eventually led to pray for Jesus to come into my life, though I tried to make a bit of deal out of it. I wanted a sign before I fully committed. When I got home from that camp my brother, who is ten years older than me, was suddenly hanging out with a bunch of new friends. These friends turned out to be Christians from the local Pentecostal church. He had met them and been convinced by them in the course of the very same week that I had been away and I would never have believed my brother to be the type. I was pretty convinced. In the years that followed, I would find myself often interested in apologetics, the defence of religion, particularly against arguments from science. I wanted to show that my belief was rational and that science and religion didn't have to argue. I still believe all that, but it was only a few years ago that it got me that that wasn't what brought me to faith. When I think back to those evenings at the camp what hits me is not clever, convincing argument, but rather stories and characters, but most of all the powerful image of Christ on the cross, suffering for my sin. It was that image, that act of Christ, above all else, that brought me to Him and which still brings me back daily to bask in His love and grace. What has been your experience of Christianity, church or the gospel? What do you think you would need to be convinced? What might really convince you, deep down, if you were really honest? What do you think you might most need from God? Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond! Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi. Salma 145:8
I had a rocky day, today. I had to come face to face, in a way I've never done before, with one of my worst traits. I had to own it when I would have much rather put it away again in some dark corner of my mind to gather dust. But the Bible teaches that we must face these things about ourselves - the wrong, harmful things we do against God, other people or even ourselves - the things we call sin.
It was a rocky day because, once aired, I felt I could not shake it. I felt the shame and guilt of it clinging to me all day and it set off my anxiety. Now, shame and guilt are emotions people commonly associate with Christianity, but at this point I need to be clear - it was me bringing these feelings back to the fore all the time, not God, nor was it demanded of me by bmy faith or by anyone else. It was just me, dealing with the consequences of things I had done which I really wish I hadn't. You see, I've repented of these things long ago and I am assured that I have been forgiven, for God has promised forgiveness for those who repent and ask for it. But forgiveness of sin is not elimination of consequences and it doesn't mean that I am automatically free of my own self-recriminations. Sometimes, we all have to learn the acceptance of forgiveness. Christianity is a strange thing in that it offers humiliation for the arrogant, but exhaltation for the humble. When we think we've got everything sussed and we don't need God, He reminds us that we are dust and that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, but when we come to Him in repentance, He reminds us that Christ died for us because He loves us and He will seat us with him at God's right hand. This paradox of abasement and exhaltation is one we must hold in tension in our lives, so that we never think we are better than other people and never think we are worthless. Today, I feel that I've been reminded of my wretchedness and perhaps I'm wallowing in that a little, but though I struggle to feel it today, I know too that Christ dwells within me and clothes me in His righteousness and loves me so much. Today I just have to trust that, as I struggle to accept the gift of forgiveness. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to live it again. What secret shames do you have that you'd rather no one knew? What would it mean to tell someone who loved you utterly and would forgive you, if you asked? Can you hold the ideas of abasement and exhaltation in tension in your life, or do you lean more towards one than the other? Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond! Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi. Salma 145:8
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