Parties

 Should a party raise anxiety for the host? Ideally, no, it should be a carefree occasion for all to enjoy the food, the drink, the company, the ambience. But there's always the niggle- 'is there enough food?' why didn't John and Fiona turn up?' 'is it warm enough?'..........

Presumably this was part of the context which motivated Martha to ask Jesus to berate her sister Mary into helping with the hospitality (perhaps not a party) when Jesus and his followers came one day. She was not alone in that anxiety- it was one I shared earlier this week when Mary and I hosted a meal for twenty-some friends in celebration of our golden wedding anniversary.  

Jewish views of heaven all seem to centre around food, feasting, fellowship- a good time had by all, or at least, by all the righteous (even in this instance a word to beware of). God as the host. Presumably, in his perfection, without anxiety that all was as it should be. 

Well, I look forward to that, if only for the awe-inspiring spectacle of God's perfect enjoyment of it all. Now that will be something to see! 

A saint near here

 Not far from here, in the north of Anglesey where we are on holiday, is the reputed landing place of St Patrick, when he was shipwrecked in the year 440AD. A cave with fresh running water, at the bottom of the cliffs, gave him shelter and water until the storm was over. A church now stands at the top of the cliffs, marking the spot. 

Back then, the saints seemed to live larger, more heroic lives. Back anytime- I think of twentieth century saints who were martyred for the cause of Christ's justice and peace- they seemed to live those larger lives. But this is merely to display ignorance of the even larger number of saints who simply kept on keeping on, pursuing quiet lives of devotion to God, in all times and in all places.  And ignorance too of the unknown saints who are being called on in our generation to lead heroic lives in the face of injustice, warfare and want in many far from comfortable places far removed from Anglesey. 

Which leads us, or should, to prayer. 'Remember your church, Lord, in many lands, especially......' as the Eurcharistic prayer has it. We may be on holiday, but it is not a holiday from prayer. 

The Angels

(I wrote this before I checked the facts- I thought today was the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. It is celebrated on the 29th- this coning Thursday).

Odd that an angel should be a saint. But in another sense, quite fitting- a saint is a holy being, so why not? This commemoration is a reminder that there is a realm beyond the material. We practise our faith in the world of sight, sound, touch, smell, but conscious always that there is a 'beyond' which has a very present reality to us. We are, after all citizens of that 'state', dwelling here in this earthy domain. 

We do not know much of the citizenry of the heavenly realm, but that there should be messengers from there to here seems a reasonable assumption, and angels and powerful heavenly forces are those messengers. There is a 'wavelength' which aligns humanity and the angel world, and I am aware of it all to rarely. St. Michael's feast is a reminder that 'My soul, there is a country, Far beyond the stars, Where stands a winged sentry All skilful in the wars.......

May the angels who serve as a reminder of our citizenry elsewhere, guard us today, 

the sign of the cross

 J have been surprised, as I have occasionally peeked in, via the laptop, to the lying-in-state of our late Sovereign of happy memory, to see so many people make the sign of the cross, or an attempt at it, before the coffin as part of their mark of respect.  

I had no thought that the UK was so religious, Maybe it isn't; maybe it's what people think they should do. Maybe they think that, given the late Queen's faith, she would somehow appreciate a mark of faith from them. Whatever, it is heartening to see. 

The sign of the cross; the cross as a sign. Of God's activity in life, and in death. A sign I identify with as I make that sign over myself. More often, though I know technically how to make it, and make it often, I'm more like those who fumble, make an approximation of it. Given that my life will always be an approximation to what that cross means in the outworking of those who are content to make the sign on a regular basis, a fumble seems about right..  

The king

 For the past seventy years we have been used to the phrase 'the Queen' so that it's taking some getting used-to, to hear or see the words 'the King', such as on Friday night, when the strapline under Charles as he spoke to the nation via TV, was 'HM the King'. 

Yes, we know it's what he was born to become, but he's been waiting so long, and the queen seemed such a permanent fixture, that something of that expectation had slipped from this mind, at least. Well, the reality has arrived at long last for him. 

Christians can experience something of the same mindset with regard to the reality of Christ the King. We celebrate that feast on the last Sunday of the Christian year in mid-November, immediately before the beginning of Advent- an affirmation that Christ is all in all, is supreme and King in all creation. 

And yet, as we look around our very broken world, we know that in some deep sense, this is not so, at least not yet. And the temptation is maybe to downplay, forget, fail to see, possibly deny, the reality that Christ's triumph from the cross, his resurrection and ascension, has already taken place, and we are in the endgame, where the mop-up operation is taking place. 

Now and not yet. For Charles, the promise has been fulfilled. For us in the faith, we continue to pray 'Come Lord Jesus'. 

This time of year

 Although the church year begins in late November, it often feels to me, at least, as if the beginning of September- the new school year- has more of a sense of a new start about it. We caught Year 7 pupils walking to the High School on Friday morning, for their induction, without the rest of the school being there. Church activities which have been laid aside for the summer months begin again. It's difficult to resist the gearing-up feel which early September brings.

It's a reminder that the faith has about it that element of learning. Not just adding to the store of facts about the Bible, the peculiarities of this denomination as opposed to that one, and all the rest- it's about learning to inhabit the knowledge we already have. Living from the heart what one las learned in the head. 

In the end it's about wisdom. The getting of wisdom, the living from wisdom, the inhabiting the kingdom, the reification of all Jesus said about 'the kingdom of God', This requires more than school; it's about a change of heart and mind and soul which I find on no curriculum outside the faith.   

stumbling

(Apologies- I forgot to post this last Sunday)

Stumbling into heaven- it's struck me this week how apposite that is as an image of my pilgrimage. Unsure of the way, not very sure-footed when I do find the path, discovering it's all a surprise as the scenery open up before me,  tiring, even exhausting, wondering if I'll ever make it. 

I try not to be a tourist, with all the itinerary pre-planned, everything experienced through the microphone  of a guide, or from the hermetic seal of a coach window. More first hand, a bit riskier.. I think of a bus ride to Kampala, and having no idea how to negotiate the Kenyan-Ugandan border, afraid I would take so long ( the bus already three hours behind schedule) it would go without me. And the rest.....

There are landmarks, of course, places, people where the heart rises on seeing, meeting something familiar. In the faith it's usually the cross. Always a guarantee one is on, or near the right road. I stumble less near to it, although it often seems far from heaven. Nevertheless, it's some sort of guarantee I can stumble on ,continue with some degree of confidence.