I have found great strength and guidance in this prayer (attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr) over the last few weeks. Acceptance and trust, rather than genuine and well meaning fixing words, seem to be key at the moment.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

Living one day at a time – rather than trying to second guess and map out the next few months, or even years, so much so that I forget that I live now, in the here and now, in the present

Enjoying one moment at a time … savouring the delight of that moment of joy, really savouring and noticing the blessing I received from this event, story or person … rather than rushing on blindly and empty to the next thing

Accepting hardship … really accepting it rather than getting annoyed when God does not take it away or make it better … in the hardship, in the wilderness, in the silence is often where we encounter God and ourselves. And if that does not convince me … Jesus was on a cross …. sheesh!

Taking this world as he did …. loving it, caring for it, valuing it, weeping over it … not simply enduring it, or tolerating it until a shiny bright painless heaven comes along …. but really investing and loving what we have now

Trusting … letting God be God, letting God work in God time, rather than trying to force God’s hand with shouty prayers and great deeds which we control and direct …. but, if you like, giving up our agendas … and handing over control

reasonably happy here …. and supremely happy with God … who is here, now, in the present, current. we should expect no more and no less

Amen …. agreed! …. yes … so be it

I’ve ended last week and started this week by meeting up with two special people.

On Friday it was great to meet up with Jeremy who is now vicar at St Paul’s Stratford. We trained together on the Pioneer track and Jeremy’s parish is just about to grow from 5000 to 23000 when the Olympic village opens to those renting and buying.

It was great, and welcomed, to share with each other where we were and the options ahead of us, life and stuff … all over good coffee from grind in Westfields. Apart from anything else it was good to catch up with my good friend and this was the best way to end my week.

For various reasons my week today started with a long walk in and around Edenbridge. I woke distressed by something I experienced over the weekend and realised I needed to give myself space and time to reflect on what was happening. It just so happens today I had already booked to see my spiritual director, Sister Diane, at Edenbridge. Edenbridge was also the location of my pre-ordination retreat so I thought it was as good a place as any for me to find space and so I walked a walk I did on the day before my ordination.

I cant say my head massively cleared … there was no bolt of clarity, but then my experience of God has been that the slow steady stuff has stayed with me, and that the lightning bolt type stuff is effervescent in its timescale.

My time with Sr Diane was, however, golden time as far as enabling me to reflect on what is happening and where God is in my everyday life. Sr Diane was pretty tough with me today on getting me to identify how I was feeling and what God may be saying through that. She then pushed me into what I needed to do next in response to the leading of God.

I am always amazed at the clarity, wisdom and prophetic edge that Sr Diane brings …. a pretty good way to start the week.

If there’s a moral to my post – speak with people. Not often, but now and again, some young person has asked the ‘how have you kept going’ question. There are no easy answers – but PART, and only part, is other people and making ourselves accountable to others. I don’t mean bet over the head accountability – but more of having relationships where people are given permission to challenge and question what you are doing as well as the right to make suggestions.

In my opinion we can do lots of prayers, and lots of bible study, and even lots of mission … and all those things are great. But …. I think I have found that if we do not bring people around us who care enough to challenge and even upset us then what we do does not seem to last very long.

So people … you know who you are  – THANKS!

… you bring up gluttony, greed, gossip, slavery, divorce, …..

sadly i think Rachel nails this subject pretty much … and she both challenges and saddens me.

Challenges as it causes me to ask ‘what can I personally do to be part of the answer?’ and saddens me as  I believe the truth of what she writes is simply and plainly sad ….

read her blog post here

I have been catching up a little of blog reading and reflection. One of my favourite blogs is Jamie the Very Worst Missionary. Her writings connect in a real way and it is refreshing to hear an honest account of how ‘ministry, calling, a life of mission, or whatever you wish to a call it impacts on your life and the life of others. You will not find any of those quick fix cheesy one liners which soem use to try and fix things that don’t necessarily need fixing on this blog. I guess what I find rereshing here is the realistic approach to the pain of ministry.

Anyway … this blog post is really challenging and Jamie ends with a question and a challenge: If the Church is to lead people to the foot of the Cross, then we better have a damn good answer when the world asks, “Um, excuse me. Where is the Sanctuary?

Go read the rest of the article … I think this is a massive challenge to all involved in church …. then lets think about the answer ….

I had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend for lunch today to chat about God stuff and the gathering. It’s always quite exciting for me to ‘connect’ with someone that simply ‘gets’ what we are trying to do and where we are coming from faith wise.

As I’ve Examen (d) my day the John Taylor quote from Primal Vision has infused my head like some strong perfume that just wont drift away. It’s not that I have ever forgotten this quote, it is one of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite books on mision, but today it has been re-awoken in some fresh way:

“The Christian, who stands in that world in the name of Christ, has nothing to offer unless they offer to be present, really and totally present, really and totally in the present. The failure of so many ‘professional’ Christian has been that they are ‘not all there!’

That challenges me at a time when I am now itching to get moving on the project of having a Christian presence in the High Street. It has caused me to, rightly, wonder whether I am ‘all there’ when I am with the people I see weekly, sometimes daily, for very similar conversations. Taylor has yet again reminded me that it’s not about buildings, projects, plans, activities or even servant hearted social action stuff. This is all about people and needs to remain about people and needs to be driven by people.

So … thank you friends I have seen today and John Taylor for allowing God to speak through you today and into my life.

Part of my day a week role as one of the assistant missioners of the MACE team is to teach on the MSM course. Initially I was a bit sceptical, as I am for all ‘published schemes’ with their one size fits all approach. With the MSM course, however, I am pleased to say I have been proved wrong. It is a very good course and I would recommend it to anyone wondering about starting some new pioneering or fresh expression of work. If you are part of a small team from a church, or a small group of Christians with a desire to see something happen in your area then the MSM course is a really good way to mull over theories and different practices and, of course, learn from each other.

Modules such as vision and call, listening for mission, leadership, discipleship, handling opposition …. the list could go on ….. but these modules give an excellent foundation to work from. Some of it pioneers will know, some of it they will have forgotten, but all will learn and value from looking at this stuff together.

Certainly, in Rochester Diocese we are looking for people from local churches to enrol on next years coure. So … if you are part of a team that is thinking about this stuff then maybe you should get in touch. We might even be able to do a deal on cost …. although I obviously can’t make any guarantees!

For the next two days I am going to be at Kings Park and attending the MSM consultation for the MACE team. I’m looking forward to meeting some new people and learning some new stuff. I’m also looking forward to to re-visiting Kings Park … I was last there on the very first Brainstormers Conference, which has long been Youthwork The Conference …. and our speaker was Steve Chalk …. and I was still in my 20’s … and that was a long time ago!

There’s been a lot of words flying around Twitter, Facebook and blogs recently. In my ‘humble’ opinion some people have spouted without thinking or take soundbites that sound good at the time but, when reflected upon, sound hollow, shallow or just plain empty.

It seems everyone wants to have their say, get their opinion out, let us know exactly what they are doing, where they are doing it, and who thy are doing it with. Sometimes i think there is a hint of a suspicion of bigging one self up by trying to impress. And … yes … i have also been guilty of this and probably will be again in the not too distant future.

There is so much noise around and so many people and ‘experts’ telling us what we must do, think, eat, wear, read, listen to. Many people telling us what brand is best, which author to look out for, which shops to boycott, which party to vote for. We are bombarded with images that allure us to believe we will be more efficient, more attractive, slimmer, be more popular with this one particular item. We are duped into thinking our lives are incomplete without the latest gadget, or car, or toy, or upgrade that becomes obsolete the minute it is released and leaves us incomplete again.

This whole outlook, which has crept into the church, is slowly stifling us. Noise, spoken and unspoken, grows around us un-noticed. The weeds of ‘what if’ and the thistles of ‘I deserve’ are sucking us dry of life. It’s as if we are being embalmed in noise!

Which is why I have been immensely challenged by the recent actions of my friend Jonny Baker recently who went offline and spent 8 days on a silent retreat.

Jonny has logged about his experience …. you can read the first one here …and then can just carry on reading his other posts ….  they are well worth the read and consideration … there is a fair bit of wise insight here

In one post Jonny quotes Desert Father Amononas, ‘I have shown you the power of silence, how thoroughly it heals and how fully pleasing it is  to God’

Our silence is pleasing to God ….. in fact our noise is too as there is no guilt trip here …  we already please God …. but maybe we need to consider and embrace more silence ….  recognising the still small voice of the Creator …. hearing the voice that resonates deep within …. chiming with that recognition that sparks life within …. bringing us back to the people we are created to be…..

A few things have changed in my life over the last few months. Over the last couple of weeks a few more things have changed.

I have left the prison as chaplain. As things started to gain momentum in Gillingham I was becoming increasingly aware that I felt ‘out of place’ at the prison I was in. I don’t think this was a fault of anyone, or anything, but rather my feelings of being misplaced was simply God’s way of telling me that it was time to devote more time to the stuff I am called to do in Gillingham. The prison was taking me out of Gillingham twice a week, and did not really connect with any of the other stuff I was doing.

So … did I hear God wrong for this ministry? I have never stayed at a place for such a short space of time. Was I wrong? Or am I now being disobedient and should I have stayed? I don’t think I heard God wrong. I believe this was the right thing to do for 8 months, but now it is the right time to move. I don’t know why, or rather I did not know at the time, why I should be moving.

This week, I started a day a week chaplaincy at a local secondary school. It felt so right being in that school this week. If I felt ‘out of place’ in the prison, the exact opposite was my experience in the school. I felt so ‘in place’ it was unreal, backed up by the reaction of people towards me. I consider myself to be there as a servant and I was immediately able to serve people by listening and being a support. The day rushed by and I felt a groan rush up inside me as the bell for the end of the day sounded.

I believe God has led me to this place. I feel more connected in this place, and this role leaves me in the centre of Gillingham which is where I feel I am called to be at this point in time.

In reality none of this makes sense. It does not look good on a CV to leave somewhere after a few months. It does not make sense to leave a place that is paying you well. But … I follow a God who does not always make sense … I follow a God who spoke from a burning bush …. I follow a God who gave a donkey the ability to speak … I follow a God who left the amazingness of heaven to be born in the crap and dirt of  stable … I follow a God who died to conquer death … I follow a God of mystery …. why should I expect things to always make sense?

Often we can think that because Aung Sang Suu Kyi has been freed, that the situation is Burma is now ok. It’s better, but is worth remembering that when Suu Kyi ws recently asked where Burma now as on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of democracy, she replied ‘working towards 1’. This is the latest update from Burma Campaign UK. Please write the letter if you feel able .. it won’t take long, but will make a massive difference. Thanks.

Dear friend

Political Prisoner jailed since 1999 must be freed!

There are still hundreds of political prisoners in Burma’s jails and all the repressive laws that put them in prison still remain in place.

Aung Naing is an activist from Burma, and he is a son of U Kyaw Min, who is a former political prisoner.  In 1999, Aung Naing was arrested for his involvement in a student protest the previous year. He was falsely accused of possessing drugs and charged under the Narcotics Act. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison with hard labour in Insein Prison. Take action to free Aung Naing here.

In 2005, his family members, including his father, were arrested and Aung Naing was put on trial again along with his family. They all were charged with two counts including under Section 18 of the 1982 Citizenship Law with the accusation of obtaining Burmese citizenship and concealing their Rohingya origins. The entire family is from the Rohingya ethnic minority group.

The Citizenship Law introduced by General Ne Win in 1982 is not compatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or with Burma’s legal obligations under international treaties. It arbitrarily stripped many people in Burma of the right to citizenship.

According to the verdict from the 2005 trial, 17 more years were added to Aung Naing’s existing 26-year prison sentence. However, due to a Presidential amnesty, Aung Naing received a reduction on his prison sentence to 17 years. His family were released in 2012 but he still remains in jail. According to his family members, he has been suffering from heart problems and he urgently needs an eye operation.

Please write to British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP asking him to take action to secure the immediate release of Aung Naing and for the release of all of Burma’s remaining political prisoners:

Thank you.
Wai Hnin
Burma Campaign UK

A few years ago, I found Cheryl at Hold This Space. Her creativity has made me both laugh and cry and a lot of her words have inspired me. This website oozes challenging creativity. I found her writing today to be something that every Christian would no doubt be immensely challenged by.

If we choose ‘Christian’ as our identity
and as our community
then we are actively giving up the right to choose how we treat other people.
We are actively giving up the right to pre-judge another person, or a group of people
We are giving up the right to condemn.We are actively giving up the right to think we are better,

read it all here