Category Archives: faith

ancient …. future

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On Sunday the gathering well … err gathered as we do in the Crypt of Rochester Cathedral. The crypt, or more accurately the Ithamar Chapel, was a particularly great setting for us as we were looking at and trying out the ancient practices of Lectio Divina and The Examen. (We used our own version of the Examen which you can find here).

I think this time together for us was good in that it helps us as we ‘try to travel our journey of faith together while we listen’ as our website claims. Both of these practices, but particularly, for me, the Examen are great ways to connect with the Divine on a regular basis. Personally I use the Examen at either the start or the end of the day and often find myself excited or surprised at how I have met with God throughout normal everyday activities.

These are great ancient practices that can help us on our journey’s into the future.

what if Jesus really meant what he said?

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My thoughts have been following a theme recently; particularly since the video I posted on my last blogpost regarding Christians who seem top have lost the plot about who Jesus is, what he stands for and how Christians follow, or don’t follow, his example.

My wonderfully helpful mentor, Ian, suggested recently I read Shane Claiborne’s Irresistible Revolution. I enjoyed the book but was also made to feel incredibly uncomfortable as it is a thoroughly challenging read.

Thanks to Alice I have been been directed to this interview that Shane Claiborne gave to Esquire magazine when asked to address those who don’t believe. He reminds people of what the bible really says which sometimes gets him into a lot of trouble, such as:

‘It is so simple, but the pious forget this lesson constantly. God may indeed be evident in a priest, but God is just as likely to be at work through a prostitute … scripture is brimful of God using folks like a lying prostitute called Rahab and an adulterous king named David.’

As I said I am challenged by his words …. whether you have a faith or not, why not check out this article

As an add on comment, I guess I’m drawing attention to this because I am finding myself challenged in my role as part of the church, the Body of Christ. There is so much we can and should be doing, but we seem to make a mere scratch due to some political worry or other.

I believe the question in the title is a no brainer! Of course Jesus meant what he said … what I am asking is how do I follow and take those words seriously? I guess it’s the old question: ‘how can I live out my faith in the way Jesus would if he was here?’

Fan or Follower

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This has been going around the web …. it’s funny …. some will find it offensive …. WARNING – ‘F’ word alert at 1:13 … for me it kind of follows in some way from yesterday’s anger over children …. but today this is about the Christian view of violence …

As Christians do we take the commands of Jesus seriously, or not … are we followers or fans?

ascension reality?

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Today is Ascension Day.
It’s not a day I have ‘grown up’ with from my tradition.
It features more that I am now based at a cathedral.
But … its is an interesting ‘event’ and, as Maggi points out, it is an interesting account to approach.

I am not sure what this story is about.
I am not even sure how to explain it.
I’m sure it will mean different things to different people at different times.

I have led morning prayer and the eucharist today where I have been put in a position to have to think a little more about this day and what it means to me.

Today … I think it challenges me.
As Christ ascended and
‘a cloud received him out of their sight’
this story today challenges me to look
above, beyond, ahead.
It reminds me I don’t know what is coming
and in that reminder
I become more aware that things won’t be like this for ever

It encourages me
to lift my eyes up from the ground
to look towards the sky
to see afresh the beauty of creation
and to dream again of how things could be

It’s very easy to become immersed in the everyday
and to lose sight of the reality
that we are part of an amazing creation!

WWJ NOT D

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found this on James Lock via Digging a Lot
It shows the radical Christ we need to be following:

Christ said:
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind’
this is the first and great commandment.
The second is like it
‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets’

There is a lot of love there!

sea of sameness

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I love the sea.
I grew up by the sea.
My parents might even say I grew up IN the sea.
My whole teenage life was contained within the sea: fishing, sailing, swimming, canoeing …
If I could choose any holiday destination it would always be by the sea.
When I am struggling I love to sit in front of the sea.
When I am chilling I just love looking at the sea.
The sea can be my greatest time-waster.

There is something about the vastness of the sea which holds my attention, which draws me and which ‘holds’ me.
There is something about the immenseness of the sea set against my fragility that is chilling. 

I have noticed that I am really drawn into the sea when I find her at her most beautiful.
I think the sea is most beautiful when she is calm and flat, particularly on a bright sunny day or at sunset.

I seem to find the sea at her most beautiful when she is at her least interesting,
flat … calm … boring …
everyday …
but vast, and captivating, and alluring, and inviting
and did I mention vast
and attention holding yet …
very samey!
No waves, no ripples even …. just a flat calm sea which looks the same for miles ahead.

In my Lent thinking this week I have been struck by how I am called to work in a sea of sameness –
the same people I talk to each day,
the same places I visit,
the same roads I walk,
the same seats I sit in
…. and yet ….
in this vast sea of sameness that is my life there is amazing beauty.
My sea of sameness is teeming in life with
beautiful incidents,
beautiful people,
beautiful happenings,
beautiful encounters.

In the sea of sameness there is an abundance of beauty to see.

emotional heartbeats

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The blog has been a bit quiet – I think that is due to Lent. For Lent this year I have been reflecting on ‘stuff’ and making use of CMS’s 40 days of Yes. I know I am a year behind everyone else – but that’s the way I like to be!

I don’t deliberately give things up at Lent. My psyche works against me if I try to do that – if I concentrate on not doing something I seem to end up failing! Instead, I decide to take something on … and inevitably in this ‘taking on’ means I give up time that I was wasting on other things.

I have been challenged by a few things and I think I’m going to start to blog about a couple. Today I have been thinking more about what Rick Warren calls my ’emotional heartbeat’.

I would never ever read any of the Purpose Driven Stuff. I don’t know why but the ‘driven’ language really turn me off, so if it was not for CMS I would not have found this quote from The Purpose Driven Life:

‘God has given us each a unique emotional heartbeat that races when we think about the subjects, activities or circumstances that interest us. We instinctively care about some things and not about others. These are clues to where you should be serving …..’

And so I have been asking myself for quite a few days – what is my emotional heartbeat?

At first sight this seems that it should be an easy question to answer but I am finding there are quite a lot of layers to peel through before I can get an accurate answer. There are the answers that I think I should give as a Christian, let along as an ordained person in the Church of England! Then there are the answers which others have told me which bounce around in my mind. There is also all that ‘stuff’ that was spoken over me as a child from parents as well as a young Christian in churches when I was exploring faith. You can also add the answers that the media, both good and bad, tell me I am passionate about.

I shared recently with Sarah that the Comic Relief is the only thing of its kind that ‘grabs me in the gut’. I cannot watch Comic Relief without tears rolling down my face. Even though other campaigns like Children in Need are amazing they don’t grab me in the same way. Does this mean my emotional heartbeat is in some way connected to that? I’m not sure – but I don’t think so. (I guess this is where my concern with Purpose Driven lies – the language implies an immediate action, to jump to your heart beat … but I wonder how many people have jumped rather than thought and reflected!?)

So – what is my emotional heartbeat? I don’t know … I’m still ‘un-peeling’ but in there somewhere is justice and wanting to speak out for the voiceless, and in there is people and wanting to get to know them, and in there is Christ giving people full lives and in there is something else that I can’t quite put my finger on yet …

So …. emotional heartbeats … and yours is ….?

… from dust you came …

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Today has been Ash Wednesday.

I have just returned from the cathedral with an ash cross on my forehead. It was placed there with the following words:

‘remember that you are but dust, from dust you came and from dust you will return. Turn from sin and be faithful to Christ.’

That may seem quite morbid, and there are definitely resonances with a funeral service there; but I think this simple acts serves a good purpose at the start of lent as it reminds me of my mortality.

Life in our western, technological, 21st century, materialistic world where life can be prolonged, where any food can be eaten out of season, and where we can purchase anything from ebay presents us with an illusion – the illusion that we are in control. Th illusion, I guess, that our little worlds do revolve around us.

This evening  a small ash cross, two simple lines,  serves as a reminder that it is actually all about God.

This lent I will be endeavouring to spend more time in prayer and contemplation as I seek to lose the illusion that it’s about me, and regain a truer image of God.

what’s ludicrous today ….

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This tweet from Roy (re-tweeted from ship of fools) made me smile thoughtfully today:


‘Galileo was born today, 1564. He championed the ludicrous idea that the earth goes round the sun. Thankfully, the Church put him right!!’


It is quite scary that those in authority in the church thought they were so so right in condemning Galileo. His idea seemed madness to the extent that he was tried by the Inquisition and found guilty of heresy and placed under house arrest.

I find it interesting that we look at that now and wonder how the church could have been so wrong. Were they missing the big picture? Were they scared of the new? Were they just closed to a new idea that they themselves had not had? Was it simply because the bible did not say  ‘the sun is at the centre of the universe’ that it could not, therefore, be right!

The comment made me smile; but it also concerns me. What is the church condemning today which future people will look back at in disbelief?

Jesus believes in us

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Today I preached in the cathedral and tried to look at todays gospel reading by asking ‘why?’ Why did these people, who had work to do and businesses to run, just get up and go with Jesus, leaving everything behind to follow him.

We looked a bit at First Century life, taking in how disciples were trained and how rabbi’s selected their followers. Essentially, rabbis didn’t ask people to follow them, they relied on their reputation while expecting people to ask to follow them. Each rabbi would only be interested in taking the best and would grill them with questions looking to be impressed by them before allowing them to become  a disciple. Many aspired to be disciples but few attained it, failing at a number of hurdles and so leaving school and returning to the family business … which is where we find these early disciples.

Todays reading shows Jesus turning that whole thing upside down. Jesus the rabbi calls people who are not expecting it. As a rabbi he wants the best. He looks at these men and says ‘I want you’ … i.e. you are the best! These guys had already failed in their quest to become disciples and yet now, Jesus calls them … no wonder they respond immediately!

I ended my talk today by remember ing that since becoming a Christian at the age of 17 I have heard over and over again that I need to have faith, that I need to believe in Jesus and so on and so on. I do. But, here, in this reading, today though we discover something different:

Jesus believes in us!
Jesus calls us because he believes in us.

These early disciples left because they heard the rabbi say ‘I believe in you’ … and Jesus says the same today!

I find that pretty cool!

(just found this from Abbotsford which takes the follow me theme in a different and interesting way)