Tag Archives: christianity

I am wonderful!

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Today’s thought has brought tears to my eyes.
I wish to simply take some quotes and leave them with you today to ponder as you journey on

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down,
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    O Lord, you know it completely.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from your spirit?
    Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning
    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light around me become night’,
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
    all the days that were formed for me,
    when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
    I come to the end[a]—I am still with you.
Psalm 139

‘God creates us. God with loving hands knits us together and moulds our being. God does not make mistakes. God does not make faulty goods. ….. God’s loving formation of our being creates the perfect human being – you – in the divine image.’ (page 106, Cole, D ‘Celtic Lent.

Dave Cole ends with this prayer today:
Almighty Creator, Intimate friend, loving Father, restorer of all that I am, I pledge to work with you to restore the beautiful being which you created, beginning with the declaration that I am wonderful! I say this not because of ego, but because the scripture says that you made me, I am one of your works, and that your works are wonderful. Thank you. May my restoration begin with my belief in myself. Amen

Original sin or blessing?

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Since becoming a Christian at 17 I have always struggled with the concept of original sin which, I now know, came from Augustine and was adopted by the Roman/Latin church. I remember having long discussions with leaders of my church in Weymouth. In the confirmation group I asked awkward questions which people didn’t seem to have answers for. I could not understand how a new born baby could be ‘born in sin’ and be born containing ‘original sin’. To me then, and even more so now, the concept simply does not fit with the concept of a loving God who created us all in God’s image.

If we are created in God’s image, stated this arrogant loud teenager, then how on earth could we be born with Original Sin?
I remember tagging on the patience of my teachers as I proudly stated that, if anything, we must all be born in ‘original blessing’ as this is the only thing that makes any sense f we are created in God’s image.

In today’s thought from Celtic Lent we hear that this very concept was a distinguishing difference of theology between the Latin church and Celtic Christians. The catholics believed the core of us, our soul, was eveil and fallen and required transformation from Christ. The Celtic Christians believed our core was a divine image but tainted which needed fixing by Christ.
In the words of Genesis 1:31; ‘God saw everything that they had made, and behold, it was very good’

This makes a massive difference to how we view other people and creation itself. If we consider ourselves and others as being inhabited by that divine image then that surely significantly impacts upon our behaviour towards each other. Surely it means we see each other differently and we would want to cherish, uphold and applaud each other in our daily journeys. Surely this would mean Christian ‘spaces’ would be open, welcoming and loving to absolutely everyone!

Original sin, or original blessing ….. you decide?

change your tune

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Today’s Celtic Lent thought was focussing on music.

It seems that as the Celtic monks travelled from place to place it is thought that they sung or chanted the psalms. Cole writes: ‘It was, perhaps, a natural extension for the Celtic monks from this external practice that their inner journey, another life journey, would also have been filled with the sound of psalms and spiritual songs. Or perhaps it was the other way around – perhaps the external expression was the natural result of the internal process of filling their inner life journey with spiritual songs of praise.The journey itself was filled with praise: the external journey as well as the internal one’.

We live in an age where many of us are plugged into music continually. I notice throughout the dat that I often have a tune reverberating around my head. I often wonder where that tune has come from and whether it is an indication of the soundtrack for my personal journey.

Today’s thought has left me with many questions such as ….
Is there a theme tune for my life?
If so, where has that come from?
If there isn’t why not?
Does the tune in my head reflect what’s in my heart?
Is my tune an indication of where I am with my Creator?
When I catch myself in the moment, what is singing from my soul?
Does the tune from outside of my life have an influence on me?
Where is God in the music?

It’s been really great stuff to think on today.

the divine is absolutely everywhere!

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Today in Celtic Lent we expand on the non dualistic approach of the Celtic Christians.
These Christians saw the divine in every aspect of life.
As they went on journeys they were aware that the divine presence of God was within them, was also with them journeying alongside, and was in every person they encountered and every experience they came across.
They simply saw the divine creator flowing through absolutely everything.

This mightily challenges me today.
As I approach every person at work today I am going to look for the divine presence.
As I chat with workmates I will be looking for signs of the divine presence.
As I journey through my day today, I will be on the look out fort for those divine appointments which I have regularly experienced in my life.
I’d like to share one divine appointment of my own.
On a previous visit to my home town of Weymouth I was sat in the Boot Inn. While sat at the bar a guy started talking to me. After a little while this man started to share deep stuff about the relationship between himself and his parents. He also shared that he was a Falklands veteran and wanted to talk about some of the horrors he’d experienced.
This divine appointment was a real privilege to be part of.

As we left the pub, I remember Sarah remarking that that always seemed to happen to me and asking why. I don’t have an answer other than I’m open and ready to hear.

So … as you journey through today, remember you walk on holy ground. Remember you carry the divine within you. Remember the divine walks alongside you. Remember the divine is in every situation you encounter. Remember the divine is within every person that you meet.

Maybe be on the lookout and consider how this knowledge impacts on your journey today.
I’d love to hear your stories


names

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Today’s Celtic Lent thought gets us to think further about the names we use for God. It outlines in the past how ancient communities have taken certain attributes of God’s character and how these would often relate to the sins of the writer. For example, the writer naming God as ‘guiding light’ may have come from the writer feeling lost and not knowing what to do next.

the Celtic poem, Prayer, talks of God as; holy storyteller, holy scholar, silent one, and generous thunderous giver of gifts. Some amazing names and attribute of God there to focus on.

Throughout today, in my setting, I have asked myself what attributes of God resonate the most with myself at the moment. I have settled on ‘Rock like warrior of a hundred hosts … inspire me, lead me, fight for me, restore me’.

Be thou

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In today’s reading we looked at the wonderful Celtic hymn of ‘Be Thou My Vision’. David Cole introduced us to different lyrics from earlier translations which are all based in that foundation of Celtic non-duality in their approach to faith. I have come to love this concept of their being no sacred and secular. God created the world, God inhabits the world and God will recreate the world, so how can the world be anything other than sacred. God is here … the ground we walk on is God’s. Wherever we are, we stand on holy ground …. that is an amazing thought to take into your day!

In today’s contemplation section we were asked to think about the ‘be thou’ statements in the hymn that explain who God is to you and asked to write some for ourselves. This is my attempt below ….

Be thou my Feelings when Ive sunk to the bottom
Be thou my breathing when I can’t catch my breath
Be thou my meditation as I open to you
Be thou my speech to enrich those I meet
Be thou my silence so I can hear what I need to hear
Be thou my passions as I aim for self control
Be thou my Justice when I feel life is unfair
Be thou my hope as I look to new opportunities
Be thou my calm when people around me are shouting

stories

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This week Celtic Lent is going to be looking at some stories, accounts and writings that relate to ourLent journey. Stories have alway been key to Christian community. Gathering and sharing and remembering can be inspirational as we attempt to navigate our lives around the stuff we encounter.

So …. which stories, characters or creative wrings have inspired you? Here’s a few that have stayed with me over the years, some have been historical characters, some people I’ve met, and some I’ve read in novels, heard in songs or seen in films. All of them have encouraged me and been enlightening as I was searching for some light at the end of tunnel.

Saint Brendon. His story inspires me as he stepped into the unknown. With some mates he jumped into a boat to take the gospel to other lands which he wasn’t even sure existed. On top of this the common understanding at the time was that the earth was flat, so Brendon was literally willing to sail off of the end of the earth in obedience to God!

For similar reasons, Abraham inspires me. He was asked to move by God. He did so even though he had no idea where he was going.

Ken and Connie cousins were two amazing saints that looked after me, loved me, and took me to St Mary’s church in Weymouth. They became aware that my home life was not great and so they lovingly took me under their wing. They sponsored me at my confirmation and stayed in touch until they died. I remember them both as totally devoted to Christ and this showed in the love they had for others around them. They inspired so many and their greatest delight was always to see others start their journey with God.

I remember I was struggling with a mass problem and this clip from Patch Adams floored me and had me streaming tears in the cinema. This short clip really has changed how I approach life and I totally believe that God spoke to me through this scene.

That’s a few of my key stories …. would some of you like to share yours?

discipline v disciple

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I’m writing this quite late on Saturday night after an amazing time with friends/family in a (new to me) restaurant. Throughout the day I have reflected on today’s reading which talks about the difference, or not, of the words discipline and discipleship.

In our culture the word discipline is usually thought of as something quite negative. Discipleship is seen as some long term endeavour whilst discipline is seen more as a set of rules and regulations. The Celtic Christians did not recognise any distinction. Instead they saw discipline as practices that helped you on your journey as a disciple. Rather than rules to restrict they were seen more as areas to express and to learn and, a real part of there relationship with God.

I have grown to quite like this ‘both/and’ approach from the early Celtic Christians. Where else, I wonder, is a both/and attitude both powerful and enabling?

the trellis

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After this mornings reading I have spent my working day thinking over the whole idea of a rule or rhythm of life being like a trellis. A trellis is used by a gardener to help a plant to grow. Every example of the same plant looks totally different on the trellis as the plant decides which way to grow. Although they have the same genus each one develops differently according to its context: soil, air, environment. The plant develops accordingly in line with what is around the plant.

Taking that principle we can think of rules of life as being a trellis that allows us to grow in our own way and not a structure that wants to limit us. Without the trellis we would lay on the floor, grow laterally and look a bit of a mess. This means we can follow the rule (Trellis) and express it in our own individual way. They way I do silence or prayer may look totally different to how you do silence and prayer ,,, but we are both following the rule and using silence and prayer.

This following of a rule in my own context has been key to my growth over the last few years. For me personally it’s been a tough decade and I am convinced that my faith would have suffered or been cast aside (or even totally lost!) if I was not already in the practice of following my rule of life. When things could have seriously gone wrong fr my life, the strength of my faith has held me …. actually more than that, it has allowed me to excel again in a new context. Like a phoenix, I have risen from the burnt out ashes and can live again …. but only because of the supporting structure of my rule of life.

time

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In today’s reading we hear how regular prayer in integral to all monastic rules of life. Every monastery has a bell tower which is rung to remind and call people to communal prayer.
I have adopted this process using my watch which silently alerts me at set times during the day to simply stop, consider where I am encountering God in my task, and to pray. I find that this practice gives me an opportunity to take a fresh look at the day again and again as I journey through it.
Today’s reading challenges us on how we use our time and how we might be able to organise our time to make space for prayer. For me this works best when I am out walking or running. It’s an added bonus if I’m walking or running by the sea. For others it might be while sitting in a train or changing tube stations. For others it might be at coffee or smoke break times. It doesn’t matter how, but adding those little times with God in some regular pattern does influence how we see the day.
What works for you? or …. What do you think you could start with?