Reflection of the Week - 7th November 2023
I believe that, right now, Jesus is asking us the question, couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? How do we answer? Do we go back to sleep? Do we mumble excuses? Do we change the channel?
I believe that, right now, Jesus is asking us the question, couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? How do we answer? Do we go back to sleep? Do we mumble excuses? Do we change the channel?
Several years ago, I complained to a mentor that my relationship with God felt flat, distant and like I was going through the motions. On top of that, I found dealing with people increasingly frustrating and my patience waning.
The older we become, the more we realize how limited we are in our ability to love, how impure our hearts are, and how complex our motivations are.
Because grief hurts it is often seen as a ‘problem’ that needs to be fixed, or got through, or ignored or made to go away. But grief is not a problem.
God’s forgiveness is unconditional; it comes from a heart that does not demand anything of itself, a heart that is completely empty of self-seeking.
How can we live in the midst of a world marked by fear, hatred, and violence, and not be destroyed by it?
Many of us have experiences of having God intervene in our lives to bring positive change, healing, protection, encouragement or even rescue.
To befriend death, we must claim that we are children of God, sisters and brothers of all people, and parents of generations yet to come.
From whom do you need forgiveness? What have you done? Have you hurt someone you love? Does the guilt or shame gnaw at you? Have you caused pain and anguish? Are you trapped in the wreckage of your actions with no visible means of escape?
The older we become, the more we realise how limited we are in our ability to love, how impure our hearts are, and how complex our motivations are.
I love the beauty and wonder of the natural world. Somehow the things I worry about feel smaller when I’m wandering in nature.
Are we lacking a daily prayer life or have we elderly relatives in nursing homes whom we never visit? Try and figure out what more we can do to gain eternal life and then put together a plan to do it.
In many of Jesus’ stories, he uses excellent illustrations to point out who and how we are called to be God’s people.
In this earthly life, we walk around blind to much of the world. While many of us are blessed to have all our senses, it isn’t until one or more of them are compromised that we become more in tune with both the light and the darkness surrounding us.
I have many favourite passages in the Bible. The whole of Mark’s gospel is one of them. Matthew’s gospel (aside from the gnashing of teeth) is another. I also cherish the ancient hymn fragments embedded in the New Testament, such as the Colossians hymn 1.15-20.
In all the bewildering maze of religions and faiths in the contemporary world competing for the allegiance of human persons, Jesus Christ stands solitary and supreme. He was genuine through and through. He was what he claimed to be.
It’s been reported that two out of three Australians think that religion does more harm than good in the world.
We can understand why people who are victims of oppression, violence, war, abuse, or terror of any kind, want the evil that caused their pain, eradicated. This is as true today as it was in the first century.
The kingdom of God, Jesus said, is moved by a disrupting power. But not the kind of power that needs an empire or an army. The kingdom of God disrupts the way a mustard seed disrupts.
As I have lived most of my church life primarily in Anglican and ecumenical settings, I have to admit to some bemusement about the annual marking of the Uniting Church’s founding.