Hope at Christmas

When I was growing up in Bristol, one of the old buildings which always appealed to me was the Chapel of the Three Kings of Cologne, part of the Foster's Almshouses, at the top of Christmas Steps (full of exciting Dickensian shops!). It was built in 1504, by John Foster, a Bristol merchant, who, it's thought, had seen the Chapel of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral, named after the magi who came to visit the baby Jesus after the nativity - whose bones were transferred there in the 12th century. 

On my other blog, I wrote about being interviewed about the end of life by Channel 5, and received this comment from "Leafyschroder", which I liked and thought I'd repeat here.

"Coming towards the celebration of the coming into the world of Life itself, I find your article, and indeed all that is being said about this subject profoundly moving.
"It's difficult to comprehend just how difficult life must be for some and one wishes that they could be enveloped by Love and deeply feel how valuable their life is. I have been listening to this beautiful song about hope: Cologne Cathedral and the Jewish song, 'Inscription of Hope'". 

Suzette, from whose blog this comes, wrote this about the song:

"The basement (of the cathedral) also became the hiding place for Jewish families hiding out from Hitler. At the end of the war, fragments of a poem, believed to have been written by a Jewish child, were scrawled on the wall. Those words from the poem were taken and put to music, the melody coming from an old Russian folk tune, and was turned into the choral arrangement, 'Inscription of Hope.' The music and choral arrangement were done by composer Z. Randall Stroope. Below are the lyrics of the first stanza of the song, taken from the words inscribed on the wall of the Cologne Cathedral:
Inscription of Hope
I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
and I believe in love
even when there's no one there,
and I believe in God
even when he's silent.
I believe through any trial
there is always a way."

There's a poignancy reading this again at the time when we recall another Jewish child being hunted down by an oppressive régime. Whatever your circumstances this Christmas, I wish you a hope-filled season and the knowledge within you that Love came down at Christmas. Emmanuel - God is with us

Life and death

Today we're in the season of Advent - the period of waiting for the coming of the King, in two senses: the coming of Jesus in such extraordinary circumstances as a crying baby, I believe, to a teenage mum, and his coming again "in great glory to judge both the living and the dead". It's a time full of anticipation and awe.

This afternoon, after a visit to my wonderful dentist and a lunch with my distinguished oldest brother and his wife at The Bull in Fairford (good meal!), we came back to welcome the Holy Family - the pregnant Mary and Joseph, plus donkey - who are doing the rounds of houses in the parish. John, our vicar, brought them round and prayed with us. They'll stay with us until tomorrow when they'll move on until coming to rest finally in the church on Christmas Eve at the crib service.

It's a great way to focus one's thoughts on what is the reason for the season. Tonight Jane's out at a home group, and hopefully I will be disciplined enough to take time out from my usual lapsing in front of the TV for reflection and gratitude. On Sunday, John preached an Advent sermon on preparing for Jesus' coming, which, he said, we could do by watching carefully and serving faithfully. I'm going to try to watch and wait tonight.

This afternoon I also came back to read the news that a good friend (whom I've never met), Alison Davis, died this morning. She is a hero of faith. She was born with spina bifida in 1955. "She later developed conditions including osteoporosis, arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Coping with these permanently disabling and painful conditions dominated but did not define her life. Indeed, they led her to champion the rights of the vulnerable, the disabled and the unborn, first as an atheist and then as a Catholic." You can read her story here: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2013/12/03/obituary-alison-davis/. "Finally, on Easter Sunday, 31 March 1991, she was received into the Church.  Although Alison knew she had 'come home', being a Catholic brought its own difficulties. She discovered some churches couldn’t accommodate wheelchair users and she sometimes experienced an acute sense of rejection. She learnt that her Faith would not remove the sorrows of life but that it does provide the grace and strength necessary to live with them. A visit to Calcutta over Christmas in 1991, and witnessing the love a pavement-dwelling family had for their tiny baby, brought home to her the infinite value of each human being created by God." 

I came into contact with her through our shared belief in the sanctity of life. I think she contacted me after reading My Donkeybody. It was only over the years that I realised what a remarkable lady she was. She is a real example of serving faithfully, and I am really grateful to have known her. In her last email to me she talked about being "content with life as God has given it, which I think is the secret to a really fulfilled life". She lived a fulfilled life in spite of her limitations, beside which mine are tiny. I believe that Paul's expectation is true for Alison: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing" (2 Timothy 4.7,8). I hope I'll meet her then.

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

How do I look?

I love this prayer by Bo Stern. To appreciate it fully, it's worth reading the context. So here's the post she wrote yesterday.
"A Prayer for Seeing

Posted: 10 Oct 2013 06:20 AM PDT

A couple of weeks ago, I was grabbing some groceries at Safeway when I noticed a man in a wheelchair who was in very bad shape.  His pale face shook from tremors and from working to keep his head steady.  At first I thought maybe it was ALS, but his healthy weight made me think otherwise.  Steve had just gotten his wheelchair, and I noticed that this man’s chair was red instead of blue and I wondered what brand he had chosen and why and just as I looked up, I caught the eye of the woman behind him.  I don’t know if she was his wife or not, but it was clear from her angry expression that I had been looking too long.  She rolled her eyes at me in disdain, clearly sick of feeling gawked at by countless passersby and protective of the man she loved.

My stomach sank.  I wanted to talk to her — to apologize and explain that I wasn’t staring out of curiosity or even sympathy, but empathy.  I’ve been in her shoes.  In fact, her shoes are my regular footwear.  I know how it feels to want to scream that the man you love is so much more than his condition or his wheel chair.  And I hate that I made her feel like an oddity instead of what she was:  a fellow-soldier, living on the battlefield of sickness and disability and trying to function in a world that doesn’t always understand.

Later, I thought about how easy it is to look at someone and imagine we know their motives.  I have done it a million times.  I’ve settled for a surface-level understanding which is often more dangerous than no understanding at all.  I need to remember that behind every face is a backstory, a history, a struggle.  And those stories make some more beautiful and some more broken (and maybe, for some, a little of each.)  And so I wrote this prayer and I’m committing to pray it often so I can learn to see people more clearly:

Father of all who are breaking beneath the weight of war,

Straighten and strengthen my vision

to see past skin and shell,

 beneath bravado and bluster,

and into the long-buried story.

Focus my heartsight on what eyes can’t see

 to love without reason,

hope without limits,

and truly believe

that everything possible with You

is dwelling in me.

Christ,

the Hope of Glory,

let me see."

I rather enjoyed this cartoon recently! I'd rewrite the second line to say, "How God sees you means everything". 

As Psalm 139.14 puts it, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

    my soul knows it very well." 

Even being disabled and maimed doesn't stop the flow of God's love to us.

Does prayer work?

Last Sunday evening I preached about Philippians 1.19ff. I enjoyed it because people joined in.
Here's a version of it:

"Do you believe prayer achieves anything?  Really?

Do you believe the Holy Spirit makes any difference?  Really?

Paul in detention in Rome in AD62 (prob).  As far as we know never released, but executed within next 5 years.

Writes to the first church he planted in Europe - northern Greece - an imperial colony and tax-haven.

It’s a pretty healthy church, but with problems both outside and inside.

Back to the questions.

• Do you believe prayer achieves anything?  Really?

• Do you believe the Holy Spirit makes any difference?  Really?

Possible answers:

1. ‘Yes, and this is why I do.’

2. ‘Yes and no - in theory, but never for me.’

3. ‘No. I’ve seen no evidence to convince me.’

Answers from the congregation

“Yes. Because I’ve experienced several answers - not always what I’ve wanted! - when people have prayed for me.”

“As I’ve got older, I’ve come to know Jesus as my friend as well as my Saviour, and I’ve found him answering my prayers as I’ve come to understand his will.”

“I think we often find that God has answered our prayers - as we look back. Like for example our moving to Grove.”

I have a prayer partner on the other side of the world. It is extraordinary how often and how specifically her prayer requests are answered. 

Do you remember 3 weeks ago when Pope Francis called for people of faith worldwide to fast and pray (7 July) for peace in Syria, and what happened by the Monday?  From the imminent danger of US missiles to promise of Assad handing over chemical weapons… Unbelievable breakthrough towards peace!  A friend on Facebook reminded me of wartime national days of prayer, and the miraculous answers that followed (When the nation prayed).

Conclusion: God definitely does answer prayer now.

        

What does St Paul believe?

Verse 19 “I know that through your prayers and the help (God’s provision NIV) of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance”. 

He knows.  He knows their prayers will be answered.  He knows that the Holy Spirit will be at work on his behalf.  In fact, it appears that his “deliverance” would turn out “to depart and be with Christ”, which was far better (verse 23).

How does he know?

• Through relationship

• Through experience

Relationship

“I know whom I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Timothy 1.12).

He has met with Jesus - dramatically! - and lives his whole life with daily reference to him.  “So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2.20).

“So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 9.17).

Experience

Paul not only prays for the young Christians constantly; he also keeps asking for their prayers for him.

And for him prayer is a two-way conversation, not always comfortable!

“And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me” (Acts 20.22,23).

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12.8,9).

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit” (James 5.16-18).                                        [NB Remember that “righteous” here doesn’t mean that we are good, but it means we’ve been made right with God because of Jesus.  We are righteous because we’re in a relationship with Jesus; we’re trusting him.]

So let’s be encouraged.  And be challenged to pray.  “Prayer... has great power as its working.”

Congregation asked what to pray for. 

Father, you know these needs of our church, which your Holy Spirit has put on people’s hearts. Put them on ours too, so that we all pray fervently and effectively according to your will, through Jesus Christ and to his glory. Amen."

Cracking up

Martin Wenham, The Tenth Beatitude

Thanks to Sister Catherine Wybourne of the iBenedictines I came across Martin Wenham, who as far as I know is no relation. He is an artist/craftsman who uses lettering in wood, who's exhibiting in Uppingham. Here's the link: Martin Wenham: a private view.

I particularly liked this one. Sadly it's sold. Those who know me will see why I like it!

"Blessed are the cracked,
for they shall let in the light."

Don't worry if you're cracking up....

Mutual support

My faithful correspondent, Leafyschroder, made a great comment after my last post. If you, like me, tend to skip comments after blog-posts, I want to make sure you haven't missed it. So here it is:

"The well known 'Lessons from the geese' was written in 1972 by Dr Robert McNeish of Baltimore, Ohio, in the USA. He was a science teacher who had been intrigued with observing geese for years and wrote the piece for a sermon he delivered in church. More information can be seen on the web site of Sue Widemark. 

Lessons from the geese
by Dr Robert McNeish
Fact 1: As each goose flaps its wings it creates an uplift for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.
Lesson 1: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
Fact 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
Lesson 2: If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.
Fact 3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point formation.
Lesson 3: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities, and unique arrangements of gifts, talents, or resources.
Fact 4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Lesson 4: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core values of others is the quality of honking we seek.
Fact 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
Lesson 5: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong."

The photo above was taken in Norfolk - where my correspondent used to live. Thank you, Leafy!

Morning Prayer

Here's a lovely morning prayer from Alice Tremaine's Prayers for Health blog.

Gracious God,

Thank you for being with me today.
Open my eyes to see you at work in me and around me as I go about my day.

Help me to enjoy the simple pleasures today,
To be present in each moment and to each person,                                                                                                             To be grateful for the unfolding of another day of life.

Help me to remember what really matters whenever I feel overwhelmed or frustrated.
Help me to be of service to others today.

When I feel judgmental, help me to find compassion.
When I feel shame, help me to find freedom.
When I feel guilt, help me to find forgiveness.
When I feel afraid, help me to feel covered by your love.

Thank you for this day.
Thank you for this moment.
Amen.