The end of the chapter

Growing up, I read a lot of books. There was one by Roddy Doyle called ‘The Giggler Treatment’. The reason that particular one is relevant now is because of how Doyle uses the chapters. They were an extra comedy element to an already funny story. Some chapters were of a standard length. Some chapters were just one word repeated for a whole page. And at least one was just a single word long.

The thing with chapters is that they are all part of one story, and things that happen do get carried forwards, but they also signify a change, a new section. Some chapters resolve nicely and some are left on a cliff hanger to keep you turning the pages. With Doyle’s book, you never new how long (or short!) a chapter would be. I know chapters aren’t a set length in any book, but Doyle took it to the extremes.

Our stories can be like that. Sometimes a chapter will end before it’s really got going, much sooner than you expect it to. Some chapters you wish would end but they keep going. Some chapters you don’t want to end, but they have to because the story continues. And in each of these, no matter how long or short the chapter is, there is a part that gets carried forwards, for better or for worse, into the rest of the story.

Sometimes I feel we can struggle to let the chapter go, to turn the page a start with the next chapter. Maybe there are unresolved things we need to sort our as in any good story, but there are times where we can be stuck in a chapter and maybe not even realise it. We can react in a certain way or make certain assumptions because that was what happened in a previous chapter. Maybe we didn’t deal with unresolved things so they linger. We can look back with regret, wishing we’d done things differently. We don’t turn the page and move forwards, instead lingering in a previous chapter mentally or emotionally. Maybe there are lingering wounds, physical, mental or emotional, sucking away joy and strength and leaving despair and frustration. Part of the story (not often found in books) is the time to rest and recover – that’s a legitimate chapter in our story.

All experiences in a chapter influence the story, but not all need to be carried. Some need to be left behind. In some very traditional church services after the bible reading, the reader says, “here ends the lesson.” There is wisdom in that. When a chapter ends, we take what we have learned in skills and experience, but we don’t take every little detail and every mistake forwards.

In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” In Matthew 11 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

We can’t live life to the full if we are tied to the past. Jesus burden isn’t one of pain, mistakes and regrets that weigh us down. It is one of love, forgiveness and hope. It is light, meant to encourage and pull forward.

Life is full of ups and downs, Jesus knows that. He knew loss and he knew friendship. He was hated and he was loved. If you read the gospels you find he did l sorts, experienced the whole spectrum. And through it all, he kept his eyes turned to his Father, to the future.

As we near Christmas, are there ties to a past chapter of your life you need to cut? Are there burdens you need to lay down that are weighing heavy on you? I encourage you to take what Jesus offers, and live life to the fullest, looking forward with your eyes on him. Look to the next chapter.

One life is as sacred as an entire planet

I was watching a programme today called ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’. Its a Dr Who spin off aimed at younger children, and came out when I was at the right age to watch it so I was rewatching for the sake of something easy to watch. In the particular episode I was watching, Sarah Jane can use her sonic device to stop the computer from bringing all the satellites crashing to earth, but the alien is pointing a gun at her friend. Her friend says, “Do it! It’s me or the earth!” But Sarah Jane puts down her sonic device and says, “One life is as sacred as an entire plantet.”

That struck me as odd. I don’t disagree with it, but so often in films and TV its OK to sacrifice one for the greater good. Or, as Star Trek would put it, ‘the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” But here was a heroine not willing to lose even one, not willing to trade one single life. (It all turns out OK in the end, the satellites don’t crash to earth and everybody lives – it’s a kids TV show after all).

It’s not a situation that we would find ourselves in everyday, but I wonder what we would do in that situation. Would we act out of bravery, or would we act out of fear? Would we decide that the lives of more people were more important than the one person in front of us? Or would we decide we wouldn’t risk even one life at our hands, but risk everything hoping some other way would appear?

God takes the latter approach (sort of). To him, each individual is important. I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but John 3: 16 is one of the key verses in the bible, but can also be one of the least helpful.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him

John 3: 16-17

But God doesn’t just love ‘the world’, he loves each and every individual in it. He couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without you, so came and made a way for you to be with him. He’s the God who leaves the 99 in safety to go and find the 1 who has got lost.

2 Peter 3: 9 says, “-The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ Yes, God wants to save the world. But not just most of it, he wants every single person to come to repentance and to be able to be with him forever. To him, one life is as sacred as an entire planet.

That’s why Jesus came – for individuals to know God, for individuals to be saved. He came for me. And he came for you.

I was listening…

Have you noticed how important it is to feel listened to? Often we can have a chat with a friend and we’ll both remember the gist of the conversation, but there will be some bits we won’t remember, that haven’t lodged themselves in our brains. And sometimes we can be thinking up a reply to one comment and miss the next one because our focus is elsewhere.

But then there are the times when you are talking to someone and although they do make comments and ask questions, they do so after you have finished speaking. And then they’ll say something that shows they have listened and taken in everything you’ve said.

This isn’t so crucial in a friendly chat with someone, but is so important when you are sharing something or asking for help. I had a conversation like that today and at the end they basically summed it all up, referencing things I’d said in passing. I told them they had a good memory to bring up all the things I’d said. They’re response? Well, I was listening.

It struck me how rare it is to leave a conversation and feel truly listened to. Not someone comparing stories, not someone thinking up solutions, not someone projecting their own life/ambitions/problems, just someone listening to me in the moment, no distractions.

The thing is, because so often conversations can be frustrating because of wandering minds or others’ agendas, I can sometimes choose not to talk. Sometimes it’s easier to just keep quiet than try and be serious and be let down because you’re not being listened to.

Why do I mention that here? Because, as with so many other aspects of life, what we can experience with other people we can project onto God. If people won’t simply listen and give you their full attention in the moment without making suggestions of jumping to conclusion, then when we talk to God, won’t the same happen?

But throughout the Old Testament, there are passages where it says, “I have heard your cry, says the Lord”. Whether the people crying out or praying have followed the laws or gone astray, whether they pray daily or just when they are in need, God hears their prayers and responds. And when Jesus comes to show the way to the Father, he teaches to pray about everything. He teaches that the Father is listening.

So when you talk to God, talk as if he is listening intently, as if you have his full attention. Because he is and you do. You are heard. No problem is too small or too big. He won’t get distracted thinking of questions or solutions. He will patiently listen, and once you have finished he will respond. You can talk to God. He is listening.

A light in the… fog?

A few days ago there was quite a heavy fog in the town where I live. (When I say heavy, I mean more than I’m used too, and it considerably restricted sight). I was giving a friend a lift somewhere in the afternoon when the light was failing, and that combined with the fog meant that visibility was very poor. But as we were driving along, you could see colorful lights on some of the houses. The bright lights showing through the dark and fog was really beautiful. We couldn’t see the houses they were attached too, but lights flickering or shaped like a reindeer just kept coming into sight as we drove past.

The beginning of John’s gospel introduces Jesus as ‘a light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’. As I was driving past the lights, it struck me how powerful they were. The plain brick houses were all but hidden, even cars were hard to see, but the lights broke through the gloom. The headlights of the cars gave a warning and guidance about where to drive. The lights of the street lamps lit the road(ish). And the Christmas lights created patterns that were nice to look at and lifted the mood on an otherwise gloomy and subdued afternoon.

How often have we been going through a patch in our lives where things have seemed dark and gloomy? Maybe it’s hard to see where to go next, or even to see much other than that which is right in front of us. It can be easy to get dismayed and discouraged in those times.

But Jesus came to be a light, to show the way. Its not always easy to see because we can get focused on the ‘fog’. But the lights do shine out, even (especially?) when things are at their darkest. The light can be words in the bible, or the presence or voice of a friend, or even Jesus’ voice itself speaking directly to our hearts.

Not just this advent, but all through the year, when things get dark and the path seems hard, pause for a moment and look for the light. It’s a light of hope telling you to keep going. It’s a light of reassurance that you are not alone. It’s the light that is Jesus who will never leave you, who shows you the way to the Father.

Mushroom or acorn

I recently had the opportunity to go away for a few days to a place surrounded by beautiful country side. While I was there, I met 2 people and we went for a walk together. It was November, but it was a beautiful crisp autumn morning. The leaves were crunching underfoot, there were squirrels and rabbits scampering around, the leaves were all shades of yellow and orange – it was justa glorious walk in God’s creation.

Walking with others can be a great experience, like this time. One of the people I was walking with took great delight in everything she saw, and would marvel over little things like the rabbits, or point out things that caught her eye. She really was a joy to walk with.

One of the things she pointed out was a cluster of mushrooms growing near the base of an oak tree. She said how amazing it was that something like that could just grow in a day. I didn’t know mushrooms could grow in 24 hours, but I  have since looked it up and some varieties can. It was a strange juxtaposition, to think of these mushrooms that can grow in 24 hours sitting right next to a huge oak tree which takes 5 or 6 years to be fully self-sustaining.

Sometimes I think we can wish were like those mushrooms – 24 hours and done, quick fixes, all grown up and lessons learnt. But more often life is like that oak tree. Starting off as an acorn and spending years developing, and then continuing to grow even after becoming self-sustaining and becoming one of the grandest trees (in my opinion, partly because I’m British and partly because they remind me of my childhood – I quite like oak trees!)

Philippians 1: 6 says, ‘he who began a good work in you will see it through to completion’. Wherever you are at the moment, if things look like they’ll never change or your stuck somewhere in limbo, remember you are not a mushroom, it’s not gonna be 24 hours and you’re finished. You are an acorn, taking years to grow and develop, and the end result is something huge and grand which doesn’t ever stop growing. Take heart, the Lord is working in you.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Did you write a Christmas list this year? You’re probably thinking, ‘another message about how Jesus is the best present ever.’ And yes, Jesus is the best present ever, but that’s not what this is about.

As a child, I would love to go through the Argos catalogue and mark out a whole list of things I wanted. I didn’t usually get them, but I made the list anyway. I know some friends still make lists – although probably more grown up than a list of toys, games and books! I also know a lot of people don’t make a list. But it’s not really about the list, it’s about the magic and joy of Christmas.

In my memory, through the eyes of a child Christmas was an exciting time full of wonder, where dreaming big was allowed. It was a time of hopeful expectation – the promise of family time and board games was just as exciting as the hope for gifts given and received. My Christmas list had some ridiculous things on it, things I knew I’d never get, but I put them on there anyway, just in case…

As we get older, it is easy for Christmas to lose it’s sparkle. Maybe for some it was never there – Christmas isn’t a safe and wonderful time for everyone. Maybe it’s because the cost of heating the house and buying the food has become too high. Maybe it’s because of the loss of someone we loved, changing Christmas forever. Maybe it’s just the general knocks of life that build up and just mean Christmas isn’t anything more than a break from work. Or maybe, quite simply, we got older and stopped believing in Father Christmas.

Someone I am getting a gift for asked for non-perishable items like cans of tomato soup. I’m not knocking that request: they’re a student and those sorts of things are essentials for student living. So I have got her what she asked for. And I’ve included some treats too, because unwrapping a jar if soup doesn’t make me think ‘Ooh, exciting! Just what I wanted!’ (Of course, I mat be wrong, after all it is what they asked for – maybe they really, really like tomato soup!)

But maybe it’s time to dream big again – huge unrealistic things like a hippo on your Christmas list. Maybe it’s time to find joy, not in the gifts or the food, but in the story behind it all. Maybe you should write a list of things you want. Include soup, yes, but also include a hippo (or equivalent). If there was nothing in your way, what would you really like?

The backbone of Christmas celebrations for me has always been church. I grew up with Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve and a morning service on Christmas Day, and as I got older I was allowed to go to a midnight service (as long as I went to sleep quickly so Santa still had time to come). And the centre of the Christmas story is the birth of Jesus, the saviour come to show us the way, to restore a relationship with the Father. And Jesus teaches us to pray for anything and everything. He teaches us not to limit ourselves.

I’ve had enough prayers not answered in the way I hoped or expected to understand that sometimes it’s hard to pray. Disappointment can lead to discouragement, can lead to limiting our prayers. But my encouragement for you is that the one you are praying to is ultimately good, and there is a reason even if you can’t see it yet. God sees the bigger picture, he sees the outcomes, he looks at eternity and heavenly things while we are looking at the now, here on earth.

So while you are here, now, make your list. Include your hippo. And if you get it, fantastic. And if you don’t, remember that God has something better planned. You may not see it now, but one day you will. Because against all odds, He became human and was born to a poor family in order that you might have a way to be with Him in eternity. So dream big. God is with you.

https://youtu.be/GNDri18-eQ0

I’ve started so I’ll finish

It’s a phrase from the quiz show, Mastermind. The contestants have a limited amount of time to answer questions before a klaxon sounds. If the host has started reading the question when it sounds, he says, “I’ve started, so I’ll finish” and finishes the question.

Why is that relevant? Because even though time has run out, that which has been started is able to be finished.

On the third Sunday of advent, some churches celebrate the prophets, the ones who spoke about God’s redemption plan. They are the ones who wrote the promises of the coming saviour, how he would be recognised, and what he was going to do. They held on to the hope of that saviour even when things around them looked dire, even when there was silence and it seemed so impossible.

And then around 400 years after the last of the prophets (or at least, the ones in the bible – there is a out 400 years between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament) a virgin gave birth to a son in David’s town of Bethlehem where he was laid in a manger. He was visited by wise men from the east who followed a star foretelling the birth of the king of the Jews, called in to Herod on the way and as a result a whole generation of boys were killed. All of this is foretold in the prophets words.

The redemption plan has started.

But then we look to Easter and Jesus is crucified. It’s like the klaxon, time is up. Except…

Except that’s not where the story ends. Jesus comes backs to life. The redemption plan isn’t complete. There’s more to come. Jesus tells of a time of war, of famine, of natural disasters, but to hold on to faith and hope because its not finished yet. The promise of redemption, of eternal life, of things still to come still stand. They are all part of God’s plan, a plan I don’t pretend to understand, but a plan made by one I trust.

Today, we look at promises made, remember promises kept and those still to come. We remember the bigger plan. And we remember that it’s not the end.

God’s started, so he will finish.

How do you decorate a rowing boat for Christmas?

… With oar-naments!

One of the staples of Christmas dinner growing up was pulling a cracker, putting on the paper crown and telling the joke. As a child, at first hearing and with the naivety of youth, they made me chuckle. Now a grown up, and having heard most of them before, they make me groan! I wonder what effect they have on you?

I’m sure we can all agree that cracker jokes are rarely clever. You don’t need much intellect to either chuckle or groan at them. I once heard that that was the point. They weren’t meant to take brain power to work out. They weren’t designed to go over some people’s heads. They were designed to make everyone groan (and a couple laugh). They were meant as an equaliser so everyone was on the same page. They were never meant to be good jokes – they are bad jokes on purpose.

I don’t know whether that is the truth – I like to think it is because the alternative is someone somewhere thought they’d written a bunch of fantastic jokes and would be very disappointed by they’re reception!

I also like it because it means everyone is included. A bad joke can make the rounds in the office or on the bus. People can understand the punchline and no-one feels left behind (at least in principle). And part of the reason I like that idea is because that is what church should be, what following Jesus should be like. Jesus called fishermen and tax collectors, zealots and Pharisees, thieves and rich men, officials and prostitutes – he called everyone with no regard to any societal hierarchy. Everyone was welcome, everyone was equal. Was, and is.

The message of Jesus shouldn’t make you groan or chuckle, but it should be for everyone. It’s a message of unconditional love, of undeserved grace, of the impossible made possible. It might make you gasp or sing or even cry – that’s up to the listener. (OK, maybe a bit of groaning or chuckling might happen, but not because it’s bad!)

As we journey to Christmas we hear of a virgin, pregnant and unmarried, travelling to a backwater village with her carpenter fiance, visited by shepherd’s and wise men. There is space for everyone. It’s not a joke (good or bad) but something real, a promise kept, a hope for the future. Whoever you are reading this: there is room for you too. God’s message and kingdom is for everyone – the greatest equaliser of all.

What do you use to drain your vegetables at Christmas?

An advent colander!

(Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

The bedsheets

A few years ago I went to an evening exploration group with some other people from church where we talked about all sorts. One thing that stuck in my mind came when we were talking about the purpose of Sunday church. One of the group who is a few years older than me compared it to bed sheets, the non-fitted kind. When they were washed they got a bit misshapen so her mother and her would take diagonally opposite corners and pull it back into shape. Church was a bit like that for her – the necessities of the week could pull her out of shape, but Sundays got her realigned.

If a week could get someone out of shape, imagine what month or even a year could do! The world around is just goes on and we get tossed about with normal day to day things, plus those extras that come up suddenly. The daily grind of working with other people, maybe driving on roads full of other drivers, dealing with family and people we live with can all get us out of shape in our hearts and our minds. And then you get the unexpected bereavance, bad news about health or job, things that come out of nowhere and knock us sideways. I’m sure by the end of it, if we had started as a rectangular bedsheet, we’d look unrecognisable by the end and would need a good strong pull to get us back in shape.

A bedsheet can’t realign itself, but maybe we can. At the beginning of this advent series I quoted from the book of Isaiah some names for Jesus. Maybe, as we get ever nearer to Christmas, we can realign our hearts and minds to God by remembering who he is, by reading Isaiah 9, and some of the Psalms, and by reading through the first chapter of Matthew, Luke and John (Mark skips straight to adult Jesus, but you could read that too if you wanted!) Maybe we can talk to friends and get help with realigning, or maybe God is trying to do just that and we’re being stubborn bedsheets and pulling back. Whichever it may be, now is a good time to get back in God shape. Whether you’re only a little misshapen or you’re stretched beyond recognition, set some time aside to remember who God is in time for us celebrating Jesus’ arrival at Christmas

Walk a mile in their shoes…

It’s an oldie but a goodie: before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them you are a mile away and you have their shoes…

How quickly do we jump in and criticise? Whether it’s friend or stranger, at home or at work, we can find ourselves putting our opinion in about the way others do things and it’s not always complimentary or encouraging. Or maybe you’ve been at the receiving end of criticism which you think is undeserved or a bit harsh, because you know what led you to making that decision or doing things that way.

Because we don’t know what journey other people are on. We don’t know what unseen scars are hidden under the surface, or what other plates are being spun by that particular person. Unless we have lived that persons life and shared all of their experiences, we shouldn’t judge or criticise.

You know you’re own journey. You know where you’ve been, how you now make better decisions than you used to. You know how you were taught to do things, even if that’s different from how others might do them. And everybody has their own version of that.

Jesus teaches that we shouldn’t judge others. He says the measure we use to judge others will be uses to judge us. This links with forgive and you will be forgiven. So maybe instead of judging and criticising at work or in the coffee shop, or even driving, you could instead have a little more patience, maybe pray a blessing instead of shouting. Maybe you could listen to the why, offer advice or just give a gentle encouragement. You could change someone’s day around, you can start a change in the whole atmosphere of you choose to be different. Let’s face it, you don’t particularly like to be criticised or judged, so be the person who chooses not to do it. You may find the people around you start to copy you.

That’s the way Jesus lived, so that’s the way we can live too. This advent, when the shoppers are getting impatient, when work deadlines are looming and stress is building, try and put yourself in their shoes and build up the people around you instead of tearing them down. Be like Jesus. (But don’t steal someone’s shoes!)