Thought for the Month December 2022

Well here we are again, Advent. Now let’s get a little moan out of the way first. It’s probably an age thing with me, but time really does seem to be going faster and faster. Not only that, so many things seem to be changing and not always for the better, yes good progress has been made in many areas of life, but why for example, in too many circumstances, can’t we speak to a real person anymore, at least not without filling out an on line form that very often asks unnecessary or irrelevant questions? Alternatively, we have to go through an automated telephone system where one question is totally inaudible (especially if you have a hearing problem) requiring you to start all over again from the beginning. Yes, I know, that’s probably an age thing too, but not entirely. Then there are the really big things. The world still faces wars, financial crisis, hunger, homelessness, abuse… the list goes on, and so it could be said that somethings never change.

Thankfully there are good things that never change, ‘God’ – Father, Son and holy spirit – and the teachings and message the Son, Jesus, brought into the world. It was and is a message of love, peace, forgiveness and reconciliation with God and with each other – and you don’t have to fill in an on-line form to speak with him! Each year, in this season of Advent, for a brief moment in time, countless people will feel and receive that message, some will respond. The poor, the lonely, the disadvantaged will be seen, comforted, fed and their existence acknowledged, we become generous to charities. Then sadly we get to January, and after a few days many of those people will be forgotten and ignored, sent back into obscurity erased from the mind – thankfully not by everyone – many organisations and people work 24 hours a day seven days a week 52 weeks of the years to help others

Over the last two nights – at the time of writing this thought – our choir ‘People of the Green’ have been performing their ‘Christmas Concert’. In it they sang the wonderful song ‘Living Hope’, it’s not particularly a Christmas song, but it reminds us of what Jesus, the baby whose birth we celebrate, did in adulthood. It reminds us that ultimately He will make things right.

In the meantime, Jesus has given us many teachings and parables to show how we can bring a little bit of heaven to earth. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians reminds of the faith hope and love which marks out true message of Christianity. Wars, famine, poverty and all the other ills of the world will continue, but the more we can all trust in Jesus and his teachings, the more we live and share His message of love, peace, forgiveness and reconciliation, the more hope we will bring to the world and less people will be forgotten and ignored, and more justice will be achieved, even in this fragile world. We may only be able to do small things, but every little helps, and let’s not make it a seasonal event

As I mentioned above, there are people and organisations who do work tirelessly and continuously throughout the year to help others, and one thing we can do is support them in their work. Two particular charities we are supporting at Cooksmill Green this year are ‘Sanctus’ (for the homeless in Chelmsford) and ‘Families in Focus (Essex)’ If you’d like to find out more about what they do, and help spread a little hope, please visit our web site www.cooksmillgreenchurch.org

Thank you. Steve

A Prayer

Heavenly Father,

As we prepare in this season of Advent 

To celebrate the birth of your precious Son Jesus,

We thank you for all that His birth means to us.

For His life, teachings,

Death and resurrection.

Help us now live the lives you would have us lead;

To show Your love and compassion, manifest in Jesus,

In all we do, not just this Christmas, but for all time.

We ask it in His precious name. Amen.

Thought of the Month November 2022

Cast your mind back to early August. The Queen was still alive and Boris was still Prime Minister. So recent, but it seems an age ago, doesn’t it?  Newspaper headlines then were dominated by the Archie Battersbee case. It was also the time of the Lambeth Conference, with Justin Welby grappling to keep incompatible wings of the Christian Church somehow together. The Supreme Court in America had just overturned the legal right to abortion. And Jean-Luc Godard decided to seek assistance to end his own life. How could I not write about these things? 

I did. Excuse the fact that this is belated. It still says things that I believe are universally relevant; they matter to me, and I hope they strike a chord with you too.

Archie, of course, was the 12 year old boy over whom there had been a legal battle between his parents and hospital authorities as to whether, in a state where he was “probably brain-dead” with all bodily functions artificially maintained, these life-support mechanisms should be withdrawn. The “quality” press gave full coverage at every stage of the legal process to the arguments of each side and to the reasons given by every court where the case was considered behind the judgment given. There were certainly strong points on both sides of the argument, weaknesses as well, so that it was not possible to say that either conclusively proved its case over the other. Given a choice between prioritising the rights (and duties) of parents or those of society, the judges at every point gave precedence to what they called the “interests” of Archie. And they concluded, controversially, that those “interests” did not necessarily involve keeping him alive. The case was allowed to go to the highest courts in the land and was referred to international bodies as well, because it came to a moral, indeed one could say religious, conclusion about the nature of life as we understand it given our current scientific knowledge and capabilities. This conclusion could be summed up by saying that we do not have an automatic right to life at any cost. But we can be said to have a right to die with whatever dignity is possible. This has obvious ramifications for the ongoing debate over abortion in the US, and over assisted dying here and in Europe.

Jesus’s ministry is full of examples where he too had to arbitrate between two conflicting imperatives. Should, for example, Jews obey the civil law, or should they refuse to support an occupying pagan power through their taxes? Should Jews in all circumstances and on all occasions obey all the hundreds of regulations covering every aspect of life laid down in the Hebrew Bible?  Fortunately, like the Supreme Court in the case of Archie, he made his reasoning crystal clear:

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:

The first commandment is this: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

There is no other commandment greater than these.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

This essentially means that one’s duty of love to God and to one’s neighbour always takes precedence over any other conflicting subsidiary duties or laws or rules. Observing Jewish dietary laws or rules about the Sabbath might spring from desire to serve God, but it is not a substitute for such service and it is not in itself all that God expects of his servants: it can all too easily become an end in itself and more about oneself than about one’s Creator.

In practice, Christians take Old Testament laws with a pillar of salt and a large bag of pork scratchings. If we don’t eat prawns or ham, if we don’t go to the shops on Sunday, it’s probably for reasons other than that the Hebrew Bible tells us not to. Yet there is one issue where people still go trawling the OT for any evidence that might support their case. In the week that this ‘Thought’ was written, Archbishop Justin Welby reaffirmed the Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage. To be fair, his position is impossible, untenable. He cannot reconcile the blessing of gay marriage and the appointment of gay clergy, as happens in America, with the total antipathy to these practices in some other churches, principally those in Africa. You, reading this “Thought”, will, I imagine, have your own views on the subject. If you are opposed to same-sex marriage you will find verses in the Old Testament that condemn gay sex as an “abomination” (straight after the bit Jehovah’s Witnesses quote to refuse blood transfusions  and instructions to Aaron on how to sacrifice goats). My own belief is that when two people are in love, and wish to demonstrate that love in a commitment to a lifelong loving partnership, then marriage offers the opportunity to experience that love is the fulfilling of the law, and deserves, even demands, the blessing of the Church. Christ’s loving commandment thus takes moral precedence over rules formulated for and in centuries ago, that in most other respects are utterly redundant.

I cannot prove this. But I do ask you, if you do not agree with me, to ask yourself this November the question that the judges asked themselves over and again in the case of Archie Battersbee: where do the best “interests” of those directly affected in this matter actually lie?

David

Thought for the Month October 2022

God, where are you in all this?

There seems to be nothing good going on in the world anymore don’t you think? When you watch the news, read the newspaper or overhear a polite conversation, the status quo is one of doom and gloom. We have the war in Ukraine, numerous natural disasters due to climate change, the death of the Queen, our economy in crisis, a government in chaos, energy and food costs spiralling, and it goes on, doom and gloom that begins to suffocate our every waking moment.  The rich seemingly get richer and of course the poor even poorer, there seems such an injustice at the hardships some face right now and it’s only going to get worse what with the volatile and uncertain future that is predicted. So, with an almost apocalyptic overview of current affairs, it wouldn’t seem too churlish to ask, “where is God in all of this?”

It seems to me that when life is good, with little or no hardship, where contentment makes us feel secure and fortunate, it is then that Christian faith itself can also become a reflection of how we choose to relate to God, when we are on the up. If all is well in our lives, then it must be that God is clearly being benevolent with both his grace and blessings, and so we are of course full of thanks and praise for what He gives us, for making our life good, and in that moment, we may find ourselves having a Christian faith that is clearly both a good thing to possess and a relatively easy mission to live. However, we are not living in such times right now and even if we don’t feel personally at risk from it, we surely cannot fail to see the extreme predicament others now find themselves facing. So, should we assume then that as times have now turned difficult, that God has abandoned us? Is he perhaps punishing us for indulging too much in the good times? Have we done something to offend Him? Why is He allowing this to happen? God, where are you in all of this!?

Have you noticed that whenever a politician or leader is asked why these things are happening, they are always looking to blame someone or something else? Do you think it’s human nature to always hit out in anger and frustration when things start getting tough, blaming others rather than looking for a solution within? I do also wonder that as things begin to get worse, as it surely seems they will, and when we may begin to struggle to obtain the basic provisions of a normal life such as food, warmth and shelter, that the blame game will see God in the firing line once more. Will our faith begin to falter with doubt, will we find ourselves repeatedly exclaiming “God where are you in all of this!?”

The trouble with faith is that its definition asks a lot of us, and I mean the one that Paul gave us in his letter to the Hebrews (11:1) Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”. It’s that conviction that gets tested when the doubts creep in because it’s based upon the doctrine of scripture, the testimony of those no longer living and a spiritual connection that cannot be evidenced beyond our own internal experience of it. What that definition is really asking of us is to have confidence and trust in God without setting parameters as to what that should look like, whether life is good or especially when life is at its worse, you accept faith for Paul’s definition and nothing else, that’s what makes it challenging at times and that is the true nature of faith.

So just how do we deal with the challenge of a tested faith or with the everyday anxiety of what is coming next for both us and those that we love (or not)? Well I think one way for certain is that we must have trust and confidence in God’s love for us, that whatever difficulties we face, we feel assured that He is with us always, that all the suffering, pain, heartache, loss and anger that we may experience can be given over to Him in any way you choose, be it a prayer or a fiery rant, He loves us too much to care how you do it and that is why we are never alone in our trials and with Him we always have hope.

The reading I chose is one I use frequently when life gets tough, as I find the metaphors that Paul uses give spiritual sustenance, strength and courage to face the hardships of life, using what God actually does give us every single day, though sometimes we might lose sight of them. Let’s not ask God nor to expect Him, to do all the work in sorting out the wrongs that we have created but instead, ask Him to be at our side and guide us towards the solution so that we might find ourselves saying “God, I see you in all this now”.

Amen.

Danny.

Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Ch6 v10-18

 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

A Prayer for Courage

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promise to be with me wherever I go. When I am tempted to doubt and fear, help me remember that You are with me. In light of this promise, may I choose to be strong and courageous no matter what I am facing. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Paradox of Royal Servanthood

Reflections following the immediate aftermath of the death of

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

As I write these thoughts, it is now two days since the sad announcement of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and our thoughts and prayers remain with her family. As the Royal family grieves, the Nation grieves with them, as do so many people throughout the world. She was, of course, more than just ‘The Queen’, she was a mother, grandmother, great Grandmother, Aunt and so much more besides and she will be greatly missed.

Understandably, and by necessity, much of what we have been watching and listening to since we were given the sad news will have been prepared and updated over a period of many years. What has struck me is the picture we have when we add to all of that the immediate, unscripted, raw and instinctive reactions that we’ve heard from so many people, from all walks of life, since Thursday afternoon.

As I’ve been reflecting on this during my morning walks, one piece of scripture kept coming to my mind (Philippians 2 1-8) where Paul talks about receiving encouragement, consolation, love and compassion, how we should regard others, and even how we should take on the mind of Christ. The reading accompanies these thoughts. 

We know the young Elizabeth did not choose to be Royal, it was by reason of birth. Neither did she choose to be Queen; it was by a succession of events not of her choosing. She did, however, have a choice of how to respond to her new role, how to use any influence she may or may not have, in short, how to live her life as a Queen. She chose, to the best of her ability and given the circumstances she was thrust into, to serve. In all that has been said in these last few days the same sentiment and feeling seems to shine through, that of the Queen’s kindness, warmth, humour, dedication to duty and humility.

This brings me to the paradox between Royalty and servanthood. Meeting the Queen was an event surrounded by protocols and rules about what should and shouldn’t be said or done, even on a Royal walk about you can see officials try to guide proceedings. Balmoral and Windsor were perhaps two of the very few places she could get close to normality in front of the public. So how did she achieve the closeness that so many seemed to sense.

Like many I’ve watched and listened to much of the coverage of the Queen’s life and Reign and two things have struck me, her smile and her eyes. Whenever you saw the Queen meeting someone, she looked directly at them, giving them that same wonderful warm smile we saw so often. It didn’t matter if you were a Head of state, Prime minister, Hospital patient, small child giving her flowers – or even Paddington Bear – the smile would be the same. On occasions perhaps because of thronging crowds, some of those meetings would only be a few moments, but in that moment, however fleeting that person would have the Queen’s full attention, regardless of who they were race, colour or creed, putting them at ease and making them feel special. What an example! When you saw her on the balcony of Buckingham Palace looking out at the crowds, it seemed to me she was always surprised and touched by the numbers and their excitement.  You didn’t sense from her that they were privileged to be seeing her, it was perhaps more that she was privileged to be seeing them.  

I don’t think anyone could have achieved such public reactions over 70 years without that smile, humility and desire to serve being absolutely genuine. 

At the other end of the scale was her experience, knowledge and wisdom. Listening to past Prime Ministers, who undoubtedly went their own way on occasions, it seems, never the less, that they valued their weekly meetings with the sovereign. I wonder how many disasters and crises were lessened or averted through her wise counsel.

The Queen made no secret of her own faith and trust in God. She said on many occasions how her faith had sustained her throughout her life and I believe she tried and succeeded to have many of the qualities encouraged though Jesus’ teachings in the gospels.

Thank you ‘Your Majesty’ for your dedication and service to the world, may God bless you and give you His peace.

Now we pray for her son King Charles III as he begins his reign. May he continue the pattern set by his mother, drawing on her example, his own unique gifts and above all faith and trust in God.

Steve

Philippians 2 1-8

1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!

Thought for the Month August 2022

A short Summer thought

I hope that many of you will have, or already have had, a Summer Break. We all need time to relax and enjoy ourselves, but also to take stock of our lives. Even Jesus took time out, and as when read, he often went off to a quiet place to pray.

It is not by accident that Jesus said we should call God ‘Our Father.’ In doing so we tend to focus on his all-encompassing love, grace, compassion, forgiveness through Christ……., all of which is absolutely valid. However, do we stop to fully consider the parenthood role of teacher? When a child says ‘will you tie my shoe laces please?’ there comes a time when the wise parent will say ‘let me teach you how to do it, so you can tie them yourself – getting them ready for the big wide world. Of course, we should always be there to help our children, but they have to be able to live their own lives and make their own decision. and it’s our job to nurture and prepare them as best we can. By the same token it’s our children’s job to learn and not simply to rely on Mum or Dad! In writing this I am conscious not all children have the benefit of loving earthly parents, but we do all have a loving Heavenly Father who, when he created us, gave us all we need and set us free into the big wide world to make our own decisions and it’s to this Father I want to turn.

At the risk of sounding trite, how often do we ask God to tie our shoe laces for us, and fail to hear when he says ‘let me show you how to do it for yourself.’ I dread to think how often I’ve asked God to solve a problem for me, when I should have been asking for the strength, wisdom (or whatever may be required) to solve the problem myself, or at least be a part of the solution. Even when I’ve asked what I think is the right question I haven’t always listened for the answer!

In order to listen we have to devote time, which is not always easy. What tends to work for me is my early morning walk, away from the phone, the distraction of jobs that need doing, the temptation of the crossword I want to finish. I try (try being the operative word) to talk to and listen for God. I don’t hear or expect to hear a voice, but I do now expect – and often find – the answers come, not always the ones I expect and sometimes not the ones I want. When asking God with help to solve a problem, it brings you up short when you realise you are sometimes part of the problem.

By doing this in the morning it can and does filter through the rest of the day. The problems won’t always go away but they become much easier to manage.

I heard a lovely saying recently (thank you Frank) ‘The morning holds the essence of the day.’

What’s the essence of your morning?

Steve

A Short Prayer!

Heavenly Father help me in prayer not to talk at you,

But to speak and listen to you.

In Jesus name. Amen.

A few weeks ago, one of my co-contributors to Thought for the Month sent me an article from the Sunday Times, written by Matthew Syed (thank you David), he wondered if it could be used as a Thought for the Month. At first I thought yes, then I wasn’t sure, there’s no doubt it’s an inspirational story but how does it fit within a series of thoughts which are by their nature focused on God, faith, spirituality….?

I’m sure many will have heard of Deborah James, teacher turned journalist and podcaster, recently made Dame, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in December 2016. Deborah sadly passed last Tuesday. Following her diagnosis she started to share her story with as many people as possible. She did it in a positive and life affirming way. In spite of the odds she maintained a sense of fun, joy, love, compassion and a huge desire to help others avoid the pain and suffering she was going through. She shared the good, the bad and the ugliness of her situation. Watching a tribute program to her, it was striking the love which flowed both from and to Deborah. I don’t know and wouldn’t be presumptuous enough to assume whether she had a spiritual side to her life or not, but one thing that struck me was that we can all learn from her sense of, as she would describe it, rebellious hope, love and concern for others whether family, friends or people she’d never even met.

In the famous passage from 1 Corinthians 13, often read at weddings, Paul speaks of faith, hope and love and that the greatest of these is love.

Along with this thought is the article sent to me. It seems to me Deborah has been an inspiration to countless people and I hope and pray that God will bless her, her family, and friends as they come to terms with their loss, and that faith, hope and love will abound for each and every one of them and us.

To date the Fund Deborah set up to help fight bowel cancer has reached over £7m

Steve.

Loving God – Thank you!

Thank you for those people who shine a light into a dark world.

Thank you for those people who, in the midst of tragedy

Share love, hope and inspiration.

Thank you for those people who show that time is a precious gift

And encourage us to use it so that we and all those around us

May have life in all its fullness.

And so Lord we ask that you give all those

Who are facing difficult times in their lives,

Faith and hope in Your eternal love,

And confidence that even in death it is not the end,

But a New Beginning

Through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen.