back to work

I have been back to work now for a week after a two week holiday. We spent a very enjoyable week in the Austrian Tyrol and then some equally enjoyable days with the family in the West Midlands.
Our week in Austria was based in the village of Fieberbrunn. On our first morning there we had a walk round the village led by the Hotel owner who had lived there all his life. He explained some of the customs and what life was like in a Tyrolean village. I had noticed that written with chalk above the doors of many of the houses( and on our hotel) was the following, 20 C+M+B 08. Thankfully he explained this as he described some of their Advent and Christmas customs. The letters have 2 meanings. They are the initial letters of the traditional names given to the magi - Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They also abbreviate the Latin words - Christus mansionem benedicat( may Christ bless this house). At Epiphany 3 boys dressed as the wise men accompany the local priest as they visit the houses of the village and where they are received with a gift( usually now money which is given to an international charity) the letters, numbers and crosses are chalked above the door(the numbers indicating the year). Austria is very much a Roman Catholic nation and this custom is seen by the villagers as an important one. The people will leave this chalk writing on the doorpost throughout the whole year and would never think of wiping it clean. Looking for information on the internet it would seem that this custom originated in Germany or Poland.

Nearly on Holiday

Just tying up a few loose ends on this Friday morning before a week's 'holiday'. After a weekend when we will catch up with our grandchildren( and their parents), I have the task of decorating the study during the week. I mentioned this in an email to the secretary of Churches Together in Harrogate who sent me this -

Enjoy the emulsion. “I will enter the study with a paint brush in my hand, I will enter the room with praise; I will say this is the week when the study will be done, I will rejoice for it will make me glad. It will make me glad, it will make me glad…”

I am not sure I will be able to sing that song again. But at least it was not one of my favourites.

Wednesday evening

I dashed home on Wednesday evening after the induction of the new president of Churches Together in Harrogate. It was good to be there and support Ian from St Paul's URC( fellow Scot and member of the St Andrew's society) who was taking on this role. Ian spoke briefly about his hopes for this year and used words from Galatians to set the scene. He quoted from Galatians 6:10 - 'Whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith'.
Paul's words are a reminder of the challenge to the church to look out towards the community while not forgetting the need to also look towards the community of faith. It brought to mind the well worn words about 'gathering for worship and scattering for mission'. In these days sometimes the emphasis seems at times entirely on the call to 'scatter for mission'. But we will surely only be able to do that effectively if we 'gather for worship'.

The reason I dashed home was to watch the UEFA cup final. I managed to see the last 15 minutes of the first half and the rest of the game. Disappointing result for this Rangers supporter who had hoped that his team might win a European trophy for the second time. This disappointment was intensified by the after march actions of a mindless minority who did the reputation of Rangers fans no good at all.

Prayers

A new 'middle aged' cell group at Church met this week and produced some daily prayers to be used each day between Ascension and Pentecost.
The prayers can be found at

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dmw43qs_7dmqhmmdm&hl=en

The prayers particularly focus on discussions we are having with a nearby URC about forming an Ecumenical Partnership.

I came across this prayer yesterday. Made me think.

How do I build your ‘house’ – your kingdom, Lord?

I think I’d find it easier
if you told me to build
a temple of bricks and mortar.
That’s tangible. I could measure my progress.
What is it you want me to build?
You say you don’t live in a temple made by human hands (Acts 17:24)
But you also say my body is your temple (1 Corinthians 6:19)
and that we together as Christian community are your temple (1 Corinthians 3:16).

So it seems it is my very life and my relationships
that build a dwelling place for your Spirit, Jesus.
Today may everything I say and do be a building block
creating space where you are pleased to dwell.
When I meet with others remind me to ask:
‘Would God be pleased to dwell with us in this conversation… this activity?’
And when I spend time and money on my own lifestyle
let me be just as generous with time and money to help
your kingdom to come on earth just as it is in heaven.
(Sheila Pritchard)

Some words of Oscar Romero

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No programme accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

Wise and thought-provoking words

Burns night

Burns night will rapidly be upon us. This year I am preparing for 3 Burns Suppers. At two I am giving the Immortal Memory and at the other I simply need to say the Selkirk grace.
I do enjoy reading Burns and wished I had started to read him years ago. Sadly we did very little of Burns at school and there was more Shakespeare on the curriculum( and this in Scottish schools!).
In his poem 'Address to the unco guid'( address to the rigidly righteous) Burns presents a biting satire of those who look down on others with a self righteousness. The poem is prefaced by a reference to Ecclesiastes 7:16.
The first verse reads:

O ye wha are sae guid yersel
Sae pious and sae holy
Ye’ve nought to do but mark and tell
Your neighbours’ fauts and follies
Whase life is like a weel- gaun mill
Supplied with store o' water,
the heapet happer's ebbing still
and still the clap plays clatter.

The final verse reminds the reader -

Who made the heart, tis he alone
Decidedly can try us
He knows each chord, its various tone
Each spring, its various bias
Then at the balance, let’s be mute
We never can adjust it
What’s done we partly may compute
But know not what’s resisted.

Wise words from the Bard.