An oasis

Today is Tuesday but it should be Wednesday. This is a Wednesday verse.

For with you is the well of life: and in your light shall we see light.

The deep down cold refreshing water drawn up and given to me. The well from which I am given the water of life. How do I get this water? I come and drink.

This verse was one of the lines in the liturgy of the Wednesday healing and communion service at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Houston. It was my oasis in the drought of the week.

Sundays I went to the Contemporary Service, a good ole sing and some prayers. A time of worship. We stood to sing and we stood to pray. Well some people sat but I don't hold with that.

The Wednesday service was different. It was quiet. It was an agglomeration of people from all three Sunday services drawn together by a desire for the quenching waters of Christ. We came to the well to drink.

Often I did not go to the Wednesday service because I was working. Seldom did I not go when I had the opportunity. As a moth is drawn towards light I came to the light. I do not understand why moths go to light and I do not understand why I found it necessary to go to church on a Wednesday but I do know that there there was peace.

^{John 14:27}

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Photograph desert_oasis_by_wonenownlee

Plumb-Line

Ever since I discovered plumb-lines I have been fascinated by them. How can a weight on the end of a string be so mesmerizing? Such a simple thing and yet so informative and technically. Another instance of how those of 2500 years ago were just as advanced as us. But I just sit and watch. The line hangs, pulled by gravity directly to the centre of the earth making the perfect three dimensional right angle. This is so simple and yet so awesome, more so than the autumnal fall of leaves or the cry of a newborn babe.

God built the true wall. God is holding the plumb-line, he is measuring his own work. What a relief. We do not have to build ourselves we only have to allow God to work in us.

Why the picture of a ruin? Lonely Planet Belgium describes the Abbaye de Villers-la-Ville as one of the most beautiful places in Belgium. It is indeed very peaceful. I am sure that the monks who were living there at the time of its destruction by the French in 1796 were distraught at leaving their spiritual home. God works in mysterious ways, even through ruins. He sees walls from a different angle. His is the true view.

Pecking Order

Our dogs fight. It irritates me. When my hand gets bitten as it did last week whilst I was trying to separate them during a fight it does a lot more than irritate me. It hurt. Usually they squabble because they cannot decide who is the boss, the alpha, the one who 'waters' the blade of grass first.There used to be a programme on BBC radio called "Does he take sugar?". It was a help for handicapped people. Sometimes we who are fit really do treat handicapped people as if they are not quite right in the head just because they maybe cannot see or hear or walk. So it was with Zechariah. He could not speak so rather than ask him what to call his son they asked his wife! Zechariah was only appealed to after the neighbours did not like his wife's answer.

This leads to two questions. Do I keep asking questions until I get the answer I want or am I prepared to listen to God straight away? Do I give people the respect they deserve or go by outward appearances?

Quiet Day- Devoted to prayer.

Today was the Holy Trinity Brussels Ladies Quiet Day. It was a quiet day, not silent but gentle like waves lapping against the wall. One of the first Sunday Schools I was sent to was in a church by an estuary. When the tide was in we heard the waves going slip slop on the other side of the wall. It was like that today. We were not hasty, it was a day away from the rush, a day out the ordinary Saturday runs. We sat and listened, we prayed and sang and we shared ourselves.

Out side the walls the city moved as usual. The trams rumbled by, cars and people bustled on their pre Saint Nicholas, pre Christmas, normal Saturday schedule. Passing by the Friends of Jesus Centre they had no knowledge of the peace within. I looked out, I heard the trams, I saw the ladies wrapped up in their coats hanging onto their hats in the wind. They knew nothing of the peace that we were sharing. How can you tell from the outside? Is it the same with faces as it is with façades?

How can I tell what pain is behind the faces on the street? Jesus seemed to know and sense inner anguish. How can I grow his sensitivity?

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Today we listened to teaching, we shared a banquet and we prayed. I pray that I be devoted to prayer.

photograph

http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/parishholding/david/d318-en/churches-en/st-tudwals_-en/church_view

Stone Mansions

We think that we are so successful, that our generation has progressed mankind yet over 2500 years ago the upwardly mobile were building their over-sized stone houses. What has really changed?

What are the really important things in life? I was listening to the BBC this morning. They had a interview with a man from Halfords- the chain of shops which sells accessories for cars- roof-racks, spare windscreen wipers, wash-cloths, you name it for cars but also bikes. He was saying how much their automotive sales have fallen recently and how much their bike sales have risen, partly due to a movement to respect the world that God has given us. Stone houses and all that goes into them are not environmentally friendly and that begins with the moment the first stone is hewn from the mountain where it was 'grown'.

Looking after God's world is only a small part of the good that we can do but it is a start. Just as not cutting the first stone it is a step towards in an attitude that takes God into account in all that we do.

Getting to Know You

2 Peter 3:18

The King and I was one of the first movies which I remember going to. I was enthralled. Anna and the King built a relationship, probably based more on mutual respect rather than love. But that knowledge went some way to starting a relationship.

The more you love somebody, the more you want to spend time with them. The more time you are with them the more you know them. You learn more about their good points- and the bad. But if you love them those bad aspects do not stop you wanting to spend time with the person. I am glad God loves me!

However Peter is exhorting us to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and I am purporting that the way to do this is to spend time with God. I can read about Isaac Newton, I can even attempt to read- though probably only slightly understand his writings but I will never know him and that is not only because he is dead. It is the same with Queen Elizabeth II, not that I know if she has actually written works herself though we did meet her cellulose self through Helen Mirren.

We can read books and watch biographical movies but nothing is a replacement for a first hand encounter for creating a real knowledge of a person.

When we were reading the Daily Devotion this morning this verse reminded me of a marriage. In our 37 years together we have our days when the bad parts seem to be emphasised too much but nothing can change the fact that we love each other. My mother told me soon after we were married that she had gone to our wedding intending to be sad and cry but that I looked so happy that sadness had no place.

We, the church are Christ Bride, how awesome is that. Let us grow in the knowledge of our husband by spending time with him.

Now I am going to spend some time with Jesus.

Preparing for Christmass

Mass the Eucharist Feast.

I do like to cook meals. I pour through recipe books and make lists- lists of possible dishes, lists of things to do and things to buy.

What is my Advent Preparation?

Firstly, really before Advent prepare the book for Holy Trinity Brussels

http://holytrinitybrussels.blogspot.com/

Next write a list of the other things to do

1. Write Christmas cards

It is good to remind ourselves of the reason for the season. God sharing His love with us.

2.Check dried fruit supplies

What is in my spiritual store cupboard? It feels rather bare at present.

3. Make a shopping list for things I want to buy in the UK- items which are awkward to find in Belgium.

Where can I go to replenish my spiritual supplies?