Renew Your Mind

 Jane Shilling writes today in The Telegraph "Forget all the others, Lent is the one true detox"  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/26/forget-others-lent-one-true-detox/ Often we use Lent as a time to recall those failed New Year Resolutions, and try again to "be good" for at least 40 days. While it can never be a bad idea to detox our bodies, by giving up chocolate or alcohol, or maybe detox our digital footprint by abstaining from facebook, can we use the 40 days of Lent this year to ask some deeper questions-  What does it really mean to "be good"? Who decides what is good and what is not? Paul write in Philippians 4:8, 'Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.' This Lent, I want to spend some time thinking about these things. They are sometimes called virtues, or maybe character, so I'm asking Go...

Stories so often are told about journeys... This week I have been reminded of Dorothy's famous comment as she looked around her at the strange land of Oz- "We're not in Kansas anymore!" Why are these stories of travel so compelling, for both young and old? Our family are Trekkies, and I love the sound of Jean-Luc Picard's voice at the start of each episode inviting us to "boldly go where no-one has gone before". Is it because the challenges of the unknown, the unfamiliar, the unexpected, force us to develop courage, resilience and creativity?  Is it something to do with character- a sometimes neglected part of being a human being, pushed out of our schedules by our focus on doing rather than being? Journeys of any kind will require us to do new things- whether that's defusing a Clingon argument or throwing water over a witch- but the more important growth happens when we reflect on how we do these new things. Now that we find ourselves travell...

Psalm 121 v.8 The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. So far the going has been harder than the coming. We have lived in The Netherlands for 8 years, and had to say goodbye to people and places that have been very special for us. As we cleared the house and sold our furniture, we remembered the happy times we spent there as a family. As we worshipped together with our spiritual family in church for the last time, we looked back on years of blessing, challenge, friendship and significance. In all the goodbyes, it is good to know that the Lord was there, watching over us. And now as we come to our new home, we know He is still watching. When our children were small, we would sometimes go into their rooms at night when they were asleep and watch over them.... It is good to know that my Heavenly Father watches over me in the same way- that whatever this new adventure throws at us, He whispers gently "It's OK, I'm here".

Psalm 121 v. 1,2 I lift my eyes to the mountains- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. I spent the day yesterday doing the things I have loved about living in The Netherlands- catching the train from our tiny local station, where as you wait you can watch the sheep in the field nearby; walking through the Binnenhof where I saw police on their bikes, someone important being interviewed with television cameras and the ice cream seller all happily going about their business in a way that would never happen in Downing Street or the White House; and gazing at Vermeer's radiant View of Delft hanging in The Mauritshuis My temptation was to look to these familiar and beautiful things around me for solace as I face this time of transition. Somehow I thought that they would be the things that brought me calm and anchored me at a time when the ground beneath my feet is shifting so rapidly. But in the cafe at The Mauritshuis (which is...

"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared." Luke 24:1 The sun comes up , again, on a garden. This was where our journey began- in a perfect garden, where God walked in the evening breeze. So much has happened to the human beings that God created- their journey has taken them far away from that garden, and by Friday it seemed that they had put to death their only hope of walking in the garden again. But today, in a garden of tombs, God walks again. "But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.' When she said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did...

"Something strange is happening- there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and has raised up all who have fallen asleep ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh, and he'll trmbles in fear. He has gone to search for our first parents, as for lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him victory. At th sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone, "My Lord be with you all!" Christ answered him, "And with your spirit." He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying "Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, an...

Mid-afternoon Darkness drops Like a stone. Day, interrupted Hold your breath- Here God meets death. Son, separated From the Father. Torn apart From light, From love, From life. Journey's unexpected end..... It is finished.