tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19988058719032367042024-03-14T04:59:08.342+00:00the whiff of GodFraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-74539478266136753212021-05-07T09:00:00.001+01:002021-05-07T09:00:00.221+01:00on worshiping well<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">What are we doing when we gather for worship on Sunday? The hymns, the readings, prayers, sermon, and Eucharist. What do they amount to? The simple answer is this: to give glory to God. We meet to worship God, to give thanks, and to express our love and our devotion to the one who loved us first and to a degree beyond our wildest imagining. Indeed the origin of the word worship means <i>worthy of honour</i>. </span></p><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yBQouZqWX-E/YI-2GAVbIKI/AAAAAAAAAf4/wXfpHwxPfNAdd4SvfcpN6h2X0ckE4CocQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/4133244E-3CA3-4321-A391-4B1965B9C2F7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yBQouZqWX-E/YI-2GAVbIKI/AAAAAAAAAf4/wXfpHwxPfNAdd4SvfcpN6h2X0ckE4CocQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/4133244E-3CA3-4321-A391-4B1965B9C2F7.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Sometimes, however, we inadvertently make worship about ourselves. We start focussing on how much our likes and desires are being satisfied. We choose a church that worships in a particular way because we prefer that. We want to sing our favourite hymns. We don’t want liturgy to deviate from a familiar and comforting formula. We need to sit in our favourite pew. We enjoy being noticed when we contribute from the front. Soon worship becomes less about honouring God and more about self-satisfaction. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Worship isn’t simply a matter of what takes place on a Sunday morning. For Christians it is a way of life. All that we do should honour God: the way we lead our lives, conduct ourselves at work, home and in the community — and not least how we sustain prayerful union with God through our daily prayer and devotional life. As we become more adept at this, and our personal prayer life becomes richer, we begin to discover that Sunday worship is less about pleasing us and instead is the culmination and fulfilment of our weekday worship, in which we join with others to collectively glorify God. This week, why not take time to prayerfully reflect on who is being honoured by your worship. And if you’d like some resources to help with your prayer life at home, a good place to start is <a href="https://www.stanneandallsaints.org.uk/prayer/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-18110887744734272602021-04-30T09:00:00.002+01:002021-05-02T07:32:01.937+01:00on the existence of God<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Earlier this month, the Swiss theologian Hans Küng died. He was a giant in the world of academic theology and the enormous size of the books he produced was matched only by his reputation, not just in his native Roman Catholic Church, with whom he had a sometimes difficult relationship, but across Christian traditions. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4pc7V_YzNWs/YI5GdGgmHcI/AAAAAAAAAfo/2Uny3PIyw2IAQIkZqBkaHTM3E1ZeSLgDACLcBGAsYHQ/s1868/AFAD856E-9E3E-4A43-9C93-64A438B31012.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1868" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4pc7V_YzNWs/YI5GdGgmHcI/AAAAAAAAAfo/2Uny3PIyw2IAQIkZqBkaHTM3E1ZeSLgDACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/AFAD856E-9E3E-4A43-9C93-64A438B31012.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span><p><span><br /></span></p>Many years ago he came to have dinner one evening, at a Vicarage where I was lodging. He was charming and gracious, with a sharp mind and a warm sense of humour. As he was leaving my Vicar asked him to sign some books. Noticing that one, titled </span><i>Does God Exist?,</i></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> was about 800 pages long, the Vicar’s wife said, “Hans, I’m never going to read all that. So just tell me: does he or doesn’t he?” We all roared with laughter and with a twinkle in his eye and an enigmatic smile the great man responded, “I’m afraid you’ll have to read it to find out</span><span style="font-size: large;">.”</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The question of God’s existence can neither be proven nor disproven. This is what makes the arguments between people of faith and ‘New Atheists’ so futile. For Christians, however, our belief in God comes partly from a choice we’ve made as followers of Jesus, and partly from the tradition handed down to us. But the main evidence comes from the transformation of our inner life through spiritual practice. In discovering prayerful union with God, we encounter love, peace and fullness of life that nothing else in this world can touch. </span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-38706413562559291142021-04-23T09:00:00.001+01:002021-04-23T09:00:00.217+01:00on reading the bible aloud<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In her sermon last Sunday, Vanessa spoke of the benefit of reading the Bible aloud. It’s a wonderful way to read scripture, enabling the meaning and language to come alive. There are days when I become aware that I’m not taking in the passage I’m reading, perhaps because of tiredness. Reading aloud helps me concentrate and I’ll often notice points I might otherwise have missed. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tNeisiycnRg/YH6rjDsn6cI/AAAAAAAAAfE/WFzmZASqriUqe1-ISIuAmy60O3qDTuMxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/B34B0D24-0762-4928-BC62-388E473CBE3C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tNeisiycnRg/YH6rjDsn6cI/AAAAAAAAAfE/WFzmZASqriUqe1-ISIuAmy60O3qDTuMxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/B34B0D24-0762-4928-BC62-388E473CBE3C.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I first learned the benefit of reading out loud with poetry. Many poems are written to be heard. Unless you speak them, much of the rhythm, word play and meaning can be lost. Take this line from Walt Whitman’s </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Beat! Beat! Drums!</i> ‘So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.’ Read it aloud to yourself, and notice how it comes to life. The choice of the words ‘pound’ and ‘shrill’ mean we can practically hear the drums and bugles. When we read aloud we hear why the writer chose certain words. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">There’s a long Christian tradition of speaking scripture. Even monks living in silent orders were encouraged to read scriptures aloud during their private devotions. By how could they do this without making a noise? They mouthed the words as they went along. That’s another way to slow down and focus, particularly if we’re a bit shy about being overheard. When we read the Bible aloud we discover the different voices that are present in it - priests, historians, poets, storytellers, letter writers and more. And behind them all, the still, small voice of God. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">photo: Alexandra Fuller</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-1101000532776521932021-04-02T09:00:00.011+01:002021-04-03T21:17:17.463+01:00on placing hope in things unseen<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i>Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen</i><span> </span><span>(Hebrews 11:1).</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This verse came to mind recently with regard to the vaccine against Covid-19. On this little miracle of science hangs our hope of a way through the pandemic. We cannot see with the naked eye the active ingredients of a vaccine, which weigh a few millionths of a gram, and yet we know these little jabs will offer the protection we need to begin to live freer lives again. The scientists who undertook and peer-reviewed the research are our witnesses to their efficacy and safety. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Of course, the writer of Hebrews was talking about Jesus not jabs. We have not seen him either, yet our hope is built on faith in him and on those witnesses whose encounters with him are handed down to us in the gospels. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">If you’ve had your vaccination, you may know about it because of a pain in your arm or from feeling off colour for a day or two. Likewise, our faith in an unseen God is borne out by the side effects we experience - though these are usually not of the unpleasant kind... The devotional life brings with it a profound encounter with the unconditional love of God, an assurance that our past failings need not weigh us down, and an ability to plug into a source of power that can change lives for good. With Jesus we emerge from the dark tomb of a life pre-occupied with self, into the dawn of a new day in which we are freed to follow him and centre ourselves on his loving kindness.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c4fBNcTQdTg/YGGbR0NUp5I/AAAAAAAAAd8/4J9U0hjmFFAN2S3C7PmyBpwGMY9rcud-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/pisit-heng-ci1F55HaVWQ-unsplash.jpg" /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The wind is sometimes used as an illustration to help explain God to children. Although you can’t see the wind, you can see and feel the effect it has. And so, therefore, with God.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, that’s alright for starters I suppose, but it doesn’t really come close to helping us get to grips with the incomprehensible concept of God. What does help, is the person of Jesus Christ. In St Paul’s memorable phrase, <i>“He is the image of the invisible God,”</i> (Col 1:15). In other words, if we want to know what God is like, look to Jesus. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">And what we discover there, is a heart of love. The starting point of our faith is simply this: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We are loved. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">God is the source of that love and indeed his very nature <i>is</i> love (1 John 4:16) We are created to be recipients of that love, and in the person of Jesus Christ we find God’s love given full expression.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth,"</i> (John 1:14). Our journey of faith into the heart of God’s love begins with following Jesus. Reading his words, following his example, becoming more like him. This is our task. And, as a church, we help one another with this task. We allow God to love us (which takes work), we allow ourselves to be loved by others (that takes work too) and we commit ourself to loving them in return (that <i>really</i> takes work). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Work takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a project. And so we pray for courage and strength and perseverance to pursue this work, making ourselves part of the currency of love in our community. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The man Jesus, fully human, came and dwelt among us. Showed us the way of love. A love that he was so committed to, that it took him all the way to the cross. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">But the story doesn’t end there. He rises to new life as Christ, fully alive and present to us in the spiritual and heavenly realm. This is the cause of our rejoicing on Easter morning. That whenever we open his gospel, open our hearts in prayer, share his body in the Eucharist, we too enter that heavenly realm and meet him there -- while also still being right here, right now, on Earth. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alleluia Christ is risen. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">He is risen indeed, alleluia. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@pisitheng?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Pisit Heng</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/easter-tomb?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-26049739700269170042021-03-26T09:00:00.004+00:002021-03-26T09:00:01.563+00:00on protest<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Not everyone is comfortable participating in public protests or demonstrations. Perhaps it doesn't feel polite, turning up as a mob to chant and make one's voice heard on an important issue of the day. Or maybe we don't like the kind of people demonstrations sometimes attract. Or we might feel we're not the protesting type; unsure if it will actually change anything. Or possibly we just don’t like crowds. And yet there are time when we must make our voice heard and stand up for what is right. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qZqEm77QN4s/YFIGzAcv6FI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Y3MTRib12qcuMfTPs3viqz-w31xJdbgDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1000/FB_IMG_1614659518787.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qZqEm77QN4s/YFIGzAcv6FI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Y3MTRib12qcuMfTPs3viqz-w31xJdbgDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/FB_IMG_1614659518787.jpg" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is a long tradition of protest in the Bible. The Old Testament prophets were all about calling out injustice and godlessness in their society, sometimes courageously telling their king that the way he ruled was against God's commandments. More recently, you may have seen the photograph<i> (above)</i> of a nun in Burma, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng, kneeling before armed police pleading with them to shoot her rather than the young protestors calling for a return to democracy. God continues to call his people to speak truth to power whenever society forgets the values of the kingdom of God.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, with the crowds shouting 'hosanna' and paving his way with palms, was a form of protest. It was a parody of the Roman military processions of the time designed to remind people of their power and strength. Jesus’ procession was a demonstration of a different type of reign, an indicator that Jesus’ kingship is based not on power, but on love, self-sacrifice and care for the poor. </span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #999999;">photo: Radio Veritas Asi</span></span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-28959287471166171212021-03-19T09:00:00.008+00:002021-03-19T09:00:00.137+00:00on praying the stations of the cross<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">What does it mean to follow Jesus? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This is the question at the heart of every Christian’s experience. We each seek, in our own way, to follow his teaching and example in our life so that we, in turn, become more like him. Through prayer and devotions we invite Jesus to inhabit our inner selves, to feel closer to him and to his leading in our life. When we read a gospel passage, we might think about which character we most identify with and imagine how they felt after their encounter with Jesus. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qk8_CCOw4cg/YE3xcC4urTI/AAAAAAAAAc0/69WnqNdNwbUrXvEH9_LwDEisQVza_CvRwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/IMG_2881.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="884" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qk8_CCOw4cg/YE3xcC4urTI/AAAAAAAAAc0/69WnqNdNwbUrXvEH9_LwDEisQVza_CvRwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_2881.jpeg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">During Passiontide (the fortnight before Easter) we use another way of following Jesus, <b>Stations of the Cross.</b> The fourteen images of Jesus’ passion on the walls of St Anne’s, allow us to take a prayer pilgrimage with Jesus on his journey to crucifixion. It’s a sombre and sorrowful journey, as we set ourselves alongside Jesus in the suffering he undergoes. As we do so, we pray for those who suffer in our world today. We reflect on the examples of kindness shown to Jesus by courageous people during his trials. The Stations of the Cross enable us to profoundly experience the lengths to which God is prepared to go, to show us how loved we are. In turn, they inspire us to give of ourselves in love to others. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This year, because of the pandemic, we cannot be in church to journey the stations, but we can pray them at home. We've set up a <a href="https://www.stanneandallsaints.org.uk/stations-of-the-cross/" target="_blank">special page on St Anne's website</a> where you can download the images and a series of reflections. You might wish to read and consider one station a day in the fortnight before Easter, or read them in chunks, or give an hour of your time to slowly reading and praying them all in one sitting. I pray they will be a blessing and bring you closer to the love of Jesus this Passiontide.</span></p><div><br /></div>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-18006669168330135252021-03-12T10:57:00.000+00:002021-03-12T10:57:01.002+00:00on feeling far from God<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">What do we do when we feel far from God? There are always times in life when it’s hard to pray, or open our Bible, or work up the enthusiasm for church. These might be described as <i>desert experiences</i> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">where life feels dry, dull, or devoid of richness. Just as life has its ups and downs, so too does our faith. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The season of Lent mirrors the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness: a trying time indeed. No scriptures to hand. No synagogue or temple to worship in. No home comforts, nor even any certainty where his next meal would come from. And 40 days is a long time. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nHAL3UUYPHc/YEtHjmxP7DI/AAAAAAAAAck/7A0_xRFBkLkekxIZNj5ngDKE04xLjATlACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/kelly-sikkema-1hUldA7n5Yw-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nHAL3UUYPHc/YEtHjmxP7DI/AAAAAAAAAck/7A0_xRFBkLkekxIZNj5ngDKE04xLjATlACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/kelly-sikkema-1hUldA7n5Yw-unsplash.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I find by the time we get to this stage of Lent it's becoming somewhat trying. All those good intentions I began with – my Lenten fast, that book I said I’d read, daily rhythms of prayer – all begin to come under pressure. And there's that little voice in my head that says, ‘Well, it doesn’t <i>really</i> matter, does it?’ Where does that come from? It's precisely the same voice that tried to tempt our Lord away from his purpose on his desert retreat. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">What can we do in such circumstances? Keep going! The devotional life rests on structure and discipline. It won’t feel rewarding every day, but our commitment to showing up for God will always bear fruit. Maybe not today. But one day soon where, instead of hearing the tempter’s voice, it's the still small voice of God speaking to us. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Make sure you don’t miss it.</span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Kelly Sikkema</a> on <a>Unsplash</a></span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-22626831967717541242021-03-05T09:00:00.003+00:002021-03-05T09:00:04.360+00:00on making friends with time<p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rothko" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Mark Rothko</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, an American artist who died in 1970, has a special room to house his paintings at </span><a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/display/in-the-studio/mark-rothko" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Tate Modern</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. His canvases are large and abstract, and seemingly very simple. The patterns are plain, the colours all rather similar and muted. If you saw one elsewhere in the gallery, hanging between the work of other ‘shoutier’ artists, you might not give them a second look. But in the Tate’s low-ceilinged </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Rothko Room</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">, nine paintings hanging together in dim light, these works command your attention. The room is hushed, almost chapel-like, with benches to sit on while you </span>contemplate<span style="font-family: inherit;"> these works. In such a setting, with no other distractions, the paintings come to life. As I discovered last time I visited, when you attend to them fully, they start to hum and pulse with a mystical energy. They almost become three-dimensional. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BE8VpPfMSjk/YDtufC_UfJI/AAAAAAAAAcA/xWDAhVBUzHkzcwOHZ4CnuFyPob_Hsxr7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/rothko_thumbnail.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BE8VpPfMSjk/YDtufC_UfJI/AAAAAAAAAcA/xWDAhVBUzHkzcwOHZ4CnuFyPob_Hsxr7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/rothko_thumbnail.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Sister Wendy Beckett, who was an art historian as well as a nun, said that the beauty of some paintings, as with so much in life, is only revealed in time. “Silence is making-friends-with-time,” <a href="https://spckpublishing.co.uk/the-art-of-lent" target="_blank">she wrote</a>. “Silence floats free with time, letting the patterns of the moments unfold at its own pace. It is a way of becoming free, not only for the practical advantage of being able to ‘see’ the beauty in what is grey, for example, but at a far deeper level. In silence we break the hold time has on us, and accept our true home is in eternity.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Lent is a season for stillness and for discovering God in the ordinary. When we give our attention to God, freed from other distractions, then we will encounter the pulse of life in our relationship with God. As the psalmist wrote, “Let awe restrain you from sin; while you rest, meditate in silence.” (Psalm 4:4 <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/bibles/bible-versions/revised-english-bible" target="_blank">REB</a>)</span></p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-64850231374673966882021-02-19T09:00:00.001+00:002021-02-19T09:00:08.351+00:00on keeping spiritually fit<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">One of the symptoms of ‘Long COVID’ that I’ve been learning to live with is a weakened left arm. The muscles ache when required to do the slightest thing, such as holding a cup of coffee. So I’ve been trying some weight-lifting exercises to build it up. It will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that training weights are not something we possess in the vicarage, so I’ve had to improvise. The best thing I’ve found is a nice big heavy King James Bible. With my arm stretched out and the Bible balanced on the palm of my hand I raise and lower it a few times. Then I swing it a few times as if I was throwing a frisbee.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Some might think this a frivolous use of a Bible, but the scriptures are all about exercise. Our daily devotions are a spiritual exercise that build up the muscle of our soul, better enabling us to live prayerfully and in tune with God. Breathing in the gospel each day helps us to breathe out the love of Jesus to those around us, and to grow more like him.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Like people who join a gym but seldom go, even although they know it is good for them, it is easy to get out of the habit of daily prayer and Bible reading. That’s what’s great about this season of Lent we find ourselves in. It’s an opportunity to redouble our efforts, set aside distractions, and focus anew on taking time alone with God each day. </span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-43389281035047605232021-02-12T09:00:00.002+00:002021-02-13T12:19:10.926+00:00on lent in lockdown <p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This week sees the start of </span><strong style="font-family: inherit;">Lent</strong><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">: a penitential season where we devote ourselves to the three-fold practice of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It's a welcome opportunity to recover a more simple way of living and, freed from the clutter of modern life, to discover that God — in the words of theologian Paul Tillich — is the ground of our being.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">After nearly a year of lockdown, shielding and social-distancing you may feel you have had enough of the simple life, and who could blame you? Yet I'd like to encourage you to embrace Lent, and to see our current circumstances as giving us a head start in really devoting ourselves to it. As St Anne's we will support your Lent observance in a number of ways.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">On <strong>Ash Wednesday</strong> (17th) the church will be open for private prayer from Noon to 1pm, where you will be able to ash yourself using a simple liturgy. We're also going to be making use of the Church of England's <strong>Lent book</strong>, <em>God's Story, Our Story.</em> If you receive this news sheet by post, then you will find a copy enclosed. For those reading this via email and WhatsApp, you can request a copy from the parish office. For each day in Lent the book provides a short Bible reading, reflection and prayer. We will also be featuring readings from the book in our weekday prayers online. And later in Lent, we'll be offering you a variety of ways to pray the <strong>Stations of the Cross</strong>.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Our <strong>Lent appeal</strong> this year aims to help us keep the story being told at St Anne's, and we're asking you to make a special contribution to church funds which have been severely impacted by the pandemic. You can donate online at stanneandallsaints.org.uk/give, or post a cheque payable to 'St Anne and All Saints PCC' to Norman Campbell (SB pls complete).</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I wish you a very blessed and holy Lenten season, and will be continuing to pray for you throughout.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-86923231566808693722021-02-05T09:34:00.003+00:002021-02-07T09:41:52.012+00:00on living in ordinary time<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This week in the Church calendar we entered ‘Ordinary Time,’ the name given to those periods of the year when we aren’t marking a season such as Advent, Lent or Eastertide. Candlemas last week marked the end of 40 days of Christmastide, which includes Epiphany. On 17 February we will mark the beginning of Lent, so this spell of Ordinary Time is rather short. We will have several more months of it after Trinity Sunday later in the year. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The seasons of the Church calendar help us to give an intentional focus to aspects of the life of Jesus - his birth (Christmas), revelation (Epiphany), trials in the wilderness (Lent), passion and crucifixion (Holy Week), resurrection (Easter). These times give us a structure to journey with Jesus through his life and ministry. It also gives us some notable feast days and holidays (originally the word for holiday was ‘Holy Day’).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Ordinary Time is rather different. There is nothing distinctive about it. It is marked by neither fasting nor feast days. It’s a time for the day-in day-out business of life and following Jesus. This last year, however, it feels like we’ve been living a lot more Ordinary Time than usual, as lockdown and restrictions have inhibited our worship together and daily life has been stripped of many of the things which enrich us. But Ordinary Time has its own purpose, for life is made up of the ordinary: those day-to-day routines and chores. And when we care to attend to them we will see that they are shot through with their own moments of grace. Whether in lockdown or Ordinary Time, these are the days given to us to practice noticing the presence of God. </span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-46437682893127874342021-01-29T09:00:00.003+00:002021-01-29T09:00:03.210+00:00on seeing church through the eyes of a five-year old<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">One of the things I miss during lockdown are class visits from primary schools. Often we’ll have 60 fidgeting five-year olds squashed into the pews, wide-eyed and excited by a trip out of class. Vanessa and I talk to them about what they can see. They’re always curious about the old pulpit, the brass eagle lectern and that strange machine in the corner with all the tubes sticking out of it.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We burn some incense, which provokes a lot of theatrical coughing, and explain how smelly congregations used to be in the old days and that incense was a way of sweetening the atmosphere. We show them the churchwardens staves, not much used these days, but historically used to keep order in church or prod awake the odd snoozing parishioner during the sermon — a practice I’m all for reviving! We’ll gather around the font to talk about baptism, pouring water while we do so. And then we sprinkle them, to much uproar and a lot of delighted squeals.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And we’ll talk about candles, which are lit before their arrival. We explain how necessary they were in the days before electric light. Many churches kept them afterwards, not just because they’re pretty, but to remind us of something important about Jesus, the light of the world, who leads us through life’s dark patches and shows us the way to live. Or as the old man Simeon in the temple put it when presented with the Christ child, “A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2.32). Happy Candlemas.</span></span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-40639025820259543062021-01-18T21:10:00.003+00:002021-01-20T18:11:01.659+00:00on how to be an ex-president <p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I am writing this just before the inauguration of a new American president, in which Joe Biden will be sworn in as the new incumbent of the White House. I’m praying that day will pass smoothly. Some of the nations’s former presidents will be on-hand to witness the ceremony. However the oldest living ex-president will be absent.</span></span></p><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span class="" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br class="" /></span></div><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Jimmy Carter, who was in office from 1977-1981, is now 96 years old. After some recent falls he is too frail to travel to Washington. A committed Christian, the thing for which Carter is most proud about his time in office is that, during those four years, the USA never fired a single shot in conflict. But it is out of office that I think he has really shone. </span></div><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Determined that he would never use his status as a former president to enrich himself, he instead moved back to his home in Plains, Georgia, to resume a down-to-earth life: including teaching a regular Bible Class at his church and volunteering a week each year to build homes for those who needed them.</span></div><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span class="" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br class="" /></span></div><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Carter Centre, which he and his wife Rosalynn set up, has worked across the globe to resolve conflicts and eliminate disease. They have been instrumental in dramatically reducing the incidence of Guinea worm disease, which now looks set to become the first disease since smallpox to be eradicated globally. I do hope Jimmy Carter lives to see that happen. </span></div><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">For me, he stands as a great example of Christian values put into practice for the benefit of others, for which the words of the master in Jesus’ parable of the talents seem apt: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”</span></div>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-84459454641288839962021-01-15T09:00:00.004+00:002021-01-17T10:12:13.124+00:00on feeling weary<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Doing nothing can be so exhausting! There’s a real weariness that can arise from life in lockdown, a slow seeping away of the energy needed to find constructive things to do. Even those who have not been ill with Covid-19 are finding that it can be hard to sustain concentration on anything for long. And without being able to gather together with others, so many of the things in life that are stimulating or enriching are currently out of reach.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The one thing we can do - indeed must do - is take care of ourselves. A nun, who has spent her life in the lockdown of a cloistered religious life, advises that having a daily routine is key. Creating a structure for the day, a timetable even, where getting up, eating, exercising, prayer, work and leisure all have their rhythm. I’ve been using the opportunity to phone up old friends and have a good long chat, something I realise I used to do a lot more before the days of email, texting and social media. It’s crucial not to become isolated. </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Irish poet and priest, John O’Donohue (1956-2008) wrote a blessing for one who is exhausted, which includes these words: </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You have been forced to enter empty time.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The desire that drove you has relinquished.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">There is nothing else to do now but rest </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And patiently learn to receive the self </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You have forsaken for the race of days... </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Gradually, you will return to yourself, </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Having learned a new respect for your heart </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And the joy that dwells far within slow time.</span></span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-55699458285639804402021-01-08T09:00:00.001+00:002021-01-08T09:00:03.243+00:00on taking stock of our lives<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The start of a new year often prompts us to reflect on our lives and consider what changes we might want to make. New Year resolutions, as with Lenten fasts, often focus on what we might give up. It’s a boom time for the diet industry as people focus on losing some weight; it’s a less good month for the drinks industry as many observe ‘Dry January’ to give their livers a rest after indulging at Christmas. (I was doing fine until John handed me a glass of wine on New Year’s Day…)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Such opportunities for reflection are woven into Christian practice. We do this, for example, in the prayer of confession we say at the start of the Eucharist, offering up those moments in the week where we perhaps didn’t show our best selves to the world, asking God to help us do better. We can also say these prayers on behalf of the world — making our confession for the destruction of God’s creation, or the suffering that humanity inflicts.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Taking time to reflect at the end of each day is a long-established Christian practice. St Ignatius encouraged Christians to undertake a daily ‘Examen’, not only calling to minds the part of the day that went wrong for us (‘desolation’) but also offering thanksgiving to God for those moments in the day we are thankful for (‘consolation’). Take a moment to still yourself and open up to God’s presence, and ask: Where did I see God’s presence today? What am I thankful for? What feelings did I have today (positive and negative)? What should I pray for? How do I feel about tomorrow? You can read more about how to use these questions in your prayer time at: www.chrisgribble.com/the-daily-examen-five-key-questions/</span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-15540149269069998222021-01-01T16:27:00.008+00:002021-01-06T16:33:24.406+00:00on being ready for the unexpected <p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Happy New Year! I wish you every blessing for 2021. If last year taught us anything it is that the unexpected is always around the corner, so I will refrain from making any predictions about what lies in store for us. Whatever it brings, we must ensure we are in a state of spiritual readiness to respond to whatever life brings.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Jesus told his followers a parable to illustrate this point (Matthew 25.1-13). The bridesmaids at a wedding were due to greet the bridegroom at night. Each bridesmaid carried an oil-burning lamp so they could see in the dark. However, not all of them had brought spare oil with them, and their lamps went out. While they were away buying new oil, the bridegroom arrived and the prepared bridesmaids went into the banquet with him. When the others arrived, their lamps replenished, it was too late and the door was locked.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">For us as Christians, keeping on top of our devotional life helps us to be alert to what God requires of us. The mission of the church has been described as ‘seeing what God is up to in the world and joining in.’ Only when we stayed tuned into God through daily prayer can we discern that. When we do, we also discover greater inner resilience and resources to deal with the unexpected. Whatever 2021 brings, I pray it will a year in which you can deepen your walk with God.</p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-28325737182165945322020-12-25T07:04:00.007+00:002021-01-06T23:28:34.355+00:00on keeping it real<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the things I like about Mark’s gospel — which some of us have been reading during Advent — and what I like about it is that many of the people featured are either a bit bonkers or something of a letdown.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, there’s humanity right there in a nutshell. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you still believe that you are the normal one then I’m sorry to disabuse you of that notion. Really. We’re all a bit cranky, egotistical, judgemental, eccentric, grumpy, obsessed with the wrong things, inattentive to the right things, snobbish, arrogant or generally potty! And that’s okay.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m not suggesting all of us are all of these things, but all of us are a mix of some of them. What we aren’t is normal. The good news is that God loves us just as we are, utterly and completely. The bad news is that we can’t encounter that love fully while we’re still pretending we’re better than others. The devotional life we aspire to is one where we accept our individual peculiarities. And when we do that, it’s a wee bit easier to accept everybody else’s weirdness.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When St Paul wrote that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’, as he does in Romans 3, he doesn’t mean we’ve all done some naughty things that we should feel embarrassed about (that goes without saying). No, it goes much deeper than that, and means coming to terms with our own self-righteousness that makes us believe we’re better than others. It’s pretending you’re the normal one when others aren’t that’s the real sin. </span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The good news is that Jesus Christ is a great leveller. So when we stop getting all hoity-toity about other people, and start embracing and learning to understand our own peculiarities then we can more fully discover that scandalous love of God that takes us as we are. That’s what grace means.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The process of faith, of deepening our spirituality, begins with the phrase ‘know thyself.’ Not as you’d like to think of yourself, but the <i>you</i> you really are. That’s what humility is. Being able to recognise and admit to yourself: I’m a bit fearful at times. Or I feel a bit inadequate compared to others, so I behave oddly or speak harshly about them to make myself feel better. I struggle to recognise that I’m not actually better than others, because… well, just look at them… but also because pointing the finger is so much easier than the work of self-examination. I feel insecure. I’m shy. I don’t have very much patience with other people. I need to be admired or have opportunities to show off, in order to feel better about myself. I’d rather avoid people who are different from me because I can’t be bothered learning to understand their culture, their values, their customs because I worry it’ll take something away from me. (It won’t). I can’t cope with the speed that society is changing. I so dislike change that I’ll do what I can to control other people or situations I find myself in.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The great thing about the salvation that Jesus offers is that, while we’re undertaking the business of discovering and accepting our own particular peculiarities, we have absolutely no need to feel rubbish about ourselves. We’re loved by God just as we are. Jesus simply wants to lead us into a deeper loving union with God. </span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So while we’re letting go of our pretences about ourselves (which can feel scary, and sometimes be challenging) we can also let go of our hang-ups. Because God will hold onto us, and support us, when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and form us into new people. </span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That isn’t a process that happens overnight. It’s a lifetime’s work, rooted in a practice of daily prayer and devotions that invites Christ to lead us into wholeness.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think Mary, the mother of Jesus, only a girl really, understood this. She seemed so tuned into God’s wavelength and had sufficient self-insight to attend to the work of God in her life, and the extraordinary announcement of the baby she was about to have. </span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How can you be sure that God accepts the weird and peculiar <i>you</i> that you are? Because he took on the weirdness of humanity in this little Christ child we celebrate today. God loves us in all our diversity and peculiarity and wrong-headedness and self-delusion — loves us enough to think — yeah, I’ll have a bit of that. I’ll enter right into that whole experience so they’ll know I’m totally with them. That I’m alongside them in all they’re going through. That if they’ll listen to me they’ll understand they could become so much fulfilled than they are, experience a much richer interior life, and they’ll know that I take them as they are because I’ve been there, done that and I’ve got the scars to prove it.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">and the government shall be upon his shoulder:</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">— Isaiah 9:6</span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-27745910382869652482020-12-18T09:00:00.001+00:002020-12-18T09:00:05.867+00:00on predicting the future<p><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">This time last year we had just had a General Election. In the run-up to the vote, candidates made all sorts of promises based on their predictions for the future. What nobody was counting on was a global pandemic that swiftly changed priorities and left some election promises </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">in tatters. We fool ourselves when we assume that life always stays on the same trajectory.</span></p><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">As Christians, we have a very particular expectation about what the future will bring, based on our hope in a loving and faithful God. The last book in the Bible, the Revelation of St John, paints a wonderful picture of God’s future kingdom: A place where people will hunger and thirst no more; where the shepherd will guide them to drink from the deep waters of life. Where the home of God is among mortals, and he will dwell with them and wipe every tear from their eyes. No more mourning or crying or pain. A place where the tree of life bears life-giving fruit, and its leaves are </div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">for the healing of the nations <i>(Revelation 21.1-4 & 22.1-5).</i></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">What a powerful and exciting vision of the future. It is not a shallow promise made by people who cannot predict the future, but is God’s promise of a new kingdom where domination of the powerless by the powerful will end and God will reign amongst his people. This is the manifesto that Jesus announced when he said, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand.’</div>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-40731378322936280462020-12-12T09:30:00.008+00:002020-12-12T09:30:00.909+00:00on having the courage to show our true selves<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The leaves have pretty much all dropped from the trees in the park. I have loved how the long, warm sunlight of autumn strikes them and brings such vividness to their gold, russet and bronze tones against the deep blue of the sky. Show me a painting in a gallery as uplifting and bedazzling as that.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">You may have thought, like me, that the leaf colours of autumn signify their death. But this is not so. Our resident horticulturist tells me that when the green fades, each leaf reveals its true colour: one that was there all along. The chlorophyl that allows a tree to convert light to energy is what makes the leaf green. Once the tree has no need to do that, the green fades and the leaves reveals their hidden selves.</p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16.1px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">What does it take for us to show our true self to the world? — the one that is hidden under the pretences and masks we put on, so the world doesn’t see who we really are. The way we dress and act and talk which sometimes arises from a fear of being judged by others for who we really are. God wants to help us trust in him enough to not worry about the opinions of others but instead to drop our false selves to become the dazzling individual that is beloved by God and created in his image. And when we do so, we notice how much closer to God we feel. </p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-72582043231405406252020-12-05T09:30:00.000+00:002020-12-05T09:30:03.350+00:00on giving others the benefit of the doubt<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The British justice system takes account of the accused’s intention in committing a crime. For example, killing a person will be judged differently depending on whether the defendant’s action was accidental or deliberate. The ancient people of God had a similar system. If a person killed someone by accident they could go to a ‘city of refuge’ to avoid execution (Joshua 20:1-9).</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">St Ignatius created a rule of <span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">Presupposition</span> for the Jesuit religious order he founded in the 1500s. He wrote, ‘We ought to be more eager to put a good interpretation on a neighbour’s statement than to condemn it.’ In other words, always give people the benefit of the doubt. And if you’re not sure what a person means by something you should ask for clarity.</p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16.1px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In <span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, </span>Fr James Martin S.J. writes, ‘[The Presupposition] is a key insight for healthy relationships… And while most people would agree with it in principle, we often do just the opposite. We expect others to judge us according to our <span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">intentions, </span>but we judge others by their <span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">actions.</span> In other words, we say to ourselves, <span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">My intention was good. Why don’t they see it?</span> But when it comes to other people… we say, “Look what they did!” The Presupposition helps us… approach every interaction with an open mind and heart by presuming — even when it is hard to do so — that the other person is doing his or her best and isn’t out to get you.’</p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-62830822482739642122020-11-29T16:29:00.001+00:002020-12-02T16:31:31.481+00:00on reading the gospel of mark during advent<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Today is the beginning of Advent, which marks the start of the Church calendar. It is a </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">penitential season</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">, rather like Lent, in which Christians are encouraged to place an extra emphasis on prayer, devotions and simplicity of life. In church we mark it with purple vestments and hangings, and simple wooden items on the altar — not forgetting our wreath of advent candles.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Every year our gospel readings on a Sunday are mainly drawn from one particular gospel. This year it is Mark’s gospel that is being featured. Mark is the shortest of the four gospels in the Bible, and was the earliest to be written. It really licks along at quite a pace, taking just 90 minutes to read from end to end.</p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16.1px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">This Advent I’d like to invite you to read the whole of Mark’s gospel.</span> You might want to sit down and read it in one go, or you may prefer to read half a chapter a day. We have some copies of Mark from the Bible Society in a single booklet, using the Good News Bible — an easy to read translation illustrated with Annie Valleton’s charming line drawings. You’ll be able to pick up a copy at church, or we can post one out to you on request. Those of you who receive the church news sheet by post will find a copy enclosed. And, on 27th January, our Bible Book Club will also be discussing Mark. </p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16.1px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">‘Jesus said, “The right time has come and the kingdom of God is near. Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News.”’ — </span>Mark 1.15 (GNB)</p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-37027231678248598612020-11-22T16:27:00.001+00:002020-12-02T16:28:33.073+00:00on the transforming power of love<p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">What ultimately can really change the world we live in for the better? How can we transform places of conflict, suffering, inequality or poverty? For are not these, together with climate change, the most pressing issues that face our generation?</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">There’s an increasing tendency in the West to argue that the best way for society to flourish is to let everyone have their own way as much as is reasonably possible. People should be free to do what they like; free to make choices about their lives (such as wearing a face mask during a pandemic) without rules or instructions, and regardless of advice from experts; free to say whatever they please and broadcast it on social media, whether or not it offends others.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Political forces are afoot to try and force a ‘culture war’ in this country: that is to stir up division in an attempt to overwhelm those that argue for respect, tolerance and inclusion. I’m not against people taking personal responsibility for their lives, or having freedom of choice about how they live them. And as a writer I’m certainly in favour of freedom of speech. But with such freedoms comes responsibility, and I’m not always convinced that those who argue for liberty have the common good in mind.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Politics does make a real different to people’s lives, and it matters that we are informed and engaged about it. But the force that will really enable change in our country is that of love. The love that God shows for us in creation, in his son Jesus Christ, and in his teaching for love to be at the heart of all we do. Only when love is the transforming force at work in society will our personal freedoms not be at the expense of others.</p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-87523453517178503472020-11-15T16:25:00.001+00:002020-12-02T16:26:45.783+00:00on being people of the light <p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Some years ago, a politician in Britain described her boss as having, “something of the night” about him. It wasn’t a compliment. It may have been that she had today’s epistle in mind. St Paul writes to the church in Thessaloniki that Christians are, “children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” (1 Thes 5.5).</span></p><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Paul is using the imagery of nightlife people who are out late, getting drunk, and in the daytime are sleepy and tired. He wants Christians to be like sober people, refreshed and ready for action after a good night’s sleep, making the most of the day so that they can attend to their faith and the work of God.</div><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br class="" /></div><div class="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I’ll admit this doesn’t sound great if you’re not a morning person, or you suffer from insomnia. It is only a <i class="">simile</i> used to illustrate an underlying point: we must avoid getting so wrapped up in our own desires and day-to-day living that we lose touch with God’s activity in our life and world. Instead Paul wants us to be alert to God at all times, so that we are able to notice when the Holy Spirit is at work in our homes, communities and workplaces. When we’re tuned into Jesus through prayerful living, we’re more able discern his call on our lives.</div>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-64275330737648106082020-11-08T16:15:00.000+00:002020-12-02T16:15:55.753+00:00on kindness<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">One of this summer’s best-selling books was </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">Humankind: A Hopeful History. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">It argues that, far from being pre-programmed to be self-centred, the human instinct tends towards kindness and collaboration. Archbishop Desmond Tutu makes a similar point in his book </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">Made For Goodness. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">If we are created in the image of God, and God is good, then surely goodness is at the core of our being?</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Somehow, though, our attention gets drawn towards people who behave badly or violently, creating a skewed impression about humanity. Newspapers are seldom filled with stories about the acts of generosity, self-sacrifice or friendship towards strangers, that make up normal everyday life.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12.7px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-style: italic;">Humankind</span> recounts some research that suggests many troops sent into armed conflict try to avoid firing their weapons. During the American Civil War, men purposely took as long as possible to reload their muskets. One was founded to have loaded up to 23 balls down his muzzle to appear busy. In WW2 an historian accompanied a US battalion. He determined that only 15-25% of servicemen had fired their weapon in a fierce assault on a Pacific island. Many courageously put themselves on the front line and risked their own lives, but drew back from killing others.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12.7px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are told that war is part of human nature. But what if it isn’t? What if there’s another way, where nations settle their differences through collaboration and peace-building? A way that is in tune with humanity’s tendency towards kindness, and the example of Jesus Christ.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12.7px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1998805871903236704.post-41180076857039547002020-11-01T16:12:00.002+00:002020-12-02T16:56:11.973+00:00on being a church named after all the saints <p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Today is</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-weight: bold;"> All Saints Day</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> which has a special significance for us here at St Anne </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-style: italic;">and All Saints. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">We are a church named after the witness and example of all those people of faith who have gone before us; that ‘great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us’ and encourages us to run the race that the gospel inspires us towards </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-style: italic;">(Hebrews 12:1-2). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We inherited the ‘All Saints’ part of our name from a church that used to stand on the site of what is now the Lansdowne Green Estate. After that building was destroyed in WW2 the congregation moved to St Barnabas Church in Guildford Road. Around 1980 they merged with St Anne’s to become St Anne and All Saints, and some of the congregation that moved here then are still with us. All Saints Day is an opportunity for us to remember our history.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We would normally be celebrating today with a <span style="font-style: italic;">Patronal Festival</span> and a church lunch. That’s obviously not possible in the current circumstances, but the saints in the kingdom of heaven can celebrate on our behalf with the food and drink Jesus promises at his table in Luke 22.29.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Meanwhile, perhaps we can use today to give thanks for all those saints who have been faithful to Christ in this corner of London since 1793, and from whom we have inherited the responsibility of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ through our words and mission.</p>Fraser Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01419637178868578024noreply@blogger.com0