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Black Friday

26/11/2018

In recent years a new date has appeared on the calendar, Black Friday. It is the day for the worship of material possessions. That worship is made easier by the fact that you don’t even need to leave your house to visit the temple to the god Mammon as it can all be done on-line!

Throughout the Old Testament we read of tribes and peoples worshiping graven images, even before the golden calf Aaron set up whilst Moses was away speaking with God. In Roman times every house had a shrine to some god or another. Indeed, there was a temple to every god you could think of at each street corner. In demanding worship of the Sun God, Sol Invictus, the Emperor Aurelis, was demanding worship of himself, since he was regarded as the direct descendant of that god. Whilst worship of the emperor is no longer usually required,( although I do worry sometimes at the amount of hero worship we give to our sportsmen and women, our film “stars”, and TV “personalities”), yet we still worship the great god Mammon, the acquisition of riches, possessions, material goods. Just look at the advertisements screaming at us to buy the latest ‘must have’ gizmos. But do you really need them? Can you not be satisfied with what you have, with what God has given you? I return to Jesus’ words that I have quoted often in the past: Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matthew 6:28-29(AKJV)

If money is burning a hole in your pocket so that you really need to spend it, why not consider those for whom the material riches promised on Black Friday are but a far off dream, the poor, the homeless, indeed all those in need. They need your generosity far more than the corporate giant retailers.

But whilst giving money to a charitable institution, think also of generosity of spirit. After all, there are those around you who would welcome your time, your compassion. It maybe something simple; perhaps a quick hug, a kind word, or a cup of coffee for the homeless man on the street, but it may be more, much more. Whatever you have to give, be it cash or compassion, give it now, not just from spare change but real giving. ‘And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: Mark 12:42-43(AKJV)

Finally, remember Jesus’ message: Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40 (AKJV)

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A Spiritual Balance Sheet

19/11/2018

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This coming Sunday I will read the final Epistle of the liturgical year at St Mary Magdalene. The church year has come to an end.
When the financial year comes to an end the accountant will draw up a set of accounts for the owner of a business. It will show the progress the company has made during that year and the state of its affairs at the end of it.
In like manner why not now draw up a balance sheet to ascertain the present state of your spiritual life. If you use a journal, start by looking back at where you were with God at this point last year. Then draw up a profit and loss account showing credits on one side and debits on the other. The credits will embody those times during the year when you were particularly grateful to God for His mercy to you. The debits on the other side will represent those times when you felt least grateful; a word spoken in anger perhaps, or maybe something done of which you are now thoroughly ashamed. Whatever it was let it be, although if you have not already done so do try to make amends now. Add up the times of gratitude and ingratitude taking one from the other. Do you have a profit or a loss to carry forward to the balance sheet?
Having drawn up your balance sheet, do not then discard it or just file it away somewhere. It is an important document to be kept. Studying it now will help you to make decisions as to your future conduct. Referring back to it through the year will ensure you are on the right track. Speak to God about what you have discovered; resting in the knowledge that He loves you just as you are. For that and for His presence with you throughout the past year give thanks to Him.
By the way, do remember that whatever needs to be done, you are not alone. On your own you can achieve nothing but With God nothing is impossible Luke 1:37 AKJV. So ask for God’s help in the year to come and rest assured that He will answer you and will walk with you every step of the way.

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Dulce et Decorum est

12/11/2018

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The words, ‘Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’ – [it is sweet and right to die for your country], were written by the Roman poet Horace (65BC-8BC). Well known and widely understood at the start of the First World War they were taken to mean, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country. That view encouraged many young men to volunteer for war service, sometimes as a group of friends, out of a sense of patriotic loyalty. As part of this fervour, some ladies handed white feathers, as a mark of cowardice, to those they thought should have joined up. Sadly, as one lady discovered when she handed a white feather to one of our relatives who had been discharged from the army with a terrible wound to his back from which he never fully recovered, they could sometimes choose the wrong man.

As the war dragged on some well-educated army officers, including Lt. Wilfred Owen MC, came to view it as one of pity and horror. That was a minority view standing in stark contrast both to the public perception of war at the time and to the confidently patriotic verse written by earlier war poets such as Rupert Brooke. Wilfred Owen enlisted in 1915 and was posted to the western front in 1917 where he experienced heavy fighting. As a result of the shell shock he suffered at the front he was evacuated to hospital in England. It was as part of his therapy, and encouraged by the poet Siegfried Sassoon, that he wrote Dulce et Decorum Est, a poem describing the reality of dying for one’s country. Owen returned to France in 1918 where he was awarded the Military Cross for bravery, but he was killed on 4 November whilst attempting to lead his men across the Sambre canal under heavy fire. News of his death reached his parents on 11 November, Armistice Day.

Sunday 11 November 2018 marked the centenary of that Armistice Day, the end of the ‘war to end all wars’, although since then the world has hardly seen one day of peace. Even now governments rush to amass an arsenal of bigger, better, more efficient, killing machines at a time when there is already enough in existence to destroy the planet several times over.

But that is not God’s way for Jesus brought a message of peace.

So, today, let us remember those who gave their lives in the service of their country, but let us also pray for peace in the world. Since as St Teresa of Avila said: ‘Christ has no body on earth now but yours, no hands but yours, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion[note that word] on this world.’ then it is up to us, not only to pray for peace but actually try to do something to bring it about.

Please read Wilfred Owen’s poem for yourself.

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Remembrance

5/11/2018

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November is traditionally the month to remember those who are no longer with us.

As we get older it seems more and more of our friends and relatives are leaving this earthly life behind. On Thursday I heard of the passing of an old friend in hospital whilst Friday, All Souls Day, marked the funeral of a neighbour. May they rest in peace.

When a close friend or relative dies the bereavement will create a gaping red-raw wound in our hearts; a wound we feel can never be healed, and perhaps it never does completely. Grief makes us want to look inwards, to nurse the pain of our loss. It’s a very natural response, I suppose, though despair and depression can result. The sterling work of groups, voluntary and otherwise, like the Yew Bereavement Friendship Group at St Mary Magdalene can help in supporting individuals and families through difficult times and emotional loss. But the firm unshakeable rock on which we can rely in these seemingly overwhelming dark times is our Christian faith. By that faith we believe that Jesus’ death on the cross conquered death so that it is not the end; the spirit lives on after the mortal remains have served their purpose on this earth. In his Epistle to the young church at Thessaloniki St Paul wrote: ‘For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.’ 1 Thessalonians 4:14 (NIV). Thus there is hope of eternal life with Christ.

On this earth we can take comfort in the fact that God loves us unconditionally. He shares our pain and grief. He knows us better than we know ourselves and so understands our deepest feelings. He invites us to: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ Matthew 11:28(AKJV). Be assured that God will walk with us every step of the way, helping us through every emotion of grief, pain and suffering.

Remember, too, that whilst we mourn our loss now, in due time we will be re-united with those who have gone before. St Paul assures us of that when in that same Epistle he says: ‘And so we will be with the Lord forever’ 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (NIV). Thanks be to God.

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Beauty surrounds us, but we usually need to be walking in a garden to know it - Rumi

Black Friday

A Spiritual Balance Sheet

Dulce et Decorum est

Remembrance

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​Beauty surrounds us, but we usually need to be walking in a garden to know it - Rumi​

Black Friday

A Spiritual Balance Sheet

Dulce et Decorum est

Remembrance

Author

Archives

Get up to date blogs! Sign up here

Beauty surrounds us, but we usually need to be walking in a garden to know it - Rumi