Merry Christmas!

As the festive season officially gets started, here's a little well wish for the festivities.

There may be challenges, everything from financial, to self-control, to having your very own Grinch! But always remember that just like the with the Whos', Christmas is not about the gifts under the tree, but about those in your heart.

No matter who or what your Grinch is- don't let it steal Christmas!

How the Grinch stole Christmas

Every Who Down in Whoville Liked Christmas a lot…
But the Grinch, Who lived just north of Whoville, Did NOT!
The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
Whatever the reason, His heart or his shoes,
He stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the Whos,
Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown,
At the warm lighted windows below in their town.
For he knew every Who down in Whoville beneath,
Was busy now, hanging a mistletoe wreath.
“And they’re hanging their stockings!” he snarled with a sneer,
“Tomorrow is Christmas! It’s practically here!”
Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,
“I MUST find some way to stop Christmas from coming!”
For Tomorrow, he knew, all the Who girls and boys,
Would wake bright and early. They’d rush for their toys!
And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the Noise!
Noise! Noise! Noise!
That’s one thing he hated! The NOISE!
NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!
Then the Whos, young and old, would sit down to a feast.
And they’d feast! And they’d feast! And they’d FEAST!
FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!
They would feast on Who-pudding, and rare Who-roast beast.
Which was something the Grinch couldn’t stand in the least!
And THEN They’d do something He liked least of all!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Would stand close together, with Christmas bells ringing.
They’d stand hand-in-hand. And the Whos would start singing!
They’d sing! And they’d sing! And they’d SING!
SING! SING! SING!
And the more the Grinch thought of this Who Christmas Sing,
The more the Grinch thought, “I must stop this whole thing!”
“Why, for fifty-three years I’ve put up with it now!”
“I MUST stop this Christmas from coming! But HOW?”
Then he got an idea! An awful idea!
THE GRINCH GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!
“I know just what to do!” The Grinch laughed in his throat.
And he made a quick Santy Claus hat and a coat.
And he chuckled, and clucked, “What a great Grinchy trick!”
“With this coat and this hat, I look just like Saint Nick!”
“All I need is a reindeer…” The Grinch looked around.
But, since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found.
Did that stop the old Grinch? No! The Grinch simply said,
“If I can’t find a reindeer, I’ll make one instead!”
So he called his dog, Max. Then he took some red thread,
And he tied a big horn on the top of his head.
THEN He loaded some bags And some old empty sacks,
On a ramshackle sleigh And he hitched up old Max.
Then the Grinch said, “Giddap!” And the sleigh started down,
Toward the homes where the Whos Lay asnooze in their town.
All their windows were dark. Quiet snow filled the air.
All the Whos were all dreaming sweet dreams without care.
When he came to the first little house on the square.
“This is stop number one,” the old Grinchy Claus hissed,
And he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist.
Then he slid down the chimney. A rather tight pinch.
But, if Santa could do it, then so could the Grinch.
He got stuck only once, for a moment or two.
Then he stuck his head out of the fireplace flue.
Where the little Who stockings all hung in a row.
“These stockings,” he grinned, “are the first things to go!”
Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,
Around the whole room, and he took every present!
Pop guns! And bicycles! Roller skates! Drums!
Checkerboards! Tricycles! Popcorn! And plums!
And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly,
Stuffed all the bags, one by one, up the chimney!
Then he slunk to the icebox. He took the Whos’ feast!
He took the Who-pudding! He took the roast beast!
He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash.
Why, that Grinch even took their last can of Who-hash!
Then he stuffed all the food up the chimney with glee.
“And NOW!” grinned the Grinch, “I will stuff up the tree!”
And the Grinch grabbed the tree, and he started to shove,
When he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove.
He turned around fast, and he saw a small Who!
Little Cindy-Lou Who, who was not more than two.
The Grinch had been caught by this tiny Who daughter,
Who’d got out of bed for a cup of cold water.
She stared at the Grinch and said, “Santy Claus, why,”
“Why are you taking our Christmas tree? WHY?”
But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick,
He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!
“Why, my sweet little tot,” the fake Santy Claus lied,
“There’s a light on this tree that won’t light on one side.”
“So I’m taking it home to my workshop, my dear.”
“I’ll fix it up there. Then I’ll bring it back here.”
And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted her head,
And he got her a drink and he sent her to bed.
And when Cindy-Lou Who went to bed with her cup,
HE went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up!
Then the last thing he took Was the log for their fire!
Then he went up the chimney, himself, the old liar.
On their walls he left nothing but hooks and some wire.
And the one speck of food That he left in the house,
Was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse.
Then He did the same thing To the other Whos’ houses
Leaving crumbs Much too small For the other Whos’ mouses!
It was quarter past dawn… All the Whos, still a-bed,
All the Whos, still asnooze When he packed up his sled,
Packed it up with their presents! The ribbons! The wrappings!
The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings!
Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,
He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!
“PoohPooh to the Whos!” he was grinchishly humming.
“They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming!”
“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!”
“Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
Then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry BooHoo!”
“That’s a noise,” grinned the Grinch, “That I simply MUST hear!”
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow.
But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!”
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.”
“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”
And what happened then? Well…in Whoville they say,
That the Grinch’s small heart Grew three sizes that day!
And the minute his heart didn’t feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light,
And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast!
And he, HE HIMSELF! The Grinch carved the roast beast!

An answer to the question, where is God in this merciless society?

"A man went to a barber shop to
have his hair cut and his beard
trimmed.
As the barber began to work, they
began to have a good
conversation.
They talked about so many things
and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on
the subject of God, the barber said:
“I don’t believe that God exists.”
“Why do you say that?” asked the
customer.
“Well, you just have to go out in
the street to realize that God
doesn’t exist. Tell me, if God exists,
would there be so many sick
people? Would there be
abandoned children?
If God existed, there would be
neither suffering nor pain. I can’t
imagine a loving a God who would
allow all of these things.”
The customer thought for a
moment, but didn’t respond
because he didn’t want to start an
argument.
The barber finished his job and the
customer left the shop.
Just after he left the
barber shop, he saw a man in the
street with long, stringy, dirty hair
and an untrimmed beard.
He looked dirty and unkempt.
The customer turned back and
entered the barber shop again and
he said to the barber:
“You know what? Barbers do not
exist.”
"How can you say that?" asked the
surprised barber.
“I am here, and I am a barber. And
I just worked on you!”
“No!” the customer exclaimed.
“Barbers don't exist because if
they did, there would be no people
with dirty long hair and
untrimmed beards, like that man
outside.”
“Ah, but barbers DO exist! What
happens is, people do not come to
me.”
“Exactly!”- affirmed the customer.
“That’s the point!
God, too, DOES exist!
What happens, is, people don’t go
to Him and do not look for him.
So, do you believe that God Exists?

The blind men and the elephant- different relegions experiencing the same thing, differently

There is an old Indian legend about 6 blind men who each wanted to know about this animal called an elephant that was visiting their town. Each experience a different part of it and thus come to very different conclusions

John Godfrey Saxe's ( 1816-1887) version of the famous
Indian legend,

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he,
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth , who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL.

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

Perhaps the religions of the world, all bantering about whose God is the true one, have only experienced different aspects of his grandeur, and disagree about a God, that none of them had seen!

God is all around, his messages are everywhere

Public toilets are probably the last place anyone would search for salvation, or anything else for that matter. If they are decent enough the worst one would find are cubicle doors and walls riddled with obscenities.

One day I needed the bathroom while in Sanlam centre, and as usual the inner door surface of the cubicle was covered with an array of handwriting styles and marker textures- though no obscenities were to be found- only a door full of proclaimations of the glory of God. Different personalities could be seen in what each individual clearly felt is significant.

Not a single negative remark had been added and several things could be taken from this:

1. God is anywhere and everywhere. His presence can be found and gained where you least expect it.
2. We can find support in the words or actions of strangers.
3. When people are alone, by themselves, they are less likely to deny thhe things that are good and wholesome. If those words were in a public place it may have been interrupted by vulgarities, yet here, where its pretty much themselves, this door, and the toilet pot, the only need they feel is to contribute. Which shows that deep down inside everyone there's a desire for God and what is good.

Ultimately, while the world around us can leave us feeling despondent, there are miracles all around us that is there if only we look, acknowledge, and appreciate it. God is all around us, and he can especially be found in the people around us.

Sometimes it seems like they go too soon, like they don't fight. Dylan Thomas's most famous poem expresses that feeling of despair

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Forwarded to me by my friend Vashti, something I thought I should share

Layman's 10 Commandments.

Someone has written these beautiful words.
Read and try to understand the deeper meaning of them.

1. Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble, but it is a "steering wheel" that directs the right path throughout life.

2. Why is a car's windshield so large & the rearview mirror so small? Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE. So, look ahead and move on.

3. Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes a few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write.

4. All things in life are temporary. If they are going well, enjoy them, they will not last forever. If they are going wrong, don't worry, they can't last long either.

5. Old friends are gold! New friends are diamond! If you get a diamond, don't forget the gold! To hold a diamond, you always need a base of gold!

6. Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, God smiles from above and says, "Relax, sweetheart; it's just a bend, not the end!"

7. When God solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when God doesn't solve your problems, He has faith in YOUR abilities.

8. A blind person asked God: "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision!"

9. When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.

10. Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles; it takes away today's PEACE.

Faith moves mountains,
But you have to keep pushing while you are praying

-Mason Cooley

It's been so long since I wrote, and I must apologize for the neglect. Perhaps my neglect is noty such a bad thing- it means I have been busy, it means God has been good to me. While I'm too busy breathing and living it means God has been good to me :).

Today however, is Ascension Day, and this is where I find myself being drawn back to.

Ascension Day commemorates Christ's Ascension into heaven. It takes place on the Thursday which is the 40th day after Easter. It is on this day that Jesus ascended into the clouds after appearing to many of his disciples. We see in the Gospel of Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles that Jesus led them out of the Mount of Olives and instructed them to wait for the promise of the holy spirit. Once Jesus has ascended two angels appeared, and declared to them that Jesus would return in Glory.

Essentially, Ascension Day is a symbol of the second coming, reminding us that our Jesus is alive and that he will return to us in Glory.

Doesn't this say something about the way in which we live? We should live in anticipation, we should live well, we should live wholesome lives so that when he comes, we will be waiting expectantly for our saviour.

Maybe the second coming will come as a mass-encounter, as we see it in the Revelations, or perhaps we all encounter our own 'second coming', when our time comes to go to the eternal home, and there,
coming down from the clouds is our saviour, waiting to take us home.

Ok, this has gotten a bit depressing, basically, lets live it up, lets choose to be happy, let us appreciate all that we have and let us be the light in the world, so that when He does come, there will be some light waiting for Him.

The Darkest hour comes before Dawn

And so I have decided that I will no longer make direct posts, I will now create posts in document forms and then COPY+PASTE!!

This is after I just created a (might I add, very heartfelt) post, and the webpage decided to close down 'to save data' to compliment whatever other ridiculous budget it was on. I was upset to say the least. I started crying, because at 1:44 am, when you have completed some thing you have been wanting to, and it slips out of your hands, you're exhausted and tired and just cannot fathom why some things happen the way they do. But now that I am thinking about it, it may just have given me an 'oomph' or a message possibly lacking in my post.

The original post told of an older couple that we met tonight, sitting across from us in McD's, and how the unfortunate seating arrangements of the minute new building forced strangers to meet and discover that they shared not one but two problems.

Basically the post was to remind us that we are not alone in this world of tribulations. Tonight between the four of us it felt like a mini-mass in McD's as we re-assured each other that God has a way, a time and a reason. Each reminded the other to pray, to keep the faith. God guides us, even when we don't realise it. This is why, when we intend on going to Nando's, God sends us to its greasier equivalent.

Tonights meeting I imagine was to help us, but moreso to help that pair, to let them know that yes, God is still their, just hang in there. There are others like you who share your frustrations and who he will send your way to encourage you to stay strong.

But isn't that the point of the Lenten journey anyway? To observe the pain that Jesus had to endure, not necessarily the physical agony, but the betrayal?
But then too, after his crucifixion, God raises Christ to power!

Do you see the analogy here?

As we carry our crosses, some so different and some so disturbingly the same; as we go through traumas physical and emotional, it does not last forever.

Our Lord is with you every step of the way. If he brings you to it, he'll bring you through it.

Lets open our hearts now, as we near the end of lent. Prepare for the sorrow as we approach Good Friday. And remember that no sooner has he fallen and been crucified, has his father - Our Father- raised him in Glory!

Remember that the darkest hour is before dawn. And when you pray, pray for others facing the same challenges as you are. They too, need comfort in these trying times.

"I shall then show forth Thy praise, Serve Thee all my happy days; Then the world shall always see Christ, the holy Child, in me"

The gifted Russ Blassoples, who has so far been the person to be the most impressionable on me with regard to spirituality, has reminded me of the child. Children. Being childlike. In a post he speaks about when Jesus told the story of people pulling gloomy faces to show that they are fasting, and he explains how he hopes that Jesus would have been pulling these faces when telling the story to children .

This makes me think that we forget sometimes that the children in our world are going to be tomorrows adults and that they too need spiritual guidance. We should not just leave them to do 'kiddy things', we need to remember that as adults and as leaders, we have a responsibility to share our spirituality with them. That doesn't mean we must say 'No TV!' for the next month, this is not punishment. This simply means that we should share stories with them, open them up to spirituality so that they may accept it when it is time and so that they there is somewhere to go, somewhere to turn to when they feel at a loss.

Teach children to pray, if only at night before they go to sleep, or at the table before they eat. And perhaps, we have lost touch with our faith somewhat. life is an ongoing struggle and sometimes we may feel despondent. Maybe if we take on the mission to introduce spirituality to our children, a niece, a friends child, or a neighbours child, we will rediscover our own faith as we are reminded of what it is like to be childlike, to be open and eager to learn.

In any case is it not true that we need to be childlike to enter His Kingdom? Let us remind ourselves what is like to be childlike, trusting God.

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to Thee.

Fain I would to Thee be brought,
Dearest God, forbid it not;
Give me, dearest God, a place
In the kingdom of Thy grace

Lamb of God, I look to Thee;
Thou shalt my Example be;
Thou art gentle, meek, and mild;
Thou wast once a little child.

Fain I would be as Thou art;
Give me Thine obedient heart;
Thou art pitiful and kind,
Let me have Thy loving mind.

Let me, above all, fulfill
God my heav’nly Father’s will;
Never His good Spirit grieve;
Only to His glory live.

Thou didst live to God alone;
Thou didst never seek Thin own;
Thou Thyself didst never please:
God was all Thy happiness.

Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb,
In Thy gracious hands I am;
Make me, Savior, what Thou art,
Live Thyself within my heart.

I shall then show forth Thy praise,
Serve Thee all my happy days;
Then the world shall always see
Christ, the holy Child, in me.

''God is still busy with me''

God is still busy with me

is how Bishop Raphael Hess explained to Valhalla Park's Chapalry of St. Joseph the Worker, what is signified by Ash Wednesday's Crosses made of Ash and Holy Water/Oils.

'Isn't it wonderful to know that God is still working on us?' Indeed it is. And with this in mind, as we go through a period of penance, and think on our ourselves as sinful human being, it is good, in fact necessary to remember that we are not perfect- we have not been created to be inherently perfect. We have been created in the image of God, but while we try and do the right thing, be it now or through out the year, we are a project of God, he knows that we try and he knows he has created us with a naive nature. We should not be too hard on ourselves. The longest journey in life he said, was that from our head to our heart. lets take a step in this journey each day, by finding a communion between the rationality of our thoughts and the passion of our hearts, so that our thoughts, hearts and actions are forever guided, through prayer.

'render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and render unto God what belongs to God'

It's a rather typical Saturday night and I'm preparing myself for church in the morning. Dress: check Shoes: check Short, neat, french tips: check Pretty hair: check Bookmarked readings for tomorrow: ...not so check... The problem? Vanity. And redundancy. Sunday by Sunday us 'church-goers' mill into our desired place of worship, at our preffered time-slot. We sit there and scrutinize each other (the view is always better from the altar, trust me), we try and focus on the preach, but like school it can sometimes be a laboured feat. Have we forgotten the purpose of our weekly visit? Has it just become part of the ritual that decorates our ideal lives? Tomorrow when you are in church, (or Wednesday, or next Sunday...) just sit down..and STOP. Take it all in. Think about the day you were confirmed, your blessing on your birthday, the Christmas play you enjoyed. Look at the building, the symbolism around you, the colours, the candles, the Crucifix. Think about the people who arent present. Why? Think about how blessed you are to be sitting there right then. You could walk till there... Some people don't have legs. You can read the Bible... Some people are illiterate. You can be in church... Some people live in secular states where they find themselves prohibited from their faith. In all of this try and remember how much you love that moment when you're caught up singing your favourite hymn- and renew you're feelings about this old brick (or wooden, or cement..) building you find yourself in. Renew your desire to praise. Righto! Next point. Vanity. Why am I wearing such a pretty dress tomorrow when nobody else will see it under my servers' robes? How is shaving my legs (toomuch information, sorry) relevant in anyway? Admittedly I am a bit on the fence about this issue. While we shouldn't consider church to be a social gathering, surely our Lord would appreciate that to us, the church and it's people, are where we choose to socialize ourselves? We should not lend ourselves to the ways of the world and conformism, but surely our God would prefer that we present ourselves to him at what we consider to be our very best? Such a slippery topic. I am at a loss for words. Ah! I have an answer:

'come as you are, not as you want'

'render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and render unto God what belongs to God'

We live in a material world and this is understood. We should then enter the Lord's building in a way that we understand to be suitable and/or presentable. We should come in a way that we will feel confident but we should come for the right reasons. We should come because we want to be there, because we want to worship, because we want to hear and learn and believe. So believe then! And if you feel like your actions are not well guided pray for guidance. Your Lord wants to listen. All you have to do is speak.

Driving in the dark

On my way home and it's 11:05pm. We're driving in the dark. Linton quickly but not noticably caresses the crucifix hanging from the rear view mirror- his little ritual before he drives anywhere (or when he sees an animal lying in the road), and I know that wherever we go, we won't be alone. We live with God.

Only God knows what he prays at that moment, but what is important is that he prays. It doesn’t guarantee us a safe journey, but it does mean that our path is guided, and through faith whatever must be, will be.

It is Friday evening and it has the potential for evils as most Friday evenings do. Not everyone is celebrating lent, and not everyone is aware of allows themselves to be guided by god. Perhaps when we pray as we go along our way we should pray for someone else as well- A stranger, a friend, an acquaintance. We all carry personal, private burdens and we cannot always be sure that someone has it easy. When a stranger makes you angry remember that we all handle pain differently and pray that he or she will find the inner energy that they need to confront their problems. When a passer-by looks down, pray that our merciful God restores their faith, and through faith they will find the strength to battle on and not give up.

Today my friend Astrid put up a Facebook status saying:

when you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember then, someone prayed for you…

Let us pray for each other, because in this crazy world, we are all driving in the dark.

''Lets take then what we need and no more, because the rest is needed by others''

So it is the second day of the Lenten fast, and how are our weak souls keeping up?

Was the day manageable without that caffeine boost? Some may not feel the pang yet until the weekend when its party time and that pink drink calls your name. Either way stay strong, the beginning is usually the hard part anyways.

But perhaps we can find some pro-activeness among the misery?
Here's a little challenge: (lets try and not do this with the pink drink ;)) That cup of coffee? Dont NOT buy it, buy it, and give it to that lady on the bench. She doesn't have to be poor, she could just be tired from a too long day at work.
Given up sweets? Keep them in your pocket and give it to that child next to you in the taxi on her mommy's lap coming home from Red Cross. Its been a long day for her at the hospital.

In this coming weeks let us learn to give to others what we do not use. Let us try and have an unselfish existence by starting with the small things. Learning how to give.


''Lets take then what we need and no more, because the rest is needed by others''

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday typically represents the beginning of the Lenten fast. Characterised by a cross smudged on the foreheads of episcopal church-goers, this smudge is made by a mixture of holy water and the ash of burnt palm crosses.
The first day of the fast and too frequently all we know is that we need to give up something we 'like' until Easter. The Sunday School story about Jesus' 40 day fast is a vague memory accompanied by pickled fish and the Easter Bunny (who is relevant, how?)

Let's go into Sunday School mode and try and recapture that story...

It is about CE 33, and Jesus, the Son of God, retreats into the desert to fast for 40 days and 40 nights befoe he begins to minister. He had been baptized by John the Baptist and has stopped his work as a carpenter so that he may preach, teach and heal.
Jesus fasts so that me may be purified and by the end of the 40 days he is hungry. It is at this point that the Devil tries to tempt him. The Devil tries three times with no success.
The first time the Devil tells Jesus that if he is the Son of God, he must demand that rocks turn to bread. Jesus replies that human beings cannot live by bread alone, they need every word that God speaks.
The Devil then takes Jesus to Jerusalem and sets him on top of the highest temple telling him to throw himself off, surely God would send his angels to save him? Jesus responds by telling him, the scripture says, do not put the Lord your God to the test.
Finally the Devil takes Jesus to a very high mountain and shows him all the Kingdoms of the Earth. The Devil tells him that if he kneels down and worships him, all that would be his. In response to this Jesus shuns him saying: 'go away Satan! The scripture says, worship the Lord your God and serve only him. And away the Devil slumps as faith triumphs over temptation.

What do we learn from this? We learn that in these forty days we are given an opportunity to re-affirm our faith. We must consciously ignore temptation.

The fast is only a physical manifestation of what we need to do spiritually. We must hold on to what is right and rebuke what is wrong. This time of penance, self-denial and quiet offers us the chance to find an inner calm. When someone makes you angry, don't curse them, pray for them. It is in actions like these that you not only help set them free, you set yourself free.
Later on we will remember the depths of Holy week, the passion of Christ, and the ressurection.
For now let us sit quietly and think upon ourselves. Let us wait in forboding for God's miracles, not only for the miracles we celebrate from a time long ago, but for the miracles he will do now in our lives.

In the mean time, lets have faith and sit quietly with our God.

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For the more literary-minded here follows TS Eliot's, Ash Wednesday

Ash-Wednesday by T S Eliot

Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that
man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the aged eagle stretch
its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual
reign? Because I do not hope to know
again
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and
springs flow, for there is nothing
again Because I know that time is always
time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for
one time
And only for one place I rejoice that things are as they are
and
I renounce the blessed face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn
again Consequently I rejoice, having to
construct something
Upon which to rejoice And pray to God to have mercy
upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too
much discuss
Too much explain Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done
again
May the judgement not be too
heavy upon us Because these wings are no longer
wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly
small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still. Pray for us sinners now and at the
hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of
our death. II Lady, three white leopards sat
under a juniper-tree
In the cool of the day, having fed to
satiety
On my legs my heart my liver and
that which had been contained In the hollow round of my skull.
And God said
Shall these bones live? shall these
Bones live? And that which had
been contained
In the bones (which were already dry) said chirping:
Because of the goodness of this
Lady
And because of her loveliness, and
because
She honours the Virgin in meditation,
We shine with brightness. And I
who am here dissembled
Proffer my deeds to oblivion, and
my love
To the posterity of the desert and the fruit of the gourd.
It is this which recovers
My guts the strings of my eyes and
the indigestible portions
Which the leopards reject. The Lady
is withdrawn In a white gown, to contemplation,
in a white gown.
Let the whiteness of bones atone to
forgetfulness.
There is no life in them. As I am
forgotten And would be forgotten, so I would
forget
Thus devoted, concentrated in
purpose. And God said
Prophesy to the wind, to the wind
only for only The wind will listen. And the bones
sang chirping
With the burden of the
grasshopper, saying Lady of silences
Calm and distressed
Torn and most whole
Rose of memory
Rose of forgetfulness
Exhausted and life-giving Worried reposeful
The single Rose
Is now the Garden
Where all loves end
Terminate torment
Of love unsatisfied The greater torment
Of love satisfied
End of the endless
Journey to no end
Conclusion of all that
Is inconclusible Speech without word and
Word of no speech
Grace to the Mother
For the Garden
Where all love ends. Under a juniper-tree the bones
sang, scattered and shining
We are glad to be scattered, we did
little good to each other,
Under a tree in the cool of the day,
with the blessing of sand, Forgetting themselves and each
other, united
In the quiet of the desert. This is the
land which ye
Shall divide by lot. And neither
division nor unity Matters. This is the land. We have
our inheritance. III At the first turning of the second
stair
I turned and saw below
The same shape twisted on the
banister
Under the vapour in the fetid air Struggling with the devil of the
stairs who wears
The deceitul face of hope and of
despair. At the second turning of the second
stair
I left them twisting, turning below;
There were no more faces and the
stair was dark,
Damp, jagged, like an old man's mouth drivelling, beyond repair,
Or the toothed gullet of an aged
shark. At the first turning of the third stair
Was a slotted window bellied like
the figs's fruit
And beyond the hawthorn blossom
and a pasture scene
The broadbacked figure drest in blue and green
Enchanted the maytime with an
antique flute.
Blown hair is sweet, brown hair
over the mouth blown,
Lilac and brown hair; Distraction, music of the flute, stops
and steps of the mind over the third
stair,
Fading, fading; strength beyond
hope and despair
Climbing the third stair. Lord, I am not worthy
Lord, I am not worthy
but speak the word only. IV Who walked between the violet and
the violet
Who walked between
The various ranks of varied green
Going in white and blue, in Mary's
colour, Talking of trivial things
In ignorance and knowledge of
eternal dolour
Who moved among the others as
they walked,
Who then made strong the fountains and made fresh the
springs Made cool the dry rock and made
firm the sand
In blue of larkspur, blue of Mary's
colour,
Sovegna vos Here are the years that walk
between, bearing
Away the fiddles and the flutes,
restoring
One who moves in the time
between sleep and waking, wearing White light folded, sheathing about
her, folded.
The new years walk, restoring
Through a bright cloud of tears, the
years, restoring
With a new verse the ancient rhyme. Redeem
The time. Redeem
The unread vision in the higher
dream
While jewelled unicorns draw by
the gilded hearse. The silent sister veiled in white and
blue
Between the yews, behind the
garden god,
Whose flute is breathless, bent her
head and signed but spoke no word But the fountain sprang up and the
bird sang down
Redeem the time, redeem the dream
The token of the word unheard,
unspoken Till the wind shake a thousand
whispers from the yew And after this our exile V If the lost word is lost, if the spent
word is spent
If the unheard, unspoken
Word is unspoken, unheard;
Still is the unspoken word, the Word
unheard, The Word without a word, the Word
within
The world and for the world;
And the light shone in darkness
and
Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled
About the centre of the silent Word. O my people, what have I done
unto thee. Where shall the word be found,
where will the word
Resound? Not here, there is not
enough silence
Not on the sea or on the islands, not
On the mainland, in the desert or the rain land,
For those who walk in darkness
Both in the day time and in the
night time
The right time and the right place
are not here No place of grace for those who
avoid the face
No time to rejoice for those who
walk among noise and deny the
voice Will the veiled sister pray for
Those who walk in darkness, who
chose thee and oppose thee,
Those who are torn on the horn
between season and season, time
and time, between Hour and hour, word and word,
power and power, those who wait
In darkness? Will the veiled sister
pray
For children at the gate
Who will not go away and cannot pray:
Pray for those who chose and
oppose O my people, what have I done
unto thee. Will the veiled sister between the
slender
Yew trees pray for those who
offend her
And are terrified and cannot
surrender And affirm before the world and
deny between the rocks
In the last desert before the last
blue rocks
The desert in the garden the garden
in the desert Of drouth, spitting from the mouth
the withered apple-seed. O my people. VI Although I do not hope to turn
again
Although I do not hope
Although I do not hope to turn Wavering between the profit and
the loss
In this brief transit where the
dreams cross
The dreamcrossed twilight between
birth and dying (Bless me father) though I do not
wish to wish these things
From the wide window towards the
granite shore
The white sails still fly seaward,
seaward flying Unbroken wings And the lost heart stiffens and
rejoices
In the lost lilac and the lost sea
voices
And the weak spirit quickens to
rebel For the bent golden-rod and the
lost sea smell
Quickens to recover
The cry of quail and the whirling
plover
And the blind eye creates The empty forms between the ivory
gates
And smell renews the salt savour of
the sandy earth This is the time of
tension between dying and birth
The place of solitude where three dreams cross Between blue rocks
But when the voices shaken from
the yew-tree drift away Let the
other yew be shaken and reply. Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of
the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves
with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the
sea, Suffer me not to be separated And let my cry come unto Thee.

As Lent begins

It was with the Journey through Lent that I believe I first started this blog, and now, on Shrove Tuesday, the first day of Lent, I am reminded first thing when I wake up (by email from a friend) that:
1. Lent has actually begun and
2. More abstractly, that, we need to re-affirm our faith.

The email stated

''...Verse: Psalm 66:6

He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the flood on foot. We rejoiced because of what He did there.

- God can turn impossibility into a possibility.
- Even though they went 'through the flood' God had made a way.
- God had turned a hopeless situation into a time of rejoicing.
- He can do the same for you and you will rejoice again!...''

Perhaps now is the time that we need to turn away from our troubles and turn to God in trust?

Shrove Tuesday is known sometimes as Pancake Day or Mardi Gras, this is celebrated by indulging in what would be avoided during the Lenten fast. But Shrove Tuesday is also the day that we confess in penance, stripping ourselves of sin as much as (humanly) possible, so that we may start the Lenten journey as pure beings.

The year is a cycle, and we experience the Shrove-tide and Lenten Journey once every year, perhaps what it is meant to be is a 'reboot' button. A chance to reconnect with our creator. Leave behind the vanity of the world and start over afresh. We live in troubled times and we tend to forget where we should focus our trust.

When worried about an exam once, a kindly Layminister told me, 'you do your best, and God will do the rest'. What an amazing analogy, turn to your Lord and he will not turn you away.

To Women With Integrity

I'm not a loud feminist, but a very special women asked me to pass this on... Take a look...


A Woman has strengths that amaze men.
She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens.
She holds happiness, love and opinions.
She smiles when she feels like screaming.
She sings when she feels like crying, cries when she's happy and laughs when she's afraid.
Her love is unconditional!
There 's only one thing wrong with her:
She sometimes forgets what she is worth...
Pass this on to every beautiful Woman you know.
I just did!