Pilgrim

Do you think it is acceptable to God to get angry with him?   And if not, how should we pray if we are upset or hurting? At the beginning of the service we heard the words of the psalmist, who typical of so many does not hold back in his complaints and questions to God.   “ How long O Lord, will you forget me forever”, “ How long will you hide your face from me”   These are statements of desolation.   One is left to wonder how long the author has felt isolated from God?   How lonely did this person feel?   And yet in the very darkest of these times, the psalmist points to a foundation of relationship.   “ But I trust in your unfailing love”.   We all need trust in our relationships, especially when the going gets tough.   Often it is trust that will help a relationship survive when all else is lost.   Trust therefore is the root system of the Tree of relationship.   A strong foundation for the house.   If our faith is ...

you would have to have been living on Mars to have missed the latest furore surrounding Luis Suarez, and his apparent biting of Italian   Giorgio Chiellini.   I wrote the following last year after a similar episode in the English Premier league.  How sad that nothing has changed. 1         " In the premier league football match between Liverpool and Chelsea on 21.4.13, Luis Suarez one of the Liverpool strikers bit Branislav Ivanovic a Chelsea defender on the arm.   There was an immediate reaction on the sports news sites both online, TV and in the newspapers.   The Guardian online in providing a review of the event and the apparent demonization of Suarez that had occurred in the immediate aftermath pointed out the difference in punishment handed to violent conduct associated with kicking as opposed to spitting/biting – which is considerably greater.   Suarez has since been banned by the Football Association for 10 matches, whilst h...

Angst In the midst of anxiety Worry abounding Stomach churning Heart out of sync Fear rising They say relax Face your fears If only I could I try but pull back The panic's too strong So don't face the fear Rather stop and wait Listen for God-a still small voice To comfort and console To find a stopping point Slow down and stop Let the spinning subside At the centre of the storm A pearl of great delight I fall into the arms of God Spirit flames rise Exploding within me But in silence and mercy And I am washed in Grace Have faith my child.

Father, how often it is that we bow our heads in shame For we carry even now our burdens of sin. Even though you took our yoke from us All to readily , we almost avidly seek to reclaim it. Forgive us Father for our lack of faith – Our inability to just let go of things. We ask for your help so that we may stop putting our own needs over and above that of our neighbour; Help us to stop abusing others just because they believe something different, or look different, or just sound different. Help us to stop fearing change; to stop creating idols like football, nations, status, and celebrity. Stop the greed, the arrogance, the fake humility, the false piety. Father, help us to stop.   Just stop          and learn to listen and to rest in you. Help us to pray.        Help us to trust.     Help us to love and Help us to forgive. Father, we open ourselves to you now, l...