Thank you for waiting.

Jesus is here.
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
(John 1:14 the message)

I can remember when I really properly gave my life to God and felt the work of the Holy Spirit.

The lenses of my old life came off and suddenly, it was all I could do not to make a t-shirt to wear every day telling everyone that I loved Jesus and they should too. I wanted to do stuff for God and I wanted to do it right then. So I did. I was 16 and a few friends and I really wanted to start a gathering of teenage christians, just like us to meet up and worship God together. So we did. Before we knew it, we had started an inter-city weekly worship event for teenagers, run by teenagers and although we had no idea what we were doing, we did it! We had no fear. That group is still meeting to this day, reaching over 200 teenagers each week.

In these days, as my worldview widens, I find my faith more reluctant. I know some of the things God is asking me to do, but I have more fear because of what I know about the world now as an adult.

How I long to get back to that adventurous, no holds barred way of living for God. No waiting around. Full obedience to what God is saying. No fussing over whether or not you are good enough to do it, whether you have what it takes to see it through or make it happen. No waiting.
Sometimes it is good to wait. Patience creates a different kind of discipline that we are missing in today's fast and fragile culture. But there is also a much needed discipline in not waiting around when God tells you to do something.

Whatever dreams God has given you or are growing in your spirit, don't wait around wondering if you are good enough to fulfil them. You are. Go for it.

Greater is HE that is WITHIN YOU than he that is in the world.

This Sunday we light our fourth symbolic sparkler and remember the meaning of Advent (the visit of Jesus).We wait and we marinate in:
The remembrance of Israel’s yearning for the coming Messiah, to save, forgive and restore them.Our hope for the second coming of Jesus where everything will be restored.The realisation of our own need for Gods grace, through Jesus.
God, stir in our hearts excitement about the visit of your Son.

God, sending Jesus was an act of sheer beauty.

Help us to revel in your beauty and help us to reveal your beauty.

Waiting
The yearning
The ache deep inside
Waiting....waiting....waiting
Fingers in my mouth
Pacing up and down
Dreaming of possibilities
Envy's breeding ground
Staring out the window
Tracing rainbows in the rain
A gnawing in my stomach
The ticking of the clock
Anticipating footsteps
As time goes on and on
The yearning
The ache deep inside
Waiting....waiting...waiting.“Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope.…
It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Seek That Which Is Above,1986

Sometimes I love the way the Message version of the Bible puts stuff... In Psalm 27:4 we find David, yearning to just live in the house of God and contemplate Gods Beauty all day long... In Psalm 34:12 he asks Who out there has a lust for life? Can't wait each day to come upon beauty? Later on in Romans 12:17 we are implored us to "discover beauty in everyone." The Message version loves beauty! I think it is right... God is all about beauty!!

Today I am struck by this thought- that it is our privilege and challenge to sit and contemplate the astonishing beauty of God, to add to the beauty of God all around us and to reveal it in the people we meet.

God, you are beautiful! Expand our vision of beauty. Help us to find it in the curious places of this world. Push us to discover beauty in every one of your precious creations.

Beauty in the odd places

With only six days to christmas it can start to seem a bit manic. Traffic is full-on, the malls are packed.

Tension is rising. Despite today beig my first day of my holiday - i think i'm even busier now than i was at work.

Organising trips away, catching up with people, end of year functions, seeing old mates who are in town. Things are pretty busy aye.

Admist all this - where is the beauty of christmas - it certainly isn't on the faces around me. People look heckled and harassed. The pressures of providing that special occasion and making this a time to remember actually seems to burden us.

But as you're out and about - finidng that perfect gift, trying to think of the that special way to bless a neighbour, friend, or local bum.

Pause

and look. Look for that tiny child with the innocent eyes.

Smell. The pine and the pastry wafting out of the shops and the lounges

Taste. The mull wine and the hot meals.

come up with your own suggestions of beauty and let me know to look, smell, taste for these too - coz my list is merely a starting point.

I'm off to the mall now to buy a gift for Jo so this will be my (justin) last post!

I like this clip simply because it shows a glimpse of beauty amongst the constant sorrow we here of in iraq.

Give a gift of beauty...

Today- find someone a smooth pebble, an extraordinary postcard, a delicate peice of ribbon- give someone some sweetness for their eyes today!

At Christmas- instead of the box set of West Wing (fabulous as it is) why not paint someone a picture? Make a photo collage? Make a photo Frame? Collect a glass vase full of pebbles? A box full of ribbon!

For Life- Life a life that adds to the beauty of Gods creation. Find community and help a soul find its worth. Tell a new story, sing a different song, of beauty that is life and light, of beauty that lasts.

I love the idea of us being here to add to the beauty of God already present. The idea that God made a perfect world and we get to be a part of sweeping up the bits that we have covered in the dust of our sins. For some of us the trendy concepts of social action, advocacy, and social justice seem to be so daunting that we forget the part of the story where God simply wants us to add to the beauty of what he is already doing in the world
Add to the Beauty by Sarah Groves

We come with beautiful secrets.
We come with purposes written on our hearts,
written on our souls.
We come to every new morning.
With possibilities only we can hold,
that only we can hold.

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces.
Calling out the best of who we are.

And I want to add to the beauty,
To tell a better story.
I want to shine with the light
That's burning up inside.

It comes in small inspirations,
It brings redemption to life and work.
To our lives and our work.
It comes in loving community,
It comes in helping a soul find it's worth.

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces.
Calling out the best of who we are.

This is grace, an invitation to be beautiful.
This is grace, an invitation.

And I want to add to the beauty,
To tell a better story.
I want to shine with the light,
That's burning up inside.

Decadent Beauty
There are two kinds of this.

I have seen both.

The beauty of a mountain valley, full of the fragrances of summer.

Ripened fruit, blossoming flowers, apple juice, and homemade jams.

Sweaty men freshing themselves in a lake.

The bleats of shorn sheep fill the air along with the buzzing of insects.

The sky a plain canvas of blue, and the heat of the sun fills everything with warmth.
A group of young friends walk and laugh together.

Run and play together - their love for each other is unspoken but clearly present.

The full expressions of themselves, their personalities, their opinions, their thoughts, their passions.

Their identity's are secure and they feel free to be true to themselves with each other. God's dwelling with them - in the silent moments and in the hearty thrust of debate.

His spirit boils up inside theirs - bursting forth with randomly creative ideas and new visions of life to transform communities.

They receive a glimpse of heaven while God imprints his upon their hearts a determination to bring more of the celestial into the world.

Second kind comes from a powerful man.

His bedroom is kept in state in a old museum in Paris.

He believed he was a God and so he created his chambers to reflect this.

Everything is covered with gold and silk - the ultimate expression of human decadence.

Beautiful it is - but lonely it feels.

This Sunday we light our third symbolic sparkler and remember the meaning of Advent (the visit of Jesus).We wait and we marinate in:The remembrance of Israel’s yearning for the coming Messiah, to save, forgive and restore them.Our hope for the second coming of Jesus where everything will be restored.The realisation of our own need for Gods grace, through Jesus.
God, stir in our hearts excitement about the visit of your Son.

Jesus, thank you that as we wait, even waiting through pain, we are aware you are here.

Thank you that your promises are like honey... help us to pass on the sweetness.

Waiting. This word has real resonance for me at this time as I continue on in my journey of emotional healing. A journey that is not optional but essential in order to be able to fully connect with those around me and the world in which I live. As past memories surface reminding me of the wounds deep within - I ache so badly. So, so badly. I would do anything to numb the pain – but I wait. The journey of waiting is as necessary as the healing that I long for with all that I am.

Waiting brings a depth to my experience. My experience of myself, my experience of others and my experience of my God. The waiting is necessary but God knows how much I beg Him to take it away. He could. He’s a God of miracles as I’m told time and time again. And yet I wait. I continue waiting. While I wait I hear my God telling me to keep looking ahead and to hold on tightly. He warns me not to be afraid of the depths down there below, that He is with me.

‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me’ Ps23 v4.

Deep inside I know I’m on my way up from the underground. I’m on my way out, past all the pictures that remind me of so much that terrified me once a long time ago. ‘Hold on my child’, I hear Him say. I continue waiting. How much longer Lord? I don’t think I can take much more. This is too much. You said that you would not give me more than I can bear. I start feeling like I’ve been stolen away by the darkness and then I realise.....I’m still standing....waiting.

‘If I say, ‘surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me’, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.’ Ps 139 v11-12. Inside I know my God knows me and my God hears my cry in the loneliness of the night. Yet I shouldn’t even know this with the wounds that I bear. My spirit just seems to know that my God is for me. Waiting is the journey I must make. Waiting means tears and vulnerability - when all I want to be is strong. Waiting means pain and more pain - when all I want is relief. Waiting means holding on even when you can’t see clearly and there is no obvious way of escape. Waiting implies there is hope and there is. Hope comes in the waiting. Waiting is the journey I must take.

‘Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.’ 1 Cor 13v7.

I continue to wait.........

The passover meal is a beautiful ritual celebrated by Jewish families across the world. It is rich in remembering. The crux of the ritual comes when, using bitter herbs, they attempt to experience what it was like to be in slavery as their ancestors were. The bitter herbs are not only symbolic of painful times, but a physical aid for experiencing.
Remembering is crucial to our spiritual life. We are told frequently throughout scripture to remember. Remembering can be one of the highlights part of waiting.

Take something bitter, salt, vinegar,and put it in your mouth. Use this taste to evoke memories of bitter times in your life.

Reflect on a hardship, pain, a trialling period.
Try and think about how this pain has shaped you.
Remember the hand of God.
Celebrate that God is presence through all times, good and bad.

Vinegar

Vinegar has been made and used by people for thousands of years. Traces of it have been found in Egyptian urns from around 3000 BC.

In the

Bible , it is mentioned as something not very pleasant ( psalm 69:21, Prov 25:20).

Boaz allows Ruth to "dip her piece of bread in the vinegar" (Ruth 2:14).

While the Nazarites, on the other hand, were not allowed to drink either wine vinegar or malt vinegar.

Jesus was offered vinegar while on the cross according to the King James version of the Bible, yet actually it was sour wine or wine that was off. It was common for this to be given out by women of charity to comfort those dying on the cross.

Whatever it was - it tasted bitter.

Jesus knows the bitter taste.

Christmas points to Jesus

It points to his birth, his life, and the joy of heralding the new kingdom.
But is also envitably points to the cross.
The mention of ol' rugged,
the mention of the pain and suffering,
the mention of atonement for our darkest deeds.
In one sense it tarnishes the moment.
It casts a shadow across the gleeful celebrations.

It leaves a bitter taste.

Bitter like the wine he tasted in his last moments on the cross

But just like the sharp bite of a merlot - the first taste leads on to a fuller experience, a deeper satisfaction and a greater experience of life.

Give a gift of taste...

Today- pass a piece of fudge/ chocolate/ sweet wrapped in a promise from God to someone...

At Christmas- rather then giving an iphone why not bake a cake, create a dish or make Turkish delight for everyone you know...

For Life- Determine to leave a sweet taste in peoples mouths; build up don't pull down, bring out their goodness not their badness, promote their interests not your own interests...

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:108
Shall we take time to remember the words of God, savour their significance.
Okay, put some honey in your mouth. I mean, literally, do it. Maybe you don't have easy access to honey, maybe a bit of a candy cane, strawberry, a chocolate...
As you let it sit on your tongue, melting, dissolving, coating your mouth with sugar, reflect on some of Gods promises.
I will never leave you...
Nothing can separate you from my love...
Sift through your mind and choose one. Turn it over, look at it from different angles, like a prism in the sunlight.
Let Gods promise sit there, permeating your mind as the sweetness in your mouth permeates your taste buds.

I read in the paper that they were thinking of bringing in a simple taste test to diagnose depression, so impacted are our taste buds when we are sad or stressed. Amazing... Life is hard= food tastes bland.
Equally I think of the memorable meals I have had ones where the tastes have exploded in my mouth... almost all of them were on dates where I was head over heals in love.
Songs of Solomon is one of those contested books in the Bible- a pure description of two lovers, or a slightly cryptic message from God to the Church? Dissapointingly perhaps, I'm going to sit on the fence. I don't see why I have to choose! the depth of love is an excellent example for marriage and the passion displayed is clearly matched, if not blown out of the water, by the love God has for us. And what depictions; taste, sight, smell, sound, fruit, nuts, waterfalls... the imagery is amazing, getting across love that encompasses everything, where anything can be claimed in the name of love.
Know the passionate love God has for you, the kind of love that makes your taste explode, the kind of love that possesses God to send the one, loved son for us...
How beautiful your love, dear, dear friend— far more pleasing than a fine, rare wine, your fragrance more exotic than select spices. (Song of Solomon, Chapter 4:8)

This Sunday we light our second symbolic sparkler and remember the meaning of Advent (the visit of Jesus).
We wait and we marinate in:
The remembrance of Israel’s yearning for the coming Messiah, to save, forgive and restore them.
Our hope for the second coming of Jesus where everything will be restored.
The realisation of our own need for Gods grace, through Jesus.

God, stir in our hearts excitement about the visit of your Son.

Jesus, prompt us to dwell on the idea that you are waiting for us too.

Help us to hear you and help us to be a sweet sound.

Waiting is the theme for today.

I feel a great unrest in these days - maybe you do too. Christmas is soon. The smells of pine in the lounge, the mince pies and the fragrant curries ( my christmas' may vary from yours) speak to me of family and love.

But it is also the time to that we turn our focus onto Christ. His first coming as a child reminds us he is coming again. And he's coming to liberate us.

The world is messed up - suffering and pain is all around us. Our limitations and inadequacies threaten to overtake us. Romans 8.22 reminds us of this.

And perhaps the madness of the pre-christmas build-up helps us appreciate the dec 25 that much more because it is such a contrast.

But as Christmas is coming and as the day Jesus returning comes closer - we must realise Jesus is also waiting for us.

He's waiting for us to see him because he's so close.

As he sits in a dark corner of the street in his dirty clothes and unkept beard.

As he sits in a foster home with five other sad faces.

As he sits in a prison - alone, rejected, hurting, and waiting for us to see him.

THe clip of Al Green is rather strange - he looks like he may be on acid but i do know he became a pastor a few years after this video was shot. But the beauty of his voice and his passion invoke the cry of our messiah to me.

And i'll end with this clip of Ben Harper - he trully has a amazing gift to take his listeners to heaven. The angel he speaks of - could be us. We can be angels on this earth - bringing heavenly things to the ordinary meanderings. We can bring rest and peace for those who are hassled and bring refreshment to thse who are burnt up.

And let us carry those too tired to go on - so they may see Jesus when he comes.

There is a day, created by a musician, called No Music Day. It is on 21st November, the eve of St Cecilias Day, the patron Saint of music and the idea is to, well, have a day of no music. A Guardian Columnist who observed the day this year wrote
"What is it about silence that scares us? Why do so many people only feel able to face the world clad in tinny iPod armour? Why put our feet at the mercy of others' rhythms, and pay so little heed to our own? We've been making music for millennia, but we've only been able to store it and broadcast it for a tiny fraction of that time. The excitement of attending a Haydn premiere in London in the 1790s, certain that this sound had never before entered a human ear, can now hardly be imagined. With our MP3 players and our silent discos, we are masters and mistresses of music as never before; perhaps, the inventor of No Music Day seems to be saying, we are getting a bit blasé."

In this paragraph he portrays the major themes of No Music Day and makes two beautiful points;

Silence shouldn't be scary
and
Sound should be special.

We, probably can't take a whole day, but how about taking a little time to be quiet. Plug your ears with your fingers or earplugs/ some loo roll (it works fine.) Use this silence fast to recapture the wonder of sound and to set your pace to Gods rhythm...

"How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him,still
The dear Christ enters in."

We are at a time of year when every spare second is filled with jingles, everyone, everywhere wanting our money... so much of the surrounding sound is trying to sell us something.

Hard Fi, a popular English indie band, say in their Television lyrics:

If I only had...
Television
New religion
Let everyone sing
Hallelujah
Politicians
Don't wanna listen
They only wanna make
money out of you
Hallelujah!!

Through the shop window, it's a wide screen world
But I can't afford a thing, and I never get the girl

It ain't easy

No it ain't easy...
You know we always want something
But somehow we end up with nothing
Nothing.

Thankfully they have cracked the myth (as I'm sure you have too) - this consumerist noise leaves Everyone Empty.

Hold a protest in your heart. Everytime you hear a jingle pull Hebrews 13.5 out in your mind: "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."