I marvel at my insensate folly,
that with such enriching favours within my reach
I am slow to extend the hand to take them…
Quicken me, stir me, fill me with holy zeal.
Strengthen me that I may cling to thee and not let thee go.
May thy Spirit within me draw all blessings from they hand.
When I advance not, I backslide.
From The Valley of Vision
Am I embracing what God offers me at this very moment?
New life? New Identity? New beginning? New day?
How do I respond to God’s personal visit to me?
Do I come to Him expecting wrath or open arms?
Questions taken from My Children: A Lenten Devotional
Friday, 1 May 2009
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Hmm
So here I am continuing to bumble through life - Im not sure if this is the best way to go or if a more concrete plan would be better?
I'm still making some jewelery but have also got a part time job at our local co-op. And Im going to do some volunteering at a local school to help me decide about maybe teaching? I have NO idea what I want to do really. Does that mean i will be happy doing anything? Or never happy?
David has his job until next september and then may candidate although not straight away if i am doing training too. If he doesnt candidate we dont know what he will do.
We may buy a house is the court case goes ahead in the summer. Or we may rent.
Should I be more ambitious? Be making more plans for the future? Thinking about being more financially stable and waiting for the perfect time to have kids? Or is a little bit of future planning, and a lot of living in the present and enjoying it ok?
I'm still making some jewelery but have also got a part time job at our local co-op. And Im going to do some volunteering at a local school to help me decide about maybe teaching? I have NO idea what I want to do really. Does that mean i will be happy doing anything? Or never happy?
David has his job until next september and then may candidate although not straight away if i am doing training too. If he doesnt candidate we dont know what he will do.
We may buy a house is the court case goes ahead in the summer. Or we may rent.
Should I be more ambitious? Be making more plans for the future? Thinking about being more financially stable and waiting for the perfect time to have kids? Or is a little bit of future planning, and a lot of living in the present and enjoying it ok?
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Have we lost the values of Methodism?
Maybe I'll just ramble my thoughts here instead of thinking I have to write about the humdrum of my daily life. And I keep track of all the wonderful blogs I like to read.
Last night as I was trying to sleep this is what I was thinking about.
Have we lost the values of the Methodist church?
Further conversation with my husband revealed that the original idea of the Methodist church was for God to be reachable by everyone. The poorer people couldnt read the bible readings, couldnt read to find out about God and so couldnt really connect with Him on the same level as those who could read. So the Methodist church tried to teach them to read and starting singing hymns so that they could learn the theology without needing to read as they could remember the hymns. It was about EVERYONE being able to understand and communicate with God.
Yet now we are in the same situation but with generation problems instead. The (mainly) older church members find they can learn about and communicate with God in their traditions of sermons, prayer and hymns in a structured format. The (mainly) younger members find that they do not understand the language of the hymns and prefer to discuss rather than to just listen to long sermons. The traditional format isnt a good platform for them to learn about and comunicate with God from. And so we have kept the traditions but lost the values!
I know this is generalising a lot, and I dont mean to say I see no value in the current traditions because thats not true but I can't work out what the future for the church is going to be. What are our options - to carry on as we are and not entirely satisfy either group as we try and find a middle ground? Or to split into an old church which will gradually get smaller and a younger church that will get larger? But then we will lose the guidance and wisdom and knowledge of the older members.
I dont want to lose that, but I dont want the compromise to be that I am made to try and relate to, learn about and worship God in a way which is difficult for me and which limits and restricts my worship. I think a lot of people think youth just want loud music but its not for loud musics sake, its the need for a style which we are comfortable in, which allows us to worship without having to translate ourselves into something we are not. Imagine having to speak to God in the Spanish you did at school?!!!
So is there a way to combine the wisdom and knowledge of the older members with the frustrated hunger and thirsting of the younger members? To have a church where peoples praise is not limited by the format they are forced to worship in? But where there is a community of everyone and an understanding that there are things in other peoples styles which CAN be beneficial for us to learn?
Last night as I was trying to sleep this is what I was thinking about.
Have we lost the values of the Methodist church?
Further conversation with my husband revealed that the original idea of the Methodist church was for God to be reachable by everyone. The poorer people couldnt read the bible readings, couldnt read to find out about God and so couldnt really connect with Him on the same level as those who could read. So the Methodist church tried to teach them to read and starting singing hymns so that they could learn the theology without needing to read as they could remember the hymns. It was about EVERYONE being able to understand and communicate with God.
Yet now we are in the same situation but with generation problems instead. The (mainly) older church members find they can learn about and communicate with God in their traditions of sermons, prayer and hymns in a structured format. The (mainly) younger members find that they do not understand the language of the hymns and prefer to discuss rather than to just listen to long sermons. The traditional format isnt a good platform for them to learn about and comunicate with God from. And so we have kept the traditions but lost the values!
I know this is generalising a lot, and I dont mean to say I see no value in the current traditions because thats not true but I can't work out what the future for the church is going to be. What are our options - to carry on as we are and not entirely satisfy either group as we try and find a middle ground? Or to split into an old church which will gradually get smaller and a younger church that will get larger? But then we will lose the guidance and wisdom and knowledge of the older members.
I dont want to lose that, but I dont want the compromise to be that I am made to try and relate to, learn about and worship God in a way which is difficult for me and which limits and restricts my worship. I think a lot of people think youth just want loud music but its not for loud musics sake, its the need for a style which we are comfortable in, which allows us to worship without having to translate ourselves into something we are not. Imagine having to speak to God in the Spanish you did at school?!!!
So is there a way to combine the wisdom and knowledge of the older members with the frustrated hunger and thirsting of the younger members? To have a church where peoples praise is not limited by the format they are forced to worship in? But where there is a community of everyone and an understanding that there are things in other peoples styles which CAN be beneficial for us to learn?
Monday, 19 January 2009
Maybe
Maybe I'll never be a good blogger - but I love having this blog anyway to keep track of al the fabulous blogs out there!!
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Egypt and blergh
I have just been on a fabulous holiday to Egypt for five days, but now we've come back to horrible English weather and an absolutely evil cold/cough bug so Im too ill to write any more
Sunday, 30 November 2008
What if Starbucks marketed like the church?
I also found a really interesting and thought provoking video
http://www.beyondrelevance.com/index.cfm/pageid/913/postid/24/index.html#e5059
http://www.beyondrelevance.com/index.cfm/pageid/913/postid/24/index.html#e5059
Without ceasing
Every time I resolve to write more on here, I never do.
So now my resolve is to write if I want to, about anything I want to.
I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about trying to regain my relationship with God, and about the local churches here. I have these ideas and thoughts all the time and I never say them to anyone, maybe I should?
I want church to be exciting, challenging, touching, friendly and many other things yet most of the time I find it is stand up sit down, sing hymns boring. I dont want to leave the methodist church - I am sure I am here for a reason but what is it? In a church that relies on SO many meetings how can someone who doesnt even go most of the time change anything? How can I make them see that this generation and younger want to connect with God desperately but need to do so in the ways which come naturaly to them, so that worship is an extension of themselves and their personalities, not a formal traditional pattern which they just take part in on a sunday. I think the history of the church is great but do you really think that the heights of my amazement at the creator of the universe dying for me can be expressed by singing hymns I dont even understand?! I need to keep this yearning alive, but I Also want to be doing something about it.
Today I've been reading about 24/7 prayer and I found a beautiful poem about it by someone called Lisa Borden
WITHOUT CEASING
And this is how we pray
Backs nestled into the hammock
Faces turned toward the stars
The warm air lifts against us
And we are quiet, quiet
As you, God, speak to us
About how big you are
And this is how we pray
Sitting on the leaf strewn ground
Peering across the pattern of sun and shade
The clear pool under the giant fig
Where the monitor lizard slips through the water
And we whisper our worshipful thanks
Again and again
And this is how we pray
Standing in the kitchen
Speaking out the worries in our minds
Telling this perfect parent God
Just how small our faith feels
Conscious of how sweetly ludicrous
Our doubts must appear
And this is how we pray
Curled into our duvets
Safely tucked in on this wind blown night
Thoughts far from here
With our friends who sit in vigil
Waiting for a precious life to pass
Maybe even tonight
And this is how we pray
With longing
And with hope
With stress
And with joy
With daring
And with simple words
So now my resolve is to write if I want to, about anything I want to.
I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about trying to regain my relationship with God, and about the local churches here. I have these ideas and thoughts all the time and I never say them to anyone, maybe I should?
I want church to be exciting, challenging, touching, friendly and many other things yet most of the time I find it is stand up sit down, sing hymns boring. I dont want to leave the methodist church - I am sure I am here for a reason but what is it? In a church that relies on SO many meetings how can someone who doesnt even go most of the time change anything? How can I make them see that this generation and younger want to connect with God desperately but need to do so in the ways which come naturaly to them, so that worship is an extension of themselves and their personalities, not a formal traditional pattern which they just take part in on a sunday. I think the history of the church is great but do you really think that the heights of my amazement at the creator of the universe dying for me can be expressed by singing hymns I dont even understand?! I need to keep this yearning alive, but I Also want to be doing something about it.
Today I've been reading about 24/7 prayer and I found a beautiful poem about it by someone called Lisa Borden
WITHOUT CEASING
And this is how we pray
Backs nestled into the hammock
Faces turned toward the stars
The warm air lifts against us
And we are quiet, quiet
As you, God, speak to us
About how big you are
And this is how we pray
Sitting on the leaf strewn ground
Peering across the pattern of sun and shade
The clear pool under the giant fig
Where the monitor lizard slips through the water
And we whisper our worshipful thanks
Again and again
And this is how we pray
Standing in the kitchen
Speaking out the worries in our minds
Telling this perfect parent God
Just how small our faith feels
Conscious of how sweetly ludicrous
Our doubts must appear
And this is how we pray
Curled into our duvets
Safely tucked in on this wind blown night
Thoughts far from here
With our friends who sit in vigil
Waiting for a precious life to pass
Maybe even tonight
And this is how we pray
With longing
And with hope
With stress
And with joy
With daring
And with simple words
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