Look for the Light- Look, See, Pray

I’m trying to teach myself the skill of seeing the signs of light and life in an unsettled world.

My photo is of bamboo- which can be VERY destructive if it gets its roots deep enough- and my eye was fixated by the one highlighted strip. The intensity of the light overexposed this strip: the camera couldn’t handle the contrast, so all the colour has bleached out leaving stems and leaves a silvery white. If you look closely, you can see some of these parts glow as they reflect glare which made the lens “flare.”

Bamboo, certainly many of the common varieties, can grow with extraordinary speed. Several inches in a day. Stems and shoots can force through soil, rock, or concrete: it can ruin the foundations of a building, or grow up through solid floors. At which point, it’s too late even to panic!

Bad governance, sometimes careless and sometimes evil, grows like bamboo. Ambition, greed and a lust for power afflict many of those who rise to prominence via wealth or political manipulation. It seems to me this process is clearly at work in the “great super-powers” and in many autocratic states.

Such darkness is not inevitable. The Berlin Wall was brought crashing down by people demanding liberty: Poland and the Czech/Slovak people shone a bright light of hope.

Putin will, one day, die. So will Trump. So will we all. Some of those deaths will make the world a better place for their passing! But ONE death makes the Light shine through Resurrection. Jesus, who was crucified by the “Establishment” of religion and Empire, inaugurated a new Kingdom of hope, of Love, grace, compassion, mercy, and justice: raised from death, Jesus reigns as Lord of all lords and will one day be acknowledged by all. Commoners, lords and ladies, rich and poor…

So if you see darkness growing in leaders, nations, and societies that do not show the values of the Kingdom of Jesus, don’t despair. Their day will pass. The Day of Jesus will never pass away. We see this Light in the actions of love and kindness, of bravery and boldness for the good, and in the transformed lives of those who are becoming like Jesus day by day. The light glows brighter against gathering darkness- and the darkness neither understands nor can overcome the Light of the World.

Please pray for leaders: not in blind approval of their actions, but that they be accountable to both God and the people they rule. Pray for any “outburst of light” you see, pray that Christ brings His Light into every dark place.

The Early Church often greeted each other with “Maranatha” which means “Come, O Lord.” It’s a word in need of more use…

Revelation 22:20 (NLT): “He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon!’ Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!”.

Dreaming of Summer- Look, See, Pray

It’s apparently the time of year when British people book their main holidays… the murk and chill of January makes us long for sun, sea, and comfort.

Let’s face it, on a bone-chillingly freezing day on a Sussex salt-marsh, the appeal of the colour and glamour and luxury of an Italian gem like Portofino is simply ENORMOUS. Warm summer sun, warm summer sea, warm oranges and ochre shades on the buildings… the idea of a zippy launch or technicolour sailboat… the prospect of dolphins skipping through crystal waves… Am I selling the idea? Who wants to book tonight? Send me 10% as an inspiration fee!

Portofino residents are probably NOT thinking about booking a fortnight in Littlehampton. Hmmph.

Our minds yearn for a bit of indulgence, our bank balance winces, and we still have to do the laundry, cook dinner, and earn a living.

If only… Two powerful motivational words!

Can we harness the power of imagination for the other 50 weeks of the year? Holidays are fabulous, if we can afford them, and will do us good. What if… Another pair of powerful words. What if we put our energies, creativity, compassion and resources into transforming our local community? Or into volunteering to help a charity or relief project, or helping kids learn to read, or caring about the shut-ins and lonely…

Life can be about making a difference, or working for justice, or being compassionate. Now imagine what local communities of faith, prayer, and love can achieve wherever they are; or in partnership with other agencies and churches.

It puts feet onto the prayer Jesus taught us… “May God’s Will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.”

I’m not saying we should have holiday dreams. I’m saying we shouldn’t JUST have holiday dreams…………….

God’s inspiring imagination has bigger dreams for us to grasp!

Funny old world… Look, See, Pray

It’s a funny old world, full of surprises.

Number 1– for no known reason… Surprise! A crack across my car windscreen from the corner towards the middle. Deep joy… and the glass people can’t fix it for a week. I don’t know who to blame.

Number 2– came home, took the recycling bin out for collection via the back gate/twitten. Surprise! Some time between Christmas Day and today, an unknown benefactor has removed the timber and old iron that was piled up to be taken to the tip. No note, just a nicely empty space where the old shed remnants had been messily patient. I don’t know who to thank!

So now I don’t know whether to be grumpy or happy.

If we allow our perspective and mood to be purely reactive, we’re at the mercy of the vagaries of the world. Good things happen to bad people. So do bad things- and neither is necessarily anyone’s fault. Nor is a “good” thing necessarily proof that someone is “good.” How can this all make sense?

This is an ancient conundrum, which philosophers and theologians have wrestled with for thousands of years. Is there a reason why ANYTHING exists at all? Is there a “God” who cares about us? Is everything random chance and coincidence, or does life imply meaning and purpose? (This is a vital question- our answer shapes our world.)

Christianity declares that God is real and has made Himself known.

Many years ago the prophet Isaiah proclaimed a message from God which is worth examination. What do you make of this?

Isaiah 45:5–9 (ESV)
I am the LORD, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the LORD, who does all these things.

“Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and
righteousness may bear fruit;
let the earth cause them both to sprout;
I the LORD have created it.
“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
Does the clay say to him who forms it,
‘What are you making?’
or ‘Your work has no handles’?"