You will keep that person in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26.3 (translation mine) I'm going to share a little more about me in today's post (not that I don't mostly just end up doing that anyway...) - I keep the Sabbath. Now, it's not some legalistic thing I do with a million and one rules or lists of 'I shall not...', and I absolutely don't do it because I think it'll get me into heaven or that people who don't do it won't be invited. Not at all! I keep Sabbath because it injects rhythm and purpose into my weekly walk with God.
I try to do things on Sabbath that will direct me towards God - I spend time reading the Bible, worshipping and praying, I sometimes study books about faith and God, I talk with people and make sure I know how they're really doing, and sometimes I get the chance to make things while doing some of that as well! I love creating as I worship, or pray, and making things that focus me on some aspect of God's character, either alone or alongside a friend. Last Sabbath I got to do just that. For my housemate's birthday a couple of months ago I'd gotten her a lino-cutting starter pack, and we'd liked it so much that we'd gotten some more pads, and then we hadn't really done much with them. After we enjoyed a good lunch together (with cheesecake for dessert - my all time favourite!), we decided to do some printing. I had this verse in my head from earlier as it was the one sent to me that day to illustrate for my church's Look up in Lockdown post, and I just sat there reflecting on this idea of "perfect peace". And in that day, of not having to worry about productivity or work; and in that meal, of being open and true with my husband and closest friend; and in the discussion we'd had about the intricacy and beauty of the flowers that adorned the table, sent to me from my sister earlier in the week - I felt a sense of that perfect peace. So I made a print of one of the carnations that stood in the little jar of water in front of me. To remind me of that beautiful time when there was no fretfulness, no rush, and no worry, and to remind me that this is what God wants for each of us. Peace. Shalom. Wholeness. Perfect peace. Stay safe, and take care!
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“Peace be with you.” John 20.19 I want to share with you my Pastors’ words today, because I thought they could do with sharing!
”One of my friends who is in lockdown lives in a flat. She is on her own. Even though she keeps contact with family and friends by phone, at times, the isolation is suffocating. ”She feels frightened, forgotten, frustrated, by this virus that has taken her captive. ”I wonder if a story in the life of Jesus can help us when we feel like that? ”After his resurrection, Jesus visited a group of people who were in a lockdown of their own making. They were not afraid of a virus, but they feared the loss of their lives because of their friendship with Jesus. ”But because Jesus understands the loneliness, fear, and thoughts that go round and round in our minds when we reside behind locked doors, he visited his friends, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” (John 20 v 19). Jesus also offered them reasons to trust in him. Instead of their hearts then being filled with loneliness, they overflowed with joy! ”If you are finding lockdown difficult today, then invite Jesus to visit you and experience that peace for yourself.” ~ ~~ words were written by Pastor Mary Barrett. I hope they help you to feel more peaceful, as they did for me. 😊 Stay safe, and take care! But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hand; rescue me from everything against me! Psalm 31.14-15 (ESV + translation mine) Today, the other of our pastors shared this verse. She was thinking about when she had a scare recently - which I know many can relate to, especially those who live with vulnerable people at the moment. She wrote:
'Let's make time to sit with God and ask Him to strengthen our trust in Him. And to lead us to passages in His Word, that will deepen that trust. For when I was scared, God led me to the above verse. He reminded me that my life, and your life too, is not in the clutches of Coronavirus, but safe, in the Hands of the God who will always do what is best for us.' So I made that time, and I pictured what God's hands might look like. Often, myself included, we imagine God's hands holding us. Probably from the kids' church 'He's Got the Whole World in his Hands' over and over again, drilled into us!! But today as I sat, I saw God's hands extending outwards from me, in all directions. Holding life at bay. One hand cupped above my head, the other ready to catch me if I needed it - like when you're walking along a balance beam or a slack line and you get someone to walk along beside you holding out their arm, nearly touching you, but not quite. Like that. Just in case. One hand pointing out forwards, hands blocking danger from front and back, curling and reading to protect from left and right. "In your hands" indeed - right in the centre of all God's hands! "My times are in your hand" - there is nothing that God doesn't know about, doesn't go through with me, and doesn't see coming. Let's make time to sit with God and ask him to strengthen our trust in him. And to lead us to passages in the Bible that will deepen that trust. And then to help us picture in our minds - in words, images, objects, stories - what that looks like, for us, today. Hang in there, everyone. Stay safe, and take care! I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16.33 (NIV) Stuff happens. Sometimes crazy stuff! But take heart - there's something better to focus on amidst anything. Someone who knows you. Who's got you. Who loves you. And who will never tire of being there when you need.
So peace! Where are you finding yours? Because even though we have reminders like this in the Bible that Jesus gives us peace, I think us humans are still pretty good at being anxious, busy, sometimes empty... Pretty good at being peace-less. But I find peace when I can move myself above all of that, and focus on something else. For me, that revolves around God and it revolves around creating - putting something back into the world, rather than just consuming all the time. Using time in a different way; when it doesn't matter when it will get done, just that eventually it will. For me, I've been finding peace in having pretty flowers on the window sill to remind me of seasons and that things stay underground sometimes and grow out at others. For me, peace is in the time I spend stirring, kneading, smelling, and waiting as I bake goodies to share. For me, it's in the brush strokes (real, and more recently digital too!) and water sprays and even in some cases the clacking of the keys on my keyboard as I create something new. For me, it's in the songs I sing and the words I read as I lift my eyes to remember my God. Why not take some time to find peace in this time of space? Do things differently - without an agenda or deadline. Of course, neither you nor I can make everything like that! There are still things we need to do by certain times, or in certain ways. But it's still important to actively try to do some things in ways that carry you into the stillness and peace that God designed us to need and destined to give us. Stay safe, and take care! "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, clear as glass, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 22.1-2) "All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say." (Ecclesiastes 1.7-8a) Water is ubiquitous. There is water we need to drink. Where I live, there is often water that falls from the sky, pin-pricks spiking through my clothes as I cycle and as clouds begin to let go. There is water we wash in. There is water that seeps out of the corners of our eyes when things become too sad, or too happy, or too overwhelming, or too disappointing. There is water that powers across the sea, crashing as waves against rocks, or cliffsides, or beaches. Water that wears down the land itself. There is water in streams, and lakes. There is water locked up in glaciers and ice-caps. There is water melting, tumbling, crashing. Sometimes life can be like water. Like everything is moving, cycling, yet necessary. What do you think? If all that I do goes into the world, yet the world is never full (complete, perfect, right, better), why do I bother? Ecclesiastes 1.7-8a. When all things are more wearisome than one can say, what keeps us going? Perhaps the utopian images of "something better" that we cling to, even if we are unable to say how it could become reality. And then we believe, somewhere deep inside us, that there can be life-giving water, that tears can be no more, that fruit can grow and sustain all year round, and that nations can be healed. Revelation 22.1-2. They are both here. We know the world is too broken for us to be able to fix it, but we also know that we've got to live this life as if we're trying to - or what's the point? This is metamodern. This is what a large majority of millennials and gen-z's feel. But it feels almost as if we're crashing around, tumbling and melting like ice-caps when we feel this way. We keep our heads above water, but only just. And what do we miss while we're so intent on surviving it? Sometimes, in the midst of it all, I need another lens through which to look.
There will be time again to fight the wrong things in the world. There will be time again to realise the world is beyond my power to fix. There will be time again to decide to keep trying to do good anyway.
But there needs to be time for silence, and to be still. |
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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