Praise from a place of sadness

I feel like I'm watching a scary film from behind a cushion, saying 'tell me when it's all over.'  Except it's not fiction, it's the news.

I'm not the only one reeling with sadness, fear and anger tonight.

No prizes for guessing where I'm taking those feelings tonight.

To the God who created us - all- in His image

To the Father to the fatherless, the defender of the orphan and the widow, the champion of 'the least of these'

To the One who did not use his power to manipulate but gave up his majesty

To the Eternal One who will reign in perfect justice and rightness

To the One who will gather us from every nation and tribe and tongue into one people

To the One who says, 'I know, and I am on my throne'

To the teller of stories that broke down barriers

To the bringer of peace

To the one whose presence is like cloud on a burning hot day, like still after the storm, like peace after the deafening noise

He makes all things new

'Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord...
He shall judge between the nations...
and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares...
O house of Jacob, come let us walk
In the light of the Lord.'
Isaiah 2

The hope of heaven on a Monday morning

The Monday Morning Blues reared their ugly head this morning. An exciting and busy weekend, and one tired boy who didn't want to go to school.

He wanted me to say he could stay off. I wasn't about to say that. We talked and we talked some more.

'I wish it was Saturday. It's my favourite day.'
'It's everyone's favourite, but we have to go through Monday to get there.'
'Why are weeks longer than weekends?'
'Well, you know, when we get to heaven, every day will feel like Saturday or Sunday.'
'It's not as good as being alive though.'
'What? It will be even better! Anyway, didn't you know, God is going to fix this world, put everything right. '
'When it breaks?'

'It's already got plenty of broken bits, like sickness (and Monday mornings.) '

I was challenged recently to think more about heaven - to daydream about it, let it capture my imagination, to analyse and question it: to consider it, like Paul apparently did, because he could say things like:
'I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us' ( Romans 8:18). Then there's 'for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all' (2 Corinthians 4:17). If you're like me you want to say 'light? Momentary?! You're kidding, Paul.'  But then, you see, I think I'm too good at considering the wrong end of the equation. I need to daydream about heaven.

They say the best way to teach your children about your faith is to share what you are learning and living. So I decided to practise this with Alice. I grabbed a book called 'The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross' by Carl Laferton. It's a lovely children's story which outlines the story of the bible from beginning to end. The illustrations are gorgeous. The one I wanted was at the end - it depicts a garden, with a hill where a bright light shines. There are trees and flowers and a pathway. There's a man, dressed in gold, shining white, riding a horse, and he is calling his friends, dressed in white, to come in with him to the garden. In other words, it's a portrait of Revelation 21.

'Alice, come and look at this picture with me. Isn't it beautiful? Look, have you ever seen a picture of Jesus looking like this before?'

'No. He looks a bit like a duck because he's yellow.'

Bookworm

It is well known that I am a bookworm.

After Alice's last stay in hospital I decided to reread the Daisy Dalrymple books by Carola Dunn. I barely stopped till I'd read 20 out of 22 books. You've heard of binge-eating? Let me introduce you to binge-reading.

Back in the summer I reread C.S. Lewis's 'Surprised by Joy'. I like (most of) it for many reasons but one of them is seeing how much of his life he spent with his head in books; and how he read his way to faith in Christ, and how he used his words and his intellect and his imagination to have such an impact on so many people.

 I wonder if he liked whodunnits?

Every now and again I hear Dorothy L Sayers quoted in church: she was the author of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, which I love. 

But they don't quote her novels. She was also a playwright, a poet, and a Christian evangelist, a very good one as it turns out. I particularly like the way she writes about the 'shattering personality' of Jesus. Here's a little taster courtesy of Google.  And I have set myself the challenge to be quoting from some detective novels on this blog soon. You're welcome. 

'It is the dogma that is the drama- not beautiful phrases, nor comforting sentiments, nor vague aspirations to loving-kindness and uplift, nor the promise of something nice after death- but the terrifying assertion that the same God who made the world lived in the world and passed through the grave and gate of death... they may not believe it; but at least they may realize that here is something that a man might be glad to believe.'

Dorothy L Sayers, Creed or Chaos?: Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster