The Day on the Mountaintop.

I found the post below when wandering through my own blog considering the journey I have been on lately. Many of you know that I think a lot in general, but I’ve been particulary ponderous of late and this often isn’t then best thing. I’ve taken myself in circles thinking about the mysteries of forgiveness and the theories of trying and failing and trying again. I’ve been pushing doors thinking about fasting and forgiveness and love and lust. Do I even come to any answers? No, probably not. Because, in the end, I deeply believe that sometimes we can’t know the answers. Not that there aren’t any, just that I don’t know the formula and I can’t work out the end result and put it into my own little boxes and structured framework. I’m not God. And that’d a relief, really, it is.

I don’t need to know all or pre-empt the outcome or even understand why one day I feel as though I am on that mountain top and the next day I feel like I might be at the bottom of a canyon. I don’t know why I fail at things when I thought I was strong enough, or even sometimes when I know I am strong enough. I don’t know why people have to cry and why people I love get ill. I don’t know why there’s pain and no cure. I don’t know why families don’t love one another and there’s no mutuality between those who are expected to have a mutual care for one another. I don’t know why there’s addiction and poverty surrounding me when I walk along the streets. I don’t know why there’s injustice in the handing out of money. I just.. don’t know. 

But, were we ever intended to know why, to see the reasons, to root around at the causes? Were we ever intended to play God and to change the future and reinvent the past? I honestly don’t think so. I honestly hope not.

And in all these ways I am very glad that I fail and that I do not understand, but yet I do not have to journey on my own. I am thankful I do not have to be on either the mountain top or in the canyon on my own. I am so thankful.

The Beauty of His MajestyGod, I pray that just like this day when I stood on top of the hill looking at your creation when I felt on top of the world, you will remind me of this feeling when I do not feel so high. I also pray that when it is your will for me to be learning how to love you from the valley that I will know it is right for me to be there. I love you Lord -show me more of your will in my life. Amen

I love this picture, so much so that I just had to post it. It reminds me of the glory of Gods creation and the fact that if he can create something so perfect and beautiful but yet still choses to use me to do his work then He is a pretty special God.

His ways are beyond my thinking, but His thinking is well beyond my understanding.

I’ve been Thinking… (a blog about lent and life)

what are you giving up?

…about a lot of things lately, including writing in this blog again. So, first of all, here I am, encouraged by some friends also, writing in the good ol’ blog which no one reads!

There’s reasoning behind this you see: – namely that I have ‘quit facebook for lent.’ I put this in parenthesis (thanks Rachel @www.stageactorbysoul.wordpress.com because there’s only a certain extent to which I have managed this, you see.

I don’t see myself as someone who has very much will-power and I have proven this to myself again and again this week, by taking sneak peaks at facebook yesterday and Thursday, two particularly stressful days over the past week. I don’t know who I think I am cheating or fooling, but I think it’s only myself and possibly God that I am letting down. In addition to this, I’ve ‘given up eastenders’ as well, something which I gave up giving up on Friday due to the live episode which was airing.

So, you see, no will-power whatsoever. So, here I am, sitting on Monday 22nd, 6 days into lent and not doing so well. Thinking about giving up giving up anything – if you know what I mean… but what good does that do? In fact, why am I even giving up anything in the first place?

Why, Yes… I am still alive

So, here I am toddling along back to the blog which I haven’t managed to update in quite some time (seems like 2 months almost).

The truth is, I became quite disheartened by the whole blogging thing, partly because the majority of my views are coming from people who are searching for “french wine” or “durdle door.” Neither of which is my topic of choice.

However, I am still here, I am still youth-working, I am still blogging, and facebooking and occassionally twittering. I just get disenthused with the inordinate choice of wedsites through which to portray who you are.

Anyway, currently I have no real insights to share with the world on this site. However, I was reading Psalm 3 this morning, and I thought I would share the encouragement which I received from it.

1. God is a sheild around you.
2. God is your glory.
3. God holds your head high.
4. God answers you.
5. God keeps you in safety and watches over you.
6. You do not need to be afraid of 10,000 enemies.
7. And finally, your victory comes from Him.

Well, that’s about all for today, hopefully it won’t be another 2 months until I blog.

Some addition information on the AB of C and other events.

I don’t really know who Brodie McGregor is, but he left a comment on my blog and on visiting his blog in return I found an excellent (and more detailed) post about the discussion between Dr Rowan Williams and Mona Siddiqui. The post is focused more on detailing the exchange between the two scholars than on any judgement or personal view on what was said. My previous post, on the other hand, was more of the latter!

Also, if you are even more interested in this discussion than reading some thoughts from someone else on it, and you wishyou had been there. Or more worryingly, you were there and would like to watch it again, Glasgow University provide the webcast in their archive, and you can find it here. You will have to have windows media player to watch this wmv however.

Brodie, however, also reminded me that Brian Mclaren is coming to Glasgow at the beginning of December. Precisely, he will be speaking on Sunday 7th December and also two times on Monday 8th December. I plan to attend both events on the Monday (11am -3pm at ICC, focusing on the topic ‘A new kind of Christian’, and then laterly at the Vertigo Bar in Strathclyde Student Union from 7.30pm) as I am otherwise engaged with work on Sunday evenings.

And for some added information, I wanted a picture for this post, so choose Brian Mclaren, but found it funny that Google Images more or less only has two different pictures of him, this one, and another with him sitting next to a cross. Either that, or her just poses the same way quite a lot.

Archbishop of Canterbury, University of Glasgow

I was privileged to be present at the Glasgow University hosted discussion between Prof Mona Siddiqui and Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, last Wednesday.

I arrived with a whole load of preconceptions about the Archbishop who thinks that Sharia law should be an integral part of British law. I’d heard so much about it on the news, and Dr Rowan Williams received so much criticism and caused uproar because of the comments. The archbishop had been “ridiculed” and “lampooned” by some who believe that any change along these lines would create social chaos.

However, the Bishop of Hulme said, in response to this, “We have probably one of the greatest and the brightest archbishops of Canterbury we have had for many a long day,”

It was this fact that I started to realise as I listened to the bishop speak, and my misconceptions were in part turned around and sorted out. I maybe wouldn’t go as far as to say he was the greatest and brightest, but I certainly think he has more to him than the media have been suggesting. He speaks in an engaging manner, almost as well as a politician, answering the questions which he likes to answer and effectively missing out those which he prefers not to. He speaks of his passions of sharing Christian love and of the similarities between different religions.