Vocation

Over the last few years I have felt a calling towards something and no matter how much I have ignored or tried to ignore this overwhelming feeling it draws me back. I can manage to not think about it for a while and then BANG it's back and it's all I can think about. I have focused throughout Lent on developing myself as a Christian and trying to catch up on some reading. During Lent several people suggested I may need to follow a path into the church. Why do people think that because you are involved quite heavily within the church you must want to automatically be ordained, always gets me but in my case even though I jest with the suggesters deep in my heart it's true. I feel God has something else planned for me and wants me to do more work - I'm not sure what this is and this is where I need some help.

I know I need to follow this through. We have a new Priest in Charge arriving soon and I think I will wait for her to arrive and have a further chat when she has settled in.

Let see over the next few months which path God has chosen, I'll be adding journal entries.

It's been a while

Sorry, I javen't had much time recently to update anything or enter any thoughts and meanderings.

I was ill for a short time and the focus of Holy Week has over taken me.

Vocation and dicernment have also been part of the focus of lent for me. I have been reading several books, Mission Shaped Church, Life and Works of a Priest and A Deacons Ministry.

Time has been taken up by praying and reflecting ob my own path and where I am going and the great Lent course our churches put on this year.

"The Church is a community of people in mission"

Be back soon....

Discernment

Each one of us is called to ministry…to share the skills and talents that we have been given by God. Not all of us are called to leave our homes and families. God calls many of us to use our gifts right were we live and work. God gives us different skills, varying abilities so that all talents may be used to benefit the world. But how do we know that it is truly God calling us to do something? How does discernment happen?

Getting Ready for Lent

Tomorrow is "Shrove Tuesday" and the day before Ash Wednesday the start of Lent.
It's time to start getting ready physically and spiritually for this holy season.
It's a day of penitence, to clean the soul, and a day of celebration as the last chance to feast before Lent begins.
Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called Pancake Day after the fried batter recipe traditionally eaten on this day.
But there's more to Shrove Tuesday than pigging out on pancakes or taking part in a public pancake race. The pancakes themselves are part of an ancient custom with deeply religious roots.

Where Lenten disciplines were strictly observed, this was the last chance to let off steam. The pancake tradition arose from the need to use up all the fat and meat scraps before the Lenten fast began.

‘Mardi Gras’, a term we use somewhat loosely as a fancy name for a fete or carnival, means (literally) ‘fat Tuesday and refers to this same day.
Shrove Tuesday is actually rather a mixture. Along with the carnival atmosphere is the idea of ‘shriving’, which is an old word for confessing. (‘Shrove’ is the past tense of ‘shrive’.) Shrove Tuesday has been observed as a day when people confess their sins and ask forgiveness so that their spirits are cleansed for the beginning of Lent.

Fasting - by giving something up - is an old Lenten custom. Many people think it’s a better idea to take something up like doing some special reading, or special study or even a Lent course.

Tomorrow CTiS will be launching their Lent Course "Lentwise". Building on last years "Beatitudes" couse where we began to develop our understanding of what and how an Christian should behave, this years course will look at how we get through our day to day live as we strive to be more Christ like.

As part of my "taking something up" this study will be part of that. As we progress through I'll be posting reflections. I don't see Lent as a dreary time, for me, it's kind of a quiet time for reflection and study and a time to serve others more.”

Lent is a time of self-discipline and self-denial to help us focus on the spiritual aspects of life, it doesn't mean you can't eat anything; it just means you're more mindful.

Mark 1:29-39

This weeks reading saw Jesus healing those that were brought to him who were sick. Our sermon this week spoke of wholeness and healing around the world. If only there could be peace around the world, if only we could heal the wounds that may have been caused many years ago that still infect the world today. We were told of the crusades and how Christians had been very aggressive to our neighbours in and around the middle east, we sent out large armies to do God's work. Does this mean that our God, the same God is an aggressive God. The God I worship is not aggressive but loving. The problem is here on earth aggression is with people not God. It has been said in some corners that the Arab world must "get over" their grievance with Christians for the crusades over 900 years ago. In my opinion it's not for them to get over it for us as Christians to show them God's love and grace in the deeds and actions we do as people. We should put our faith in God, we should pray for healing and wholeness for the world and most importantly show our neighbours through our own actions that God is Love.

God working in your life

Finding your niche within the church can be daunting.
Ever since returning to the church I have been trying to discern what God has called me to do.
Being aware of the opportunities God puts you way is sometimes difficult to see when life is busy.

It is only with reflection that I see where God has lead me and what he has had me to do. Each day I say to myself today God will do with me as he wishes, sometime God just helps me get through the day, other times God has a specific purpose and sends me in a direction I was not originally planning and when I look back God must have known.

Recently John came to our church looking for help, this has truly been a lesson of patience, tolerance and understanding. On another occasion a wrong turning led to a chance encounter with a person that needed to talk, someone I hadn't seen for months.

It's amazing what work goes on in the background, when was God last at work in your life, do you know?