It's beginning to feel a lot like...

Dare I say it...? Well, it is first day of December, no-one can argue when I say it's baltic outside.   All the classic seasonal tunes are being belted out of every shop. Selection boxes are flying off the shelves, and children are rehearsing their lines for the school nativity.  For these reasons, it is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.  I remember, when I was little, impatiently waiting for that big day, excited about what presents would be laid out for me on Christmas morning.  Blissfully unaware of course of how much my parents had been running around frantically visiting relatives, buying gifts (and batteries - maybe), and stocking up the fridge with enough food to last through a nuclear war.   It's slowly dawned on me in my adult years that Christmas = Stressmas.  Our intentions of goodwill to all men suddenly evaporate when there's 2 people trying to squeeze into the same parking space at 4pm on Christmas Eve.  I speak from experience.

In my wee patch of homeland, churches have been vying for a space right in the centre of the town during December.  In the midst of our busy-ness, I'm excited to see prayer recognised for being central to our lives.  But it hasn't been easy to get agreement from landlords, slightly ironic given that a couple of streets away, £200,000 worth of home-grown cannabis was recently discovered in an unused shop.  I so want to see the power of prayer overcome in this and hear the stories that come out of the Prayer Shop.

But as well as this lovely prayer update, I'm excited to share about the church in Uganda.  Today is World Aids Day.  As an avid Facebook user, my morning newsfeed was swamped with links about HIV.  I've fished out this article as it's such a good story;  How the Churches practise what they preach.

So today, please pray for the 33 million people worldwide living with HIV.  Find out more here.  Please pray for changes in our towns and cities, that help us 'do' prayer.  Finding meaning at Christmas isn't the easiest thing to do, but if you intentionally want to do this, you might enjoy this: YouVersion- Rediscovering the Christmas season.

And remember, goodwill to all men.

be the answer

Our father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

For years these words have been proclaimed boldly in meeting halls, whispered under breaths, even sung along to a puffling old organ in a darkened church. In school assembly this was part of our daily recital and we'd giggle at the line, 'give us this day our 'taty bread' (that's potato bread in case you didn't know). I knew it was a prayer to God, but I had little idea what it was about other than asking for food and forgiveness.

I'd very much missed the point.

Surely it’s obvious - we're asking God to do some stuff in our life, forgive others and have our slates wiped clean.

Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth. As it is. In Heaven.

Take a look at the world around us. This definitely isn't heaven. According to http://slaveryfootprint.org there are 27 million slaves in the world, contributing to the economic wealth of the world's richest countries. That's the equivalent to roughly half the population of the UK and, having just taken the survey it came as a nasty surprise that I have 29 working for me.

The tantalum in my mobile phone. The cotton picked in fields by school children in central Asia . Cosmetics, fruit, jewellery... somewhere along the production line, labour is cheap. But far from free. And that's to say nothing of the shocking trade in human trafficking; the greatest outrage of our days. It's appalling that this should happen to anyone in the 21st century, but that 99% of victims never escape is unforgiveable.

I think when Jesus gave his disciples this prayer, he was doing much more than introducing a monological recital to smooth our walk with God. He was giving us a way to overcome the powerlessness that we can feel from facing our biggest issues.

This prayer - is an empowerment to the pray-er. Because, yes, these very words speak of God's supremacy: we acknowledge that God is God, God is great. But I think Jesus was teaching us more. Jesus summed it up like this. Love God, love your neighbour. Nothing else really matters (Matthew 22: 34-40).

This matters to God because - this - is - bringing Heaven to earth.

I love this prayer that I came across:

Lord, grant me the serenity
to accept the people I cannot change,
the courage to change the one I can,
and the wisdom to know its me!
[The Plan Be Serenity Prayer]

Do one thing

Can we change the lives of 27 million people? I think we can. For anyone who now feels overwhelmed, angry, or shocked by any of these news articles, know that you can be part of the answer to your prayer. Go make a difference here: http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/

If you're not convinced you can be the answer to your prayer, I recommend watching this film clip which demonstrates the power of heart-felt, desperate prayer, which changed a nation. Pray the devil back to hell.

If you want your ordinary everyday life to be transformed in answer to this prayer, if you want to get others along with you, I recommend this website: Www.wecan.be

We can. Be the answer.

Community to the Rescue

A group of us have been meeting every week to talk about what it means to be a people living justly*. It has been a bit of a journey for us, and a challenge to look outwardly into the community around us. Every week I've left with something that has impacted and made a difference to me. This week, we talked about community.

Amidst the busy week that I've had, my community reached out to me. Waiting in my car for the level crossing barrier to lift, I had switched off my engine, knowing that sometimes it can be an eternity for trains to pass through.

When the barrier finally lifted, I tried to switch on my engine.

Fail. My little car refused to show any vital signs. None of the usual healthy revving noises, just a pitiful clicking, something similar to an antique typewriter, which of course, meant that the car wouldn't start. And now I was creating a bit of a bottleneck with cars queued up behind me. I prayed the shortest prayer ever. God....... Help.

I'll admit, I felt fairly calm, having only two thoughts running through my mind. Number 1: The most serious concern was that I was wearing some ridiculous cycling shorts. Sadly, when it comes to lycra, I've never been able to pull it off, so when I wear it, it's because I don't expect to 'be seen'. The second, but by no means less important issue was the fact that my breakdown cover had expired a month earlier and, at this inconvenient point in time, had not yet been renewed. Imagine my sadness.

I stepped out of my car, accutely aware of my fashion related faux pas. And the man in the car behind already walking towards me - just happened to be - a friend. A friend with much experience of broken down cars as he has owned many in the past. And with the help of another kind neighbour, a little crew of car pushers and morale boosters, I was able to get the car started, and get home.

Today, this same group of people that have been meeting every week organised a free brunch for our community. We used the car park of the church, transforming it into an outdoor coffee lounge: sofas, newspapers, cakes stands, bacon butties. The idea was just to bless people in our neighbourhood, no strings attached. It was awesome. Such a beautiful day - meeting the people we live with, hearing their stories. Just giving away a cup of coffee and having a chat. I was really... inspired. I want to do it again tomorrow!

So, anyway, giving away stuff is good. Getting to know people is good. Blessing your community is good. It might look different in different places, but wherever you do it, it's going to bring a smile to someone's face. It might make their day.

Watch.




* Just People

Why did the Londoner not cross the road?

London is very 'unexpected' city to live in. You must be prepared to be taken by surprise, it's generally not the done thing to adopt the aghast open-mouthed stare at anything unusual. That's an error I've made on some occasions. But this little cyclic demonstration was one of those 'WOW' moments on my arrival in Waterloo last week, yes, my mouth might have been slightly agape, in eagerness to join in... and partly in my realisation that quite clearly I have been wearing the incorrect attire in my daily commute to work.

The Tweed Run has been supporting Bikes4Africa, to provide refurbished bikes to children in Africa, to help them get to school on time. A very worthwhile project. I hope you enjoy the short clip which I took before diving into the oncoming traffic.

What's your story?

You've probably seen this before. But it's never more moving that when you see it with your own eyes. In your own church. With the young people you've helped nurture and lead. I love coming back to my home church, a little visit to the homeland is always very restorative (not good for the GI diet though). On sunday my youth group did a fab job of leading the service, with their own cardboard testimonies. The clip below isn't of my church or the young people, unfortunately they weren't filmed. But I think you'll agree, this is pretty moving.

I love this message of transformation. We are broken, we grieve, we are anxious about things we cannot change. Often we try to fit God into that framework and try tell him what he needs to do to make our lives better. It doesn't work like that. In the last few days, a family in Northern Ireland has been greiving. And people in this nation have been outraged over a young police officer who was killed in a bomb explosion in his own car. It's just one story in Omagh's painful past. When will it be enough? My own story of loss is familiar at this time of year, as it approaches the anniversary of my dad's death. [ED: I recognise that my experience of loss is a fairly narrow one and that many others have been through much greater pain than this]. I'd lost my gran a few months earlier; and one of my closest friends: an amazing woman who had prayed with me through my gran's passing and my dad's illness. I don't think I functioned properly as a human being, or even vaguely ressembled one, for many months. But hurt - slowly changed into healing. And bizarrely... joy. How it happened, I will never know. But it's a bit like this: letting go of pain, writing it on a piece of cardboard, and turning it over, and finding this: peace. comfort. joy. Finding out that the sun didn't stop coming up every morning. So which side of your piece of cardboard are you holding? Are you holding onto pain? Rejection or hurt? Are you grieving? Let go. And let God write on the other side of that piece of card as he shows you, he gives healing. Restoration. Yes, even joy. He is constantly at work in our lives. Working on a little miracle in every detail.

Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12:2 (the message)

When the going gets tough...

So, I've discovered a number of bible-in-a-year readers and someone who's decided to listen to the whole of the New Testament during the 40 days of lent. Hats off to you people and a hearty whoop whoop. Reading the bible cover to cover is something I've successfully put off for a respectable length of time. But something happened at the start of the year, something urged me to just give it a go. And so here I am, 83 days in, and with however many other people, I've got to Deuteronomy.
Or Dooteronomy, depending on where in the world you live.

Wow.

The first five books of the bible, full of history, amazing visions, revelations, rescue from slavery, and a 40 year game of desert storm. And then I hit Numbers. I am a bit of a stat geek, but even this pushes my limits. So, if you're in the same place, if you've got to the mud and mire of genealogical listings and censis publications, allow me to introduce you to the monkey bar challenge courtesy of the Community of readers and Matt, who marvellously unravels the wonders of the history of another nation and makes it, well, interesting, and relevant.

Let me know what you think so that I can share something more intellectual than my usual contribution at the next lunch time meeting ;-)

Lental paralysis

Day 1 of lent, and already I have a cloud of #failure hanging over me. I have decided to take up the challenge of eating healthily, which basically means for the next 40 days, I'm giving up everything I enjoy. With the exception of air. At 10.23 this morning, I picked up the GI recipe book and read these lines "while you are on the GI diet, it's important not to give up snacks. You should snack 3 times during the day".

See, for one embarking on a new healthy eating regime (I prefer this phrase to 'diet'...) this makes joyous reading. So I effortlessly skipped out the bit before and the bit after which gave more specific guidelines on snacking and before you could say "glycemic index" I had neatly disposed of 3 biscuits leaving little evidence of crumbage.

I think there's another bit in my book that tells me what sort of snacks are allowed. It's probably something dull like celery sticks and limp lettuce. And oxygen.

In the past, I've considered lent nothing more than a speedy downhill path to failure. Perhaps it's easy to get discouraged when you try to do difficult things. There's a risk involved. We could let others down. And personally, I'd rather not take that risk. It's interesting that the disciples also dealt with a similar issue, falling asleep in the garden of Gethsemane, unable to keep watch and pray while Jesus is a stone's throw away on his knees. Knowing, that in a short time he would be questioned by the authorities, unfairly tried, unjustly punished and brutally beaten. He told his disciples to just 'watch and pray'.

Watch and pray. Difficult to do when you're asleep. But consciously and actively, be alert. And be aware that it will be difficult, but don't. Give. Up.

I think Jesus knew that his trusted friends would let him down. And he still had oodles of forgiveness for them. Forgiveness, beyond measure. Take Peter. He claimed he'd never leave Jesus' side, yet publicly disowned him in his hour of need. How painfully aware he must have been of his own hypocrisy. And yet, it's through Peter that God establishes some of the early churches, building up the faith of believers through his letters and revelations. That. Is reconciliation. Forgiveness. Grace.

So, if you have given something up for lent, be encouraged: there is grace - the mc-whopper-full fat version.

And if you haven't given anything up, and you're more in the 'I want to take up something healthy' camp, check out these quality films on 24-7 prayer. Be watchful and prayerful. Be active in seeking God in this season.

And be blessed, whatever you decide to do or not do in the next 40 days.

Supermarkets weep

These shapely carrots are the result of several long months of allotment-based toil by my friend Lizzie. Aren't they pretty? In the last few weeks we've had a flurry of vegetable goodness and lovingly prepared home-made treats, including a small production of marmalade and enough potatoes to sink a ship.

Which brings me to my exciting link. Have you seen this new documentary about The People's Supermarket ? If not, you can watch it on 4oD here. It's very good. My friend helped make it.

This, the first in 4 episodes, is an eyes-wide open report on food waste by high street supermarkets. Thousands of tonnes of food, binned. Everyday. Food that hasn't been sold, unwanted, but still perfectly good to eat.

What's thrown out - is enough to feed over a million people.

The People's Supermarket has a different approach, helping farmers get the right price, reducing food waste, and doing more for the community. But it's surely just the tip of the iceberg.

Almost 15% of the world's population are under-nourished, and certain parts of the world, notably the Sahel region in West Africa, are prone to severe droughts and food shortage. To the degree that the term 'hunger gap' describes the period of time between harvests. No food. For months. It's shocking food rich countries can't do more to rebalance the distribution.

However I have to realise my own part in this as well. Our global marketplace means that I'm much more closely linked to the banana supplier in the Windward islands, the orange grower in Spain, or the dairy farmer in Kent than I realise. My decisions affect them. This isn't an easy economy to make 'ethical' decisions in, especially when it's a case of choosing to spend more money on similar goods. But what I have realised from this programme is my dependence on food suppliers, whether they're in the next county, or in a different time zone on the other side of the world. I must treat them as I would want to be treated. As my neighbour.

The last 2 years have seen poor harvests for West Africa. If you want to know more, read this.


And if you've got some leftovers in your fridge that you don't know what to do with, before you chuck 'em, have a look on http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes for some recipes.

Raindrops on roses

One of my most cherished moments ever, is sitting by a lake with a dear friend, talking about our favourite things. It was this moment, following the realisation of our shared preference for chocolate leibniz biscuits (the best biscuits in the world) that inspired a song-writing challenge - to rewrite the words of My Favourite Things. Unfortunately, his favourite things included curry, sci-fi, and brown corduroy trousers. Which made for an interesting musical composition and momentary, but justifiable admiration of my poetical abilities for fitting in Dr. Who into the original song as well.

Each of us have things that are important to us, people that we love, photographs or memories that allow us some sort of perspective other than our own when we're faced with uncertainty.

January 12th marks one year on from the earthquake that hit Haiti. Infastructure, communication and government brought to a virtual standstill. 200 000 people died. 1.5 million people were left without homes.

But behind each number is a real story. A person, a livelihood affected on a scale far beyond anything I can imagine.

Over the past year, Tearfund have been working to bring some normality back to the lives of people. Out of this chaos, there is a wealth of stories of hope and transformation, of joy and restoration. One of those stories is this beautiful little photo gallery. These are photographs taken on disposable camera by school children of their 'Favourite Things'.

I think this is truly awesome such beauty comes out of brokenness. And perhaps also it;s a reminder that it is possible for joy to be restored from a place of hurt and suffering, pain and anguish. Romans 8:28