Situation changer, attitude shaper

What is your first response when someone close to you experiences problems in their life...do you change how you treat them? Are you motivated by compassion? By anger? By fear? Consider the following people and imagine they were a close friend...now imagine they were a total stranger...would your response be different?

...I've been made redundant...again...

…I have a mental health disorder...

...I've just come out of prison...

...My partner left me last week...

…I’ve been told I'll never be able to have children…

…I’m seeing a debt counsellor…

...My son was arrested for rioting...

What affects what builds our first impression of others? Is it the clothes they wear? The way they speak? Their physical appearance? Their social connections? Their career? In truth it is most likely a combination of factors, mostly external factors...though these may well be influenced by the person inside. Our government, media, family and friends too often have a say in the attitude we approach people with…who we should trust, who we should spend time with, who we should invest in.

Jesus broke all social taboo's - he touched the untouchable, he loved the unloved, he engaged with those on the fringes, he had compassion for everyone - regardless of race, gender, age, health, and status. He held faith in high esteem and despised pointless religious activity. He asks us to live with the same approach - to be his hands and feet.

Jesus never turned away anyone who came to him, he commended their faith, he met their needs, he ignored the voices around him saying ‘that’s not on the schedule, we’re too busy for that, or that person is a sinner, that person is unclean’. No-one was beyond the reaches of his love and grace, and even in his dying breaths he spoke words of hope to the guilty man being crucified beside him…’today you will be with me in paradise’.

Also significant to note is that Jesus never saw anyone’s problems as a permanent feature, the message was simple…If you come with the faith and expectation that Jesus can change your situation...then he will. He did not always act in the way people expected him too, but he always changed the situation for good.

The challenge for me is how do I treat others around me – do I see them the way Jesus does? Do I love them the same? Am I moved by compassion to help change their lives for good? Or am I too quick to look for the easy option out – to chuck a coin to the girl on the street rather than sitting down beside her and asking how I can help? Or to say ‘Jesus loves you’ to the gentleman on crutches rather than offering to pray for healing? Or do I always join my friends in church rather than having a conversation with the woman with five kids who has walked into the church for the first time and maybe inviting her and the family round for a meal? I want my attitude to be shaped by Jesus – to let my actions flow from the guidance of his Holy Spirit not from my fearful, lazy flesh. I want to be a carrier of good news and a situation changer.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5

Tea and cake or death

The title for this blog post comes from an Eddie Izzard sketch (have a look on YouTube if you've never seen it!) however, it also presents the options available to the British citizen today. Riot or drink tea (http://www.operationcupoftea.com/). I've been wanting to blog something about the events of recent days - but don't want to jump on the blamegame bandwagon nor to join the ranks condemning a failed generation. For the main reason that this is MY generation!! Yes an angry, lawless minority have caused havoc and destruction. They've ruined peoples livelihoods, damaged families and brought fear into society. But this is not a failed generation, any generation could produce such individuals...history tells us that! The real proof of what this generation, even this nation, is like is how we respond. Do we opt for despair, for fear, for anger...or do we refuse to be beaten - to unite our communities - to clear up and carry on? I could feel ashamed to be a young person in Britain today - but I choose to feel proud. I choose hope, I choose restoration, I choose to come out stronger not weaker...I choose tea.

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. Bernard-Paul Heroux

Toilet twinning

Check this out - get your loo an African penpal! Well not exactly but pretty close...

A donation of £60 goes to the organisations cord and tearfund and is used to build more lavatories, latrines, johns, bogs, loos, water closets or whatever else you call the place you go to powder your nose, spend a penny, do your business etc! In addition the money funds programmes to help improve hygiene and sanitation and ultimately save lives. In return you get a framed picture for your loo detailing the exact location of the loo you're twinned with to display proudly in your house.

http://www.toilettwinning.org/

Reflections on reflections!

I like colouring in. There is something very satisfying about the simple task of taking a black and white image and adding colour to it. Recently I found a book of reflective prayers to colour and I painted the one below. Prayers like this are often taken lightly, casually and can be are dismissed as airy-fairy or overly religious. But look at what the words imply, it’s about seeking a life of purpose, a desire to not live in a Christian bubble but to actively be part of the world. Meeting others where they are at and loving them with the father’s heart. Compassion is tough, it can hurt and comes at a cost, but it results in action and changes lives. This is about a desire to speak truth and justice, making every word count for something, a cry for wisdom in a world that desperately needs it.

May my conversations be significant,
May my meetings be blessed
May my path cross the paths of others who love you,
May my path cross the paths of those who don’t know you.
May my touch be your touch of infinite gentleness
May my words be your words of wisdom
May my eyes see with your compassion.

Northern Llamas

Found in the general yorkshire area...

Further rock thoughts

Thinking back to GCSE geography lessons I can just about recall the different types of rock sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. Sedimentary rocks are soft and crumbly, igneous made from molten lava are much stronger. Metamorphic rocks though always intrigued me - formed when sedimentary or igneous rocks change chemical structure under intense heat and pressure. Humans too, can change under the pressure of challenging situations. The question is what determines how we react under pressure? Does it reveal our strengths or our weaknesses? I watched Invictus last week...it amazes me how Nelson Mandela could spend so long in prison and come out ready to forgive. Forgiveness, I think, finds its true meaning in demonstration. Mandela demonstrated forgiveness as he started the process of uniting a nation. Christ demonstrated forgiveness through his death on the cross.

How we react under pressure is often a reflection of the true people we are inside. One of my all time favourite songs is 'stained glass masquerade' by casting crowns. The song talks about the masks we often hide behind, particularly in churches, pretending everything is ok, closing off the hurt and pain and weaknesses in our lives. But we are not made to live like this - to settle for a life that looks good on the surface but is a mess on the inside! Jesus came so we could be transformed completely inside and out...it's a continuous process, as we open our hearts to him we are transformed more and more into his likeness.

Proverbs 3:27 says "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." It's who we are inside that really counts, the people we are when no-one is watching, the people we are when put under pressure. Lets be people who dig deep into God's word like setting foundations into solid rock. People who are able to withstand pressure and come out stronger. And let’s be people who are real - not hiding behind masks but who are open to God's power that transforms lives and builds character.

Perspective, perseverance and perspiration

I took this picture last week on the edge of the black mountains in wales. As we were walking I commented that the dog on the the top of the hill up ahead was HUGE! Only to discover on reaching the top that it was infact not a dog at all but one of a pack of wild horses.



It's interesting how we perceive things differently depending on the position we view them from, for example, something beautiful from a distance may appear ugly close up or visa versa. From the bottom of the hill the climb may look easy - but half way up it often feels quite the opposite! Sometimes though we get to make a choice as to whether we will perceive people or situations in a positive or negative light. Seeing the good in something or someone difficult is never going to be an easy task, it takes patience and perseverance, it may mean behaving, speaking and thinking differently to everyone else. But it's worth it - to live with a positive outlook - to be a carrier of hope rather than despair - got to be good! And to be the one who sees potential when everyone else sees failure - that's the sort of person I'd like to be.

“Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles.” ~ Sir Thomas Browne

A life on the rock (not mere pebbles)

When designing this blog earlier this afternoon I was looking to put a picture of a small, manageable rock, one that could fit into the palm of your hand, as the title background image. I couldn't find one - what I found instead, as you can see, is a rocky mountain range - a far cry from what I had first imagined! But as I have pondered this I've realised it fits so much better with the meaning of having a life lived on the rock.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock." - Jesus (Matthew 7:24-25)

You can't build a house on a rock that fits in the palm of your hand! If you placed the rock on the ground it would be a challenge just to balance on it...life as a Christian is not about a fine balancing act. It's not a case of constantly trying to follow a set of rules. It's not worrying each day that something or someone will knock you down. It's not living in fear of falling or failing. So why do we often live this way?

The Christian life is about walking in freedom and in total security. Knowing the constant love of the father, and the guidance of his spirit showing us the way to live like Jesus. It's a life built with solid foundations in God's word and promises - so that when challenges come you stand firm.

Stand on the beach and watch how the smallest of waves will scatter a pile of pebbles...I want my life to be lived on solid rock - not just perched precariously on a pebble...