YOM KIPPUR

This has been a strange day! What does the Day of Atonement mean in a country where there are fewer boundaries by the day, men are their own gods, and everything is relative? You dont have to repent of anything if everything is ok if it feels ok! I begin to understand why the Desert Fathers left the combination of church and politics, and the various philosophies of this world behind and headed out to live alone in the wilderness.

Even as I write this, I know that it also takes a different kind of maturity and understanding to live without all of the above - all that we would leave behind - because we have not yet learned to live completely without them. Long term they have influenced society and thinking, but in the short term there was probably just solitude, sand, and a whole lot of struggles!

What does it mean to completely live a life in Jesus Christ, totally led by the Holy Spirit, working it out in our day to day existence. How can this be done? Today I tried to spend time just contemplating the nature of this day and all it means between me and God, and really came to the end feeling like I didnt get very far at all - imagine a lifetime of such days, such struggling and grappling with ourselves, to make a meaning out of so little.

So, tomorrow is new, and everything in it, and I intend to make the most of that. Tomorrow I will meet with Him again, and reach into the depths of His wonderful heart of love, forgiveness, tenderness and compassion for me - the one who didnt do so well yesterday - and I will walk on with my hand in His. He will hold me when I would let go. He will keep walking when I would fall down. He will bring me water to drink when I find the desert too dry to bear. He will continue to be my all in all, my everything.

STORMY WEATHER

The weather we are experiencing right now in Auckland, NZ, is wild and stormy. Heavy rain, high winds, even hail at times - and this is supposed to be Spring!

Right now in the heavenly realms, there is pretty similar kind of weather. There are dark clouds and storms, and we can feel the effect of that around our lives. The unease, pressure, sometimes even downright gloom.

Last night I had a picture of the darkness that we face, and yet that is precisely what we are to do - FACE the storm, even walk right toward and into it.

It looks as if there is not even a small glimmer of light to show the way, and yet as I looked at the picture, suddenly great bolts of lightning began to flash, each one brightly illluminating the path.

As we are willing to face the storms of life, and especially the current one. As we have the faith/trust to walk forward and not shrink or run from the challenges. There will be periodic and very timely releases of amazing revelation which will light the way for us, and give us the courage to pursue the way we have been called to walk in.

Keep walking and look for the revelation that will surely come. I am reminded of the beautiful poem by Minnie Louise Haskins:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God, that shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!' So I went forth and finding the Hand of God trod gladly into the night. He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone east. So heart be still! What need our human life to know if God hath comprehension? In all the dizzy strife of things both high and low, God hideth his intention."

WINTER IS OVER

"The winter is over and past and gone..."
Tonight the clocks go forward and we will have more daylight for a time. Guess that is a little like our lives - there are times of greater light than others.

How reliable the seasons are and it makes me wonder why we ever despair! Just as the seasons come and go, so do the dark and light seasons of our lives.

Let's make the most of the season of greater light, drawing everything possible from it - every joy, every glorious encounter with others and with God. When there is a little less light, we can look back and continue to draw joy and encouragement from what was before, knowing that it will come round again.

Why in our human frailty do we always think this moment is our "all" and take what it gives us as being all we will ever have. How quickly we forget the joys, sorrows, blessings, of other such moments in time.

Lord, give us the wisdom to look a little wider;

give us hearts that expand and hold a little more;

give us hope in the darkness;

give us memory of the light;

Help us to remember that just as yesterday came and went;

so tomorrow is just as likely to do the same.

Hold us in Your great heart that is so much bigger than ours

and help us to hold on to that in order that we might have

something precious to share with another as the moments come and go.

CLIPPED WINGS!

This old eagle has had her wings clipped a bit recently. The friend from Africa lived, and has come to visit to be restored in the 'clean green' of New Zealand. Time for our very frequent rain to wash away some of the African dust! However, all people things take time, and there is a little less for contemplation and winging away into the places that are so enjoyable in prayer.

Things are changing, even though I dont feel so right on the button with them. It was a delight to read there are others like me. There are others out there who dont fit the mould called 'church' any more, and are exploring the possiblities of something new, and much more in touch with the communities in which we live. How can salt have any effect if it never touches anything? Somehow we lost our flavour along the way, and the light was dimmed a little. All that clips the wings too.

So here we are, a little band of us, wanting to be more in touch with those around us who need a touch that is kind, and a heart that shows warmth, and perhaps a little light shone upon their path. May we learn daily how to be more effective in this, and in loving one another in the process.