How do we treat people?

In the last 48 hours or so (I'm being deliberately vague) I've had an experience where, I suspect because I'm a 'young(ish) curate' I've been spoken to in such a way that made me feel like I was, perhaps, foolish and unworthy of the individual's time. (Disclaimer, before you start worrying, this happened outside of my parish, and it was someone I had met 30 seconds earlier and will unlikely see again - if I can help it!) 

This reminded me of something I witnessed a year or so ago. When the Bake Off was good, and on the BBC, Jess and I had tickets to see the extra slice hosted by Jo Brand. This was excellent and one thing we observed was that between shots the make up woman would often come onto stage to 'top up' the stars make up. Stage hands would also regularly walk around and give the 'stars' bottles of water.

The first thing which struck me was Jo Brand's attitude to these people. Every time someone did something for her, be it hand her water or tidy her hair, she made a point to look at them and to thank them. 

This was contrasted by another female 'star' (who shall remain nameless) who far from thanking those who were helping her, deliberately ignored them and occasionally acted annoyed with them, like, perhaps, they were getting in her way.

Jo was, as most people know, a mental health nurse for many years, turning to comedy late in life. The other lady is the daughter of a 'star' alongside being a 'star' in her own right, I suspect she has never had the experience of not having people run around after her.

That said, I don't think it excuses her behaviour, nor should anything, even distractions, excuse ours.

This experience has stuck with me over the last year or so, and being treated, as I was this week, has only served to remind me of the importance to not only notice those who we meet, but to make a point of engagement with them if possible.

It strikes me that this is what Jesus did. He often met with and engaged with people who the rest of society would rather he had ignored. He noticed them, he spoke to them, and he helped them know that they too were loved.

One of the three things we're looking at in St Paul's over the next few months and years is how to be more like Jesus. I wonder if this, very small thing, is one way we can do this.

We can notice those who serve us, we can engage with those who the rest of society chooses to ignore.

Perhaps you're much better at this than me, perhaps you always engage folk with a friendly smile and warm greeting. Certainly I know some folk who appear to do this well. I know others who perhaps don't! 

And we aren't perfect, so we will forget at times. So another encouragement - try to catch yourself doing it! Some of the times I've sensed God working through me most in this have been the times I've, for example, been served in a shop and realised as I'm about to leave that I haven't looked up from my phone. When I've realised what I'm doing, I've apologised for my rudeness and asked how the attendant was. 

Noticing people is simple, it's unexpected, it's certainly what Jesus did.

So, my thoughts for this week? Look up, see who's around, smile and help others to know that you care for them a bit, but more importantly, that God cares for them a lot. :-)

Apparently I'm fallible

So yesterday we went to the lovely Nat and Bruce's wedding in beautiful Perthshire. I've known Nat for many, many years and it was such a lovely time spent watching them both join together. Everything was running a little behind, largely due to the Scottish 'summer' weather, and we ended up leaving a little bit later than we had anticipated. We arrived back at Glasgow airport very late last night with a tired and grumpy baby. By the time we arrived we were very much ready to check into our hotel for the night before then getting up for our 5am flight the next morning.

We got our bags out of the car, went to reception and asked for our key. The lady looked very confused, convinced she had all her rooms occupied. I gave her my reservation (which I had printed and brought with me, along with every other piece of paper I would possibly need, and a lot I wouldn't) and began to get a little annoyed.

After a few minutes of confused murmuring from the receptionist she looked at me with very sorrow filled eyes:

"I'm so sorry Sir, this reservation is for Gatwick Airport, not Glasgow" 

You can pause here to have a good laugh at me... it's ok.. the pain is no longer raw.... 

Momentarily confused, I checked and she was, indeed, correct. We had a room, patiently waiting for us some 440 miles away.

Now this spun me into some strange and confusing emotions... not only was I very angry with myself (I called myself some names which I later had to pray forgiveness for) I was confused, tired and with a family in need of a bed. Literally none of the airport hotels (of which there are, I think, 9) had a room, nor did any of the rooms within 10/15 minutes of the airport. 

I finally found a room in the centre of Glasgow, which as I was booking it on the day, cost many many pounds, we arrived around an hour after arriving at the first hotel.

Here's the thing, this is not like me at all. I am 'Mr Organised'. I have a mug which says "If prayer doesn't work, use a spreadsheet" and was so proud of the spreadsheet which 'ran' our wedding, it even got a mention by Dan in the sermon. 

So what happened? Well, it appears I am fallible... Who knew it? Jess does - she purchased me a plaque which hangs proudly on my wall, it says "I'm not arguing, I'm simply explaining why I'm right"- I think she hoped it would shame me, I'm not sure it did! 

So yes, the lesson this week is I'm fallible. I suspect this means you are as well... even in the areas of life which you think you've 'got covered' - sometimes tiredness, or just other life stuff can sneak in and take over. 

Please don't worry - I'm not quite arrogant enough to think that I'm always right, I obviously learnt this lesson for the first time a long time ago. Sometimes, however, particularly when it hits areas of life which I feel are really in my comfort zone, it comes as a bit of a shock and slaps me round the face.

But that's OK, because God isn't fallible, God is perfect - he would have booked Glasgow airport and got a better deal (although I'm not sure what Jess would have said if I presented her with a stable) - so whilst perfectionism, and striving for it, is not a bad thing, forgetting our own human nature can be.

So, my thought this week? 

Be kind to yourself, as I try to be kind to myself. I'll forgive myself in a few days, perhaps once the Credit Card bill has been paid off! Until that happens, I know that I'm already forgiven for this mistake, and the many more I make each day by our perfect, infallible and awesome God.

P.S. I'm sorry this is a) late and b) shorter than usual - I'm fallible... 

Light in the Darkness

Sammy (the dog) had his 7 week groom today and when I booked his next one in I was astounded to find I was booking it in for October already. Where has this year gone? Perhaps it’s the weather, but I’m feeling more than ever, that the autumn and soon the winter are coming round very quickly.

One of the things which is contributing to this feeling is the ‘events’ which I’m beginning to see some of my friends are interested in on Facebook. Many of these events have a Halloween based theme, one of them was a ‘Day of the Dead’ similar to the now real event at the start of the latest Bond film. Looking at these events at face value they appear harmless enough. Maybe a big fire, lots of costumes, some fireworks, maybe some music – but I’m uneasy… Whilst All Souls is a valid Christian celebration (topic for another time) it's morphing into Halloween and, perhaps, the celebration of darkness which is attached to it can not be a good thing.

Ephesians says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” – Just before this verse we’re told to wear the spiritual armour of God, to protect ourselves and to be a soldier in the battle.

I wonder if in attending events like this ‘we’ are allowing the evil one space to win battles, both in our own lives and in the lives of our communities. I do wonder if we really appreciate the consequence of some of the things we do, or even just the things we sit back and watch our families and our friends do.

I’m not suggesting we all go out and get placards like Father Ted (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT9xuXQjxMM) - but perhaps we need to be more honest with ourselves and with others about the effects these things have.

I have often thought that the devils greatest weapon and his biggest success in the struggles which Ephesians speaks about is our own complacency when it comes to his existence. I wonder if the battles, which do exist, are now things which the majority of the world, and perhaps even some of us have consigned to the story books or to tales of haunted houses.

But this stuff is real, and it deserves our attention – not our focus, but our attention. It doesn’t need our focus, because that belongs to God, but we need to be aware of it – to ask the question, when something goes wrong – what is really happening here? And to not be afraid to pray for and about it.

One of my all time favourite films, since it’s release in the early 90s is the Lion King. There is a scene where Simba goes to the ‘elephant’s graveyard’ despite the fact that his dad tells him not to. He gets cornered by some very nasty looking hyenas and it’s looking like Simba is going to be lunch. Then, from no where, his Dad turns up, this huge lion – and the whole situation changes. If you’ve not seen it, you can watch the scene here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x49NwjnwDUw).

This isn’t a bad (but not perfect) illustration of why we don’t need to be afraid. Without God, we are a bit like Simba, pretty powerless, but with God, we have his power and his might. We are and can be soldiers in the fight; if you don’t believe that this is the case then ask yourself why Ephesians tells you to put on your armour.

Bill Hybals in his book ‘Too Busy not to Pray’ says - It is Critical to remember that, despite the victory God has achieved over Satan in the ministry and resurrection of Christ, not everything is submitted to God yet. The enemy is still very active. His time is short, and the end is sure, but in the mean time he remains a prince of this world, opposing the ways of God at every turn. 

He may cause suffering and pain, he may seem, especially when we look at the news, to have the upper hand, but God WILL have the final say. He WILL assert his universal sovereignty in salvation. As Revelation promises “God will wipe every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death, no more mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

God brings his light even into the darkest of situations, as Psalm 139 reminds us, even darkness is as light to Him. We don’t need to be afraid, we just need to be people who walk in that light.

A vicar friend of mine tells me that he once chatted with a Christian who had previously been some form of pagan priestly figure based in Glastonbury. He said that when he was a pagan he could see things within the spiritual realms. Whenever he met a Christian they would have a light within them but 99 times out of a 100 they walked around, in the spiritual realms, hunched over the light, as if the world was weighing them down.

Every so often they would walk past someone who’s light shone brightly, and they stood upright. It was those people they learned to cross the road to avoid.

I don’t know this person directly, and can’t affirm the stories validity, but I do trust the friend who told me to believe his account of it to be true.

Regardless, of what you think of it, it’s perhaps at the very least another good picture. I want to be someone who’s light shines brightly, who walks upright, not afraid, because – like Simba – I have my father, the greatest Lion of all, behind me, protecting me.

As I've written this, the song 'Great are you Lord' by 'All Sons and Daughters' has been buzzing round my head. I hope it might be helpful for someone. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHz0w-HG4iU)

Heart in worship....

I’m on holiday this week, and before you start thinking that I’ve so committed to the cause that I’m writing this whilst drinking a glass of vino in the pool, I haven’t… I’m writing it in advance, sorry about that! #sorrynotsorry

On Sunday morning we sung the song ‘My Lighthouse’ – it’s a favourite particularly with the kids, and has a great tune and some great lyrics. Have you considered it’s lyrics properly however? “My lighthouse, shining in the darkness, I will follow you” – When was the last time you followed a lighthouse? Surely you avoid them? Isn’t that the point?!

I need to thank some comedian who came to Trinity a few years ago for pointing this one out, but as I was preparing for Sunday’s worship, it got me thinking about other worship songs and how we can often end up blindly singing them.

Paul Baloche is one of my favourite worship song writers but really, is Jesus ‘like a rose, trampled on the ground’? What does that even mean?

The hymns don’t get away with it either – when was the last time you used the word ‘Potentate’? But we often sing it in our churches (Crown him with many Crowns) without a second thought. At least this makes sense (Potentate means ruler) but do we really expect people to know what it means? We may as well be singing in Latin again.

When in Nailsea the other worship leaders and I would often send new song ideas around for comment. One of them suggested a song with the opening line “Oh Grace what have you done, murdered for me on that cross” – I didn’t like it because I wasn’t convinced it would inspire the right feeling for worship, but I was tempted by it because it would, with language like that, make us to sit up and take note of what we were singing. 

How often do the things we sing pass us by without us really thinking about it?

I found this clip a few years ago and used it one of my talks, I expect it will appear at St Paul’s in the future….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGqw8F-Z-bg

If you can’t watch it, then essentially it’s a naughty take on the way we might sometimes worship… it’s changed some of the words of some songs to things like “I will sing of your love on Sundays”, “I surrender some” and “I stand amazed at my hairdo”

It’s a little naughty, but perhaps illustrates my point…. Do we need to think more when we worship, not simply trot off the lines, but really use them as a prayer?

Some of my favourite songs have lines like “spirit break out” or “break my heart for what breaks yours” but what are we thinking when we sing this? Are we truly expecting God’s spirit to break out? Are we trusting that it will? What would it mean if our hearts were broken for the things which break His?

The Choristers prayer, written in the 1930s got this right when it says “Lord, grant that what we sing with our lips we might believe in our hearts” If we don’t do this, are we just going through the motions. If that’s the case, really, what is the point?

I want to put the heart back into worship (that’s a lyric I can agree with!) to sing what I mean and to mean what I sing…. Will you join me?