Advent2021

Its only day four and Im already starting to panic about doing one good thing every day. !!   Life is busy and no sooner have I got out of bed than its tea time and Im realising that Ive barely thought about God let alone asked Him what good thing He might have in mind for the day.   Im sure most of you are well disciplined folk who fall out of bed onto your knees every morning and have a lovely quiet time with your Bible and a cup of tea.  Sadly that's not me.  It never has been.  After several decades of feeling constantly rubbish about not being able to do a set time with God each day I gave up and decided rather to try to be in regular contact with Him throughout the day.  Sometimes that works better than other times.  Recently Ive felt pretty convicted that I need to be listening to worship music in the mornings as I drive into work.  Mostly because I have Ben in the car with me and it seems significant that he and I are listening t...

 Im not sure if its an age thing, or if Im just seriously behind the curve, but I've found it hard to get worked up about the environment where others have been blazing a trail in the past few years.  Don't get me wrong, I listen to and believe the science and I think it's appalling that we are still chucking plastic into the oceans etc, but I just haven't felt particularly motivated to do much about it personally.   Shame on me I can hear you  cry.   And you are doubtless right.  I should be doing better. The recent coverage of the COP 26 brought the facts to the fore once again and I suppose the steady drip drip of information has started to make a change in my thinking.  I don't think I live a terribly bad life.  I do drive a petrol car but I never buy a carrier bag from the supermarket. I do eat more meat than I probably should, but I barely throw away any food at all and buy all the stuff that's on its sell by date, thereby preventi...

 This 'one good thing' theme is exercising my mind greatly.  Not because I can't think of good things to do, but more because I'm already starting to question whether I know what the word 'good' really means.   This often happens to me when I hear God. He says something which on the surface looks straightforward, and then, on closer inspection, one discovers that there's much more to it. Hidden meanings, deeper interpretations etc. So before I leap into forty days of frantic benevolent activity I thought Id better make sure I really knew what I had signed myself up to! good /ɡʊd/ Learn to pronounce adjective 1. to be desired or approved of. "it's good that he's back to his old self" 2. having the required qualities; of a high standard. "a good restaurant" 1. that which is morally right; righteousness. "a mysterious balance of good and evil" 2. benefit or advantage to someone or something. "he convinces his father to...

 Welcome to the tenth Advent blog and thank you again for opting into another season of my spiritual ramblings.  If you are new here you are most welcome. 😁. Feel free to share any of these posts if you would like to and comment  knowing that your thoughts will be received kindly and gratefully. We are all in this together and all have something to add to the whole. This past year has been one of the oddest of my Christian life. For the first time ever I have felt completely adrift from church and, most strangely, this hasn't really bothered me much.  I passionately believe that church, the meeting together of believers in community, is fundamental to my survival. For 30 odd years I've been part of a family which has taught me, disciplined me, loved and laughed with me, given me opportunities to serve and worship and travel and teach : I've loved church so much.  But right now......... So, this Advent I'm on a quest to re-find my place in the purposes of God an...