https://youtu.be/aubaZFOQOJo Thanks to Marc and Catriona - the ministers at Invergowrie and Carse Churches in Scotland.
Gift of Exhaling
Into your Presence
Blessed time to pray
And onto my knees
Breath taken away
A gift of exhaling
Of burdens outpour
Muscles relaxing
Into arms that adore
A breath of surrender
Acknowledgement true
Completely dependent
Of the grace of You
In comfort so deep
A breath of divine
Mortal and Spirit
Here intertwine
May this life of breathing
Be through lungs of the soul
Let the breath of the Spirit
Here now take control
Being Something Beautiful
Being something beautiful
Beginning with a prayer
To feel His love surrounding
And know that truth so clear
Being something beautiful
An easy thing to do
Surrendering to God
And let him transform you
Being something beautiful
Let us each proclaim
For we are in God’s eyes
All one in the same
Being something beautiful
Can be found right here
Through blessing of his presence
Grace is everywhere
Being something beautiful
Our message, let it be
The Word to every soul
In them is what we see
Being something beautiful
Our joy this day to share
With our unique own giftings
With a heart to care
Is ‘discipleship’ killing the Church?
‘Two sides of the same coin’ is a common enough saying. So, it came to mind as I was reading the temptation of Jesus in the desert followed by his preaching in the synagogue. In the wilderness, he was sustained by reading scripture. He developed faith in the sustaining goodness of God. He re-affirmed [...]
Just being there
With the New Year disappearing in the rear mirror, it is time to pack the decorations away. We will soon wrap the nativity story up in a box for another year. And as the attic hatch closes, we can easily forget that story’s characters. Since none were historical figures of great power, wealth, or talent. [...]
Christmas is a deep pool
Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com Writing as I do on Christmas Day of 2021, it is difficult to feel the full joy of this the holiest of days. The world seems full of infection, charlatan politicians, and human messiness. So, I started to think through the ghosts of Christmases past. The midnight carol services [...]
The two faces of Christmas
The local shopping mall has court jesters on top of its marble pillars. From ground level, they look very jolly in their scarlet and gold outfits. But their faces are quite sad when you get closer. Photo by Charl Durand on Pexels.com That’s not surprising for they see the whole Christmas pageant below them. The [...]
A shard of goodness – Advent
https://youtu.be/qsYtVb4fvcU ‘I am Gabriel!’ With those words, the Angel of the Lord made clear he was not to be trifled with. Unfortunately, Zacharias did so trifle. So, he was struck dumb for his troubles. This was all because he doubted the good news that he and his elderly wife were to have son. Photo by [...]
Wise innocence in Advent
Photo by Vinu00edcius Vieira ft on Pexels.com The cartoon shows the Wise Men on the way to Bethlehem. One is saying – I still think we should have gone for the Pampers, tiny vests and a teddy! The truth is the Nativity story has remoulded more times than even Dicken’s Christmas Carol. It is used [...]
Climate for harmony
It had the Andromeda galaxy on the cover. I’m talking of my first astronomy book by the famous Patrick Moore. The other childhood favourite was about the planets. From it, I learned that Earth is sandwiched between Venus and Mars. The first has a foul atmosphere of sulphuric acid at 90 times the pressure of [...]