Thought for the Day
21st October 2020
When, through the activities of the Christian Union, I first encountered evangelical Christians in my early student days, I was horrified by all the chorus singing. This wasn’t how I’d been brought up in my parish church at home. Didn’t these people know the joys of Hymns Ancient & Modern or appreciate the occasional challenge of chanting the Athanasian Creed? And yet I was deeply impressed by their zealous commitment to Jesus Christ and their wholehearted desire to live for him. There was much talk about discovering God’s will for our lives, and this aim took root even in my hardened heart. Whether it was choosing a career, a life partner, where to live, which church to go to, it all became a matter of earnest prayer, though being able to justify our eventual choices as having really come to us from the Throne on High was probably less certain.
Discovering God’s will for our lives must surely remain a significant issue if our faith is to be anything more than a hobby, though my understanding of what’s probably going on has changed over the years. God would always want us to be Christ-like, to do the Christ-like thing, to reflect something of the life of the Risen Jesus in our modern context; and it may be that at certain times, in particular situations, some Christians are called to specific roles for the sake of God’s ultimate purposes. However, for much of the time, I’m fairly sure God allows us plenty of leeway to choose for ourselves. His will is that we simply use our hopefully sanctified inclinations for his glory.
Ken Stewart
19th October 2020
Some years ago, my wife and I were on a pilgrimage to St. Catherine’s monastery in the Sinai Desert. There is a chapel there that commemorates Moses’ encounter with God in the Burning Bush. As we entered through the small door the monk asked us to remove our shoes. Yes, this was holy ground. And […]
16th October 2020
Sometimes we do not need words; the gift that God has given us is the natural beauty all around us.
14th October 2020
“One final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8 (NLT). The beginning of this verse reminds me of Columbo, the 1970s TV detective. Just as he’s leaving, Columbo would turn to the […]
12th October 2020
Do you like autumn? Crunching through leaves; misty mornings when the trees almost glow in their golds and reds; the wonder of a shiny conker, freshly set free from its spiny covering? Or does autumn make you think ahead to short, cold, grey days and a long, long wait until spring? A dread of what […]
9th October 2020
Time, like an ever-rolling streambears all its sons away;they fly, forgotten as a dreamdies at the opening day. – according to Isaac Watts – echoing part of Psalm 90 – and, presumably, its daughters too! In studying my family history I try to restore the memory of some of them. My great-aunt was never spoken about […]
7th October 2020
Do you know this poem called the Bright Field? It’s one of my favourites. In it the author, R. S. Thomas, merges two of the Kingdom of Heaven parables that Jesus told, so that the pearl of great price becomes the treasure buried in a field. I have seen the sun break through to illuminate […]
5th October 2020
In 1658 Thomas Arthur Fawcett built his house on the main street of Hawes at the top of Wensleydale in Yorkshire. Local custom was to have a carved stone with date and initials on a new house. But Thomas, a Quaker, went further. Remembering, perhaps, the Bible verse telling us to be prepared ‘to give […]
2nd October 2020
Many of us are music-lovers. Whether it’s classical, pop, heavy metal, jazz, folksy stuff or anything else that turns us on, it matters to us. But you may find that over the years your particular “tastes” have changed in some way. When I was a student, and Bach and Mozart were top of my list, […]
30th September 2020
Beside my bed, on the little antique cupboard that was one of my first ever purchases when I had my first home, sits a little gold box. It was given to me as a gift. On the lid of the box it has two words in gold leaf ingrained, ‘Small Pleasures’. When you open the […]