Holding a position different to another is not of itself sinful – but demonising our opponent most definitely is! Being passionate about something which stirs our heart can be godly – but using our ‘righteousness’ to destroy another is truly the work of the devil.
… to see the face of Christ in the pout of the fractious child or the groans of the awkward aunt is, for me, a different matter altogether. However, just because I can’t see Jesus in a particular place or person has never meant that He is not there.
One can understand Screwtape and his ilk hoping for war to be replaced by times of a peace which offers the hope of gentle indulgence which encourages us to calmly meander towards an inevitable death in which we refuse to believe.
Nothing good, in God’s eternal plan, comes from war. However it is during war that I think we are most aware of our frailty, our failings and our capacity for cruelty.
…if we are ever to grow in our prayer life, each of us needs to learn how to dive deeper into the pool of God’s love and revelation. For it is in this way that we finally wake up from the false dream of ‘a sense of supplication’ into a deeper relationship with the God of love
We need to learn that each of us is responsible for our own faith and it can never be the fault of an out-of-tune choir, a poorly prepared sermon, or a colicky baby in the children’s area, if we do not draw close to God.
…being a young man I was ‘pounced’ on by other members of the congregation and, in fairly quick succession become a member of the choir, a Bible Study group, and had a seat on the Parochial Church Council. Rich ground for a large helping of ‘smugness á la Screwtape’!
The solution for being sinned against (perceived or real) can never be to sin back but can only ever be the free-will offering of forgiveness and love.
How do we avoid allowing the habits and actions of others to become centres for sin in our own life?
There are many other ways to enliven ‘rote’ prayers and each of us will find that which helps us focus best on the intention rather than the list. It is a good discipline to re-visit our prayer routines frequently so that they are about the life-giving Spirit and do not become a dead letter.
Suffolk Vicar 