when Jesus says to the women at the empty tomb, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell’ He speaks to us as well. We are the ones who must learn to conquer our fears, in whatever form they come to us, and ‘go and tell’ our brothers and sisters and others about the Good News of God’s love for them.
It is all very well to cheerlead others to get on and ‘do something’ but it feels very different when we are the ones who are supposed to stand up and be counted.
Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is “finding his place in it”, while really it is finding its place in him
Being content with the trivial and the common, learning that taking ourselves out of the way in self-denial, clears the road ahead of us and daily brings us nearer to the end of the pilgrimage.
…‘I am so angry with your inability to understand that what you are doing angers me and steps on everything I cherish that I won’t even tell you what it is I am upset about so that you can’t begin to fix what is wrong!’ Not quite what is meant by Christian charity…
Following our own path is difficult enough without offering advice (criticism?) of how others answer the call of God.
I remain ashamed of the many times I chose not to do what was ‘right’ because I wanted to do what was ‘popular’…
…the problem is that the Gospel is indeed a ‘mere’ message – a simple word. God loves us, what are we to do about it?
We can add nothing to this love, for that would simply diminish its perfection.
Pride in the fact that God has been gracious to us is nonsensical, arrogant, futile, and destructive of the Good News.
Yes, religious people must allow their faith to add salt to public life… but public politics is not the ground whereon a personal faith can be prosecuted. When that happens we all too often end up, to Screwtape’s glee and delight, using our faith as a convenience for our own personal preference instead of building the Realm of God.
Suffolk Vicar 