From the city the dying groan,

and the throat of the wounded cries for help;

yet God pays no attention to their prayer. (Job 24:12)

Honesty is prized in a healthy relationship. While being considerate of other’s feelings, we need to be able to ‘tell it like it is’. Over the centuries, there are many whose sense of justice have caused them to wonder ‘how could God let this happen?’ This poignant question speaks of the nature of the God-human relationship. As children, we look to our parents to ‘fix everything’. As we grow up, we learn to make our own way. Obviously, no human can have an equal relationship with an all-powerful God. However, our relationship with God can (and should) grow and deepen.

Maybe the best answer to the question comes from Teresa of Avila, about being God’s heart and hands and feet. Thus being the change we want to see in the world.

Have a great week!

Patrick

Hannah prayed and said,

‘My heart exults in the LORD’ (1 Sam 2:1)

When we see or speak to those we trust or love, we are happy. This is especially so if we feel grateful for something a friend or loved one has done for us. Clearly, this is the kind of relationship that Hannah has with the LORD – one of trust, love and gratitude. Her prayer is not out of duty or intellectual assent – rather, it is from the heart. In what ways does your relationship with God mirror, or diverge from, that of Hannah’s?

Our task is to continue to provide opportunities for prayer for the young people in our care – to make prayer seem as natural as breathing. We are neither the primary nor the only role models for prayer in the lives of our young people. But we can rest assured they are listening when we speak of God and our relationship with God.

Have a great week – and year!
Patrick

Mother pushing

A child in a stroller

People, families walking

On the footpath

Others shopping

All very normal

In Melbourne’s CBD

And entirely unremarkable

Until a man intentionally drives

Where he shouldn’t

Lives ripped asunder

Some dead

Others scarred

Physically and/or psychologically

For no justifiable reason

I wake from my sleep

To my fairly ordered life

Still looking for answers

To this nightmarish reality

“Hate cannot drive out hate,

only love can do that” (Dr Martin Luther King Jr.)

I’m not sure

If it’s the combination

Of sun, sky, clouds

Wind, waves

Natural beauty

Or just the

‘being on holiday’ vibe

But I find being on the ferry

Wonderfully relaxing.

All is well

I feel a profound peace

And am deeply grateful

For this grace

That remains with me

Morning

Warmed by northerlies

Timeless and primeval

Meeting

Of sand, sea and sky

Wading

Through shin-deep

Clear water.

Brooding clouds above

Ripple marks

And worm trails

Beneath my feet.

Seagulls sitting

On their rock

In this liminal space

Each breath

Each step

Sings praise

To the One

Who made it all.

A New Year

Arrives

And I have a choice.

Will I make the most of

This year’s blessings

And challenges?

Will I be

A person of integrity

And practice what I preach?

Will I be motivated

By love

Or fear?

for Brian

At Christmas

We celebrate

Emmanuel

God-with-us

Yet we can live our lives

Oblivious to God’s presence

With us

In us

God comes to us

Without power

As a defenceless child

Our apprehending of God

Is similarly fragile

And we must reach

Deep within ourselves

So that it is nurtured.

The real gift of Christmas

Is seeing God in others

And myself

We are all alike

Made in God’s image

We are all alike

Despite the differences

We are all alike

God-with-us

As we celebrate Christmas we say that hope is not dead. In the dark places of our lives, whether because of the passing of a loved one or a myriad of other difficulties, we say that hope is not dead. But rather than a Hollywood-style ‘knight in shining armour’, hope comes in the form of a defenceless baby, in the absence of power. Power doesn’t save us. Rather, power enslaves and controls. Power warps and twists us.

As Christians we believe that God took human form in the person of Jesus. Associated with that, we believe that God is present in each and every one of us. We believe that humans are created in the image and likeness of God – all 7 billion of us. This is reinforced for us in our relationships – we learn, we grow, we are more through our relationships. By imitating the self-sacrificing love of Jesus, by being our best image of God, God is at work in each of us, building community, binding us together. The power of ‘we’, not ‘me’, the building of community is a real Christmas gift.

Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed Christmas and a peaceful 2017
Patrick

John the Baptist proclaimed, ’Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ (Matt 3:2)

Advent prepares us for the coming of Christ at Christmas by reminding us of what we should know, but forget: ’the kingdom of heaven has come near’. It’s like the parallel universes that are spoken of in science (fiction). We are so very close but the way we live our lives, how we treat others, what we value, may mean that we are closer to what the evangelist John refers to – we are living in ’the world’. We must choose to order our lives in such a way that we can greet the Christ-child at Christmas – and glimpse the Christ in each person.

As another school year winds down, may we encourage our young people to give of themselves to those in need – rather than giving so that they can get. Christmas will come – with its finery and shininess – but by re-ordering their lives, just a little, they might glimpse that ’the kingdom of heaven has come near’.

Have a great week!

Patrick

I was privileged

To be invited to

A twelve step meeting.

Those gathered considered a reflection

On the need for tolerance.

I was blessed to hear

Honest human struggle with

Life’s realities.

Wrestling with

Praying for those

Who annoy you

Or ‘press your buttons’.

This was so that they might be given

A fresh perspective or

Letting go of control

And perfectionism.

There was so much

Spiritual and psychological health

To be heard.

Many of us

Who are not addicts

Could do with a regular dose of this!

A friend of mine once called

Such meetings

“Church without the bullshit”

I can see why.

“May the body of Christ bring us to eternal life”

There is salvation

At work in ‘the rooms’