Hope

is a consuming fire
burning in the heart

catch

suit or threads

It's almost like we think believing in God and the practise of our faith is about putting on an elaborate suit of clothes that doesn't quite fit. We wear it for a while, but eventually the jacket comes off and the tie loosens and then we realise we just want to get into our trackie daks.

Well I say ditch the suit metaphor. I like the idea of a virtually invisible golden thread. There is a virtually invisible golden thread beside us at all times. If we find it and keep our finger on it we can follow where it leads us, trusting it will take us somewhere good. We follow the thread by asking the part of our heart that yearns for goodness and life what we should do next. If we forget to ask that question and start doing things differently and it all goes pear shaped, sure we have taken our finger off the thread. But its still there, and at any time we can place it back on by asking that question and following the good part of our heart.

This idea stolen from George Macdonald, The Princess and the goblins.

tintinnabulation

The ringing of bells. I love Reginald Hill.

CT2-C

These four questions are really good for understanding whether your faith is resonating ...

Mystery: Does it touch the core of my being?
Reason: Is it true?
Law: Does it speak authoritatively on real life issues?
Experience: Does it work?

Sometimes the answers will be clear and satisfying for all four questions. Sometimes you will only clearly know the answer to one or two of the questions. Perhaps this means that God will meet you at different points throughout your life.

Good things to ponder.

brief. all too brief

Today our team debriefed. This week Gilly goes. As Jonno says, we are on a slippery slope heading towards the end. There is much to do (not least with school and studies) but in it all I don't want to forget to keep living the life I came here to experience. A life of learning to laugh and forget myself. A life of discipline and submission. A life of super-fun dancing, singing and eating lollies.

Don't leave me goals. Don't let me leave you!

PS it was with much difficulty that I refrained from pirate speak in this blog. A curse be on ye pirate english facebook

money dreamin

This morning I engaged in a little flight of fantasy, one with which I suspect we all engage from time to time... what would I do if I had a million dollars? I won't bore you with the details of my 'spendings' because soon after I picked up my book that I am currently reading...

It is called 'How the Irish saved civilisation' by Thomas Cahill, and it details the downfall of the Roman Empire and the way that Patrick took Christianity to Ireland, where it took powerful hold along with Roman literacy, leading to the monasteries, where the work of copying the books of Western Europe subsequently happened.

And so when the barbarians invaded and the Roman Empire fell, and its books were destroyed or left to ruin, a little bank of knowledge, both Christian and Classical, was kept safe in the northwest.

It's a fascinating read, and what has gripped me about it today is the growing realisation that the Romans believed that their way of life was unassailable: they assumed that the social organisation they employed, the comforts they enjoyed could never disappear.

And the implication is clear, that we who rely so heavily on money and financial systems for our power structures and comforts could be taken out as easily, unsuspecting, from behind. Our way of life could actually disappear. It's all the more likely because we can't imagine how it might possibly happen!

So even if I do while away a part of my day imagining what good things I could do with my imaginary million, I hope I can also spend some part of it dreaming about what I can do with the very real gifts in my life: friendship, communication, work, love...