Tag: Joyce Smith

Gathering with God

My friend Joyce Smith has sent me another of her lovely tweets for you to enjoy.

One of the current changes that the relaxation of Covid rules has made possible is that more people may gather together. This has brought joy to families who have been prevented from meeting. I was able to see my sister for the first time in 18 months and many of you can tell a similar story.

It is especially joyful for Christians to be able to meet for worship because sharing Eucharist and praying together or sharing in communal worship of other kinds is something Christians and other faiths know is important. The Quotation Joyce has selected from St. Matthew’s Gospel carriers a promise that when we gather together for prayer and worship, Jesus is amongst us.
Jesus is also with us whenever alone, we pray or are still in quiet contemplation, of course.

Gathering together does much to strengthen us as the people of God . We share in a very special Holy fellowship which is called Koinonia,  in which the Holy Spirit draws us not only to each other but to all who make up the Kingdom of God. That includes fellow worshippers throughout the world, but also those who are already in God’s nearer presence in heaven. We are part of a great company who on earth and beyond gather before God in His glory.

Whenever we quietly pray or engage with God in the Scriptures we draw close to Him. In the Church’s liturgy we say With angels and archangels and all the company of heaven and that means when we pray and worship alone or with others we gather at that thin place where God is especially near us and heaven is a breath away.

P.S. Being part of the Company of Heaven also means that the Church can never decline. It can sometimes grow more slowly that’s all!

[Mr.G.]

Looking afresh at the world

newly fledged wrens at a small reserve in Scarborough! Photographed by Joyce Smith

My friend Joyce has sent me her latest Tweet.

These baby Wrens are signs to us of the joy of Creation.

They demonstrate to us that God is constantly renewing the earth despite all that we are doing to destroy it. As we continue to exploit the planet and refuse to heed all the warnings, which may well include mysterious diseases like Covid, one dominant and deeply self-centred species which has, supposedly, intelligence, fails to use the gifts and exercise stewardship responsibly. Ironically our actions demonstrate how extremely stupid we are!

So to be remind that there is an alternative, more innocent vision of creation is also to be given an invitation to see our world with new and more responsible eyes.

We are invited to see things with joy, exuberance, and vision.  We are being invited to be re-born as little children (or in a way, as new born fledgling birds). We are being encouraged to fill our lives with hope, wonder and awe.

 Jesus had a view that this requires humility and simplicity and thanksgiving. So, for example in Matthew 18 2-4 he said this:

Jesus called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven

Why we need to re-think this is caught up in a saying from the book, The Little Prince:
All grown-ups were once children … but only a few remember it!

We need the kind of vision which believes that, with determination, we can see bigger and better and more amazing things in a world which belongs equally to all, because if we don’t then Jesus’ words will show us that we are going about things the wrong way.

A boy was once drawing a picture. He was transfixed with concentration as he worked carefully and with determination.

His father asked him what he was drawing.

“A picture of God”, the boy replied.

“But nobody knows what God looks like” said his father.

“They will soon” replied the boy, “I’ve nearly finished.”

The little wrens are a picture of God’s making. They reflect God so we can see a little bit more what God is like. They are drawing us a picture!
Maybe we can be encouraged to  find a way of showing a bit more of God in us, so that we reflect his glory and beauty a little better.

Sanctuary in the midst of storm

My friend Joyce Smith has recently returned from the Northumberland Coast where she visited her beloved Puffins.

She sent me this evocative photo and caption

The photo and caption first made me think of Elijah hiding in the cave as the Lord passes by but the Puffin is sheltering from a storm at sea, so my thoughts turned to the Gospel  where in Mark 4 we read of Jesus stilling the storm.

Many will  know the story. Jesus was in the boat with his disciples and a great storm arose. As the waves beat into the boat the disciples began to panic—even those who were fishermen who were surely used to rough seas.  Jesus was oblivious to it all as he quietly slept in the stern of the boat.  The frantic disciples woke him up and shouted, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing!”

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Jesus turned towards the raging sea and said, “Peace! Be still!”  A sudden calm descended.

Jesus turned to his friends and said, “Why are you afraid?  Have you still no faith?”

The poor disciples had got it wrong again.  Incredibly, they went on to ask who he was, that even the wind and sea obey him.  Didn’t they know who he was?  Who did they think they were following?  Well, it’s an easy question for us to ask because we know, don’t we, just who Jesus is?  We know too that he has power to still the storm because he is Lord not just of humanity but of all Creation.  But if we were in the disciples place might we too have panicked? I suppose it partly depends on what sort of sailor we are. Or how strong our trust and faith in God is.

There are all sorts of storms in our life and some of the things that happen to us, and to those we love, can overwhelm us. That has been especially true over the past year or so. There are times when we are up against it and we just give in to despair or depression.  It’s at such times that we have to look for the Jesus in our midst—the Jesus who is constantly with us.  The Jesus who, when the going gets tough, simply holds us—be still!  be at peace!  Think of that famous story called ‘Footsteps’ – the one with the two sets of prints in the sand most of the time and then just the single set.  When the writer of the story accuses Jesus of abandoning him, Jesus simply replies that there is only one set of prints because that’s when Jesus carried him.  What we are going through may not magically go away though perhaps that’s what we expect should happen if we think about the storm at sea.  What really happens is that when life is hard for us, it is Jesus who holds us, carries us through, stills the storm within us and breathes his peace upon us. God never leaves us. But we do have to have faith to know that.

[Joyce & Mr G]

Follow the Redshank

My friend Joyce Smith has sent another Photo prayer for us to contemplate.
It is of a Redshank pausing at Welney.

There’s a story from the Desert Spiritual tradition about St. Antony

St. Antony was one day resting with his disciples when a hunter came upon them.
He berated them for their indolence.
Antony asked him to draw his bow and shoot an arrow. Puzzled, he did so.
Antony asked him to do it again. He did so but when Antony asked him a third time,
the man protested that if he carried on his bow would break with the strain.

Just so, said Antony, as we would if we did not from time to time rest and relax.

When I received Joyce’s latest tweet and photograph, this saying came to mind.

I thought too of something Cardinal Basil Hume once said, initially to novices he was teaching but it is applicable to all.
“When you are busy in the market place, always have a nostalgia for the desert.”

In the midst of busy lives, in order to keep them grounded as well as in lives often filled with distraction, yearn to spent time with God.
We need to pay attention to both the active and passive parts of us and hold them in balance. Jesus could not have done what he did do if he had not constantly gone off to be with his Father.

It’s not an easy thing for us to do which is why Cardinal Hume talked of having nostalgia for quiet.
That is also why, having the Redshank moment is important.
Seize the moment when you can be still (As St Cuthbert did in my blog about Cuddy’s Isle).

The other point, of course is, that you should be careful of using busyness to avoid being alone with God!
He knows how to get round that one, so you can’t fool Him.

As the Hunter was to learn with St Antony, without these moments you simply break.

Think about  how you can, like the Redshank, just pause and allow the water of God’s grace refresh you, flowing around and into you. That is what the Redshank shows us when she stops and allows the waters to flow around her.

Standing in this grace, God will restore your soul.

Thank you Joyce for sharing your photo and its message.

{Mr. G & Joyce Smith}