We’re still with The Magician’s Nephew today … and the image of Aslan with tears in his eyes alongside Digory:
‘My son, my son,’ said Aslan. ‘I know. Grief is great. Only you and I in this land know that yet. Let us be good to one another.”
New Living Translation (©2007): Psalm 34:18
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
#BigRead13 Thoughts
Both of the above are things that resonate with me … at several points over the last few years things have just felt “too much”, sometimes with things not shareable … and more recently I’ve had images of God reaching his arms out, and just drawing me in to sit with him, allowing me to sit with the bad times. Christianity is often ‘sold’ as something that will solve all your problems, but with many that I’ve spoken to (Twitter, Facebook, F2F, etc.) it’s more about God sitting beside you in the difficult times – doesn’t stop us wanting the rubbish times to be over, especially when they’ve persisted for years, and much as you seek to ‘look on the bright side’ – sometimes just have to sit with and this is comforting.
It’s been really encouraging to see a few comments from others, and Rich’s blog from yesterday made my day. There’s been plenty of visitors to the blog – not a huge amount of engagement, so treasuring every comment like a gem!
When I wrote the prayer…
Pray: We thank you that you are with us in times of sorrow, and pray that we will also look out to be human conduits of that love in times of other’s sorrow.
I think I was thinking beyond thankfulness to the fact that we need to be aware of difficulties that others are facing. Sometimes times are too hard to help others, but part of being in a community is that we can each take the burden – not allowing any one person to be overwhelmed … and often all it takes is a bit of encouragement on Facebook, Twitter or a phone call or visit!
@40Acts
On Valentines Day – here’s 1 Corinthians 13… oft heard at weddings, but I think important to remember in ALL relationships.
The act suggested is beautifully non-romantic .. but an encouragement to make someone else feel especially loved. Thanks to @michelleglh for great Spotify playlist for today!
Brian Draper: Lent 40
One of my favourite films picked up on today – Love Actually:
“When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.”
Drawing on Richard Rohr who thinks we spend too much time looking at ‘the problem of evil’, whereas we should focus on ‘the problem of good’ … thinking this is a bit like Marcus Buckingham asking us to focus on our strengths – rather than what we tend to do – focusing on trying to fix our weaknesses. Take time to focus on the good – Brian suggests we sit for 5 mins or so and look out for expressions of love around us.
#NotBusy
I managed my 10 minutes outside Durham Cathedral – I think – I got a bit chilly so started to fidget a bit … but I did enjoy a bit of people-watching, and staring at the sky….
#Do1NiceThing
Say thank you to someone as they work and say how much you appreciate them #Do1NiceThing
#LentPhoto
Enjoying looking for a pic (rather than trying to find something to take) among Seed Resources – great image of #temptation
and a reminder to self to watch the Cottrell video.
