#BIGRead14

Today’s poem ‘The Unlovely‘ ends:

Help us learn to love the unlovely
that we might find ourselves loving
the unlovely in others,
and that the unlovable parts of ourselves
might feel the warmth and worth of true love.

I loved this picture above – made from recycled materials – all things that had been abandoned as useless or ‘unlovely’, and made into something beautifully creative! But then the idea that we work as a community, and it’s not only about engaging with the people who enrich us, but those who may have less loveable parts, and finding ways round and through difficulties… for the sake of something new and beautiful.

#Do1NiceThing: Take a prayer walk round your neighbourhood and pray for needs// This is powerful, and means eyes up, rather than eyes down (unless praying for the pavements to be clear .. as is required in some areas!)

Maggi Dawn

Mark 5: 1-20 – the demons into the swine … well that’s certainly something unlovely removed… and the story chimes almost exactly with the poem above … Legion was ‘unlovely’ – people didn’t know how to cope with him, so he was left to wander the graveyards alone. As he became well, there was also a fear that they would get involved with something too difficult to cope with… but God calls for us to engage with the unlovely as well as the lovely..