Heart 2 Heart

As I woke this morning, for some reason I was pondering how accessible we expect our electrical energy sources to be.  We have numerous items on charge, from cars to computers, all at the touch of a button.   It’s awesome to think that the sun, which rises predictably every morning, can be used as the source for our need.  The wind too, slightly less predictably as it blows where it wills, but nevertheless still blows and can be an amazing source of electrical power.  Energy is received and released, harnessed and deployed.  We want our electrical power source to be a continuously pulsing never ending supply.  And these days, we want it to be renewable and sustainable too.  We demand from the cosmos its power and the cosmos demands that we respectfully respect its limits.   But life is more than just our electrical needs.  Our life requires renewable and sustainable energy, too.  Not just for our bodies, but our whole selves, spiritual, ...

One of my all time favourite films is The Railway Children with actress Jenny Agutter.  The final scene sees Jenny’s character, Roberta, standing on the station platform.  She wasn’t expecting her father to be on the train after a long absence, but begins to entertain the hopeful possibility.  The end of the platform is covered with a thick steamy mist but slowly Roberta recognises her father’s silhouette.  She calls out to him “Daddy, my daddy”, as she runs into his embrace. Roberta running into her father’s embrace always gets to me.  It speaks to me of the longing to be embraced by our father’s arms, held firmly yet gently, deeply loved, accepted, and protected.  It makes me reflect on the unique intimacy available to us from our Heavenly Father.  Jesus, called him, Abba, a tender, intimate name not dissimilar to Dad or Daddy, but like Roberta’s father on the platform, sometimes our Heavenly Father can be difficult to make out, hidden by our false p...

  As we prepare for Christmas, I wonder what you’re having to make room for.  Are you having to make space in a bedroom for extra guests or an extra chair or several at your table?  Are you rearranging your furniture to make room for a Christmas tree or even rearranging your outdoor planters to make room for a blow up snowman or Santa?  I wonder if you have time, or consciously make room, for pondering what Christmas is about? This year, somewhere between the tinsel and the turkey, or maybe in the days between year end and year beginning, I invite you to make room for pondering Christ Jesus.  This is after all what many Christians around the world do during Advent.  They intentionally stop and take a pause to remember that first Christmas, which reminds them that Jesus is the Christ child that gave us Christmas.  But why does it matter today, 2,000 plus years later?  I’m looking forward to Christmas 2022.  It seems so much more hopeful than r...

 

 

God forms the seen from the unseen by his creative word . Hebrews 11:3 (NIV)   3  By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.   Hebrews 11:3 (NLT) 3  By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.     ·        As we start a new meteorological season and month, what are you hoping for, or do you need faith for, this season?  It can be personal or for someone, somewhere, something.   ·        What are the signs around you that might encourage you of potential growth or fruit in this area?  Are your senses being tingled by a fresh autumn wind, a new smell in the air, the sight of ripening autumn fruit?   ·        What is your current faith level, is it the siz...

  You ask me God, what do I see? When I look around I see a world full of chaos, confusion, and need. Look down and I see my own doubt and self pity, weighing down every bit of me. Yet when I look up I see, landscapes of beauty and grace. With my gaze I can trace, a glimpse of your glory as it melds with my story. Look higher still, I sense more of your will. The grace in your face frowns with care and compassion, your heart stirred to action, as you reach out your hand to touch people and land. A touch that brings promise, and hope, and revival. If we lift up our gaze  and prepare to receive all that we need  for survival and thriving.

The symbolism of the sea in the Bible begins with the creation story.  The creation of the universe by God was seen by ancient Hebraic peoples as creation from the cosmic sea (symbolic perhaps of the spiritual realm).  In Genesis God separates the waters creating the sky (heaven) and the sea/water on earth as 2 distinct realms and then places boundaries on the earthly seas by creating land.  At creation the Spirit is present as he hovered over the waters bringing order to the chaos. The sea is the source of all water on earth.  Water springs forth from below and drops through apertures in the firmament above as rain and snow, even providing water for the great flood (Gen 7:11 & 8:2 – the rain fell in mighty torrents and the underground waters stopped flowing).  God is seen to therefore use the sea in judgment against sin.  In contrast, in Micah 7:19, we see God’s forgiveness by “casting sin into the depths of the sea” but t...

You do not have to earn love. Often though, our experience of love is that it is not given in the way we would wish, want or need.  There is a gap,...a hole,... a place that feels empty.  Something is missing as if you have a gnawing hunger that will not go away. Perhaps you've attempted to fill that gap with a great many things to satisfy that hunger and fill that emptiness but nothing seems to fill you up or satisfy completely. The love we all desire is beyond body and soul, emotions and physicality.  The emptiness in your core goes deeper than that, to the depths of your spirit, that rules over your soul and body.   This spirit within you was created by the One who created you and who saw you as you were formed in the womb.  This eternal, everlasting love is the love of your Heavenly Father who created you as body, soul and spirit.  He's the One whose Spirit you were made to connect with, the One who your spirit yearns for.  His is the love tha...

 

  H olding the hand of the O ne who saves, ... whose P ower defeated sin and grave, ... his E ternity breaks into our today, ... this HOPE does not disappoint.

Who would have thought twelve months ago, that seeing each other face to face at home this Christmas would have been such a treat and a challenge. A treat, as after nine months of social distancing, face to face meetings can no longer be taken for granted, and a challenge, because choosing who of our loved ones we ‘bubble’ with needs to be very carefully decided and planned. So how does a different and restricted Christmas affect how we see this year’s celebrations? Is it time to be more focused on celebrating those we love than rushing around buying a glut of gifts and food, especially if your income has been negatively affected this year? Or are the gifts and feasts even more special in a year when other celebrations have been put on hold? In a year that we’ve come starkly face to face with our own mortality and that of those we care about, perhaps Christmas is a time to celebrate life and life in all its fullness, well, as much as regulations will allow. The good news of course i...

OK.  I admit it.  This second lockdown has been getting me down.  I’m weary and fed up, despite my attempts to try and look for the positive in the current situation.  I’ve felt like this before of course.  Life isn’t always a bed of roses, even with faith, hope and love, but I just need to break out of this new normal.  Unfortunately, I can’t.  Just like everyone else, I have to be mindful of the risk, aware of the restrictions, and careful to do the right thing. So how do I maintain comfort and joy in a season in which comfort and joy is often a theme.  Well, there are ways, but last week I was prompted to remember another time when I was feeling grumpy.  At that time I was inspired by a book.  It wasn’t a classic but when I saw it on the shelf, it stopped me in my tracks. I don’t consider myself a grumpy person generally but the words on the cover of this book spoke to my heart about my negative attitude.  So, 3 years ago, I star...

Christmas is coming.  The lights, adverts, and darker nights are all signs it’s on its way.  I wonder what you are hoping for this Christmas? We might feel that 2020 has felt, at times, like the end of the world, and I’m sure there are no end of apocalyptic predictions being bandied about, but whatever the circumstances, we can still have hope. This isn’t the sort of hope that comes from wishful thinking and pipe dreams. This is a more certain and confident hope. A hope that comes from belief in something that brings life, something beyond the current circumstances of uncertainty. As we travel through advent towards Christmas, we may press our faces against car windows looking for sparkling Christmas lights instead of the sparkling sea. As the destination of Christmas Day gets nearer and nearer, maybe we might pause to remember the reason for the season - the birth of a baby, Jesus, the Christ, Our Saviour, Mighty Counsellor, Prince of Peace, God from heaven on earth, one ...

I’ve recently been reflecting on persistently, constantly and patiently doing good.  We’ve seen so much of people doing good over recent months.  Whether it’s the many people who have volunteered for Community Hubs picking up shopping or prescriptions, or businesses stepping in to provide children’s lunches over half term, or Joe Wicks (and others) offering their skills free of charge during lockdown to keep the nation fit and well in body, soul and spirit.   But, it’s hard to always keep doing good.  Whilst we maybe able to be good in one area of our lives, there are often other areas where we are less than good, maybe a lack of patience within our own families, frustration with the authorities, struggling to persistently choose to eat healthily and exercise, or just being plain sick and tired of the daily grind. Persisting in doing good requires a striving and a seeking from within to do so.  It takes effort and choice.  Constantly doing good requires us ...

In this final part of my Mum’s reminisces from her childhood, she shares how she was evacuated with her Mum and brother and how they survived a near miss from a doodlebug. In this case it was drastic circumstances that led to their leaving their home, albeit temporarily.  There can be many different reasons for leaving the familiar and striking out into the unknown; war, work, adventure or maybe even a Godly command.  God told Abram ‘Go from your country, your people and your Father’s household.‘ (Genesis 12:1).  Abram didn’t know where he was going, but he did have God’s promise of blessing for him and his future.  Sometimes God calls us to ‘Go’.  We don’t always know where we will end up or who we will end up with but if we trust God, he will show us the way and bless our faith in his promises.   In about 1943, it was decided that although Kingston was relatively unscathed, it was prone to random bombs as the Luftwaffe were returning from their raids, so ...

This is the second part of my Mum's story.  It shows how through another set of God-incidences, two men (Reg Lloyd, my Grandad and Beck Onishi, my Dad’s business associate) who would once have been mortal enemies could become men of mutual and honourable respect. Reg Lloyd (left) | Mum, Dad, me & my brother (right) Photos taken by Beck Onishi This is mainly my story of experiences during and after World War 2, so I will now go back to about 1942 and the entry of Britain into the war against Japan.  My father was in his 31st year, hardly a young recruit and certainly no hero.  Nevertheless he was called up and sent off to Chittagong, India, to be prepared for fighting in the swamps and jungles of Burma as part of the 14th Army.  As a baby at this time, I was obviously oblivious to all this and my earliest memory is of my father turning up at our Kingston home probably in about 1943/4.   He had previously been reported to my mother as missing in action ...