I’ve defragged and cleaned, I’ve tuned and updated my virus protection. All which means I cannot find any files that have been deleted because they have had their labels snaffled and the place where they rested demolished.

Only……

Jesus saves and I did not….!

An awful lot of Lenten Powerpoint work gone.

Ah well a coffee and start again.

I have been in a number of meetings where there have been different groups speaking – some have experienced being in a minority situation and others being in a majority condition. Attitudes and candour change when the majority/minority balance alters. My experience has been along gender, faith and industrial relations. Some observations below are  after two recent  gatherings –  Muslim/Christian dialogues  – one from this country where Muslims live in a minority situation and one from abroad where the Christian representatives were in a minority situation

Being in a majority can make you complacent and relaxed in your favours and hospitality. Being in a majority can allow space away from the event and make room for expansive gestures of dialogue. From majority comes security and gracious magnanimity. Majorities tend to see structures that are flawed but fair – talking progresses everything into the future.

Being in a minority demands that you fight for rights and demand responsibility from others; and yet make you dependent on the favours and hospitality of the majority. In dialogue a minority is more guarded and has a sense of being hemmed in and authoritatively directed. Events and specific are all important and the dictating structural flaws only add to the feelings of being both wronged and that wrong being repeated.

Yet with God’s grace a will we may walk together.

Now I’ve heard clergy complain that palm crosses don’t burn very well and need baking before they will ignite and turn into ash. It is not surprising that the palms don’t burn readily, as most are impregnated with fire retardant. However, follow the recipe below and you will have plenty of ash in abundance.

Be warned work in a well-ventilated kitchen and keep doors to the rest of the house closed. Otherwise a bonfire smell will be left throughout the house.

Heat the heaviest pan you own (mine is a cast iron variety). Cut the palm crosses up with scissors and drop in the pan. When a high temperature is reached the palm fronds will smoke – at this point ignite with some burning kitchen roll. (this also adds to the finish ash). Once the flames die down I us e a pestle and mortar to complete the ‘smooth’ effect. Adding some olive oil prevent the total dispersal of said ashes over Mrs. Smith with one sneeze as you  inhale while putting a cross on the first forehead.

A small group of people gather each week in Huddersfield – they are fondly known as the ‘Moppers’, from a time when they would make mops, for whom and why I am not privy. The group meet each week for conversation and food, or ‘company’ as it used to be called.

Each week one of the party provides a different supper for the group. What did the roistered chef provide this Wednesday?

Corn Beef ‘Hash’ – nothing could be more appropriate on ‘Ash Wednesday!

What pretty things have we found today? In the scheme of the universe our smooth stone or a pretty shell is beyond tiny and so insignificant.

Yet, the universe is made up of such shards of star light and perhaps our lives are held together with such radiant filaments.

And the undiscovered? – waiting to be discovered!

*Reginald Hill – The Stranger House p.286

There will be many choir members present so I assume a lot of preparation will take place. Not that they will be shriven, but the calorie intake could be vast.

Sometimes you can sit and think all day and a stream of consciousness just never develops. Walking through porridge is a comparable sprint.

But then sometime, a line links with a memory, links with a sentence briefly spoken in passing, links with a news bulletin, links with dream before sleep, links with what you actually thought about last month.

Noting the passing references together and a simple argument or rational lineage unfolds before your very eyes. Sheer brilliance?

We’ll see…or at least the punters may….or not!

“How was it that you experienced this?” he prompted softly, watching her gesture while she spoke.

She reshaped her hands as if to cradle a tiny object.

Looked again.

Moved her cupped hands one over the other, cradling.

Was still. . . .

Gasped slightly as the stillness caught her

with the gentleness of a blowing whisper that took her breath away.

We watched the simplicity of the movement – and we too gasped at the beauty of God touching another’s soul.

His touch coming to birth again  – in our presence.

Prayers for Wholeness

Lent is the time the Church guides us to thinking particularly about our spiritual growth. We may fast from food at times, or take on spiritual disciplines of using our time in prayer, in reading, in being with people, or in giving to others. In doing so, we may find that inner difficulties are exposed, and we don’t know what to do about them.

These inner blocks come to the surface because the Lord has allowed them to do so, and that indicates His love for us and His desire to deal with them.  They may be deep hurts, things unforgiven, attitudes we hadn’t previously seen – in fact anything which is a block in our spiritual growth. Sometimes the realisation itself brings forgiveness and release. If it doesn’t however, there are several ways forward.

One of these ways is the ministry of the whole church in prayer for wholeness and healing, bringing the new life that comes from Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection.

On the Sundays in Lent we will be offering prayer for wholeness and healing during the main Eucharist. One of the clergy will be in the side chapel to offer prayer for anyone who asks for the Lord to meet their needs. We will also offer anointing as the sign of the Holy Spirit at work to bring us to wholeness.

Please do consider if seeking prayer in this way is right for you. You may want to come for prayer at the beginning of Lent as your commitment to growth, and at any time, each week if you want, for prayer for any need of desire for growth.  It may be once, it may be several times that you come. (You may also want to seek formal confession, being offered on Holy Saturday. Either may be sought separately, or both received; they are often complementary within Jesus’ love for us expressed in the ministry of the church.)

And the practicalities – receive communion in the usual way, then make your way to the side chapel, where you will be given individual time to state your need if you want to, followed by personal prayer. The priest will remain till everyone who comes forward has had time given to them, even if this means continuing after the end of the service.

There will probably be people longing to receive an encounter with the Lord in this way, and also some of you unsure, and some who don’t like the idea. This is a ministry that many find very valuable for their spiritual growth and physical well-being, and there is nothing to be afraid of!

As is also said over formal confession, “All may, some should, none must.”  Let’s not miss the blessings the Lord has for us!

Clearing the Blockages

The waste disposal unit hadn’t worked effectively and so the sink wouldn’t drain, and then the washing machine fouled up. The kitchen ceased to function.

I tried the no-effort magic drain solvents. But 2 bottles and twice eight hours later there was no improvement. It obviously wasn’t reaching the right place. No quick solutions.

Further investigation and dismantling a convenient outside elbow in the waste pipe solved the sink drainage! Easy!!

But the washing machine? A clear waste-pipe, yet the machine still would not drain. The pump just would not work. The ‘dis-ease’ in the system was more serious. Indeed the backed-up waste was in the machine with the washing!

I knelt to release the filter, and only when on my hands and knees was I able to see a tangle of broken flower stems behind the filter. It was painstaking to release the tangle, easing each small piece out one by one, the light of a torch needed to see the way.

Waste not dealt with properly. Many hours labour to clear it. Humility to kneel and bend low and to shine the light for the cleansing task.

Many thoughts provoked within me about how Jesus deals with my messes. . . . And my responses to His dealings.

The Kingdom of God is like a householder who found the waste pipe was blocked. . . .

A modern parable?