Be Determined

Lent is a time of learning and growth. Being a Christian I try to spend time in Lent improving myself. I usually give up alcohol as this helps me to maintain a clear mind. But Lent, despite what you may have heard is not just about about denial. Like most I am following a Lent course which if you have read my previous posts you will know is about William Wilberforce and his faith.
The course seeks to portray values that we could inherit personally by examining the values of William Wilberforce in the light of his faith. He was instrumental in stopping the trade in slaves two hundred years ago and was driven to this by his personal beliefs. It is what he believed that made his opinions differ from those around him. As a person he was defined by what he believed in.
In this day and age there is a great temptation not to believe in anything, especially if you live in the well to do part of the globe. The Bible offers many good moral outlooks and is rich in stories of what is right and wrong, good or bad. Reading the bible and getting to know it offers a way that my faith can determine me, that is work me out and make me something new. What it is and what it does is the great challenge of Lent.
Being determined by any set of values requires me to understand them well and try hard to live by them. This can be awkward, costly and even painful, people do not always understand. William Wilberforce would have known this all too well. But despite this he followed his faith and was determined by it. So, don't just be determined in faith, be determined by faith.

Peace Dave

One Door

I had an odd conversation with my neighbour yesterday. They have been trying to sell their house and move for some time. In the UK this can be a very fraught and drawn out process. My neighbour told me that she had received serious interest from a retired priest and it was as likely as not that he would be the next owner.
The odd thing about this is that our own parish priest will be leaving his post at the end of December. We only have the one priest so this means that our parish will have an interregnum, that is waiting period before a new priest is appointed. This can be a good time for a Church community to let it grow in faith as it takes on some of the tasks that the priest just did as routine. It Can also be a time when people opt out of a church community and go elsewhere. For Sunday services priests are begged, borrowed and stolen from anywhere that can be found. It would be really nice to have a local retired priest that could fill in and provide some support. In my experience priests never really retire, they slow down. Having said that it would be wrong to drag the poor sod in and hand him the church. Just a little support and the comfort of having a person with a collar about could make a lot of difference to a Church struggling ( as ours will) with a suddenly absent priest.
It may be that the priest never buys the house or if he does never comes to our church and I am being careful not to count my chickens but God does have a wonderful way of providing and as one door closes often another opens, it's a case of seeing it happen.

Peace Dave.