Lent 2014 - 7th April: hot water bottles

Today's simple pleasure is hot water bottles. I'm sure it should be warm enough to turn off my central hearing, alas it's not. I like my hot water bottle as it stays hot a number of hours. I think my cats like it to. There is something comforting about having warm toes and cuddling up to my hot water bottle. It doesn't have the same impact if it's cold or even lukewarm. If I find it cold at the bottom of my bed I normally give it a good kick out the end. The thud as it hits the ground normally brings a smile to my face, I'm not quit sure why I just think it's the distinctive sound. One of the letters to the churches in the Book of Revelation talks about our spiritual temperature. Only hot will do. I hope as you reflect through Lent your spiritual temperature and your faith has got hotter. If not why not? Don't be like the Luke warm church in Ladeocia that is lukewarm being neither hot not cold doesn't hack it with God. He wants our all.

Lent 2014 - 6th April: wandering around cathedrals

I may be a non-conformist of the Baptist persuasion but I so appreciate the architecture and presence of God to be found in a Cathedral. The above photo is of course Westminster Abbey which I visited recently. There is something about the grandure of Cathedrals that proclaims the awesomeness of God. Our non-conformist history is short in comparison to the established church and consequently we lack age in our buildings. We also tend to lack the grandeur. 

    Gloucester Cathedral's beautiful ceiling.

Baptist chapels are simple so as not to distract from worshiping God. I like the simplicity but sometimes I want the grandure and ornateness which reflect God's glory and majesty. I am eclectic in my spirituality and a true ecumenical at heart. A simple pleasure for me is to gaze in wonder at our places of worship that differ so much and yet all point to God in their own unique way.

Today's simple pleasure is wandering around Cathedrals, it could equally be sitting in a simple chapel.

Lent 2014 - 5th April: humour

Today's simple pleasure is humour. I like to laugh. I don't like to take life too seriously. It's easy to get caught in the spiral of negativity and to forget that life is for living. My humour can get me in to trouble sometimes. I guess what one person finds funny someone else finds offensive. I love situation humour but dislike jokes. It is normally the visual things or silly childish things that make me chuckle. John and I went to the butchers today to buy a leg of lamb. (It tasted fantastic by the way.) we always end up giggling whenever we go there. It's not what is said but what is unsaid. Something about the way the three butchers never really talk to one another and are so serious. An old lady wished them a merry Christmas, obviously at Christmas, and had to say it three times before getting a response. Anyone would think they were androids by their apparent lack of emotion. Actually, one is slightly more human than the others. They must wonder why we are always giggling. As my husband said today, it would be a good basis of a sitcom. Maybe I should write that one. As with all good visual humour you have to be there and see it for yourself. 

I hope today has been a blessed day for you filled with at least some humour. 

Lent 2014 - 4th April: Jelly Babies!!

Today's simple pleasure - Jelly Babies! Do you need an explanation other than yum!

Lent 2014 - 3rd March: meeting New People

Another of life's simple pleasures is meeting new people. I love meeting someone who I don't know at all, or very well, and spending time getting to know them. All too often these meetings are fleeting and over far too quickly. Today I got the opportunity to meet and talk to a few new folk at The Northern Baptist Theological Consutation at Blackley Baptist Church, West Yorkshire. I have to admit I have never been this far north before! It was a great day. The keynote lecture was on spirituality and poetry, so right up my street.

One of the reasons I loved working as a mortgage adviser was that I met lots of new and interesting people. New people are intriguing and meeting them is on a par with opening a wrapped present. You never know what you are going to get! Some people we relate to more than others, that's just life, but everyone we meet is a potential friend. Who knows how deep that relationship will develop. So here's to friendship and the simple pleasure of meeting new people. I thank God for the new people in my life and the friendship they offer. 

Lent 2014 - 2nd April: Spiritual Direction

 

 

As I have written these blogs on simple pleasures I have tried to write about something I have found pleasurable and want to give thanks for that has happened that day. Today I met with my Spiritual Director so today's simple pleasure is Spiritual Direction. Sometimes our spiritual life can be very arid. It is like walking through a desert with the sun beating down and no sense of where we should be headed. I am blessed to have a number of good friends who I can call on to pray for me. For a long time I wondered about having a Spiritual Director to accompany me on my spiritual walk. About a year ago I decided God had been nagging me long enough and that I should give it a go. I am so glad that I did. I have been truly blessed. 

It is easy to loose our way in the desert sometimes we need help in finding the way and seeing the signs of where God is in our life. Sometimes we need someone to challenge us and help us to face up to difficult questions. Sometimes when our spiritual life gets boring and routine we need someone to suggest knew ways of connecting with God. I feel that I have been wandering through the desert of life for a while now. Trudging through sand is tiring and can be lonely. It is then when we need our praying friends all the more. It is the time when we need God but can't always see how closely he walks along side us for the sand that is blowing in our faces and getting in to our hair. I started spiritual direction because I wanted to refocus on God and my spirituality and to draw strength from that in order to get through the hard times. Yes, this is normally for a Christian but I wanted to be more definite about it. Whilst I may have to continue to walk through the desert a little while longer, and no doubt it is a place I will revisit at some stage in my life, I can see signs of new life beginning to break through. There are streams of living water in the desert but sometimes we need help in finding them and drinking from the cool waters. 

There is nothing magical about spiritual direction but there is something more precious than that for me that I can't quite put into words. It is something holy. A divine appointment. As I look back on the thoughts and feeling that have been shared, the tears and the laughter, I know that my journey has been made easier through sharing. A big thank you to my spiritual director, you know who you are. Thank you for sharing your gifts with me and encouraging me along the way. Thank you for believing in me.