Category: Thought for the week

Just before I moved to the Woottons I took a three month sabbatical which I spent living in my caravan making my way along the East Anglian coast, and eventually, with my wife Linda ending up in the Scottish Highlands.
My journey began on the Dengie Peninsular formed by the River Crouch to the south and the River Blackwater to the north. I stayed on a farm not far from Bradwell-on-Sea and could get to the coast by walking a couple of miles through reclaimed marshland. The flat landscape, the big skies and the tranquillity reminded me of parts of Norfolk and it was easy to find peace away from the hustle and bustle of normal life. Within easy reach was The Church of St. Peter on-the-wall built by St. Cedd in 654 AD on the foundations of the Roman fort of Othona. Cedd had travelled by boat from Lindisfarne to spread the good news of Jesus to the East Saxons.
My journey took me to the Suffolk coast and then around the Norfolk coast from Great Yarmouth to Burnham Thorpe. My wife Linda joined me for the second half of my trip and we journeyed up north to Loch Lomond, the Kintyre Peninsular and the shores of Loch Linnhe near Fort William.
I spend the first three days of my sabbatical in silence. I find that “retreating” from normal life in that way is a very good way focus on prayer and my relationship with God. I think our busy, noise-filled lives mean that so often we are unaware of God’s presence and we so easily miss what he is trying to say to us. My first rule of prayer is to create space for God.
I found God in the silence certainly, but also in the beauty of creation. Whether watching the stormy skies over the Blackwater Estuary, the waves lapping onto the shores of Winterton beach, or being overwhelmed by the majesty of the mountains in the west of Scotland I feel inspired to wonder at God’s creative acts. How strange then to hear so many references to the thoughts of scientists like Richard Dawkins or Stephen Hawking rubbishing the idea of God and dismissing people with faith as deluded. To these two gentlemen and others like them I want to say – stop trying to explain away God with science but open your eyes and see the work of the author of creation. Then stop and listen for the still small voice of God.
The Revd. James Nash Rector of the Church in the Woottons

The purpose of mankind is to manifest good in a myriad of ways and thereby to give glory to God. Because of the complexity of good an individual usually requires training, practice, repetition and the co-operation of others in order to manifest good.
If a person does wrong (sin) the co-operation of other people is lost so that it becomes difficult for that sinner to do good. But Jesus knows that sinners can still do good. The church therefore runs charities which co-operate with any person wishing to do good, whatever their past mistakes.
CAFOD (the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) is the international aid and development charity for the Catholic Church in the UK. CAFOD is 50 this year. By focusing work on the poor and the marginalised of the world, CAFOD provides not only development and emergency aid but CAFOD also campaigns, with other organisations, to change the root causes of poverty and injustice. In Lent 2012 UK Catholic parishioners donated over £8.7 million to CAFOD.
Campaigning works. Previously successful campaigns include; the Jubilee 2000 petition which achieved $110 billion of debt cancellation; the co-founding of Fairtrade in 1992; the signing by 144 countries of the Ottawa agreement which bans the manufacture, sale and use of land mines; the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign which increased aid to developing countries by $50 billion; the ‘Ethical Trading Initiative’ and the ‘Clean up your Computer’ campaign which improved the working conditions in developing countries; and the ‘Unearth Justice’ campaign when 7 major jewellers signed up to the Golden Rules, improving justice in mining. In 2010 CAFOD joined with other charities to urge the government to maintain spending on overseas development to reach the agreed 0.7% GNI by 2013. Last year UK aid treated 100,000 HIV sufferers, vaccinated 3 million children, built 12,000 classrooms and trained 100,000 teachers in developing countries.
In 2012 CAFOD ran a ‘Thirst for Change’ campaign to bring basic services of clean drinking water and sanitation to more people in developing countries. Over 60,000 people signed the petition. Currently 783 million people lack access to clean water and 2.5 billion lack access to safe sanitation. It is estimated that a child dies every 20 seconds because of preventable infections caused by poor quality water and sanitation.

Jesus continues to make good manifest because God is the source of all good.

Peter Coates.

The Olympic motto, ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’, is a pretty good one. Those simple three words conjure thoughts of sprinters shooting down the track with smoke coming off their running spikes, pole-vaulters twisting into the air as if gravity worked the other way, and weightlifters going red in the face as they lift the equal of seventy bags of shopping. Anyone who’s ever had a go at athletics will recognise that ‘faster, higher, stronger’ is the whole focus – pushing the human body to the apex of its performance, and then going beyond it.

Is this a good motto for life in general? Certainly there are many areas of our lives where pushing ourselves will reward us in the end. There are even times when people will grit their teeth spiritually, determined to summon a greater discipline or to reach out more keenly for God. Sometimes, though, I believe we have to pursue the opposite of the Olympic ideal.

For example, there are very few places in the Bible where anyone is urged to go faster for God. On the contrary, coming before him involves slowing down and putting our own capabilities in perspective. In Psalm 46 it is being still, not being fast, that is the way to know God. In the same way, the apostle Paul charges Christians to ‘be willing to associate with people of low position’, a challenge to anyone whose life is all about climbing ladders. Perhaps most surprising is the New Testament paradox that it is often when we are weak that we can do the most. The decisive event of the gospels is Jesus Christ at his weakest, held motionless by nails, exhausted from a Roman flogging, bleeding and asphyxiating on the cross. Bewilderingly, this is the most powerful moment of his ministry; this is where he does the most good for the world; this physical low point is a spiritual high point.

Perhaps (when the Olympics are over) we should try out ‘Slower, Lower, Weaker’ as a motto for a while. We might discover that slowing down for God’s sake, noticing the lowly in our communities, and trying to understand the power of weakness are things worth striving for.
Corin Child St John’s King’s Lynn

We have just enjoyed a visit from the grandchildren. We learnt a few new words that might appear one day in our dictionaries. Now we “chillax” after a busy day! If the grandchildren enjoyed the ride on the Wells and Walsingham light railway, then it was “wicked”, but we did pay for the tickets! Words can come to be used differently. We are reminded that language is a living phenomena, just as our words are. They convey our life style. Have you noticed the present way we describe what’s going on in our nation as our “culture”. Culture can be good and bad. But who is to make the value judgement?

Recently the chairman of the Bank of England used the word to describe some of the behaviour of one of the banks that cost it a hefty fine. He told us the culture of the banks had to change. I am sure the general consensus would support his judgement.
But over some other behaviour in our national life there might not be such quick consensus.

The trouble with calling for a change in behaviour by a change in culture is that it avoids the root problem. If the majority disapprove of the behaviour, then there will be some steps taken to regulate behaviour and make it harder to indulge greed and deception. But I doubt there will be much sense of shame about the reasons for the culture change. If we want a heart felt change in the nation, then we would be wiser to talk for a need to repent. Yes, I do know that word has gone out of coinage but we are the poorer for ditching it. To repent means to have a change of mind leading to a change of heart. It acknowledges the truth that some corporate behaviour is plain wrong, and rides rough shod over the Bible’s command to love our neighbour as ourselves. It takes ownership for my share in corporate guilt.

Repentance is calling time on corruption and turning around to head off in the right direction and ask for forgiveness. Some will find it hard to forgive those who have been found out and face public disgrace. But God is willing not only to forgive us but also to give us a change of heart that will keep us out of a culture that disregards the well being of others.

John Wallis, Gayton Parish

From Easter to the A-Team

Easter and springtime is a time of excitement and new life As I write this a couple of ducks, that have appropriated our front garden for a nesting site, are quacking happily away at passers-by. The walks is in bloom, new life is everywhere.

As surprising as this may seem, this new life, and this excitement translates to church life. Over what used to be termed Holy Week (Palm Sunday, through to Easter Sunday) we at King’s Lynn Baptist Church have had what’s called a 24-7 Prayer Room(www.24-7prayer.com). Simply put from Midday on Sunday 1st April, through to our Easter Celebration service on Sunday 8th people have been praying non-stop in a room in the church. As Christians we believe that prayer changes lives and situations, that we have a God, that is not only willing to be involved in our lives, but is eager to be involved in our lives. Over the course of the week, people have been praying not just for themselves and their families, but for their town, their nation, and their world. And it isn’t all just about sitting in a room in silence, for an hour – the walls of the room we used were covered in artwork done in the room, and most of the time music was blaring out.

It works. This was the third year in a row that we’ve taken Holy Week, to pray like this, and every year, lives have been changed, situations have been resolved, and it’s been a catalyst for newness amongst us, a catalyst for excitement. In our lives there are always things, whether situations or people that we need just a little extra help with. Prayer is an avenue to Almighty God, that makes change, and brings a newness, a freshness, an excitement to our lives. The old A-Team TV show famously started with the words “…If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire…THE A-TEAM!” If you have a problem, if no one else can help, talk to a Christian, come into a church, just sit and pray yourself, give your problem to God, communicate with him, and take hold of that change, that newness, that excitement that comes from prayer.

Kieran Woodward – Assistant Leader – King’s Lynn Baptist Church.