a ministry scrapbook
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If we heard God asking those questions what answers woudl we give? If God says “where do I belong?” the answer is ……………………
Jesus asked his disciples a similar question. “Who do you say that I am?” They scartched their heads and told him what other people called him – but he wanted to know wno they thought he was.
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“People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish ……… but only if it is done properly.”
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The family that eats together stays together. Likewise, our new saviour and manager of the England team believes a key to success is for the England team to eat together. I hope Mr Capello has more success than we have had as a family. We managed Sundays sometimes, but at least the England team won’t be prevented from eating together by all the crayons/paints that we’ve had on our table. American research suggests that children who eat with their parents are less likely to abuse substances, have less sex, be less suicidal and have better nutrition. Sorry kids!
Leonardo da Vinci pictures the Galilee team eating together with their manager – with Judas being told he can leave the table early. Jews and Christians have always appreciated the importance of eating together – hence the table in all their gathering places.
I like this blog about what advertising really can do.
> Anger management is something we hear a lot about. Some of us find it difficult to control our anger and it soon spills into violence.
But we need to manage to be angry. Bede Jarrett protests; “The world needs anger. The world often continues to allow evil because it isn’t angry enough.”
Anger needs to be tempered with patience because without patience it becomes short-tempered searching for short cuts to destroy its cause.
According to Augustine of Hippo, anger is one of HOPE’s beautiful daughters.
“Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.”
Born of hope, and twinned with courage, anger is a virtue. In any other family anger is destructive – one of the seven deadly sins.
Anger as the sensitive response to injustice is a very distant relative to the anger which expresses itself irritably and hurtfully. That anger we have to manage, but the other we also ought to manage.
>When I go to church to pray this is what I do:
I shift some books around, put waste paper in bin, rearrange furniture, sit down, stand up, fiddle.
Except if I am not on my own, when this is what I do:
read the psalms, read the Bible, pray for the peace of the world and those who I know who are in trouble.
When I jog, this is what I do:
entertain random thoughts which seem to rearrange my priorities and set my mind on higher things, and as if that wasn’t enough prayer, a “You lift them up, I put them down” prayer as the road rises up to beat me.
When I want to pray, what should I do?
Go for a run, I guess, or at least, when I go to church, give thanks for the others who help me to pray.
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“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”
~ Thomas Merton
The biggest temptation comes with our children. Their birth becomes even more miraculous when we realise how different they are from us. When we respond to questions about which parent they got this that or the other quality or characteristic from with “they didn’t get it from either of us” we are admitting our wonder at creation.
The myth of Narcissus illustrates the tragedy of self-love. Waterhouse’s painting (from the Walker Gallery) shows Narcissus helplessly in love with himself and totally oblivious of Echo’s desire.
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I have to talk with other clergy about collaborative ministry. It begs the question about my leadership style.
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Grits and Grains 
