Some images and text to think about for a New Year
I've no idea when some of these came from but thanks to all who created them. The ones I do know about are mine!
Stained glass, nave south aisle, St Mary de Wyche, Wychbold, Worcestershire
Waiting - 3 To die before we die- and find it to be Life! Nunc Dimittis Luke 2.29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen : thy salvation; Which thou hast prepared : before the face of all people; To be a light to lighten the Gentiles : and to be the glory of thy people Israel. What does the “normal” Christian life look like? Someone who is regular in church on Sundays, who is community minded, helpful, has a friendly and un-aggressive manner, and who probably does not do much swearing, drinking or indulge in various naughty activities? Fair enough. Except. What’s the difference between an upright, moral, community minded person who helps their neighbour and avoids activities thought by society to be immoral -but who never goes to church, and perhaps has no belief in God of any kind? My answer to that is, probably nothing. Because the “normal” Christian life is not about being moral, acting kindly towards others and so on. Be...
Thank you for these evocative images. Very interesting. The one that immidiately jumped off the page for me and has remained in the forefront of my mind ever since is the "Slow Down" one. I SO much need to have it ringing through my contemplations. I've thought about answering it with a "Stop", but that would be a highly dangerous thing to do at that point on the road. I've thought about rushing round the corner to get past it, but that seems a dangerous thing to do and I realise I would not do that in actual circumstances. I found myself unusually driving along just such a road yesterday and found it very stimulating. Without any leaves, the scenery was displayed clearer than if it was in summer. My friend and I remarked about the shape and patterns of the big old trees. Nevertheless I drove very carefully round each blind corner, anticipating either another fascinating view or being faced by a large tractor. I',m now acting rather similarily with contemplation: feeling slowly and carefully, not deliberately making an image, nor hoping for a imageless state, but just relaxing and waiting for whatever is just round the corner. It gave a better experience of contemplation this last Wednesday anyway. Thank you.
ReplyDelete