When is the Right Time (Part one)

 Over the past few weeks I've had a couple of encounters with people who, independent of each other, told me that they wanted to be a Minister. (And what follows is an amalgam of these people)

He was sure that God was calling him to the Ministry, and this was where he wanted to be. He was really confident in expressing his call, and I am really sure that God has big plans for him. But then he went on to tell me of all his other plans, and that Ministry was something that he wanted to do at some point in the future.

In the Deacon Blue song, “Dignity”, the singer tells of the local road sweeper, “Bogie” who has plans for the future. He has been saving his money to buy a boat, to be called “Dignity.” I’ve always thought of this as a bit of a sad song, as the desire to buy the boat came over as a pipe dream. Something to talk about down the pub, but not something he will ever attain. A wish unfulfilled.

When I was talking with him, I noted that any time he referred to the Ministry, it was always in the terms of wanting. He wanted to be a Minister. I said that I might want to be Clark Gable*, but until I took action, then it was going to remain a dream. Whatever we want to do, it is never going to happen until we set the plans in motion. Taking affirmative action, by setting yourself a goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, and bound by a set timescale is the way ahead. Saying you want to do something is too passive, and your goals will keep slipping by. If it’s what you really want, then the time to act is now. And as God is calling you to the Ministry, then God will give you all the strengths you need.

This morning I thought again about "Dignity" and dreams unfulfilled. Then it occurred to me. Thinking again about the language of the song, he doesn’t just want to buy a boat, “He’s goin’ to buy a dinghy, and call her “Dignity”  Going to. Positive, affirmative language. So maybe he’s sailing out there after all.

You know who you are. Do it, you’ll be awesome.


*Yes, I said Clark Gable. I don’t know where it came from, and “frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”  Given the choice I'd be Humphrey Bogart

Pastoral Inspiration Through an Absent Gerbil

(This is not meant to sound all woe is me. I'm doing fine, honestly!)

So Mrs Gerbil is off in Highland Cathedral, and I have the house to myself.  Not a big problem, as I am relatively well house trained.  But most of my problems seem to come from the kitchen.

I am not a complete stranger to the kitchen, as I will claim the title of its designer and chief builder, but once I handed the keys over to Mrs G, it became her domain.  She is an outstanding cook, but I tend to get in the way, so I stand well back.  A quick visit at meal times to collect cutlery and set the table, then I retreat.  It's safer if I stay out of the Kitchen Work Triangle.

So now I've got to cook for  myself, and I've barely a clue where anything is.  I have a few recipes up my sleeve, but cooking is a slow process as I just don't have that rythm.  

My vegetarian friends will be pleased to know that I have, for the first time in my life, purchased a carrot.  I've even taken the chance to learn how to cook soup, and I have peeled the said carrot, chopped an onion and flung in some garlic.  Note the subtle difference between a bulb and a clove. Recipes tend to ask for a clove or two.  Not a whole bulb.  I've not seen a vampire in weeks.

And then there's the washing machine.  Now I'm not a stranger to it, but I had to look in the manual to find out exactly what constitutes a small load, when the timesaver function is useful (when you want to save time apparently) and how to prevent myself from setting the machine up on a four hour wash cycle.  By way of diversion, how many of the programmes on your machine do you actually use, or are you strictly a 40c Colourfast Cotton (Setting D) sort of person?

So it got me thinking about supporting those in our communities where a person suddenly finds themselves living on their own, for exmple through death, divorce or a long hospital stay.  Suddenly the person left behind has to pick up on those tasks that the other party.  I have spoken to one lady who doesn't have a bank account of her own.  That's what husbands are for.  And it's his car, so she has never encountered tax, insurance or MOT's. 

And what about the men where the kitchen is completely uncharted territory?  Where the wife has done all the washing and cooking.  I know of one man who came to work wearing a very shiny suit one day.  His wife had left him, and he had no idea how to press a suit.  By ironing it rather than pressing it with a wet cloth he had flattened all the fibres in the fabric giving it a sheen.  

It's just another thing to think about for future pastoral encounters. 

And besides, I'll never starve, as long as there's takeaway!

The Right Sort of People

I need to go meet the right sort of people.  By the right sort of people, I don't mean the "right" sort of people that every church seems to be full of.  No, by the right sort of people, I actually mean the sort of people that the "right" sort of people may consider to be the "wrong" sort of people.

Because if the "right" sort of people want to really be the right sort of people, then they need to seek out the "wrong" sort of people.  Only then can we be considered righteous, right?

In not quite so many words, I told a friend that they would do well to hang around with the wrong sort of people.  Apparently I'll be in trouble with their mother should this advice ever get back to her.  Ooops.

Luke 19:2-10 tells of Jesus visiting with a fraudulent tax collector.  The people grumbled about the company Jesus was keeping.  The reason Jesus was there wasn't so Jesus could take lessons in embezzlement, but rather so that Zacchaeus could be a changed man.

Because Jesus' message needs to go to all people, not just the selected few.

Right?

Looking into the Abyss

"when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you."*

So the other month I got a letter congratulating me on being accepted to train as an Ordained Local Minister.  This letter details the process of things yet to come.  There's loads to do, but the timescale is measured in  years.  Right now, things feel very empty.  When I really start training, things will start to fill my time, but now there's nothing for me to do except reflect on where I see myself.

And that's the problem.  I'm not sure where I see myself, or what I see myself doing.  Having expected to be knocked back at conference, I hadn't really planned for this.  As one friend put it, I had prepared for the wedding but not the marriage.

Throughout tertiary education, I have studied things because I wanted to do the subject, not because I really had any firm plans regarding the subject matter.  It's worked so far, so why change a good thing?  And the same goes for placements.  How do I pick a placement?  Should I pick at random from the local list of supervisors knowing I will learn something new from any one on the list? 

When talking about a meeting I've got coming up to discuss all this, I said to someone else that one thing I should try to learn to be is a Christian.  They said that would be a bad time to joke about things like that.  Well all along the way, people that I thought were "Good Christians" have fallen by the wayside, and still I'm here.  So perhaps I need to work out why exactly God wants me here.

So I don't know where I'm going, but i sure know where I've been**.  I'm on the edge of the abyss.  I could have a carefull, planned and measured descent, but based on past performance, I think it's time to throw myself over the edge and hope for the best.

*Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche  1886

**Whitesnake 1982

When Worlds Collide

I've found myself in the Highlands in a week when the local pubs are having a beer and folk music festival.  So when I saw this on tap, there was a coming together of the beer and Sci-Fi geeks in me, and I had to sample the waters.

A very fine pint indeed. So say we all.

Quote of the day

"Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man, and let history make its own judgment."

Zefram Cochrane 2173

Knockin' on Heaven's door

Two young guys were walking around Highland Parish last weekend, going door to door.  The fact that you make a public display of your commitment to your faith by going on a pilgrimage to a strange land is a good thing. And you are always so well turned out in your smart black suits and shiny shoes. 

But this is Scotland.  It is summer.  This means that it's going to be a whole lot wetter than the average winter. Whoever thought up your dress code needs to include a smart raincoat to keep the worst of the weather off.  Even an umbrella would be a start. 

Regardless of our denomination, we can only spread God's word if we look after the body.  Getting damp (or even sunburned*) just makes you miserable, so look after the body and you will find it easier to speak your message.  We are all vehicles capable of carrying God's message, but if your vehicle gets waterlogged, it stops working.


*well it might happen...

Overheard Quote of the Day

From the pub...

"I'm not just the Devil's Advocate.  I'm his lawyer, solicitor and his whole [expletive deleted] legal team!"

Outstanding!

On God and his Particles

The world of science made an announcement this week about the Higgs Boson that to some people is the most fundamental discovery in nature, while to others it is absolutely meaningless.

Our faith, to some people is the most fundamental discovery in nature, while to others it is absolutely meaningless.

And we all have trouble sometimes expressing what we believe in, and making ourselves understood to those who do not travel in our circles.

But back to the  elusive Higgs Boson.  Physicists, especially Peter Higgs, don't generally call it the God Particle.   CERN announced this week that evidence for the existence of the Higgs Boson has been discovered at the Large Hadron Colider.  Cool.  Absolutely outstanding.  I sincerely congratulate them on their achievements.  But what use is this to the average person in the street?  Well I am sure that at the moment, the answer is not a lot. 

Back in 1927, you would have said "not a lot" if someone asked you what you knew about Quantum Mechanics, however this knowledge is absolutely fundamental to the creation of transistors, and in every computer chip you are using to read this post.  Sometimes things  are discovered that may  not have an application for decades to come. 

We live in an age of discovery, and while sometimes it is hard to keep up with progress, and even harder to understand it, we need to at least try to know a little of all that is going on if we are to be the moral guardians of society.  When someone says "Look what we can do!" we should be saying, "that's great, but lets just make sure this isn't going to cause harm."  We should not stop progress, (we tried that with heliocentrism, and made ourselves look foolish)  but we should think about its implications.

It is great that God gave us the inquisitive minds, to look and to try to understand his creation, but  the more we look, the more there is yet to be revealed.  And that's amazing.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
 And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.