To those who are expecting a ‘Monday Spot’ at this time we must apologize. It has not been possible to produce one this week. However we hope to have a report on Sunday’s meetings within the next few days. Meanwhile it is good to be able to have the thoughts of Major Alec Still once again.
He says:
What a bizarre few weeks. People coming and going to and from holidays: folk in and out of hospitals: sudden deaths: illness: crazily busy with annual appeal and the like. And that was just in my house!
Life for the majority these days I guess is incredibly busy and varied. Gone are the days, I think, where regular routine goes uninterrupted. It only takes a phone call, a surprise caller or incident to throw the expected day out of the window. Fielding off those people who want to compensate us for accidents we haven t had, reimburse us for loans we haven t taken out, or advise us in the best way to re-glaze our homes seems to be a constant battle. The everyday things like raising our children, cleaning our homes, keeping up with the shopping often slip down the order of things achieved. Or is that just me?
So what about our ongoing journey of faith? If there is so much encroaching on our lives, how do we deal with the everyday desire to pray, to read our Bibles and share those intimate moments with God? The Psalmist (Psalm 119:97) claimed to meditate on the ways of God all day, every day. O to be able to make such a claim.
Yet, if our Christian lives are to be constantly growing, and our understanding of God developing, and our knowledge of His ways impacting the way we live our own lives, we do need to be making a commitment to personal reflection. In the constant busyness of the everyday, we do need to keep focussed on the need for prayer and study. When George Carey was the Archbishop of Canterbury, he publicly declared his need for taking a day a month for prayer and personal reflection. As his duties increased, and his time more pressured, he announced the need for a second day a month for prayer and reflection. Odd? No, in fact totally sensible.
As our lives become more chaotic, so our praying must become more disciplined. I can hear you asking Can I really spare the time for this? Let me ask you, Can you afford not to?
The Psalmist again, this time in Psalm 91, reminds us that He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.
May the peace of our great God rule in our hearts and minds, however mad life gets.