Sharing some thoughts

Like many of you I’m sure this week I watched on the news as the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing was released from prison in Scotland, and returned to Libya. Suffering from cancer it is believed that he only has a short time to live, and on compassionate grounds the Scottish Justice Minister ordered his release. Many have argued that he showed no compassion for the victims of the bombing and therefore he should be shown no compassion now, and be left to die in prison. The arguments are long and varied, and many people will have many different thoughts about the rights and wrongs of the decision that was made. But as I read through the passage for this evening from the letter to the Hebrews (13:16-21), my mind came back to this news story. The passage we heard began, ‘Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God’. The life of Jesus combined with these words reminds us that our doing good is not conditional upon somebody else doing ...

There’s an old joke about a couple who are going on holiday and they are waiting at the airport when the husband said to the wife, "I wish we had brought the piano." The wife said, "Why? We've got sixteen bags already!" And the husband replied, "Yes, I know - but the plane tickets are on the piano!" People have some strange priorities at times in their lives – for some it will be all about having fun, and perhaps neglecting those who may be hurt by the fun or ignoring things they should be doing and for some it will be work and earning money, often at the expense of relationships. Life revolves around choices we make, and though we can often blame circumstances for things that don’t work out right, a majority of consequences for things that happen in our lives will be down to a choice we have somewhere made at some time. How we live is obviously one of the most fundamental choices we can ever make. Today’s Old Testament reading (Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18) t...

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, so it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realised what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off so the dirt was beneath him, and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off! It’s always g...

Theologians can sometimes talk and write about things which are way over my head – some of the definitions they give of God, of his work in the world, of our response to him and relationship with him can be quite mystifying at times, and whilst their work is often important and sometimes interesting, it doesn’t always help us to see and feel God in our own lies. However having said that, there is a parable which I’ve used before, written by the theologian Soren Kierkegaard about a community of ducks waddling off to duck church to hear the duck preacher, and this is one that is pretty easy to understand. At the service, the duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly. With these wings there was nowhere the ducks could not go. With those wings they could soar high into the sky. Shouts of "Amen!" were quacked throughout the duck congregation and there was real excitement at the wonderful gifts that God had given them. At the conclusion ...