Sharing some thoughts

Apparently, back in 2003, a funeral company in Brazil released an advert on local TV containing the strapline : “Our clients have never come back to complain”!!   Today’s readings are about confounding the idea that death is the end of things. They’re about new life, new possibilities, new chances… In the gospel (John 11:1-45) we heard part of the account of Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, who had died…  It’s a complicated account - Jesus is told that his friend is sick and responds by saying that the sickness will not end in death…  But he doesn’t go quickly to see Lazarus - he waits. And when he eventually goes there, Lazarus has died… Martha, Lazarus’ sister had rushed out to meet Jesus and said, ‘Lord if you’d been here he wouldn’t have died.’  Jesus says he will rise again and Martha accepts that he will rise in the future but what about now? And Jesus says ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me even though they die, will live….’ Ma...

  A long time ago I read a true story which I’ve often thought about. It was about a 12 year old boy who was born without an immune system. Eventually, he underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the problem, but up until that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. In his plastic bubble, he lived without ever knowing human contact.   When asked before his operation what he'd like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother's hand." What can easily seem small things to many of us can mean such a lot to others – and I think today’s readings remind us of how important the care is that we give to others. In the news we all too often hear of bad things happening, of people being unkind, aggressive, committing crimes, making wars – it’s a reality of humanity, but if we look arou...

  I was at a meeting quite a while back and we were asked to describe what people thought of the Church in Wales. The answers included some positive remarks such as ‘a lifeline for some people’ but also some more challenging answers such as ‘dependable’, ‘people know where we are when they need us’ along with ‘irrelevant’ from someone…. Our readings this morning though really challenge us and some of those negative comments - We heard in the reading from Exodus (17:1-7) of God bringing water from a rock and if that God exists then that God is someone people need to know…   And later we heard from the letter to the Romans (5:1-11) and Paul had met that God powerfully in his own life and his life had been completely transformed and in that reading from Romans we heard a passage full of praise as he celebrates the power and love of God… And then we come to the gospel reading (John 4:5-42) and we have this incredible meeting between Jesus and the woman at the well…...