The cares of this world

We discussed Matthew 6 yesterday. In our community, we have often talked about money and not serving mammon. Every week, we acknowledge God as God and get up to throw money in a broken claypot ('telling' our bodies to serve God physically in doing so). I think we might be getting so used to this strange ritual that it is no longer a challenge or a conscious process.

After all the changes in my life over the past 18 months, I had an immense sense of instability and I think I allowed the cares of the world to grow wild in my life (jumping to Jesus' parable of the seed) to bring some stability. If there are things you always worry about, it creates a (false) sense of stability.

It is so easy to create these little pockets that are blindspots to others and consciously or unconsciously concealed in (your?) my own mind. I think this creates fertile ground for the cares of this world to flourish.

My challenge yesterday was and today is this - God is God. God can be trusted. God will not leave me in the lurch - He loves me. God can take care of me. He is bigger than the oil price, increasing rates & my medication. He is bigger than my job and all the earthly things I surround myself with. I am going to trust God - just today. Tomorrow, we can think about tomorrow...

Thinking together

Some people might find our community a little strange. We actually ask questions throughout the service. It is not part of the liturgy and the questions are not pre-arranged, they just happen. I love it.

I love the fact that we think together. I pray that God will help us to engage more with Him and one another. After all, the pastor / preacher is not the person with all the answers, God is.

I am not suggesting that we sit and wait for God to answer us audibly, but I think we are all equally responsible to get the answer. We live post Pentecost. We are all temples of the Ruah Jahwe. God is with all of us - equally.

Life after death

With my gran passing away so suddenly, I have been thinking about life and death. Usually I am not too perturbed about it, I think I'll see what happens when I get there.

However, this week I wondered if she is with my granddad? I wonder if they can somehow see that we are doing OK?

Silly and irrational, I know...

A full life

This morning my granny passed away. She wasn't really sick. She had a heart attack (in Douglas) and died in the ambulance on her way to hospital (in Kimberley, 100 km from there).

I loved her. She was very short and cried when she was happy and also cried when she was sad. She called a spade a spade and had the ability to recall little incidents from all 5 her children's lives as well as that of her 10 grandchildren.

I think the most important thing was that my granny prayed for me. She had a little black book and mentioned the names of all her children, her 'other children' (children in law) and her grandchildren before God at least twice a day.

I remember waking up to the murmur of voices in the kitchen on the farm where my granny sat at the table having coffee with whoever was awake. I remember seeing her on her knees, praying. I remember how bad she felt when she could no longer kneel to pray.

I loved her and am shocked by her sudden death, but I am grateful and rich for having known her.