Daily Scripture:21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,22 I was stupid and ignorant; I was like a brute beast before you.23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.24 You will guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you receive me with glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. (Psalm 73:21-26)Daily Reflection:It is easy, when we feel beleaguered, to think that others have it better, or that our fate is particularly cruel. The writer of Psalm 73 sees the “baddies”; everything seems to go well for them! That’s why he, or she, is embittered. What about me, Lord? Do I not count? But our Lord does see. In fact, he is right beside us. He holds our hand in the storm, he guides us if only we would listen to him, and he will receive us in his house at the end of our days, having walked with us all the way. Sometimes it is hard to remember, but God really is the strength of our hearts, in bad days as in good. You just have to remember to look up and notice. He is always with us. Revd Ylva
Daily Scripture‘And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself’ (John 12.32)Daily ReflectionIn this part of John’s Gospel, Jesus’s speaks of his forthcoming death, when he will be ‘lifted up’ on the cross.Preaching on these words in Pasadena in 2005 the incomparable Archbishop Desmond Tutu said the following:‘When Jesus said these words, did he say “I will draw some - and tough luck for the others”? No. He said “When I am lifted up, I will draw all.” All! All! All! - Black, white, yellow; rich, poor; clever, not so clever; beautiful, not so beautiful. All! All! It is radical. Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden ... Gay, lesbian, so-called “straight”. All! All! All are to be held in the incredible embrace of the love that won’t let us go’.And that includes us. Revd Rosemary
Daily ScriptureHappy the one whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered.Happy the one to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psalm 32 v 1-2)Daily Reflection I think that it is very liberating to know that when we are truly sorry for the things we have done wrong, God will forgive us. Modern medicine has shown that when we suppress our sins, worries, guilt or anxiety it manifests itself in physical symptoms - sometimes not showing up for months or even years later. If we have confessed, then God has forgiven. That doesn’t mean we forget what we did wrong, but we move on and refuse to allow it to define us. But how many of us continue to carry around that guilt? It is almost as if, despite God’s forgiveness, we can’t forgive ourselves - but God does not want us to feel guilty, he loves us too much for that - so let it go - and feel liberated. Lyn Hayes ALM
