This week I have been reading Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas”
Whilst writing this I am listening to: The Cure’s 1989 album “Disintegration”
Fun Fact of the week: Cats spend an incredible 70% of their lives sleeping, which equals about 15 hours a day of pure rest. At this moment I would very much like to be a cat!
Thinking about the right words has been a theme of this week; a theme of most weeks really. Religion often contains so many words and we can reduce the mystery of God to a specific set of creeds. Our worship becomes a procession of words rather than a movement of the heart towards God. My favourite times of prayer are times of silence when I can just be present with God. Words can limit us and yet, they are also an enormously important way to make our hearts heard. And it is often in hearing our own words that we truly come to understand our own mind and heart.
This week I was privileged to preside at two funerals for recently departed loved ones. I heard beautiful words of longing and loss, memories gathered together and brought into the light to bring joy, meaning, and to illuminate the lives of those still living. The words at funerals are very important. The words might come from ancient liturgies but they never date because they speak eternal truths into each new context. They have a sacred quality. I was going to write a few here but I feel that I want to leave them in those places where they were spoken on Thursday and Friday. Words can never fully express the love we have for each other, or for our God, but they are often all we have and they are not a bad place to start or to finish.
As always, if you would like me to pray for, or have a conversation about anything then do get in touch. I am available to listen and share in whatever might be arising for you at this time.
"Nothing can separate us from the love of God revealed to us in Christ Jesus" Rom 8:38-39
With peace and blessings,
Rev Steve
07503164309
My day of rest this week is Monday.