Reflection: Sunday 28th August and for the week ahead:Scripture:‘ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. Because you are lukewarm, I am about to spit you out of my mouth!’ (Revelation 3 15-16)Reflection:Buddhism describes ‘ego’ as a wall that we build around ourselves of things that we are attached to - comfort, possessions, money, houses etc. The more self sufficient we are, the less we have need of God. When the ‘ego’ wall comes crumbling down, perhaps due to ill health or financial problems we find ourselves in need of help outside of our own provision. We might describe this state of being as ‘lukewarm’ - we turn to something outside ourselves only when we can’t do it for ourselves! If we treated our friends like that, we wouldn’t have their friendship for long. Right now, you may be ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ - for or against God - and that’s OK; just don’t do yourself or God the disservice of being lukewarm. It is better to live your entire life as if God does exist, and find out in the end that He doesn’t, than the other way round! Vicki Young
Reflection: Sunday 21st August and for the week ahead:Scripture:“My eyes fail with watching for your word, while I say, ‘O when will you comfort me?’ I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I do not forget your statutes.” (Psalm 119 vv 82-3)Reflection:The Psalms are the most personal and timeless ‘Book’ in the Bible, a collection of songs and poems composed for all sorts of occasions. At one time called ‘The Psalms of David’ they were by no means all written by the shepherd who became king, though some of the most moving speak of his inmost thoughts and feelings. Others were written for public use on ceremonial occasions. Psalm 119 (at 176 verses!) is the longest of the 150 and is focused on what are here called ‘statutes’, but have many other names – decrees, precepts, commandments, ways, law, word… The Psalmist pours out the depths of his heart as he speaks of the ways in which he has experienced evil and suffering, while at the same time proclaiming that his knowledge of right and wrong is a gift that has come from God. Where we would keep wine in bottles in a cool cellar, his contemporaries kept it in skins hung by smoky fires, warming the wine but doing the skins no good – guarding one’s moral integrity may not be comfortable, but this Psalm encourages us to rejoice in knowing good from evil and to talk frankly to God in prayer. David Harmsworth
