Finished Harry Potter, really enjoyed it. Passed it on to Bry on Friday just after 5pm and she'd finished it on Saturday evening! Still, it's better than sitting glued to the TV for hours on end.
Sue got her new car - a 3 door corsa 1.4 16v. It's a lot smaller than the CRV but it is fun.
We went to a local farmers market and got some lovely goats cheese, lamb chops and fruit pies, all of which are delicious. It was in Ampthill which has historic roots and was celebrating Aragon day, so we even got to see Henry and Catherine walking through the town with their entourage.
In the afternoon we made the most of the sunshine and finished mowing the grass, cutting the hedge and picking up fallen apples and walnuts from the garden. We also got rid of some seriously large brambles that were growing in the hedge.
Went to hear one of our ministers preach on Sunday morning as I need to write a report on 'an act of worship in which I have taken no active part' (or something like that) for my final Faith & Worship portfolio. It was interesting to say the least. I thought I might share one of his comments, which was something along these line..'When we keep praying to God about the same things it's a bit like 'pester power' which parents will understand from their children. It probably makes a difference on a human level but not really on a spiritual one. We can't really influence God.' Does this mean that prayer is a pointless activity, something we do to make ourselves feel better but that makes no difference to the outcome of any situation? If so, I'm not sure I want to be a part of it. I don't think I want to worship a God who ignores my prayers and isn't interested in what I think or feel. Thankfully I don't agree with the minister on this, and I do believe that God not only listens to my prayers but will act on them in the best way for me. I do believe we can change things by praying, it's worked for the saints that have gone before us, and it still happens now. I will be passing my thoughts on the sermon, and the rest of the service, on to my tutor who is a colleague of this particular minister and hopefully they will be prepared to explain what was meant in more detail. I'll let you know the outcome....
We also rescued my friend Ali from stress by 'kidnapping' Amelia (3) and Scoobie (13 weeks) and having them running round our garden for an hour, which was great fun. I'd love a puppy but have to wait till one of us is home more in the day to be with it.
Sunday evening was Cafe Church and Bry came for the first time. She enjoyed the food! But then she hadn't been fed for about 1/2 hour so was wasting away poor thing. A guy known as Japha / Jaffa was there. I have seen him around the town and he has been to church before, but I've never really spoken to him. Anyway, he remembered a service in 2004/2005 at our church when I was preaching (It was one of my first sermons). He had shouted out a comment about false theologies and could remember what I was preaching on and what he had said. I remembered the service too. Anyway, he wanted to apologize for what he'd said. He's been dry for a while now and is attending AA meetings encouraged by his parole officer, so it looks like he's sorting his life out. It also turns out that he was quite a good pianist when he was younger and is starting to play again. Our church pianist, Judy, is giving him refresher lessons every week, so hopefully that will help him stay on track too. Anyway, it was nice of him to say sorry and I was more that happy to accept it.
Working on next Sundays sermon now - unity, as in one, holy, catholic, apostolic church. Could be fun in a church that's had a rift for about 20 years!
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At the risk of blogging some theology... I said this yesterday in my sermon...
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Problem is that this doesn't ring true in our experience – we pray for things and they don't happen. What we pray for turns out wrong. For every person you pray for who gets better, it seems another gets worse.
Coach crash: killed 26 Polish pilgrims; the other 25 on the coach survived. Were the 25 who survived holier? Had they prayed better at the shrine? Of course not. So why did one half live and the other half die? Literally – God only knows. Acts 12 – Peter in prison – church was praying for him – angel rescues him. Acts 7 – killing of Stephen – weren't they praying for him too?
We can ask ourselves – what does our prayer achieve?
Can we change the mind of God?
Well, I believe we can - that he listens and acts on our prayers. But I can't explain why or how he answers which prayers. I prayed for a friend who was desperately ill. The whole church did. It was touch and go whether he lived. And he lived. So we thanked God. But we prayed for another friend and she died. Why? I don't know. God's ways are above my ways. But if you pray and God doesn't do what you ask – that's not the time to give up. That's the time to keep praying – to keep asking God what he's doing. Asking him if he's going to change the way things are – and if not, why not?
And if we keep asking God why things are happening as they are – that means that maybe instead of changing the mind of God, we're getting into the mind of God. Working hard at what it means – wondering why things are as they are. Maybe starting to see things God's way.
Because the most important thing about prayer isn't whether we get what we want – it's that we're talking with God. And if we start talking with God – we start hearing what he wants from us, as much as we tell him what we want from him.
And by a co-incidence, I was in Peterborough Cathedral today so was able to pay my respects to Katherine of Aragon. Though, to be fair, she's not been getting about much lately.
Interesting Sarah because I'm sure Jesus illustration about getting up your neighbour in the night by continuing to bang on his door, is all about persistence in prayer... I somehow believe God is beyond pester power- but loves to hear from us even if we are praying the sme thing- maybe especially so!
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