Peace Prayer

The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is error, truth;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love. 

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

It is in self-forgetting that we find;

And it is in dying to ourselves that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Snow globes of hope

Who doesn't love a snow globe? They have a magical quality to them that touches young and old. We start off with the still scene, give the globe a shake and hundreds of snowflakes bounce around. Then they gradually settle back down creating a new snowy carpeted scene. 

Our lives too have changing scenes. Well-being becomes a barometer altered by the shifting tides of failing health and healing. Relationships can grow or break down, blossom or fade, heralding emotional fluctuations. A family's dynamics shift when a member dies or leaves, for whatever reason. They also alter when there is a birth or a new person joins the family. People's roles or jobs in life can change bringing new senses of identity and have financial implications. Moving house, relocating, emigrating or working abroad bring with them altering parameters to familiar routines.

Like a snow globe we are caught in a maelstrom that requires our response. And for those of faith, our relationship with God can affect how we respond. We can bring God into the equation. We can be like the wise man who built his house on the rock. We can rebuild our lives using the roots of our faith as foundation stones. The rebuilding may be slow. It may only evolve one brick at a time. We may not even be able to envisage what the final build will look like. But, that is ok. We don’t need to know. We just need to trust that we will get there.

Then, when the snow eventually settles, we will find a new shape has been created. It won’t be the same as the one before. Life has changed. But, it will have the unspoken tenets of faith built in to it. Those building blocks of love, trust and peace enabling us to look to the future again with a sprinkling of hope.

Rainbow through the rain

Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, Scotland

Our country is bracing itself for a severe storm today. There is word of road and rail disruptions, bridge closures and ferry cancellations. I feel for anyone working outside or caught up in the turbulent weather today and hope that they all keep safe. Hope is of course what we carry into all kinds of storms. The storms of life that can hit us all at various times: bereavement, illness, redundancy, family troubles, life changes.

Hope is what can carry us through the eye of the storm and back out to the other side. Hope that the sadness will ease, that we will feel better, that a job will be found, that the family will settle, that we can cope with the shifting rugs beneath our feet.

Hope is often symbolised by the rainbow. That spectrum of beauty and colour that emerges as the rain meets the sun. It appears just when we fear the storm will prevail and we will be overwhelmed. Its upward arch reminding us that we too can be lifted up and out of the turbulence. A spiritual symbol of God's relationship with us bringing with it the rays of hope of faith.

Whatever storms loom overhead for you today, may the glimmer of a rainbow carry you forward in hope.

Green heart of the snowdrop

Green heart of the snowdrop - Kate McIlhagga

Into a dark world

a snow-drop comes.

a benison of hope and peace

carrying within it a green heart

a symbol of God's renewing love

Come and inhabit our darkness

Lord Jesus Christ,

for dark and light

are alike to you.

May natures white candles of hope

remind us of your birth

and light our journey

through life and beyond.

Today I went to Narnia

Today I went to Narnia and it was fantastic! The boys and girls at one of my local primary schools had recreated Narnia in one of their classrooms. You had to open the wardrobe, climb through the fur coats to enter the winter wonderland. Once in the room we were able to watch the children act out the scene when Lucy enters Narnia for the first time and met Mr Tumnos. They then went to his house for tea. Wonderful acting, all compete with sounds effects that they had made themselves and superb scenery. 

For me it was a great opportunity to re-enact one of my favourite scenes from books. I loved climbing through the wardrobe! What scene from a book would you like to be part of? What is it about that scene that resonates with you? 

I'm just thinking about what I loved about climbing through the wardrobe. It was something to do with the ordinary turning into the extraordinary. The potential of something that is an everyday item or occurance turning into the miraculous. That is at the heart about expectation and ultimately hope. The hope of things yet unseen and unknown. Life is such an adventure!

The haggis mouse

Bearing in mind this is a posting from a girl in the glens it will come of no surprise to glean that the mouse on the plate is in fact some haggis! We are of course heading towards the anniversary of our bard - Robert Burns - on 25th January. 

Last night I had my first Burns Supper of the season. Our church had their supper at Memus Hall - we dined well on Scotch Broth, haggis, neeps and tatties followed by trifle and shortbread. The entertainment was superb with reflections, readings, poems, highland dancing and singing. The teenagers from our local high school were very involved in all of this and it was great to see them all undertake their tasks and performances with such keenness and aptitude.

Two of the girls beautifully sang a duet of Burns' song 'Ae Fond Kiss'

Lovely words and lovely music. If you ever drop into any of our church services in Kirriemuir and the Glens you will hear this tune played every week. We sing our blessing at the end of the service to this music. 

I will end with the words now - sing along if you wish:-

May the God of peace go with you,

as you travel from this place,

may the love of Jesus keep you,

firm in hope and full of grace.

Recipe for a Happy New Year

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2012 from here in the early morning sunshine in the Angus countryside.

I came across this Recipe for a Happy New Year:-

Recipe for a Happy New Year.

Take twelve fine, full-grown months; 

see that these are thoroughly free from old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate, 

cleanse them completely from every clinging spite; 

pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness; 

in short, see that these months are freed from all the past

—have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of Time. 

Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts. 

Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time 

(so many persons spoil the entire lot this way) 

but prepare one day at a time.

Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, 

work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), 

hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, 

rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad dressing— don’t do it), 

prayer, meditation, and one well-selected resolution. 

Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, 

a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor.

Wherever you are and whatever this year holds for you may the God of peace go with you.

Happy New Year!