Free From.....

Wandering around a supermarket the other day I came across a set of shelves with the title: “Free From...” , these items were those that were free from a whole host of ingredients which sadly are the cause of allergic reactions to a significant number of people.

It set my mind thinking that we often would like to have our lives free from a variety of ingredients – those unpleasant concerns of fear, poverty, illness, harm or risk. Yet life isn’t like that. No matter what we do we will always be aware of, or actually experience, these nasty concerns. How we handle them isn’t easy neither do they just “go away”.

Jesus doesn’t promise us freedom from these issues rather he promises freedom for us to be able to handle them in a more positive fashion. His promise is that he’s been there too and can share in our concerns and pains, our joys and delights.

As good as a rest?

(posted on behalf of Sheila Banyard)

I’ve not long been back from a fortnight’s holiday and already the memory of being in a new place meeting new people is fading. I was fortunate enough to be able to go away, but perhaps you don’t have to leave familiar surroundings to feel you’ve had a break from the usual routines. Is it true that a change is as good as a rest? For many people even good changes, like the ones we choose for ourselves such as moving house or going on holiday, can be quite difficult, not restful at all; for those who have unpleasant changes thrust upon them, it can be horrible – think of all those people affected by the recent floods and who now need to refurbish their homes or restart their businesses.

But we do all need helpful changes from time to time, those breaks from everyday concerns, giving give us the space to think new thoughts, see familiar things differently, and of course sometimes simply rest and recuperate. You don’t necessarily have to go away on holiday to do that – some people find they can do it by trying to make ten minutes to sit quietly by themselves every day; some people use their local church as a place to get away quietly to think in the week, and maybe to pray too. But sometimes even difficult or unexpected changes can lead us in positive directions.

This weekend Christians have been recalling the occasion when Jesus’ closest friends went with him for some time away to think and to pray, but it didn’t turn out to be quite the rest they may have been expecting. On a mountain top, away from the crowds, they saw Jesus – literally – in a new light, transfigured with the glory of God. This was a Jesus they hadn’t encountered before and they saw him for who he truly was, not just a friend and teacher, not even a miracle-worker and prophet, but God himself. The disciples would have liked to stay and bask in the wonder and awe of this revelation, but Jesus says to them, in effect, ‘Let’s be going back to the crowds so we can help everyone discover more about God.’

I don’t imagine this was a course of action Jesus’ friends would have readily chosen for themselves, but being caught up in it, and having to think about what it meant, changed their lives for ever, in ways which, in the end, enabled them to be effective and courageous disciples. I wonder at what point they looked back and realised how important this un-restful change had been?