The Canaanite Woman's Faith. Matthew 15.21-28
Jesus heals at a distance:
healing in this story is almost incidental.
Tyre/Sidon 30 miles nw of Gennesaret
Woman comes out of the Pagan environment to meet Jesus.
"O Lord, Son of David".
She wins the approval of Jesus Christ - not because of the words she uses but because of her faith.
Jesus' atttiude to Pagan belief.
A story that would have been siezed on by the authorities.
Racism
Sectarianism
"dogs" - a way of referring to Gentiles?
"The woman's faith - which wins her request - is not belief in Jesus as israel's Messiah, but the persevering faith which admits humbly that she has no right to immediate help but is prepared to take second place to Israel. "
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Hull City's First Win
So Hull City are above Arsenal and Liverpool in the first Premiership leagye table of the season ! LOL
What a day - beating Fulham 2-1
What a day - beating Fulham 2-1
Sunday, 3 August 2008
St Mary Abbots 030808 Lambeth Conference
The word COMMUNION
Holy Communion
Communion of Saints
Anglican Communion
Runcie task:
"dealing with urgent questions which face all mankind and we must act as serious religious people who believe that Christ and the Gospel can make all the difference to a world full of hoelessness, violence and want."
Runcie definition:
"dispersed or shared authority is an authority which builds up the church's fellowship with God and one another."
What are the issues:
Theology
Culture
Hermeneutics
"Our ministry takes place in the context of a needy and divided world in which there is both deep fear and great suffering."
+Rowan
Aims:
to be more confident in our Anglican identity
to grow in energy and enthusiasm for mission."
Holy Communion
Communion of Saints
Anglican Communion
Runcie task:
"dealing with urgent questions which face all mankind and we must act as serious religious people who believe that Christ and the Gospel can make all the difference to a world full of hoelessness, violence and want."
Runcie definition:
"dispersed or shared authority is an authority which builds up the church's fellowship with God and one another."
What are the issues:
Theology
Culture
Hermeneutics
"Our ministry takes place in the context of a needy and divided world in which there is both deep fear and great suffering."
+Rowan
Aims:
to be more confident in our Anglican identity
to grow in energy and enthusiasm for mission."
3rd August Sung Eucharist at St Mary Abbots
Matthew 14 13-21 - a popular story!!
- a quiet place/they withdrew
purpose: to instruct
compassion!
heals the sick
but the external signs go one steo further/feeding of 5000
How does the Lord come across:
NEW MOSES
IMPACT: visuals (aware of them) spiritual (unaware)
DISCIPLES - new shepherds of Israel
But they cannot do it alone:
They need to UNDERSTAND
They need FEEDING
GOD SUSTAINS them
- a quiet place/they withdrew
purpose: to instruct
compassion!
heals the sick
but the external signs go one steo further/feeding of 5000
How does the Lord come across:
NEW MOSES
IMPACT: visuals (aware of them) spiritual (unaware)
DISCIPLES - new shepherds of Israel
But they cannot do it alone:
They need to UNDERSTAND
They need FEEDING
GOD SUSTAINS them
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Thought For The Day BBC Radio 4 2nd Aug
TFTD Saturday 2nd August
Rob Marshall
Good morning.
Sport is more than a physical activity. It involves body AND mind AND spirit. So there is something wonderfully uplifting as well as exciting about the fact that in less than a week the Olympic Games in Beijing get underway.
But this particular Olympics has raised more questions about freedom and human rights than most.
Among all the recent stories out of China about the earthquake and its aftermath, the economic and technological advances of Chinese society, the concern about pollution levels at the Olympics sites, there has been another story niggling away, demanding our attention. This is about censorship.
Put simply, 20,000 accredited journalists have been battling to have access to websites in the media centre which the Chinese authorities blocked: ruling out, for instance, Amnesty International’s website, which is critical of China’s human rights record. In the past 48 hours the number of available websites has increased after media pressure, but the censorship has been embarrassing for the International Olympic Committee who, seven years ago when the Games were awarded to Beijing, were assured – and seemed to believe - that such things would not be part of the China of the future.
I don’t want to be simplistic here. Most messages reaching us have been adopted - or adapted - to suit the needs, beliefs and lifestyles of the messenger. So nothing is black and white – never more so when other cultures, who do things and see things differently from those of us doing the judging, are suddenly at the centre of attention.
But I have been re-reading Herman and Chomsky’s “Manufacturing Consent” – in which they emphasise that freedom of expression should not be defended, quote, “by virtue of its contribution to some higher good; rather (because freedom of expression) is a value in itself.”
The Christian faith regards freedom as a gift from God. Freedom, said Jesus, is found in ‘the Truth that sets you free’.
And always it is linked to how freedom is to be USED, both by the giver and the receiver. The giver may have goals and desires for the receiver, but ultimately allows the receiver to make his or her own choices. The receiver, given the gift of freedom, is called to exercise it responsibly and beneficially, not selfishly or excessively.
This is relevant to countries also – at the moment to China in particular because its spectacular staging of the Olympics will make it the focus of worldwide headlines. And when we are told that sport and politics should be kept separate, our retort has to be that freedom is NEVER just a matter of politics, it is also a matter of the SPIRIT.
The Olympic motto this year is ‘One World, One Dream’. But this is an instance of where ANY dream will NOT do.
Rob Marshall
Good morning.
Sport is more than a physical activity. It involves body AND mind AND spirit. So there is something wonderfully uplifting as well as exciting about the fact that in less than a week the Olympic Games in Beijing get underway.
But this particular Olympics has raised more questions about freedom and human rights than most.
Among all the recent stories out of China about the earthquake and its aftermath, the economic and technological advances of Chinese society, the concern about pollution levels at the Olympics sites, there has been another story niggling away, demanding our attention. This is about censorship.
Put simply, 20,000 accredited journalists have been battling to have access to websites in the media centre which the Chinese authorities blocked: ruling out, for instance, Amnesty International’s website, which is critical of China’s human rights record. In the past 48 hours the number of available websites has increased after media pressure, but the censorship has been embarrassing for the International Olympic Committee who, seven years ago when the Games were awarded to Beijing, were assured – and seemed to believe - that such things would not be part of the China of the future.
I don’t want to be simplistic here. Most messages reaching us have been adopted - or adapted - to suit the needs, beliefs and lifestyles of the messenger. So nothing is black and white – never more so when other cultures, who do things and see things differently from those of us doing the judging, are suddenly at the centre of attention.
But I have been re-reading Herman and Chomsky’s “Manufacturing Consent” – in which they emphasise that freedom of expression should not be defended, quote, “by virtue of its contribution to some higher good; rather (because freedom of expression) is a value in itself.”
The Christian faith regards freedom as a gift from God. Freedom, said Jesus, is found in ‘the Truth that sets you free’.
And always it is linked to how freedom is to be USED, both by the giver and the receiver. The giver may have goals and desires for the receiver, but ultimately allows the receiver to make his or her own choices. The receiver, given the gift of freedom, is called to exercise it responsibly and beneficially, not selfishly or excessively.
This is relevant to countries also – at the moment to China in particular because its spectacular staging of the Olympics will make it the focus of worldwide headlines. And when we are told that sport and politics should be kept separate, our retort has to be that freedom is NEVER just a matter of politics, it is also a matter of the SPIRIT.
The Olympic motto this year is ‘One World, One Dream’. But this is an instance of where ANY dream will NOT do.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Thought For The Day 19th July
TFTD
19th July 2008
Rob Marshall
Good morning:
The holiday exodus really gets underway this weekend. Unlike the French – who put their country on autopilot from the 1st August and go on holiday together – we Brits spread our holidays out over a longer period. Nevertheless, this will be one of the busiest “getting away from it all” weekends of the year.
Holidays usually result in mixed blessings. They are often needed but not always easy. Have we really become so out of touch with loved ones, the world at large, with ourselves? We sometimes feel the pain of slowing down, changing the old routine, doing something different. When on the beach or in the country, life changes focus. We see things in a different perspective.
I personally find that natural boundaries between work and leisure are more blurred than I can ever remember. For many of my friends working in a wide range of jobs and professions, the perception is that each day merges with the next: without a beginning or an end: life too easily becomes a continuous cycle of doing and deadlines, with no ability just “to be”.
This week I’m leading a holiday pilgrimage based in Durham celebrating the saints of the north east of England and of Scotland. I was on Iona on Saturday and Holy Island on Thursday. It is indeed clear as I visit many different places that the Celtic and Anglo Saxon saints are once again helping large numbers of people rediscover a better work/life balance. There is a huge interest in Celtic spirituality, ancient sites are being rediscovered, research about this era is hugely popular. And all perhaps because of a natural and quite simple desire in each of us to have enough time to be what God intended us to be: individuals who are at peace with the world and ourselves.
The Northumbrian saints, Aidan and Cuthbert, for instance, were, according to Bede, the historian, full of energy and did a great deal of work. But only as part of a rhythm and connectedness which also placed great emphasis on the ability to withdraw – to spend some time “thinking about it all”, putting everything into a wider perspective of wisdom. They urge us to keep the spiritual flag flying - our spiritual self alive – however swamped we may sometimes feel.
As the holiday season really does get underway this weekend, most of us will contemplate the change of rhythm and routine with a sense of thanksgiving and open mindedness.
Despite the fact that leaving a pressurised job of any kind, as the emails build up, is not at all easy, a period of getting once again in touch with ourselves, and with others, inevitably reaps rewards. Rediscovering the world around us and the value of relationships is a hugely spiritual experience.
19th July 2008
Rob Marshall
Good morning:
The holiday exodus really gets underway this weekend. Unlike the French – who put their country on autopilot from the 1st August and go on holiday together – we Brits spread our holidays out over a longer period. Nevertheless, this will be one of the busiest “getting away from it all” weekends of the year.
Holidays usually result in mixed blessings. They are often needed but not always easy. Have we really become so out of touch with loved ones, the world at large, with ourselves? We sometimes feel the pain of slowing down, changing the old routine, doing something different. When on the beach or in the country, life changes focus. We see things in a different perspective.
I personally find that natural boundaries between work and leisure are more blurred than I can ever remember. For many of my friends working in a wide range of jobs and professions, the perception is that each day merges with the next: without a beginning or an end: life too easily becomes a continuous cycle of doing and deadlines, with no ability just “to be”.
This week I’m leading a holiday pilgrimage based in Durham celebrating the saints of the north east of England and of Scotland. I was on Iona on Saturday and Holy Island on Thursday. It is indeed clear as I visit many different places that the Celtic and Anglo Saxon saints are once again helping large numbers of people rediscover a better work/life balance. There is a huge interest in Celtic spirituality, ancient sites are being rediscovered, research about this era is hugely popular. And all perhaps because of a natural and quite simple desire in each of us to have enough time to be what God intended us to be: individuals who are at peace with the world and ourselves.
The Northumbrian saints, Aidan and Cuthbert, for instance, were, according to Bede, the historian, full of energy and did a great deal of work. But only as part of a rhythm and connectedness which also placed great emphasis on the ability to withdraw – to spend some time “thinking about it all”, putting everything into a wider perspective of wisdom. They urge us to keep the spiritual flag flying - our spiritual self alive – however swamped we may sometimes feel.
As the holiday season really does get underway this weekend, most of us will contemplate the change of rhythm and routine with a sense of thanksgiving and open mindedness.
Despite the fact that leaving a pressurised job of any kind, as the emails build up, is not at all easy, a period of getting once again in touch with ourselves, and with others, inevitably reaps rewards. Rediscovering the world around us and the value of relationships is a hugely spiritual experience.
Thought For The Day 25th July (BBC Radio 4)
Good morning
The award winning actress Estelle Getty, best known as Sophia Petrillo in the US hit comedy The Golden Girls, died this week. Obituaries paid tribute to her clever contribution to an 80’s American revision of what it means to get older.
The American population, like ours, is getting older and fitter. Old age in the Golden Girls means fun and naughtiness; taking risks and branching out; it’s about the transfer of wisdom and the telling of stories from one generation to the next. Though funny, it is also poignant.
The rise and rise of a generation which would have been regarded as over the hill two decades ago, is only just hitting home. Note how media froth over Dame Helen Mirren in her bikini or news that a 90 year old has just become Cambridge’s oldest PhD recipient is suddenly all a bit ‘old hat’.
All this getting old business needs further, urgent, revision.
Parish life certainly introduces a priest to the radical revisionism necessary in assessing the lives of older people. I meet these people all the time. So-called silver surfers are chatting online, enjoying digital photography and attending fitness classes. They are diet conscious and physically aware.
They are also challenging the presumptuousness and gross immaturity of the younger generations to quite extraordinary lengths – as is the case of the swearing, grandma graphically depicted by Catherine Tate, where resentment for taking liberties of the older generation by the younger, borders on the shocking.
So life expectancy is no longer just about how we live but about the quality and content of our lives. There is still a definite connection between age and wisdom, as frequently celebrated in the Old Testament, where a long life inevitably leads, as the Book of Chronicles suggests, to "a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour". Indeed, the addition of wisdom remains one of the wonders of old age.
But there is a diversifying and changing connection between age and fitness, age and work, age and sex and age and relationships. Getting older can be seen as liberating, increasingly exciting, putting our earlier years comparatively in the shade.
An aging fitter population obviously provides employers, governments, local authorities, certainly the national health service and even the faith communities – with a new set of challenges and opportunities. Provision needs to be made.
For this truly is a golden generation: with wisdom by the bucket load, spiced up with hearty measures of energy, and a quite unparalleled spiritual optimism.
The award winning actress Estelle Getty, best known as Sophia Petrillo in the US hit comedy The Golden Girls, died this week. Obituaries paid tribute to her clever contribution to an 80’s American revision of what it means to get older.
The American population, like ours, is getting older and fitter. Old age in the Golden Girls means fun and naughtiness; taking risks and branching out; it’s about the transfer of wisdom and the telling of stories from one generation to the next. Though funny, it is also poignant.
The rise and rise of a generation which would have been regarded as over the hill two decades ago, is only just hitting home. Note how media froth over Dame Helen Mirren in her bikini or news that a 90 year old has just become Cambridge’s oldest PhD recipient is suddenly all a bit ‘old hat’.
All this getting old business needs further, urgent, revision.
Parish life certainly introduces a priest to the radical revisionism necessary in assessing the lives of older people. I meet these people all the time. So-called silver surfers are chatting online, enjoying digital photography and attending fitness classes. They are diet conscious and physically aware.
They are also challenging the presumptuousness and gross immaturity of the younger generations to quite extraordinary lengths – as is the case of the swearing, grandma graphically depicted by Catherine Tate, where resentment for taking liberties of the older generation by the younger, borders on the shocking.
So life expectancy is no longer just about how we live but about the quality and content of our lives. There is still a definite connection between age and wisdom, as frequently celebrated in the Old Testament, where a long life inevitably leads, as the Book of Chronicles suggests, to "a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour". Indeed, the addition of wisdom remains one of the wonders of old age.
But there is a diversifying and changing connection between age and fitness, age and work, age and sex and age and relationships. Getting older can be seen as liberating, increasingly exciting, putting our earlier years comparatively in the shade.
An aging fitter population obviously provides employers, governments, local authorities, certainly the national health service and even the faith communities – with a new set of challenges and opportunities. Provision needs to be made.
For this truly is a golden generation: with wisdom by the bucket load, spiced up with hearty measures of energy, and a quite unparalleled spiritual optimism.
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