I am undeniably a wounded healer, and these meditations serve as a personal aspiration, urging me to more authentically and completely embody this calling in my life.
Category: Resources
“go in the peace of Christ to love and serve the world”!
They came, as called, according to the Law. Though they were poor and had to keep things simple, They moved in grace, in quietness, in awe, For God was coming with them to His temple.
Christ is risen from the dead, the first-fruits of those who slept!
In the middle of the world, in the centre
Of the polluted heart of man, a midden;
A stake stemmed in the rubbish
Who would know Sin, let him repair
Unto Mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man, so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
His skin, his garments, bloody be.
Just after Easter, I realised that I needed to go to a foodbank. I didn’t want to but had to.
While I was there, I was given a voucher to come to the café that’s attached to the Church. I didn’t come with any intention of joining the Church. When I was having my meal, I asked the person who was there what sort of church it was. I told him I have beliefs but wasn’t sure in what. He said that, as Christians, we believe in Jesus. Something just clicked.
“I came to the food bank, I still had my car and I was well dressed. As I entered the building I overheard people say – “what is she doing here?” That’s why it is so important to me that people don’t judge a book by its cover. We never know what is going on in someone’s life, behind closed doors.”
I recognised myself moving from orphan to son. People don’t think that they are worth something, worth anything. You can encounter poverty in so many places.
For John, prayer and kindness are at the heart of Christianity and his choice of Bible readings reflects that. John chose the book of Ruth from the Old Testament – a book he has come across recently as his church are reading through the Old Testament. He read it straight through in 20 minutes. He said: “I was really drawn to this book. I liked the way Ruth looked after her mother-in-law, Naomi. If someone hadn’t helped me I wouldn’t be here today.
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 