Spiritual Reflection – On the Watching of Birds Look at the birds of the air. —Matthew 6:26 Writing in his book ‘On the Way: 100 Reflections on the Journey of Faith’, James J. Rawls compares spiritual discipline with the activity of bird-watching. He suggests that the guidelines for bird-watchers apply equally well to people who…
Spiritual Reflection – Prayer Most of us, when we consider working on a deeper religious dimension to our lives, think in terms of improving our knowledge or upgrading our behaviour. This will not happen unless first we lay down an experiential foundation. Without personal contact with the spiritual world, our religious efforts will soon falter.…
Spiritual Reflection – Prepare the Way of the Lord As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Luke 3:4 NRSV) The four Sundays in the liturgical season of Advent have…
Spiritual Reflection – Being Saved I don’t know if it is still regarded as valid, but it used to be said that if you were trying to save persons from drowning, it would sometimes be necessary to knock them out. The idea was that in struggling to regain control of the situation, they may well…
Spiritual Reflection – A Question of Sovereignty God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above every name that is named, not only in this age but…
Spiritual Reflection – Hold Fast The origins of our church’s annual Kirkin’ service may be traced back to the defeat of the Scottish Highlanders’ bid for independence at the brief but decisive battle of Culloden Moor in April 1746. With the Scottish insurgency suppressed, the English Hanoverian monarchy banned the wearing of kilts and tartans,…
Blessed Saints I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. —John 15:11 When most of us think of saints, we call to mind those godly men and women officially canonised by the church, giants of the faith such as Francis of…
Spiritual Reflection – Love God with All Your Heart Jesus’ primary concern was to be obedient to his Father, to live constantly in his presence. Only then did it become clear to him what his task was in his relationships with people. This also is the way he proposes for his apostles: “It is to…
Spiritual Reflection – To Serve But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant. (Mark 10:43 NRSV) When the apostles begin arguing among themselves, after James and John, the sons of Zebedee, ask Jesus grant them positions of power and authority, Jesus answered by telling them that if they wanted to be…
Spiritual Reflection – Priorities Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23 NRSV) J. Paul Getty was an American oil tycoon who at one time was noted as being the richest man in the world. In 1973 his grandson, John Paul Getty III,…