I am currently reading Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in an Age of Anxiety by Richard Rohr, a Franciscan Monk.

Also I use the Jesuit’s web site, “Pray as you Go” which offers an mp3 download of 10-15 minutes of guided prayer every weekday.

Sometimes things in different parts of your life come together and lets you see things in a new way and this is the case this morning.

Pray as you Go takes its scripture passage from the Letter of Paul to the Galatians where he points out that we are justified by faith and that Jesus carries the curse of our sinfulness.

This took on a new meaning for me this morning in the light of having read some of Richard Rohr’s book last night. What I realised is that Jesus allows us to work in our sinfulness, in our fallenness, in our imperfections in our circumstances – and that somehow the Cross  helps us to work in the midst of all this and somehow the promise is that by faith (by believing that it will be the case, by believing in God’s promise that it will be the case) He will help us to come through and will give us the resources in the midst of this grappling.

Still have to pray more about this to make it a reality for me but it’s a wonderful hope - that instead of having to bewail my sinfulness and strive to get rid of it (working “uinder the law”) but rather to accept my sinfulness and to have faith that Jesus will help me to get through it as he’s taken the burden already.

This is “The Gospel” – the Good News and this morning this Good News has become a much more vibrant and real thing for me – and I hope it will be for you too – Very Good News indeed!!!

What is happening to our Christian home? The Anglican Communion is seen as being under threat of schism. I’m just beginning to realise that this is a growing possibility – and yet in the midst of all the discussions and the suggestion of a Covenant (a statement of what it is to be Anglican, which, to my mind is the sort of legalistic stuff that Jesus would have had something to say about it in the same way as he did to the Pharisees) Archbishop Moxon of The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia seems to be lighting a beacon of hope amidst the gloom:

“Perhaps the challenge is to transcend the old ways of fighting or leaving, to find a new way of discovering what integrity we can trust in each other by virtue of the fruits of our baptism and by how much we may be prepared to live respectfully with what diversity God has given us. It is crucial that we use a Gospel based process of discernment, rather than the litigation, trench warfare and the labelling judgements of the world. We will need to look significantly different from the ways of the world in the way we process what happens from now on to have anything different to say to the world.”

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Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast (the book “Matthew”, chapter 13 in the Bible).

I have come across Christians who discourage other Christians from having any friends other than Christians. I am also aware of some churches turning in on themselves, just thinking about converting people and not looking at what they can do once they’re converted. Well, yeast on its own, unmixed with the flour does not bring life – it’s the transformative effect of the yeast when it’s mixed with the flour that is so inspirational.

So…to me at least, this indicates that we shouldn’t just have Christian friends and need to look to the world beyond church – it also suggests, perhaps, that we should be deeply immersed in our communities and do what we feel God is drawing us to?

Churches with pews in them tend to face a question nowadays - “should we reorder the church?”

This means taking out (I’ll say that rather than the more pejorative term “rip”), probably carpeting the space, or perhaps putting down a wooden floor and then having more comfortable chairs.

Well, the pros and cons of that are infinitely debatable BUT – what about church language?

Liturgy (forms and content of church services for worship) is full of phrases to “We Glorify You, Oh God” and references to Jesus as “Lord” – worship songs keep telling God how “Worthy” He is (I’m sure He knows, but perhaps we’re repeating it to tell ourselves?). Goodgoat got a bit sick of it all tonight at his evening service – now don’t get me wrong I love the richness of liturgy and having to work hard at getting to the inner meaning of texts – BUT, we don’t use this language in everyday life, do we? How about we spend some time reordering liturgy as well as churches – perhaps that way people enquiring about Christianity may see things more clearly?

Goodgoat can easily get jealous about other people’s abilities or what they seem to be doing compared to himself. Here’s something that may help if you feel the same way – Have you ever listened to the last movement of the Durufle Requiem (the “In Paradisum”, i.e. “In Heaven”)? Well…go on…take a listen it’s a beautiful work - but listen especially to the last movement – towards they end, and for at least a page in the music the choir sings nothing but one note for the entire page – just one note.

Now, I would have thought that this would make for boring music – but go on, listen to it – it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard. How can this be? Well, it’s all in the accompaniment – while the choir is singing its one note, the orchestra (or organ in one arrangement) is providing chords that support the choir and make the whole thing glow.

Now…how does that help? Well, whatever our own simple tunes – even if it’s only on one note, God can make us into the most beautiful music that can mean more to others than more complex tunes. 

Good goat is just back from an evening at Greenbelt and can thoroughly recommend that you go! The variety of activities is truly breathtaking. It was great to see young people going around in groups enjoying themselves with outbreaks of foolishness (“The Grand Old Duke of York” being performed with actions while standing in a queue was quite memorable!) It as also great to be in the company of other Christians so that if you made a mistake (a friend dropped their change into a large jug of milk at a tea stall) or bumped into someone by mistake then both of you would apologise, smile and move on!

This really is an event that provides many opportunities to be blessed (and enjoy a wonderful variety of food!)

Some time ago someone told me that they thought that I should share thoughts with people…I’ve been a bit reticent to be honest…as someone once said, “wanting to be a Bishop is the first thing that would exclude you from being such”. A friend started her blog some time ago and has finally helped me over the hump of getting round to setting up this one (thank you, Rosalyn).

So…why goodgoat? Well, it stems from a book called “Good Goats: Healing Our Image of God”, a book that I have found to be very useful in my Christian journey – well worth a read – and I’ll keep you in suspense about the content until a little later.