Celtic Devotions Wednesday 4th

lk-celtic-devotions

Morning
Reading : Psalm 44
Meditation : God’s people of old had good and bad times.
O Lord our God, we turn to you at the start of this day.
Pray for faithfulness.
Thank you for being with us in all our days.
Make us faithful and true, loyal and strong we ask.
This is our prayer today as your holy people.
Amen

Midday
Pause and pray for someone you know struggling in their walk with God.
God of grace and mercy, forgive our unfaithfulness to you
Hear our prayers through Christ our faithful Saviour. Amen.

Evening
Reading : Psalm 44 vs 4-8
Reflection : how God has guided you through the day.
Pray humbly at the end of the day.

Celtic Devotions Tuesday 3rd

lk-celtic-devotions

Morning
Reading : Psalm 45 v 1
Meditation : consider what stirs your heart.
True God, hear our longings and stir our hearts to noble things.
Make us more like Jesus in every way we pray.
Pray for noble desires.
Amen

Midday
Take time and make the Lord’s Prayer your prayer.
Together, Lord, we say Amen.

Evening
Reading : Psalm 45 v 1
Reflect on what your heart has desired today.
Pray for God to make us less of self and more of Him.

Celtic Devotions Monday 2nd

 

lk-celtic-devotions

Morning
Reading : Psalm 46
Meditation : God’s people are a people strong in the LORD God
O Lord our God, hear our prayers to you.
May your rivers flow in and through us, even to others around us.
Pray for strength.
Make us strong in you.
This is our prayer this day.
Amen

Midday
Pause somewhere quiet and pray for someone you know who needs God’s strength.
Lord hear our prayers through Christ our strong Saviour. Amen.

Evening
Reading : Psalm 46 vs 7 and 8
Reflection : how God was with you through the day.
Pray with gratitude at the end of the day.

Liberton Kirk Celtic Devotions

 

LK Celtic Devotions

‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.’ ~Psalm 119 v 105

You are encouraged to make time each day for the pattern of devotions. Starting tomorrow feed on God’s Word in the morning, at midday and in the evening. Pray with Him continually. This pattern is based on the Celtic and Northumbrian traditions, which relates to the Kirk’s origins. Share with others the treasures or hurdles you discover. Let us commit together to pilgrimage with our God. You will find these devotionals being posted on the website and on facebook daily at 7am. The Church magazine provides a shorter version of this devotional.

‘May God be gracious to us and bless us that Your ways may be known on earth, and make His face shine upon us, your salvation among all nations.’ ~Psalm 67 vs 1-2

How to take offense

Letter from the Minister – How to take offense.

As I write, the western world is still reeling in the aftermath of the shocking events that took place in Paris in early January, when seventeen people were gunned down by Islamist extremists in a brutal attempt to avenge the honour of their prophet. More than a million people took to the streets to declare their outrage at such a cowardly attack on their commonly held values of freedom of speech, and armed police are now everywhere, as the security forces attempt to allay fears of further shootings.

In times of high emotion it is often difficult to take a step back and ask the bigger questions that such events raise for us as Christians. One of the paradoxes I’ve been trying to grapple with is that while, in a free world, everyone should have the right to publish without fear of attack, with that right should come the responsibility to be sensitive about the impact of what is being published, particularly on those people who already feel marginalised and oppressed by the society the publication represents.

At the centre of the controversy is a French satirical magazine called Charlie Hebdo, which specialises in mockery. Over the years their ruthless brand of humour has stretched to encompass politicians, celebrities, and religions. Nothing wrong with that, we say, except that in recent years, as their sales have decreased, their cartoons have become deliberately more provocative and offensive.

There is a debate to be had about the role of satire and mockery in public life, for even in the west there are some areas (e.g. race and disability) where the mockers no longer dare to stray. In our secular culture, however, a person’s closely held religious views are now seen to be ‘fair game’. And so, I often find that my own personal beliefs and values are the target of those who make a living out of offensiveness and ridicule.

Clearly, the response of those Islamist extremists to the insults they were enduring was not the right one. But, if that is the case, what is? Here are some timeless words from a close friend of mine*, that have given me much food for thought over the years, and increasingly so in the last few weeks.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you…

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also…

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” 

With much love,

John

*(Matthew 5.11-12, 38-39, 43-4)

Now what?

Some people are fascinated by answers, I am fascinated by questions.  A good question can blast you out of the comfortable, or unlock a previously unseen path.  A good question disrupts unprobed assumptions, it can be unsettling, unexpected, or even unanswerable.  A really good question can become a lifelong friend. Here are some of my favourites: “Are you sure?”; “Who is my neighbour?”; “How then shall we live?”;  “Where is God in this situation?”; “What is your heart saying?”.  But one of the best is also one of the shortest.  “Now what?”

Now what? is an amazing question.   It carries a sense of urgency but also expectation, it demands an answer but gives no steer as to what constitutes a right answer.  But now what can also be dangerous.  If we answer too hastily we can cause huge problems for ourselves and for others.  Even thinking that there is only one possible correct outcome to a now what question can be unhelpful.  Within the Ignatian tradition, the process of discernment is at its most subtle when faced with a choice between goods.  A choice in which either, or any, of the possible answers are good ones.  It is to stand on the threshold of what is not yet and try and peer through the doorway of what might be.

This is precisely where I find myself as my time at Liberton Kirk draws to a close.  Now what?  There are many vacancies in the Church of Scotland, many places who would love to have a youngish family in their midst.  It is a choice between goods.  Yet at the same time, as a family we have felt a strong pull to Orkney ever since participating in the Remote Rural Placement Scheme in 2012 (a scheme that wouldn’t exist without the contribution to Mission and Ministry by wealthy churches like Liberton Kirk.)  No future opportunity is without constraints and there will be some who would be appalled by the constraints faced in Orkney, with 130mph winds, few trees or mountains, and the distance from the “centre” of Scotland.   Yet we find it is a rich soil, full of gentle kindness, that excites not only me but my wife Sally and our three children.  As if God is asking all of us to be with him there and waiting for what we might say.

We stand on the threshold of a long asked question – is it Orkney?  By the end of November we will have an answer to that question.  Either way, the next question will be now what?   But I don’t believe we are the only ones who will be asking that question.  For everyone in Liberton Kirk it will be a process of adjustment after we have left.  For some the adjustment will be easier than for others!  You have faced this question many times before, with many previous probationers leaving, yet each time the answer has been different.  What might next year hold for you?  For your faith?  For your love of self and neighbour?

I am different, having been with you.  I have seen many differences emerge in many of you as well.  We all need to know what is next but, whilst the future is uncertain, I am grateful to have been a thread woven into the tapestry of the Liberton Kirk story.  It is a good place to be.  It will also be a good place to have been.  Now what?

David McNeish