Return to me.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28.
Right through the Bible, God is extending an invitation to His people. The invitation though is not to a rubbish party that will flop after a few hours but an invitation to life. An invitation to return to Him. This is at the heart of every message in God’s world. Even in the scary stuff of the Old Testament all the prophecies of doom, are an invitation to return to Him, who loves His people so much that they need a shock sometimes! Here ‘come to me’ is the invitation to return to Him. To go back to what is good, when we have walked the road of sin, just like the Prodigal Son, who the father welcomes back with kisses and an overwhelming joy, that outweighs any displeasure with his son over what he’s done. That my friends is exactly what God is like with us. All he sees are the sons and daughters that he loves with a burning passion, that sent His only Son to Calvary.
‘All you who are weary and burdened’. Weary tired, exhausted, broken. Not sure if God’s Even there anymore? Unable to feel happy again after that person broke your heart or your exam results weren’t what you wanted or your unhappy about the way you look etc. Those are burdens we all carry at one time or another along with a million others. Give them to Jesus., His arms of love were outstretched on the Cross to take them all from you.
‘I will give you rest’. What God says is always true. It will come to pass. He will give you rest. And I know from personal experience He does take the pain we’re carrying away, If we are willing to give it Him. He will make you whole, restore you, it’s the trade He’s in!!!

A snowflake - You can make a difference.

“Tell me the weight of a snow-flake”, a sparrow asked a dove. Nothing more than nothing”, was the answer. “In that case, I must tell you a marvellous story”, said the sparrow. “I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk when it began to snow – not heavily, not in a raging blizzard, no just like in a dream, without a sound, and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch, “nothing more than nothing” as you say, the branch broke off”. Having said this, the sparrow flew away. The dove, since Noah’s time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for a while, and finally said to herself, “Perhaps there is only one person’s voice lacking for peace to come in the world”.

Quotes from the Saints

"Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same Everlasting Father who takes care of you today, will take care of you tomorrow, and every day. He will either shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations."
St Francis de Sales.

"If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire." St Catherine of Siena

"God is Friendship and those who dwell in Friendship dwell in God" St Aelred

Quotes I Like.

The meaning of all my life is it's capacity of receiving the infinite love of God, and of making the best return i can. Love is not only the source of our being but the substance also. Fr George Congreve SSJE

Let Heart speak to Heart. John Henry Cardinal Newman

-"A man should hear a little music, read a littlepoetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beauty which God has implanted in the human soul. "- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"A nation that destroys it's soil destroys itself."
Franklin D Roosevelt

Jesus formed radically open circles of friends. We erect intricate and inflexible institutional barriers that admit only those whom we deem worthy. Jesus stood up to the religious establishment. We are the religious establishment. — Tom Ehrich

"If you believe in the cause of freedom, then proclaim it, live it and protect it, for humanity's future depends on it." - Senator Henry 'Scoop' Jackson

"The finest eloquence is that which gets things done; the worst is that which delays them." - David Lloyd George

"Perfection for me is somebody who's completely comfortable with all their imperfections"- Justin Timberlake

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same." - Anne Frank

Red Umbrella

Here's a story i thought was brilliant this morning at church. The theme was faith based on Hebrews ch 11. Our preacher told a story about a little farming community in the USA. There had been a drought there and the church had gathered to pray for rain. As the pastor looked out over the packed church, he noticed a little girl in the front row and on the pew next to her, was her bright red umbrella. Others had come to pray for rain. She had come to see God move!!
It was one of those stories that made me thoughtful but also made me smile and nod. I love those stories!!!!!

Just more rambling

Thought i'd ramble on abit more. Have been reading a blog i really like lately by an Anglo-Catholic priest in East London. Don't neccessarily agree with all his views but like his resolve and his determination to do what he believes to be right. I was just thinking if we believe something to be right then it right, but that then justifies anything and everything. Of course that's wrong to the point of being evil. What is right then, what can and can't be justified? Um, something to muse over.

Bollocks - why has that posted twice? Sorry if you read my last post and got confused.

Blah Blah Blah. That's what's buzzing round my head at the moment. Something's wrong in the body too, reccuring pains in the back around the kidneys, constantly fatigued, loo - breaks all the time (Soz if too much info). I just feel bleh. Supposed to be giving an overview for resons for woment to be ordained to the episcopate on Wednesday at a PCC meeting. Can't be bothered to think about it now, bit worried what the dr might say when I see him tuesday.

Blah Blah Blah. That's what's buzzing round my head at the moment. Something's wrong in the body too, reccuring pains in the back around the kidneys, constantly fatigued, loo - breaks all the time (Soz if too much info). I just feel bleh. Supposed to be giving an overview for resons for woment to be ordained to the episcopate on Wednesday at a PCC meeting. Can't be bothered to think about it now, bit worried what the dr might say when I see him tuesday.