Your right hand upholds me : Psalm 18:36

"My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me." Psalm 63:8

HELD

She's 3 years old, strong-minded and with independent spirit. The trail is rough, broken up by stones and roots.  Her father wants to help her avoid falling and hurting herself and suggests she holds his hand. Categorical refusal! The inevitable happens: she falls, gets up and rubs her knees. When she receives the same invitation from her Dad, she gives the same clear reply: "No!"

Her foot gets caught under a tree root. She falls flat on her face. Scratches on hands and knees; eyes fill with tears. Her Dad, worried for her, lovingly says: "Let me hold your hand." Her reply is different this time: "No, but let me hold yours". She knows she needs help, but wants to keep control. It's not all that convincing, but "OK, you can."

Of course she trips over again, lets go of her Dad's hand to protect herself as she falls. This time she's really bleeding and calls out while crying: "Daddy, please hold my hand!" They walk on. She trips up again over and over, but each time her Dad grips her wrist and stops her from falling. He is fully able to protect her from further pain.

And what about us? Do we think we are so strong that we can face the future in our own strength and independently of all others? Or will we let the Lord take us by the hand and thus avoid many of the traps and disasters that life can bring?

"Father, I know that, without you, I couldn't get through this year. Take me by the hand and I will have nothing to fear!"

Recommended reading: Psalm 18: 32-37

Sylvano Perrotti

Thursday 3rd January 2013

Daily Readings Calendar.

French version.

TENU

Elle a 3 ans, le caractère fort et l'esprit indépendant. Le chemin est accidenté, jonché de pierres, et de racines. Son père, désireux de lui éviter chutes et blessures, propose de lui tenir la main. Refus catégorique.

L'inévitable se produit: elle tombe, se relève, se frotte les genoux. A la même proposition, nouvelle réponse claire: Non !

Son pied se coince sous une racine: elle s'affale. Egratignures aux mains et aux genoux: les yeux se remplissent de larmes. Papa, soucieux, dit avec amour: "Laisse-moi te tenir la main." La réponse a changé: "Non, mais laisse-moi tenir la tienne." Elle sait qu'elle a besoin d'aide, mais veut garder le contrôle. Ce ne sera pas concluant, mais "OK. Tu peux!"

Bien sûr, elle trébuche à nouveau, lâche la main du papa pour se protéger dans sa chute. Cette fois, elle saigne abondamment et dit en pleurant: "Papa, s'il te plaît, tiens ma main." Ils se remettent en route. Elle trébuche souvent, mais, chaque fois, lui serrant la poigne, il l'empêche de tomber, la protégeant efficacement.

Et nous? Nous croyons-nous assez forts pour affronter l'année nouvelle par nos propres moyens, ou bien laisserons-nous le Seigneur nous tenir fermement face aux pièges et écueils que nous ne manquerons pas de rencontrer?

"Père, je sais que, sans toi, je ne pourrai m'en sortir tout au long de l'année qui vient de s'ouvrir. Mais prends ma main. Alors, je n'aurai rien à craindre."

Lecture recommandée: Psaume 18: 32-37

Silvano Perotti
Jeudi 3 janvier 2013
Méditations Quotidiennes 2013
Eds CAEF

Last quote for a while ... I've run out.

"La sagesse, c'est d'avoir des rêves suffisamment grands pour ne pas les perdre de vue lorsqu'on les poursuit." Oscar Wilde

"Wisdom is having sufficiently big dreams so as not to lose sight of them as we are pursuing those dreams." Oscar Wilde.

I think God has sufficiently big dreams ... He just has trouble with convincing us to go along with them!

Big visions always begin with the small first steps.

In every human group there is at least one visionary who understands the big picture and who inspires the others to look toward the horizon. But each group also needs those who put their nose to the grindstone, those who pay attention to detail, who anticipate problems/difficulties. We need those who are creative, communicative, positive and those who are prudent, thoughtful, scientific.

Vitality is a very big vision for our Union of Churches and we are starting with a group of motivated leaders in the Evangelism Sub-committee taking small steps (in their very busy schedules) to transmit this vision. We are convinced that it is the right Pathway for our churches. We can only go further with this vision as the Holy Spirit leads and empowers us and the members of our churches.

There will be times where we have our nose so close to the grindstone that we lose sight of the vision, but it's God's job to keep us going on this and to use all our talents to bring our churches into a more vital way of living out our faith in an amazing God.

May your Kingdom come ...

Here comes another one !!!

"L'âge auquel on partage tout est généralement l'âge où on n'a rien." Alphonse Daudet

"The age at which we share all things is generally the age at which we have nothing." Alphonse Daudet

Ever noticed how often those who have less are more willing to share?

There are a number of videos on Youtube or Facebook which illustrate this: a young guy asks several people to share their pizza because he's hungry. They refuse. He asks a homeless guy who has received some pizza from someone else and the homeless guy shares with him.

There are many similar stories from missionaries working in Asia, Africa and South America. It's the testimony of Soeur Emmanuelle who worked amongst the poorest Egyptian people living off the rubbish heaps.

When you know what it's like to not have much, you can sympathise more with others in the same predicament. Or you can choose to keep the little you have for yourself and refuse the other person's request or stay blind to his/her need.

Jesus gives a few examples of the right attitude:

1.  The poor widow who gives of her livelihood.  Luke 21:1

'As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." '

2. The parable of the talents.   Matthew 25: 14-30

' "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." ' (v.29)

3.  Kingdom values which turn traditional values upside down. Matthew 5:38-42

' "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." ' (v.42)

 May God inspire change and motivate commitment to justice and honesty during the G20 in Brisbane this week.

Thank you to all those who are actively seeking to promote Kingdom values in this context.

More pithy quotes !

My method is to transfer them onto the blog so I don't have to keep them on my notice board or desk!

"Dis-toi d'abord ce que tu veux être, puis fais ce qu'il faut pour le devenir." Epictète

"First tell yourself what you want to be, then do what is necessary to become what you want to be."

I grew up with this idea: expounded in our chic private girls' school, learned through models of successful women following the feminist era, absorbed as motivational life principles through an extensive study of literature (if only as a counter-example of being in control of one's life against the pressures of particular societies or social groups). This idea undergirds all Positive Thinking type seminars and teaching.

I think it can be applied to our Christian walk as well. Faith in Christ is a choice we make. When we first make a commitment to following Him it's a choice we make, or a positive response to an invitation we have received from God. Fairly soon after that commitment, we realise that we want to be as Christ-like as possible so we study up on Jesus and read the Scriptures (and other books!) to get the right ideas! But what is essentiel for a Christian in 'doing what is necessary to become what you want to be' is his/her understanding of the work and the role of the Holy Spirit. He's the one who interprets, teaches, enlightens, corrects, empowers, leads, whispers.... He the master of dealing with one-off situations, in applying faith principles to unexpected circumstances, and in the banality of everyday life ! 

So let's do what is necessary to become more and more Christ-like: open up to the Holy Spirit!

Please keep praying for our churches as we follow the Vitality Pathway.