March 2010
It
might seem too obvious to say that from the beginning of our earthly lives we
begin a journey, and part of that journey hopefully is about growing,
learning, passing what is learnt on to others and eventually the end to of our
journey, our death. That is a very existential way of looking at the sum total
of our existence; Sartre would have concurred with a few caveats added. There
are many ways that we can grow and learn, we can take the knocks and say
‘Life just isn’t fair’ and ‘Why has it happened to me’, or we could
say, ‘Yes something has happened but what can I learn from it; was it my
fault, how will it impact upon my life and is it permanent. Very often, if we
think or the latter, then we will have grown, learnt and equipped ourselves
for a greater understanding of strengths and pitfalls in the future.
Faith
journeying to me is not something that just happens, you can’t trip over
faith, neither can you open it and out it jumps. It of course can be nurtured,
it can be knocked and it can take a real beating from areas you least expect
it. However, Faith is a gift, a gift given by God as his Son journeyed to the
cross; one that was not made for Him, but in reality for us. It was a journey
that led to his premature agonising death. His was a journey of despair, of
love and commitment to his calling.
We
know His journey didn’t end there, for us, it starts the beginning of our
faith journey, the reality not just of stories about a man, but God giving us
the gift of faith so that we can believe that our journey continues for all
eternity.
So
how will nurture and be nurtured during this Lent period, how will we grow
stronger together, plan for the next part of our faith journey?
That
is the question we all have to ask, for some it will be more of the same, for
others new directions with fresh lessons and challenges, but always with new
things to learn.
Enjoy your faith journey, cherish it and continually give thanks for it,
for it is given for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessings
JON