1984

I was gardening in the lovely sunshine with my granny today... or I should say pretending to garden... she is starting to need a bit of help but to be honest, I don't really have a clue so I was just following orders! She grows amazing rhubarb which she makes into jam but I stole some of it this week :)Anyway, she found loads of her old diaries and specifically this entry (23rd) when she was sorting through some things this week, so she gave it to me today!

For some reason, the fact that I was born on an easter monday feels more significant for me this year, although it's probably just because I’ve just thought about it more. Maybe it’s because I see easter monday as the day that celebrating the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection is lived out – where what I believe seeps into the ordinary - giving purpose and hope in the mundane of a monday...

Or maybe not. But even so, i thought the diary was kinda cool... (and my brother looks like he was totally trying to steal my thunder on the 24th...)

easter sunrise

that explosive morning

"What God did for Jesus that explosive morning is what He intends to do for the whole creation. We who live in the interval between Jesus's Resurrection and the final rescue and transformation of the whole world are called to be new-creation people here and now...."
Tom Wright today in The Times

"The purpose of God in sending his son to die and rise and live and be at the right hand of God the Father was that he might restore to us the missing jewel, the jewel of worship; that we might come back and learn to do again that which we were created to do in the first place - worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, to spend our time in awesome wonder and adoration of God, feeling it and expressing it, and letting it get into our labours and doing nothing except as an act of worship to Almighty God through his son Jesus Christ." AW Tozer

When greeting someone on Easter Sunday in Nigeria we say "Christ is risen" and the other person replies "He is risen indeed!"

we call this friday good

view towards Cave Hill above and Belfast harbour below...

the blob of white on the left nearest the water is where i live :) these are taken today from Knockagh Monument... about 10 mins drive from my house

I'm thankful for the cross

and quiet places of beauty on this day of remembrance...

we call this friday good

gaze of love

2 songs stuck in my head at the start of this easter week...

Oh gaze of love so melt my pride
That I may in Your house but kneel
And in my brokenness to cry
Spring worship unto Thee
(from jars of clay's Hymn... especially that first line...)
--
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Saviour! ’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.
(from O sacred head, now wounded)
--
Both of these songs hold memories for me. One is of a friend and I bashing out this song in high school on a rickety old piano... and being fascinated by the words 'bludgeoned' and 'pirouette'. And the second, I can still visualise my brother, sister and I trying to sing 3 part harmony to this hymn on a random lazy sunday afternoon at home when I was about 12 or 13 (again on a rickety piano... they seem to be a feature...)

elections and easter...

nigerian elections start tomorrow. praying for peace.

2 things i've been thinking about over easter...

'the death and resurrection of Jesus are precious not because they turn my life into a string of successes but because they keep me from collapsing under my string of failures'

'if we could keep in view the risen Christ as he really is, our bottomless appetite for beauty & greatness & wonder would find satisfaction and our lives would be unending worship and joyful obedience' (j piper)

links

just a few sites that i've found relating to lent. the website sacred space has prayer ideas all year round but if you've never checked it out, lent might be a good time to...

christian aid has an interesting guide for reflection, prayer and giving called count your blessings- lent2007 and they say "the 40 days of lent are a unique opportunity to reflect on all we have, and to turn our attention to those around us in need..."

also, last year the CCCI produced materials called out of the ordinary to use at lent which provides a different perspective if you're interested
*picture from ccci material