Posts - Page 3 of 6 - Blog Posts - Invitations to Ascend

September 8, 2020October 1, 2020

Gifts in the grey strands

This year, after a 25 year habit of covering my greys, I stopped dying my hair. Now mostly white and silver hair grows from my head, rather than the dark brown I was born with.

My first grey hairs sprouted when I was about 13 years old. The grey hairs seemed one more indication to my young teenage self that I was faulty. Whether from bad genes or poor stress management, I was broken (oh the things I now wish I could tell that girl-self!). Not long after, I began to cover the greys with hair dye. I was happy to do it for a long time, and kept up the pretence of all-brown hair.

My grey hair may seem a strange topic for a blog about drawing close to God. However, when you realise that God is an alive and diligent participant in all of life, it may not be such a surprise.

September 3, 2020September 18, 2020

When God speaks courage in the face of fear

Bravery and courage these are such weighty words. Indeed they are not terms I would use to describe myself. When I think of bravery, I think of knights in armour, clad for battle, unwavering before the storm that assails them. Courage seems to be the trait of those who wander far off lands in search of the lost, wounded and broken.

August 31, 2020October 12, 2020

May I never miss when you are speaking

As those of you who have followed this blog for some time will know, I have been making my way, albeit slowly, through the book of John this year. But now I find myself nearing the end. And so as I was reading, John chapter 20, this week the following passage leapt out at me.

Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).
John 20: 11-16

August 28, 2020September 18, 2020

The Power of the One

Today we have the honour of hearing from a very special guest blogger, Helen Geddes. Helen is a blessing to so many people and a wonderful gift, particularly to me (Alicia) as I have the privilege of being her daughter. She was recently reflecting on someone who made a huge impact on her life. These are her thoughts:

The people we interact with throughout our lives can have a profound impact. Just recently, I have been remembering one person in my life who’s influence, though only knowing them a short time, has been significant.

August 24, 2020September 18, 2020

Belonging part 3 – fractured, fragmented and ineffective?

This morning I was reading Jesus’ prayer for his disciples in John chapter 17. It has taken me a long time to read this chapter. I have been here for weeks. It has been strange for nothing has genuinely struck me and yet I have felt unable to go on. Perhaps that is because I would prefer not to read what happens next? But I suspect that more has been at play.

As the third post in this series on belonging; I hope to bring something further to what we have previously discussed. In the first post, we discussed the yearning to belong, the need to truly meet with others and to prioritise the other in social situations. And Marion so beautifully developed this further here when she wrote about the need to recognise the truth that we do belong – to God, and to others because we belong to him.

August 17, 2020September 18, 2020

How to stand as the battle wages

We live in a physical, material world. A world that can be measured, seen, and observed. That we can experiment upon and understand. And that is all there is. Isn’t it?

However, such a notion is foreign to many, if not most, of the people who walk upon this earth. And for those who have done so for millennia. For these people, the spiritual and supernatural are as familiar as the air that we breathe. Life is not limited to the physical, rather the significance of the spiritual is understood and embraced.

But for most of us who live in the West, this is not so.

August 6, 2020September 18, 2020

Sleep as a spiritual practice

Before I had children I did not realise what a gift sleep is. Now, after nearly six years of my sleep hours not being my own, I see differently. Sleep is precious and sometimes fragile. I hope I never take a full night’s sleep for granted again and am grateful always for it.

But even in this appreciation for the physical benefit of sleep, I have not until now thought of sleep as a spiritual practice. I’ve recently come alive to the idea that even in sleeping we can be in the presence of God and God can be at work in us.

August 3, 2020September 18, 2020

The dance of the trinity

I have always found the concept of the trinity hard to understand. Who is our God? How is He three and yet also one? Do I relate to God as Father? Or as Jesus, the Son? Or as the Holy Spirit? How do I interact with all three? Should I do so all at once or one at a time? And if I do, am I then understanding them as three rather than one? But then if I focus on the oneness do I then lose the three-ness? Above all, what does this mean in practice? And how does it affect me as a follower of this God?

July 23, 2020September 18, 2020

Belonging part 2 – an interior work

The need to belong is a fundamental and intrinsic human need. But for some of us we can be our own worst enemies in inhabiting a place of “unbelonging” rather than belonging. Nowhere is this more acute and destructive than in the church, the very collective organism that Jesus described as family. I am asking God to shine a spotlight on what is going on internally within me. I long for the inner rewiring and renewing that I need to move firmly out of a mindset of unbelonging and into belonging.

Alicia recently wrote this beautiful post about belonging. I deeply identify with her longing to belong and her outsider feelings, especially in gatherings. I’m well acquainted with that floundering self-consciousness among a crowd who seem to know a secret to connection I’ve somehow missed. It’s been there as long as I can remember – from the shy, awkward child to the new mum trying to navigate fitting in amid the chaos of little ones. These thoughts, and the feelings of loneliness and self-dissatisfaction that inevitably attach, come up in all settings – work, social situations, and certainly also in church.

July 20, 2020September 18, 2020

People of time and the timeless God

Some people seem to be inherently patient, they are the ones who take their time, and who let others take their time. They are slow to frustrate, hesitant to complain. Wherever they go, they bring peace and the gift of space and time. I am not one of them. At least not naturally. Though I hope I am slowly changing.