Sunday 16 April 2017

Reflection on Easter Sunday

Sometimes it doesn’t work out as you expect.
Sometimes even though you know
the game is up,
even though you know
the inevitable outcome,
even sometimes when you have given up yourself…
…it doesn’t work out as you expect.

There are those days when the child,
who has been running away for years,
every week, without fail,
…doesn’t.

The day when the disabled child,
is finally accepted for who they are.
When the traveller,
for so long the outsider,
suddenly becomes a friend.

There are those days when,
in the face of despair,
for some unexpected and
incomprehensible reason,
our long dead hopes
are brought back to life.

There are those days
we suddenly realise
the stone has been moved…
… and the tomb is empty.

Saturday 15 April 2017

Reflection on Holy Saturday

What was it like for the first disciples?
What was it like to live on that first Holy Saturday
when all hope is gone,
when all that we love is lost,
when God is dead?

We know the end of the story.
We know of resurrection,
so we do not wish to dwell in this dark place,
we want to rush on to Easter Sunday,
when life returns.

It is too hard to live on Holy Saturday,
to spend our time in the dark and conflicted places
of Golgotha and Gethsemane,
the place where despair has all the best answers
to our questions.

But what of the people who have no choice?
What of the people who always live on Holy Saturday.
The child beaten and abused at home
whose only hope is to run away?
The child living with alcohol misusing parents,
Trapped, too young, into adult responsibilities.
The disabled child,
never given the chance to join in.
The refugee child,
always a problem,
never simply a person.

What must it be like to live on Holy Saturday,
when we do not know how the story ends?

When hope is absent
who will be there to look after them?
Who will be there for the children
on their Holy Saturday?

Friday 14 April 2017

Reflection on good friday

It was the Romans who killed you,
who nailed you to a cross
to punish you for thinking differently.
Murdered for daring to challenge the might of Imperial Rome.
Murdered for daring to suggest that the world should be different, 
that it could be rearranged for once,
not to make the powerful comfortable,
but deeply uncomfortable.

Or, 

maybe it was the religious leaders who wanted you dead?
For challenging their deeply and sincerely held religious truths, 
for shaking things up and rocking the boat,
for daring to suggest that just because 
we have always done it like this,
we always must?
We cannot challenge the guardians of tradition,
where would we be without it?
Better surely to let one man die….

No!
It was the crowd!
It was their fault
It must have the been the crowd who gathered and cried “Crucify!”
who are the ones who killed you.
What they need, you see, is a scapegoat, 
someone for the Romans to blame,
so that they won’t come looking for anyone else. 

Or 
maybe it was me?

Maybe you should pity me, 
for on this Good Friday,
I will stand with the Romans,
because I, who have everything,
don’t really want anything to change.
I will stand with the religious leaders,
and make sure that my traditions are honoured,
no matter who they exclude.
I will stand with the crowd,
who already know who is to blame 
for all that goes wrong.

And I will cry “Crucify”

Saturday 8 April 2017

Monthly musings: March

Like is like riding a bicycle, to stay balanced you must keep moving.

This photo was on my phone and thought it should be uploaded.
Hooray spring is here. The thing in the yellow sky is going to come out and say 'hello.' Instead of doing his disappearing act and playing tick a boo and hide behind sky.

This month could be summarised as eating cake and knitting. Oh and a bit of running. As my phone decides to play up, well it was broken and doing a parkrun made my phone compute. So I no longer have access to the bottom buttons. So I cannot see what photos I took. Which is why this blog post is going to be rather short. As I take photos to document my life and it helps to remember what I been up to! I have uploaded two blog post which could be included in my monthly wrap up though I think they need there own post.

Google the search engine is so useful because it tells you when certain days has a significance such as the 17th March is International happiness day. Im sure there is a day or even a week of something such as the hug day. I'm sure one of my friends only made that up to make me more affectionate. Who knows!? I thought, I might try 'mindfulness' something that has been so raved on the internet all the psychology students are talking about it. I might give it a try AGAIN.  I have meditated before, it went something like, constant thoughts about things I need to do, things that have just happened, people who have annoyed me, people i'm worried about or people annoyed me or people who I get on their nerves (who me, I know hard to believe)… See it can be hard to even experience a few moments of quiet in your mind. Though I tried it and it surprisingly good fun. It's very difficult something that doesn't come easy, sitting still and think about nothing. Something that is unheard off! I'm constantly doing something!  I tend to mindfulness while walking, just being aware in the present what does it feel when my foot lands on the floor? What is the rhythm of my walking.

This month has been full of art and crafts. The bookmark I tried to do in Christmas holidays was completed in March. I didn't know how to do the backing and was really anxious to get it wrong as it was supposed to be a gift for someone. If you could just allow me to show you my awesome creations that has been made in March.
Just started my first knitting project! What is it going to be?

The finished result of a key ring! Only if someone gets some felt!

My first two cross stitch projects.


It been a month where I went to the hospital twice! Not a thing that wants to be repeated! I went to the doctors for an Asthma review, yet got told I have an eating disorder. I eat everything in sight especially cake. If there is no cake in the house, I magical make one appear. It might be a long time till I go back the doctors.

I had a week of commuting to college by bike, without getting chased by animals. Honestly, I do nothing to be harmful one minute they are just grazing next moment they are running towards me then start chasing me. I didn't get lost either. The only thing that could be better, is if I checked when Newcastle football is playing as I locked up by my bike opposite the stadium. A very bad move and something that shouldn't get repeated. You learn from your mistakes! Do I? Maybe I shouldn't answer that question and leave it as a rhetorical question!

Maybe April would have lots more photos, as the weather is warming up which means walking and that means one thing. Photo walk!