By the time this copy of ICN falls through your letter box, I will be just about ready to begin leading a course called Models of Prayer, which will take place on four successive Wednesday nights starting on November 8th.
Most people pray at some time or another, whether they admit it or not, but most people do not get beyond the stage of asking for things. This is not what prayer is all about. Prayer calls for more than words or thoughts directed toward God. It is friendship. God is a friend. As Teresa of Alvila wrote, prayer is “developing a friendship with the person who we know loves us.”
Most people begin their prayer life using words, either their own spontaneous outpourings or words crafted by others. But there are many other ways of praying. You might pray using visual or aural aids such as candles, icons, or music to bring you nearer to God. Some might use meditation when they think about the day and try to discern times when they felt God was particularly close or absent. Or you might meditate on a small passage of scripture, asking yourself what it means for us today. Or you might move into contemplative prayer where words are hardly used but in which the presence of God is intensely felt.
Whatever method of prayer you use, one thing that you can be certain of is that prayer works and has an effect on your lives. People who say that it doesn’t simply have not tried it or at least have not given prayer sufficient time to realise its amazing potential or have the wrong expectations, looking for their own solutions and not God’s.
I conclude with some words from Kenneth Leech on prayer, he says “In the experience of thousands of Christians the use of prayer has proved an effective way of attaining that close union with God and humankind which is the aim of all prayer”.
If this has whetted your appetite to find out more about prayer and methods of praying come along to the St Giles’ Church Hall at 8 p.m. on Wednesday 8th November. However, if you are coming, let us know beforehand so we know how many to expect.
Revd. Ken Tombs
FROM ST GILES’ REGISTERS
Baptisms
Sept. 24th Ella Drinkwater
Lucy South
Weddings
Sept.16th Richard Philip Lewis and Rachael Fiona Wilson
23rd Gavin Charles Roberts and Karen Lorraine McArtney
Cremations at Breakspear Crematoriums
Sept. 7th Geoffrey Freeman, aged 72
15th Emily Louise Stephenson, aged 98
22nd Frederick Hemmings, aged 80
29th Elsie Gilmour, aged 87
Oct. 2nd Ronald (Ron) Alfred Mason, aged 98 (Funeral service in church followed by cremation)
5th Dorothy Woods, aged 91
FROM THE URC INTERIM MODERATOR
I was glancing through some old church magazines from 50 years ago when Britain and Europe were in ferment. Troops from Britain, France and Israel were invading Egypt to secure the Suez Canal. This was very quickly followed by the uprising of the Hungarians and their massacre by the Soviet forces. Reporting on these events, a Presbyterian Minister, the Revd Burns Jamieson went on to comment: “folk were appalled to see again how narrow is the margin that divides us from disaster.”
The threat from Fascism had been overcome and the apparent threat from Communism loomed large in those dark days of the Cold War between West and East. Some of our recent allies had become enemies and recent enemies had become allies. The British Empire was in terminal decline and the Government was finding it very difficult to come to terms with the new order. Fifty years on, Communism is no longer a major force in the world. New threats related to religious extremism now dominate the agenda of the international community. The threats have changed and the game of musical chairs moves on but the political response remains the same: military force, invasion and war.
The second Sunday of November is Remembrance Sunday when we remember those who have died in war. Remembrance Day was originally instituted to honour the memory of those who had died in a war that began between the Imperial Powers of Europe, the Great War as it was called at the time. Then the Second World War with its ideological backdrop of totalitarian states and racial purity ensured that many more names were added to the lists of war dead. Now, 88 years after the end of the First World War, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are adding to the number of British military dead. Across the world the number of deaths through warfare is far greater and the civil war in Darfur, Sudan is a particularly terrible example.
There has often been a religious dimension to conflict although this is often used as a cover for baser motives such as greed, dominance, racism and vengeance. It is surely time for people of all religions to speak out and work energetically for reconciliation, justice and lasting peace. As we look at the world situation today we should be, in the words of Revd. Burns Jamieson: “appalled to see again how narrow is the margin that divides us from disaster”. The Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed is one of justice and peace. As we remember those who have died in wars past and present, we should be ever more resolved to do everything we can to bring an end to war and this appalling waste of human life.
Yours in Christ.
Tony
