Another one hit my inbox this morning.  Because of careless forwarding, I now have the email addresses of around 200 people I've never heard of and mine has been sent to a similar number.

This one, perporting to be a missing child, has been around several months, some have been going around for years.  Such emails are malicious and prey on people of good will who innocently pass them on.  At the same time poeple may be mssing real pleas for help becuase they have grown cynical.

So, I bcc-ed a reply to the fifty or so people in the tranche of which I was a part asking them to check www.hoax-slayer.com or something similar before they pass emails on, suggesting that they use 'bcc' rather than 'to' and that they strip out addresses before forwarding messages.  Hopefully these people will now think for 2 minutes before they pass on messages rather than wasting 2 minutes forwarding hoaxes...

Of course, by the time I'd checked and replied, the sender had sent me more spam mail...!  Grrr.

Way back when (almost five years ago) after what seemed yet another kick in the teeth during the ministerial settlement process a friend of mine said "make like the Psalmists and shout at God."  So, today when I am feeling the weight of all that is happening in this little corner of the world, here is my Psalm of Anguish, posted not (I hope) from vanity or self pity but because (a) it helps me (catharsis) and (b) I suspect there are others who feel much the same sometimes...

A Psalm of Anguish

I don’t know what to do, O God,

I don’t know what to do!

In the night I wake with anxious thoughts

By day I drown under issues and events

How much more, O God?

How much more?

This little church, these folk you love

(You do love them, don’t you?)

So battered, so bemused,

So exhausted, deflated, berated…

Hold them in your arms

Shelter them beneath your wings.

How is it of you, O Lord,

To allow such pain, such anger?

How many feet will beat a path to my door

To weep, to shout, to seek answers?

“What kind of a God would do this?”

“Is there even a God?”

Each broken one for whom Christ died

Each wounded soul longing for embrace

And my only answer “I don’t know,

Yet still I believe, I trust”

Is that enough, O Lord?

Is that enough?

To bless and live

To curse and die

To tomorrow

Or to be bound with bitterness

In the now

Lord, I cannot understand,

It is all too much for me to comprehend.

Yet I will choose blessing:

Your servant will refuse discouragement and defeat.

I will follow you, wherever you lead –

Even a valley dark as death,

Even waters that flood over my head,

Even to a precipice where I stand and tremble.

God is my refuge and strength

An ever present help within the struggle,

Therefore I will defy fear

Though the ground give way under my feet.

The steadfast love of God never ceases,

God's mercies never end

They are renewed every morning

So great is God’s faithfulness.

I am no wiser, O Lord,

As to why,

But I choose to trust:

Choose to believe

Choose to hope

Choose to live.

Today has been very mixed - but ended with a really positive planning meeting for the Good Friday outreach event.

So here's the plan...

We have booked the Community Centre which comprises two fairly big halls and a lounge area.  In one hall we will have children's activities staffed by a team of about 8 mature women who do this every year and must not be crossed!  They are good workers and even managed to meet us half way on plans for the day, so I am relieved.  In the second hall we will have 8 installations to help people focus creatively on aspects of the Easter narrative - from help yourself communion, to video of crucifixion, to a powerpoint sequence, to a prayer wall, to anointing with scented oil...  In the lounge we will serve refreshments and then, towards the end of the morning, invite everyone to gather for a 15 minute mini-service with two songs, a reading a quick input and a prayer.

It was a really positive meeting, and most folk who came are excited about the possibiltiy of reaching folk who don't otherwise come to church.  There are a few grumbles that it's not a 'proper' service but rather a space to 'be.' However, as I pointed out this is a churches togther initiative, and betwwen all three traditions we have the sum total of one minister available - me.  So this is about as good as it's going to get - and it is good because there are around a dozen people willing to make it good.

This morning I am preparing material for GB Young Leaders training on Saturday - and this year I've landed faith issues as the Chaplain is on maternity 'leave'.  In the middle of one of the suggested activities - quite a good one - came the throw away line "explain the Gospel to the girls."  I guess the writer has in mind the ABC or Turn-Take-Trust-Thank models.  But it made me smile - if the gospel really could be explained in 2 minutes surely we'd all have done it by now...

Is there a theological distinction between 'separation' and 'divorce' such that the former does not (sic) 'dishonour Christ's church' but the latter does?  I don't think there is, I think this is western, secular, legal definitions being snapped up by sincere but struggling individuals to give themselves a get out clause when their theology and experience don't match up.

In the case of either of the above (because there is a practical/legal distinction even if not a theological one) how should the church respond - as discipline or pastoral concern?  My leaning is pastoral in aim but practically similar in outworking - viz that the person should be given 'time out' from any roles or responsibilities to work through what is occurring in their life, to re-evalaute and then, once the dust has settled to pick things up if that is judged the right way forward.

What does anyone else think?  I am treading a tightrope with my folk as this one affects our  congregation - just one more little storm for us to weather!