Not sure how well this shows up, but it is the part of my hall wall where I do my daily 'wall climbing' exercise.  Since I began this exercise on 17th Feb, I have increased my reach by almost 8" (20 cm), sometimes in big steps, other times not at all.  There is still a good way to go for my right arm to match my left, but progress is good and it is satisfying to see the lines moving higher up the wall (hopefully they'll rub off after this is finished!)

As I was measuring the increase this morning, I found the old S Club 7 song 'Reach!' coming into my mind:

Reach for the stars
Climb every mountain higher
Reach for the stars
Follow your hearts desire
Reach for the stars
And when that rainbow's shining over you
That's when your dreams will all come true

Many moons ago, when I was at vicar school, we ran a holiday for underprivileged children.  This was technically a Methodist initiative dating back, I think, to Victorian times.  Each year we had a Biblical theme of some sort, and the second year I was involved (2001) the S Club 7 song seemed to find its way in, though I can't recall how!  One of the aims of the holiday was to say to these children, who knew hardship and who lacked the opportunities many of us took for granted, that they were 'worth it' and that they could, indeed, 'reach for the stars.'

These children were aged 7 to 11, so a decade on they will all be grown up.  Some of them may already be parents; some of them may have remained trapped in the cycles of poverty, addiction or violence that permeated the areas where they lived.  But just maybe there is a young man or a young woman out there who is 'following their hearts desire' as an indirect result of that week a decade ago.

Next to my daily 'wall climbing' marks hangs this little plaque I made in 2004 to commemorate the visit of a BMS Action Team to Dibley BC.

The week these young people spent with the church, coinciding as it happens with the insurance inspector's visit, was a significant 'moment' in the life of the church and my ministry within it.  Four young people, aged 19 to 25, who had spent a year in Uganda following their hearts and their Lord as they worked with BMS.  One of them is now a youth minister in London, one of them became a BMS mission partner, two of them have disappeared off my radar totally.

I think this morning I am reminded of the way that little things mean a lot; that holiday clubs and camps and focus weeks can have lasting impacts beyond anything we can measure.  Maybe sometimes that week will see a big 'leap' change in someone's life; maybe sometimes it will be a 'pause' before they move on; maybe it will just be one more steady step on an ongoing journey... a bit like the marks on my wall really.  Big or small, they all matter and all contribute to a bigger story... so reach!

Starts today.

Watch the video here.

Show off your label!!!

I happened across this video short whilst meandering around the web today.  It isn't an actress pretending, it's a real person who happens to work in media.  It is beautiful and poignant... and as an older 'younger woman' it resonates to a degree, though I doubt I was ever that slim and never did go in for the makeup! 

The makers are happy for it to be shared far and wide... so feel free to pass it on.

Not a lot to say today, so I thought I'd post the words of a setting of the Beattitudes our choir sing from time to time...

Blest are they, the poor in spirit,

Theirs is the Kingdom of God.

Blest are they, full of sorrow,

They shall be consoled

Rejoice and be glad!

Blessed are you, holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad!

Yours is the Kingdom of God.

Blest are they, the lowly ones,

They shall inherit the earth.

Blest are they, who hunger and thirst,

They shall have thier fill

Rejoice...

Blest are they who show mercy,

Mercy shall be theirs.

Blest are they, the pure of heart,

They shall see our God.

Rejoice...

Blest are they, who seek peace,

They are the children of God.

Blest are they, who suffer in faith,

The glory of God is theirs.

Rejoice...

Blest are you who suffer hate

All because of me.

Rwjoice and be glad, yours is the Kingdom

Shine for all to see.

Rejoice...

David Haas, (c) GIA Publications

It isn't in many UK hymnals*, but is in HymnQuest.  It is a very restful setting to listen to, and the refrain 'soars' as it expresses hope.  Enjoy.

* Church Hymnary Fourth Ed. if you are in Scotland; otherwise it is Laudate (Decani Music), Celebration Hymnal for Everyone (McCrimmon) or Hymns of Glory, Song of Praise (Canterbury Press)

When we were children, one of my Dad's favourite remarks was 'the better the day the better the deed' usually as justification for doing something or other on a Sunday.

Today has, so far, and with no reason to end otherwise, been a great day, even if some people might frown on some of my activities!

It is, in Glasgow, the most beautiful early spring day; there are carpets of crocuses in the parks and in any green space; the sky is blue and the sun shining; it is even warm! 

Deciding it was too nice a day to stay in, I put on my shoes to go for a walk.  Deciding if I was well enough for a walk, I was well enough for church, off I set!

Part of my route to church takes me past a private garden shared by a number of houses round what in another city might be termed a Square.  I have oft lamented the absence of flowers in this garden and the forbidding sign on the gates, which says something like "no running, no cycling, no ball games, no dogs", to which I am often tempted to add 'no fun.'  Today as I passed the sounds of toddlers' laughter filled the air and as I looked over a small child ran after a ball; I delighted in the double disobedience that fitted the spirit of 'the better day the better the deed.'

With a little time to spare, and ready for a drink anyway, I nipped into the coffee shop opposite church.  I was pretty sure the owners would be there, and they were.  The last time I saw them was before Christmas and it was good to spend five minutes catching up on their news as well as purchasing a small cup of blog title.  I guess if it was OK with Jesus for his disciples to pick and chew wheat ears...

And so on in to church where a brave guest speaker was leading an all age interactive service.  His musical choices were unknown to the regular Gatherers but the choir did a fantastic job and enough of us incomers knew at least some of the songs to help things along.  For the record, the last time I sang 'I've found a friend, oh such a friend' was in nineteen hundred and frozen to death and we sang it to the tune Tannenbaum.  I enjoyed the service, not least as it was framed around my favourite chapter of my favourite book of the Bible!  James 2: 14 - 26 in the Message paraphrase:

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?
For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved  and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup - where does that get you?  Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department." Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. 

Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them?

Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar?

Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"?  The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action.  It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend."  Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn't her action in hiding God's spies and helping them escape - that seamless unity of believing and doing - what counted with God?  The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse.  Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

Some good stuff was shared, and basically a two-fold message:

• reading the stories of 'God's friends' in the Bible gives us hints about God's character... hence Jonah shows us that God rescues people from Wales (sorry, the preacher was a Scot and clearly said whales with a 'hw' sound, but I couldn't resist)
• if we are God's friends then our lives show people something about God - or they certainly ought to.

After an after-service cuppa, off to the park for a picnic of sandwiches snaffled from the church 'working lunch.'  Whilst there I bought an ice-cream simply because I could!  So it's Sunday... I had four months when buying 'take away' food was prohibited, I reckon I've a few month's of non-Sundays to make up for, and anyway, the better the day...

And then a stroll through the park, along the road, through the grounds of the hospitals and home again.  All in all good fun... and the best Sunday for quite a long time.