Temple law

One of the talks during our church's summer series on prayer was on Abraham speaking with God on Lot's behalf, when God was intent on destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, where Lot and his family lived. At one point George, the speaker, mentioned about how the progress of Abraham's story takes us eventually to a point where God's presence was 'located' in the ark of the covenant, and latterly the temple in Jerusalem. It got me thinking about how much changed between the story we were considering (Genesis 18 and 19) and the experience of the Israelites living in Jerusalem with the temple system.

The two experiences are so different. Abraham has seemingly open access to God - a man who's faith counted him as righteous, able to stand with God and make his plea, humbly yet boldly - "now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord". Abraham knows who he is talking to but he also knows where he stands before him, as one who God will listen to. Abraham is also able to beseech God using God's own character - "Far be it from you [to do such a thing]! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" There's no ceremony, no traditions or rituals to perform, just open and honest conversation between the two.

In comparison, the experience of the Jews living with the ark of the covenant and temple systems was very different - George pointed out that people had died from touching the ark when they shouldn't have, and that only the high priest could enter the inner sanctuary of the temple, once a year. The people were given ways of purifying themselves before God in this system, and places to pray, but the connection that Abraham once had with the Lord has disappeared. He is a holy and distant God, not one who is knowable.

What happened in between these two times? One major thing - the law was introduced. Moses established the law for God's people, which set out the ways in which they are to remain clean and pure before God. Now the law is good, but it causes a problem - the people were not good, or clean, or pure! Instead of the open relationship between God and Abraham (and this despite Abraham not always trusting God's plan for him), the law now showed how far God's people were from his standard of holiness, and defined a new type of relationship between them. Not a relationship based on faith and intimacy, but one based on keeping the law yet having to offer sacrifices because it can't be upheld.

In that moment it struck me in a fresh way how Jesus changes all this. By the time Jesus comes on the scene, the Pharisees and other leaders have established many more rituals and traditions than even the law demands, further alienating the people from God. He is not a God to be approached like you would a good friend, he is holy and just and pure and doesn't want you to come close. Best stay back, do the right rituals (and pay the right amount at the temple) and we'll take care of the rest.

But Jesus came to show us that the relationship between God and man was always meant to be like that which Abraham enjoyed. He is a holy and pure and just God, but he is also a God of love and compassion and intimacy, who yearns to make himself known and show that he knows us. Jesus demonstrates this in his life: spending hours with the poor, sick and lost, teaching the crowds the way they should live, and spending many hours in prayer with his Father, whom he relied on completely for his life and ministry. Jesus spoke openly and honestly with the Father, expressing joy, expectation, humility, grief and sorrow at the things he was experiencing and the situations he was dealing with. He responds to what he hears his Father saying and sees his Father doing. It goes even beyond what Abraham experienced.

But for humanity there's still a problem - the law exists and condemns those who try to follow it, and stands in the way of being known by a pure and holy God. If we're honest, we know we don't and can't live like Jesus by ourselves. But if Jesus' life modelled what a relationship with God should look like, then his death and resurrection made it possible for us to enjoy that as well. On the cross sin was dealt with: our position before God is completely realigned, and we enter into a completely different relationship with him. We can now call him Father, like Jesus did, speak to him openly and confidently, like Jesus did, and live lives that please him, just like Jesus did. What an amazing truth! Jesus wasn't just modelling the way things should be in our relationship with the Father, as important as that is. He was achieving that reality for us too, by taking on himself, the anger of God against sin, that which separated us from it. We don't get to experience this by trying to copy it, we enter into it by Jesus' sacrifice, and then get to find out more and more what Jesus experienced in his earthly life.

Thanks be to God who has set us free from a life in slavery to the law, in order to enjoy the experience of a loving relationship with Him!

Crystal Clear Communication

I've been struggling this week with a pretty stressful situation at work. I shouldn't say too much, but it involves one of the people I manage. At the heart of the problem lies, I think, an issue with the way this person perceives my attempts to communication with them. Their reaction is always defensive, and despite being their manager for almost a year, we haven't managed to form a productive working relationship, despite me being successful at this with the other eight people I've managed during my time leading this team.

It's taken me a while to diagnose what I think is a fundamental reason why we have a problem communicating: whenever I ask them about the work they're doing (even just to find out - I manage multiple teams), they assume that I am actually inferring that they haven't done their work, or aren't working hard enough, or something else that I haven't actually said. They do this when other people say things to them, but it's most acutely a problem with me because, well, I have to talk to them about work, I'm their manager!

Apart from the high levels of stress this has caused for both of us (especially this week, for particular reasons), something about the situation has bothered me, and it's taken a while to put my finger on it. Essentially, I feel a real sense of frustration that I'm not being taken at my word - that no matter how many times I say "please just take my words at face value", they are always going to assume I'm saying something hidden and react accordingly. I've struggled with feeling really offended at this, because I work so hard to mean what I say, and only say what I mean, and to have this consistently rejected really does hurt.

Thinking and praying about it more, I've realised that this person displays an extreme version of a trait that lives within us all - the temptation to become defensive, to read meaning into what people are saying that isn't at all intended, because cynicism is healthy for self-preservation. Think about all the backstabbing and gossiping that takes place in society, particularly in trashy shows like TOWIE or Made in Chelsea. Or the culture in business which insists that to make your way to the top, you've got to keep your cards tight to your chest, not let anyone know your game plan, never trust anyone but yourself.

My challenge is this - can we, as the church, live completely counter-culturally to this, and communicate with each other in a way that seeks open and honest relationships, ones fully in the light, with no ulterior motives and no suspicion?

An idealistic dream, perhaps, in a sinful and fallen world. But let's look at this further. What would it mean to communicate like this with our brothers and sisters in Christ? To start with the assumption that the other person means exactly (and completely) what they've said, and doesn't mean anything they haven't explicitly said either. I think it would cause two things to happen: firstly, we'd all work much harder at the clarity of our communication, and we'd be free of all the worry, stress and mistrust that comes from assuming that there might be something unsaid within the other's words. It would move us beyond simple politeness and courtesy into deep, supportive friendships built on the trust that comes from speaking plainly, where challenge can be given and received without defence, where we assume the other is looking out for us.

We'd be dragging our communication into the light and redeeming it from a world of mistrust and suspicion. This would however make us vulnerable to those who despite appearances may have ulterior motives, even within the church. I'm not advocating gross naivety, though I think we need more of it in the way we approach others. I'm also not contradicting Jesus' words in Matthew 10:16 to be "shrewd as snakes, and innocent as doves" - importantly, Jesus was talking about his disciples (believers) being sent out "among wolves" (i.e., the not-yet-believing world). Primarily I'm focusing my attention on the way we as believers communicate with each other - in a radical way that assumes the best and seeks openness at all cost. How wonderfully free-ing that would be!

This is not a challenge borne out of frustration at any observed duplicity within the church (though I'm sure it's there to some degree). Rather, I've just felt challenged to share this in order to build up the church, my brothers and sisters, with an encouragement to cultivate relationships with others in the church that are as open, honest and clear as we can. I believe this would make us stronger and more radically attractive to a fallen but seeking world that deep down craves real relationships built on love, trust and safety.

Finally, we know as Christians that our ultimate security and trust is in God. In Jesus we have a perfect and completely honest friend and Lord, who knows us inside out yet still seeks intimacy in relationship and is willing to speak the truth to those who have ears to hear his voice. It is his example that we should seek to recreate in our church relationships. It's also a journey, one in which friendships deepen and strengthen as we move towards what we experience in Jesus, safe in the knowledge that if (should I say when) we're let down and disappointed along the way, He is always there to remind us that our hearts are Truly Known.

Ephesians 4: 25 & 29 - "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

Am I lucky, or is it fate...?

Wow. If today didn't teach me something about prayer, then I think God will deafen me next time.

So it turns out I'm still incredibly bad at leaving important things in obscure places. My wallet spent a lovely after in a cafe in Lulworth Cove the other afternoon after I put it on the counter to pay for some (very much Dorset) Purbeck icecream. Today it was the turn of my rucksack, which got left on the 8.52 from Putney to London Waterloo.

Immediate flashbacks to leaving my sports kit on the bus aged 13 came back to haunt me. The process of getting it back was a rather simple affair of driving to Tring to the bus depot (my Mum was driving, in case you were wondering). This time though, the bag was lost on the South West Trains network, a system so complex that the staff at Waterloo had no way of telling where the train was now, or what route it was taking. The stakes were also mammothly higher - my passport, wallet, keys and work security pass were all in the there, and we're due to fly to Tennessee tomorrow for a wedding.

It's hard to describe the range of emotions that I felt at that point. Incredulity turned into anger turned into disappointment and back into anger, and these have swirled around my head all day. I tried everything I could (including contacting the control office for Network Rail and getting them to try), but nothing was working. It wasn't really anything to do with the cost of the plane ticket, I have insurance for that. Worse was the horrible experience of realising that I'd seriously let down the person I love the most. I hated realising that this flaw in my character was hurting her, and that I hadn't really learnt from past experiences. Perhaps I was being harsh on myself, but as our pastor said on Sunday, "if you fall, fall forwards". I know mistakes are easily made (and less easily forgotten), but it felt too much.

Dejectedly, I decided to try Waterloo one last time. I headed to the Lost Property office - nothing there. Then up to the platforms, where I try one of the guards hut. He not only knew about the bag, but he knew where it was! Turns out it had only been handed in a matter of minutes before - almost 7 hours after being left on a train (security is obviously really high these days). It was at the ticket office. The (very nice) man there tried to insist that I had to wait until it had been processed by lost property, but I insisted harder, and common sense prevailed. I am now reunited with my bag! What's more, I was only a few more minutes away from them destroying my credit cards and passport as a matter of company policy and compliance with the law.

I think the most positive reaction I had to this whole situation today has been to pray, and pray hard. My prayers have ranged from the despairing ("how could I be so STUPID?"), to the incredulous ("Lord why does this always happen?"), to the downright desperate ("Lord PLEASE!"). In the middle of it I was aware that it felt slightly stupid to pray "please can I have my bag back", which I assumed needed a small miracle, when there are much bigger things for God to worry about, like famine and floods and abuse.

I think I'm often tempted to think like the small things (in relative terms) are my issue, and God deals with the big stuff. Yet God constantly shows himself to be interested in the relatively small to prove just how good He is. I've been aware since getting the bag back that this was small-fry for God, and yet He seems apparently willing and able to provide for me. Ok, this isn't a 'proof' that prayers works, yet I can't help smiling at the fact that on the bus on the way to Waterloo I said to God "Lord this is my last chance, please let it be there", and even texted Shan the words "last chance saloon coming right up". Turns out that during that prayer/text, my bag was being handed in. God's timing and sense of humour is wonderful (and this isn't the first time it's happened, if you're wondering) and deliciously ironic.

I'm also aware that this doesn't answer bigger questions - why doesn't God answer our prayers for healing, or reconciliation, or peace, or justice? Is He content with acts of power that seem like party tricks compared to what we really want to see happen? I can't help remembering that in fact, God answered my prayer at least partly through other people: the person who found my bag and didn't steal it, and the staff at Waterloo who slightly broke company policy to give me my stuff back. Prayers often work like that - it constantly amazes me that He chooses us to see more good in the world.

Finally, it's a massive challenge to see prayer as the powerful weapon that it is, and to use it as if I really believe that to be true. Do I believe that the lame will walk, the blind see, the poor set free from bondage and salvation come to those who utterly hate God, or am I content to pray hard only when it's my neck on the line? Perhaps it's a good way to start, but I want to see my prayer life grow in maturity and expectation, and to enjoy God's hand in my life and the life of those around me.

Habits are hard to change

I've been dong some reading today on habits, in the context of how to encourage positive behaviour change (in my job it's specifically pro-environmental behaviours, but it applies in lots of different places). Putting aside the (in my opinion) red-herring arguments about the controversy of government officials using a behavioural insight approach to influence the public's behaviour, I wanted this post to focus on the role of habits in our every day lives, and some thoughts on why and how we might want to change them. This is mainly from a Christian perspective, but incorporating some of the theory and evidence I've been reading about too. This is something that feels relevant to me right now as I prepare to move flat in a week or so's time: I will need to make sure that I maintain the good habits that I've developed, and perhaps use this as an opportunity to displace some bad habits that have built-up during my time in my current place (more on that later).

While reading it struck me that while defining what constitutes a habit at first seems a very intuitive, it's actually very difficult to do so scientifically. Three main features emerge from academia however: a habit is a personal behaviour characterised by a combination of frequency (how often you do it), automaticity (fancy word for "how easy it is to do", e.g., have you ever got in car and driven for 10 minutes along a familiar route before consciously realising what you're doing?), and a stable context for the behaviour to take place.

Habits generally get a bad press - we talk about breaking bad habits, but often even omit the word "bad" because we assume they're not good. But habits can be positive: brushing your teeth every night, or going to the gym after work once a week. In government it's tempting to focus on those habitual behaviours that need to be changed (for benefits to the individual and for society) and neglect those that need to be strengthened or maintained.

As Christians, forming habits can be both good and bad. Learning godly disciplines, such as spending time with God reading his word, or going to church, or praying, are things that most of us want to do more of, but struggle to maintain even if we start well. On the other side, many of us struggle with various cycles of undesirable behaviour or addiction: perhaps we just find ourselves constantly exposing ourselves to things we know shouldn't on the internet or on TV (not just pornographic, popular media has a lot to answer for), or we find ourselves unable to make time for God because we can't make a decision about what to let go of, to stop doing, because it all seems so important (or just because we want to keep doing it, or we realise deep down that we're lazy!). Or perhaps more subtly, we can often get complacent in our worship and service and slip into autonomous routines: we find it easier to "worship" to our favourite songs, or think it's ok just to "turn up" to play in the worship band or help in kids ministry, rather than engaging our hearts in what's going on.

So what help is there for changing habits, or forming new ones? Because habits are generally automatic, things that we barely need to commit conscious effort to achieve, it's hard even to know what our habits are. We need to consciously examine ourselves to see where our (Spirit-inspired) beliefs and attitudes are not matched by our behaviour and are in need of change, or even more importantly, where our attitudes are not in line with Scripture, and have led to the development of bad habits. Whilst performing habits requires little thought, it requires conscious effort to identify the behaviour(s) we'd like to do more of, embed them into our lives and then sustain them, at least in part. We need to regularly examine our hearts and lives to see where our thinking (which we hope is being fed by the Bible and by receiving teaching in church and in cell groups) necessitates a change in action.

So what if you've identified an area where you'd like to change, but don't know what to do next? I'd suggest that there are a few things that can help, from the research I've read. Firstly, research shows that a change in context (moving home, changing job etc) makes us more receptive to change (or even force change upon us, good or bad). But it can be more subtle than that. For me, my laptop has been a major blessing, but it can also be a real distraction in the mornings. If you find yourself procrastinating in the morning, then perhaps just leave your laptop in another room before you go to bed, so that it's not there in the morning, creating space to spend time with God. Or leave your bible right by your bed, or somewhere obvious, so that you see and are reminded to take some time out before leaving the house. It requires effort as well, but these things help.

Secondly, with some behaviours it's important to replace the bad behaviour pretty quickly with a new one, or you'll find your old ways creeping back in. For example, it's not enough to just stop thinking impure thoughts, but so start thinking about good things: Philippians 4:8 says "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." If I tell you not to think about purple elephants, and you spend all your time "trying" not to think about them, I can guarantee that the only thing in your mind is a big purple elephant.

Thirdly, I'm constantly amazed at how much emphasis the bible gives to corporate activity, ie, stuff done with other people, not just on your own. Even our faith is not just ours, it's a shared one, as the family of God! The power of a small group of like-minded people, who you can grow to know, trust and love, will be instrumental in helping you change: through prayer, accountability (asking hard questions and expecting truthful answers) and encouragement. It's not enough to confess something once and have it prayed over by others (although that's certainly necessary), we need frequent, loving fellowship with others who know us individually and support us in our specific battles. I might even say such meetings should become habitual, but the danger there would be that these things become automatic, like a ritual where we ask the same questions and receive the same pat answers (or give them ourselves), when actually we need to actively engage in order to see fruit. These are ongoing battles, which need soldiers to stick together for the marathon that life can be, meeting regularly.

Fourthly, plan to change. If being online late at night is causing you to sin (even if you don't go online with the initial intention of looking at stuff you shouldn't), then at the very least, don't use the computer in your room, especially at night. Make it a habit to only use it when others are around. Putting some sort of accountability software on it might also help (I can recommend a good program to use). If you find it a struggle to get up in the mornings with enough time to give to God as well as shower/brush your teeth/eat breakfast/get dressed, then think about how to make time the night before to get enough sleep, and make a commitment to yourself and to others. Draw a line in the sand, and ask others to stand with you in keeping on the right side of it.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to stress the necessity of keeping our focus on the Word of God, and on relying on the Holy Spirit. The things I've outlined above focus more on the self, and the role we play. Whilst these things are true, and that we do need to engage our minds consciously on weeding out sinful practice and thoughts from our lives, and making godly disciplines commonplace in our routine, none of these are "magic solutions" to the problem of habits. Ultimately by becoming one of God's family we're also becoming part of God's army. This is spiritual warfare, and there are things outside of our control in this. We can't always predict how the devil fights against us, and in our own strength we're powerless to defend ourselves. What an amazing truth it is to know that we have access to the Father through Jesus' death, that the power that raised him from the dead lives in us who are counted free by his blood, and that ultimately he is in control of all things. Scriptural promises! I love it. We need to realise that even the desire to please God, to behave in the way he wants us to, is not in our nature. We had to be made alive, set free, and given a new heart for starters! None of that we did. We will always need the constant guide of the Spirit, to bring about the renewing of our attitudes and hearts to do what's right, to seek Him and his ways as our greatest treasure.

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2.

Pulling from both sides: Humility and Pride

There's a well known phrase which describes the futility of a life lived in solitude - "no man is an island". I suppose there are numerous ways to interpret this though - man needs community to survive or find his meaning; man cannot fulfil his ambitions or enjoy life's fruit without interacting with others; or simply that selfishness is not only wrong, but foolish. At the core of much of human tradition and culture, however, is something virtually opposite to this - "I can do it myself".

We live in a culture that lives with the consequences of an individualised, consumerist worldview - what's right for you isn't necessarily right for me; I am what I consume; I know best - that proves that community doesn't work unless we raise our eyes beyond our own immediate surroundings and needs, look to the needs of others, look to reach out and connect with other human beings, and accept the help of others when it's there. In Britain we supposedly live within the most 'tolerant' society in the world. If tolerance is merely accepting the existence of other cultures and world views, but not having anything to do with them, and remaining as tribal and closed minded as we always were, then I'm not sure what we gain, except a fragmented society.

A lot of us find accepting help, or criticism (however constructive), or advice a strangely difficult thing to go through: there's this sense that it displays weakness, and that weakness is wrong, shows us up to be something we don't want to be. Or it shows that we didn't know best after all. The mad rush that encapsulates most of modern living - anger vented at missing the 'one every 2 minutes' tube trains, snatching lunch in front of the laptop, barely time to take onboard the information needed to make an important decision, yet making it anyway, a lack of quality time with immediate family let alone more distant relatives - it all seems to come from this sense that to stop and contemplate, or sit back and reflect, is somehow a second rate activity.

Perhaps I'm painting a slightly extreme picture. But all of the above points towards a society that is built on pride. Sometimes, like on programmes likes The Apprentice, that pride, or confidence in the self, is a conscious, deliberate choice that is made, explicitly sold as a virtue that allows one to climb the ladder of life and success. For others, this pride is less obvious, and permeates more of our existence than we realise, because we don't have time to stop and think about it - we cling onto 'my rights', 'my time', 'my life'.

The opposite of pride is humility, to be humble. Humility says "I can't! I need help: I don't know how life is supposed to be lived best. All my striving and straining has come to nothing." It's an admission that discovering life's true joys lies outside of the ability of humans to discern, let alone live out, without some sort of assistance.

How wonderful, how humbling, to know that this is where God wants us to be. He alone knows how life is supposed to be led, and how community works best. At the centre is selflessness, sacrifice, the abandoning of our own rights and expectations, and instead focusing our efforts on others' needs, that noone might be left out. The strong help the weak, and the weak teach the strong that its ok to be weak. But before all of this, comes the realisation that we have the perfect model for humility - Jesus, the Word become flesh, who chose to put aside his majesty and eternal rights, to become one of us, and ultimately to die on a cross for us, having identified with us in weakness.

The key that unlocks humility and surrender (the letting go of our 'rights') is the grace that God so richly provides, both in sending His Son to provide eternal hope to humanity, and in giving us the Holy Spirit, who lives in those who seek to follow Jesus, and who works to make us more like Him. But the problem of pride can still lay a trap for us - we still think that this process starts and ends with us. We recognise the change of direction in our lives, but still insist on carrying on in our own strength.

Yet God calls us to find our strength in Him. Ephesians 6:10 calls us to "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power," not in our own abilities. And ultimately it's a wonderful promise - God not only calls us into this way of life, which looks so impossible (become like Jesus?!), but insists that we remain reliant on Him, the one who created the entire universe, to see it through to the end.

Both pride and humility both imply giving oneself a position relative to others. The difference between humility and piety is that the former seeks no recognition for its sacrifices and service, whereas the latter glories in its achievements, and is merely a religious form of pride. Humility for some is to accept that our role in this new life may be the equivalent of the receptionist, rather than the CEO in God's Kingdom: the person who serves the tea at the end of the service, rather than the one giving the stirring sermon from the front. Even if we don't want to be in the limelight (for whatever reason), we are tempted to look at ourselves and our role in God's plan through proud eyes - either explicitly thinking of ourselves as more important than others, or implicitly by holding onto what we see as our rights, before reaching out to the needs of others.

So I'd call you now to examine yourself for pride - ask God to reveal where it exists, and if you feel brave, ask Him to remove it from you. If you feel beaten down by the pressures and anxieties of this life, then step back and remind yourself that it is God who richly provides everything we need to achieve what He calls us to achieve, and does not ask us to walk alone.

Philippians 2:5-7

Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Lots to give thanks for

I wrote this blog almost 3 months ago (it's now actually November), but never got around to publishing it. It's interesting to look back on my writing and see what has changed - for me, it's even more to give thanks for, in terms of improved health, and a certain lady saying yes the question no guy wants to ask more than once...

"Recently, I was reminded of the need to give thanks. For me, personally, there have been few things to really complain about in the last couple of years: a good degree (and Masters), the opportunity to go travelling (and therefore escape the job that I got to earn the money to go), studying and living with some awesome guys in Africa for 4 months last year, and now, a good job in London, a wonderful girlfriend (got to mention her or there'll be trouble), a great flat, and church, and friends. It hasn't all been easy, but really, I'm doing better than most.

Yet how often do I give thanks, and to who do I give thanks when I remember it? I have a long list of people who deserve thanks for all the opportunities I've had: my parents and family, friends, girlfriend (two mentions!), even my tutors at university, the research department in Stellenbosch, and many more I've forgotten (sorry). I suppose, in a strange way, I should thank the Civil Service for giving me a job, although I guess I have a more general feeling of thankfulness for that situation, rather than being able to target a particular person.

And yet there are plenty of events that occur in our lives, which we don't see coming at all. Events totally out of our control, but which impact deeply on our lives, either directly, or indirectly through their effects on those around us. Getting glandular fever comes into this category - one week I was feeling great, getting settled into my job, finding a really good rhythm, and looking at how to get involved in more things with church, or in the community, and the next I'm barely able to stay awake. 4 months on, things have improved, but I guess my best laid plans have been laid low for a while: usually asleep by 10 at the latest, unable to make more than 2 days in the office in a week without feeling exhausted (thank God for working from home), declining social invitations left right and centre, unable to play basketball, go to the gym, or make the most of the glorious English weather - ok I made the last one up.

How do we react to these situations and those like it? When the foundations we leant so heavily on fall away, do we choose that moment to be thankful? I find it far too easy to focus in on the problem, which only serves to skew my perspective, unable to see the bigger picture. And yet I know there are plenty of people, millions, in far worse situations than me.

The apostle Paul was a man who knew a wide range of human experiences, some good and some bad. He knew what it felt like to have great power and authority, to be struck blind, listened to and ignored, looked after and abused, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked and almost drowned, in prison and free, given great visions of the future and stuck with a thorn in the flesh that he didn't ask for. He knew what it meant to have plenty, and have little. And yet he was content in every situation. He is also the author of most of the New Testament letters, and the word thanks (or equivalents like thanksgiving) appear many, many times in his writing.

The Colossian church must have been an ungrateful bunch. Multiple times, in a few short chapters, Paul urges them to gives thanks. Firstly, he tells them he gives thanks to God for them (1:3). Then he urges them to give thanks to the Father. Why? Because he has "qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light" (1:12). What does that mean? In order to explain why this is good, Paul then contrasts the situation before his readers became Christians, to the situation now: "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (1:13-14).

The God of heaven, rescuing us (all of us) from darkness, and bringing us into light, through Jesus His Son. In dying on the cross, Jesus makes it possible for us to know God, because through him our sins are forgiven, the slate wiped clean and forever unable to be marked again, and life as it was meant to be lived can be lived.

So our thanksgiving is meant to be centred on what God has done for us through Jesus! The ultimate impact of this sacrifice won't be felt in this life: eternal life starts now, but true perfection, without sickness or death or disease or human selfishness or pride, is a promise that hangs over our lives until Jesus comes back again to deal with this world and make it new. This means that, ultimately, we always have a reason to give thanks, because of what Jesus has done. Even our sufferings are a reason to give thanks, because through them, as James says, "the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." The whole of human life takes on a new perspective, because of what Jesus did, and promises us hope, both for now and the future.

So what does this mean for me, in my life? It means thanking God in every situation, that He does not do anything without reason. He seeks our completeness, our wholeness, in all that He does. It means thanking others for the small things in life that He does for me, noticing things that I would normally take for granted, and not grumbling over the insignificant bits that frustrate and annoy me. It means allowing this new perspective of Christ's death for me to transform all of my experiences. Paul exhorts the followers in Colosse to have the following attitude:

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, overflowing with thankfulness". (2:6-7)

Health and Wealth we help ourselves, a big fat belly underneath our belts

There's this problem that's been playing on my mind recently - in fact, not so recently, but for quite a long time. I guess it began to bubble to the surface when I went to the Sustainable Development seminar last year when I'd just started my job, but I couldn't quite find the words to express the thoughts I was having. Then the man who's book was mentioned at the seminar (Tim Jackson, "Prosperity Without Growth", which I got for Christmas but haven't had the time to read) came to speak at work. Then tonight I watched a film called "Age of Stupid", which despite being a little bit muddled and certainly at the extreme end of the spectrum when it comes to the impacts of climate change, despite not properly setting out the evidence for this conclusion, reiterated some of the things I've been thinking about.

Perhaps I still can't express what I think at the moment, but I'm going to try. At the core of Tim's argument was this basic premise that our current economic model in the West - which developing nations are trying to copy - is flawed. Mainly because it assumes that growth in economic (GDP) terms is the best way to value prosperity, and that there are no limits to growth. These are both complete nonsense - the world does not have infinite resources, so growth must have a limit. Yet we live like this isn't true. We're basically saying - hey, you poor countries, come and be like us! We're going to grow and grow and grow, building more buildings and driving bigger cars and flying more and having more stuff, and you can be like this too. We raise the bar and ask those lower down to try and jump higher and higher.

You can see the effects of this all over the developing world - being rich and famous is the aspiration for many stuck in poverty, to be like the rich West. We continue to base our economy on oil and its products (e.g., petrol and plastic), which is horrendously damaging to the environment, and we don't seem to be willing to take the action needed to change it.

The bottom line for all of this lies with us, I fear. This is the big word of this blog: consumption. We consume so much! In Age of Stupid, the statistic was quoted that if everyone consumed as much as we do in Europe, we'd need 3 planets to sustain the Earth's population. If we were like America, it would be more like 6, and if the population of the Earth grows to 9 billion like it's projected to, then we'd need something like 10! Think about it for a second - 1 bn people in the world are obese, and 1 bn people live on less than a dollar a day. It's crazy! We think it's a right to have a mobile phone, and an iPod, a laptop, a big tv, a car, to fly in planes from Southampton to Newcastle because we don't have time to take the train (and because it's cheaper, which doesn't make it the best choice).

The solution seems simple, but actually isn't. In theory, it's just about redressing the balance - giving more to those who need it, by those who have it voluntarily giving it up. For me this means that we who have much need to be content with less than we have. And in this country, the majority of us have a lot. But even for those who have little by British standards, we have a lot by the world's standards. True, economics means that many in this country struggle to live a decent life, and the problem definitely goes beyond our individual choices to consume less - it's about the systems which we live by, economically, socially, and environmentally.

But the basic premise is still the same. We need to give, and giving is good. In fact, Jesus said that is "better to give than receive". Do we truly believe that? Can we trust God that if we forego the material things of this life, and give generously to those in need, that we will be blessed. We only have to look to the example God gave for us to follow. Here is the mighty King of the Universe, the One who spoke the universe into existence, becoming one of us, sharing in our humanity and sufferings, and also in our joy, giving Himself up for us. God gave His Son for us! He knows what it means to be generous:

"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11.

So let's make the hard choices, to consume less, and to consume intelligently. And above all of that, let's be generous - with our time, so that we get to know those around us better, and with our money, so that others can live life in a dignified way. Let's look beyond the consumerist lifestyle sold to us by the media and all these companies trying to get you to buy the next big thing, and let's enjoy the things that make it awesome to be human - friends, family, enjoyment in the little things, the simple things of life.

I know I haven't even done a tiny bit of justice to the ideas I've tried to get across, but if anyone of this gets through, act on it! Make an impact, because changing the way the world thinks and acts takes individual choices by individual people, all acting together.