Jelly Babies, Allsorts, Chocolate covered Raisins AND fizzy cola bottles

It is my day off from work so I am using this opportunity to update my blog! However, I thought I'd bring up a previous topic that really gets my goat ometimes! I read an article this morning in a woman's magazine that really got me thinking. It relates to a previous post as I harped on about pick and mix spirituality and this article basically is justifying it saying it is in fact a basic need of humanity, and contributes to the whole 'survival of the fittest' thing etc all because research has shown there is a 'God gene'.

The point of the article is really to say you don't need to belong to a specific religion, all you need to do is meditate first thing in the morning and it has the same effect as '4 or 5 cups of coffee' and actually makes you healthier, less likely to get high blood pressure, relieves stress etc. Is it me or does it just feel like there's something inherently wrong with promoting spirituality solely on the basis of it will make you live longer? Also, the article claims that the sense that a holy being is present is something that only happens because the right temporal lobe of the brain is being stimulated. There apparently is a study that shows that when electrical impulses are given to the right temporal lobe 80% of the individuals in the experiment had the sense of the presence of a holy being just behind their left shoulder (the whole right half of the brain effecting the left side of your body etc).The article then goes on to say that Moses therefore is just having some sort of seizure that affected his right temporal lobe making him hallucinate and think the bush was burning and that God was speaking to him.

The article also talks about prayer and how strangers praying for someone doesn't actually improve their health, well, one response to this is to say that prayer doesn't work like that! Just because you pray and ask for something doesn't mean God is going to grant it! God is still answering those prayers that result in the patient not getting better but the answer is NO, that person is obviously ill for some reason that is wholly wrapped up in God's divine and perfect plan. You can't do an experiment on prayer because when people do they assume one thing, that if prayer works, God will grant whatever you ask for which isn't true. It makes it sound like God is really mean and says no to things which anyone would think there is no problem in granting but they aren't God, they don't know if what they're asking is what's best.

The writer of this article claims that her browsing the 'religion aisle at Barnes & Noble' attitude towards spirituality is just a product of the fact that she has this God gene and because she wasn't brought up in any particular religion she has no immediate outlet in which to express this gene. Religion, spirituality, the personal relationship people believe they have with their God cannot I would argue, be explained away by this existence of the so called 'God gene', to use the statistics she quotes, 84% of the world's population are religious, 9 out of 10 Americans say they pray daily, 43% of American attend religious services weekly and 2 billion people are Christians! These huge numbers of people who believe in the existence of something higher and greater than themselves, this world is so much more complicated than just it's in their genes, as this scientist who discovered the God gene says that only 50% of the population have it!

There are so many people who resist religion, spirituality in all forms, but some do become religious, they feel they have no choice in the matter in the sense that they can't carry on ignoring what is so obviously real and wants to be a part of your life. The writer of this article is saying that her pick and mix spirituality is fine because it satisfies her 'spiritual cravings' and will actually improve her physical and mental health, it's not like there's one religion in particular that improves your health more so than any other. I really don't think you can simplify religion to this extent. I just think this kind of article will remove the personal element of religion, people will be religious because they want to make themselves healthier, but I think religion will only make you healthier, if indeed does, if you throw yourself into it, let it change the way you live your life and that involves really believing it, not simply practicing it hoping it will have an affect, but making it affect every area of your life, daily, like the Christian prays and talks to God very often, goes to church to worship God, involves God in their relationships, work, decisions, everything! Rant over! Thanks for reading if you got to the end!

Jelly Babies, Allsorts and Chocolate covered Raisins

As the title may suggest my post today has something to do with pick and mix! The topic of choice today is spirtual pick and mix! I was having a discussion about it with a friend the other day and I realised I knew someone who is a perfect example of pick and mix spirituality.

Spiritual pick and mix is very privatised, it's all about what makes sense to you, what you like and has nothing to do with what anyone else says, you get to choose how much of one particular discipline you want to believe in, which makes you feel good about yourself.

I think one of the main problems people have with the fact that Christianity is an organised religion is that you can't choose what you do and do not believe within it, you take it all or you leave it. It also involves, as my friend put it, taking yourself off the throne and placing God on it. As a Christian, you live your life trying to do what God wants you to do which may not always be what you want to do, a thing called temptation will tell you that! Most people would probably see becoming a Christian as making a sacrifice, giving up the things that are most pleasurable in life in order to do what someone else is telling you to do.

I would have thought that spirituality is about something above and beyond the physical but it seems to be wholly involved in pick and mix sprituality, I'll believe in it only if I like it, only if it makes myself feel better but surely someone would be willing to sacrifice a few things in order to grasp something that is purer, higher, more powerful, bigger than themselves. Jelly babies, allsorts, chocolate covered raisins, bit of buddhism, bit of wicca, bit of new age how can it work?

'Pain overwhelms perspective but passion overcomes perplexity'

In church yesterday we were looking at pslam 73 which really spoke to me. The Psalm is Asaph talking about experiencing suffering and pain where he can see others who don't love God like him experiencing the opposite. Asaph doesn't understand what God is doing, there are people who don't love God, ignore Him and His laws, and speak like they are God and are prospering where he, Asaph, loves God, obeys His laws and yet is in decline. Asaph believes that as someone loves and obeys God he will experience God's blessings but isn't. Asaph is so overwhelmed and consumed by what is happening now, to him and to 'wicked' people around him and feels like God hasn't kept His promises to him. Asaph can't see any further than the short term.

You wont find a life in the Bible that is completely free from any kind of pain, suffering, shattered dreams or disappointment but what you will find is God being in every situation, guiding, comforting and strengthening. Sometimes when you don't understand why you are suffering it's so difficult not to just dwell in it and question God instead of trusting God and looking to Him for help. If you're in a similar situation to Asaph you might feel the same as him that, as a loved child of God, why would I be suffering when people who ignore God are free from suffering and are flourishing and don't realise what they're getting is from God and don't thank Him etc. This question is so focused on the short term, but as God revealed to Asaph and was reminding me of, that whatever pain I go through, in the context of eternity, it is nothing. In heaven our suffering in this life will be forgotten. People who ignore God and yet seem to flourish will not forever and that is what you have to remember with humility and grace. I can't say I'm in any sort of pain that even compares to the suffering others go through.

It's difficult to work out what God's doing in any area of your life , I never will really but it doesn't stop me trying and then thinking about the areas where you know you'd like a certain thing to happen and it doesn't, in the context of forever it's nothing. Pslam 34 tells us to always praise God and thank Him for everything He has done. I can't imagine how hard it must be to praise and thank God for suffering, when you read certain bits of the Bible you can think how many blessings we'll receive in this life 'Honour the Lord, all His people; those who obey Him have all they need.' 'He rescues them (the righteous) from all their troubles' I've come to realise that these promises may seem not to be kept in the short term but they are, through heaven. I'm sure this is not news to anyone, easy to believe in your head but not always in your heart when you're experiencing suffering. I don't claim to completely solve anyones problems over this issue, there are so many issues surrounding 'suffering' I don't have all the answers and the thoughts I've shared may seem glib in the face of terrible suffering but it's a recurring issue that stirs many thoughts!

'And in all things we know that God works for the good of those who love him.' ROMANS 8:28 (NIV)

I think it is so easy sometimes to present a plan to God and ask him to make it happen, we can sometimes convince ourselves that we've thought of a brilliant way to serve God. God will use us however he wishes and it's quite a big step to say to God I am ready for you to use me in whatever way you want as it is completely out of our comfort zone. We don't realise that God is the one that knows what is best for us, he has his plan ready to work out that will be so much greater than we could ever imagine.

It's a question you get asked so much when you say what degree you're doing; 'what do you want to do with your degree?' and you feel pressured into saying something rather than nothing. At the moment I really feel that God's calling me to teach, I can't imagine doing anything else really but who knows! It can be scary to say to God I surrender my life to you and not know what's ahead, the unknown is generally quite scary! It's difficult to remember sometimes that even the things you feel like you've just got to get out of the way in order to do something else, are part of God's plan and are for his glory. I'm saying all this but I know there are times when I don't surrender a situation to God in prayer or I think that something's too small to bother God with. The amazing thing is that even those things you think will not matter to such a powerful, holy, transcendent God are so important to him, he wants us to commit them to him, and he will sort them out for the good!

Thanks for the rain!

"Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.'" Acts 14:17

Can you tell it's been raining today? Not just raining but pouring! It's hard to be thankful for the rain when you feel all cold and clammy because you're clothes are sticking to you! Britain has such a negative reputation for rain but where would we be without rain? Would anyone honestly prefer it if it never rained? You couldn't go for a walk in it, there would be nothing to cool you down after a hot spell, we'd have no rivers, we wouldn't have drinking water, plants wouldn't grow etc etc. (notice the more important things come later!)

Rain shouldn't make people feel down, it should make them happy and thankful that we get rain at all! - God is revealing something of Himself to us even in rain! I will endeavour to no longer sing: rain, rain go away, come again another day but sing rain, rain stay here, and come again another day!