Above All Love

"Lord, you have been our dwelling-place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn people back to dust,  saying, ‘Return to dust, you mortals.’ A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night."  Psalm 90:1-4 (NIVUK) A colleague today was speaking about her grief and losses and how they linger on even as life moves on. We both observed that we do indeed live in brevity. We are like puffs of smoke, vapour that appears for a time, then fades away. We are ash and dust. Today is ash Wednesday. Eastern Orthodox Christians, among others, call Lent a season of ‘bright sadness’. It is a time of repentance, a time to recognise our mortality, and a time to think on Christ's death on the cross. It can be a painful time, but the light still shines. In Him, we have our dwelling-place. In Him, we find our hope. "He raise...

Lent is often seen as a time of self-sacrifice, a time to give up something costly or even a pet sin that needs laid upon the proverbial altar and put to death. I have been thinking what I could give up this year.  I have tried a few things over the years, from turning vegetarian to ditching social media, with varied success.  Pondering what is toxic for me at this time and what needs given up during lent and even beyond has brought various ideas.  I have seen various no yell challenges on parenting blogs and I do feel that would help on some level. But, even deeper than that is something I have struggled with more and more, anger.  It is not wrong to be angry as such. Jesus was pretty angry when he flipped those tables. But, it is wrong to sin in anger or to be angry unjustly. God is slow to anger and rich in mercy, we should imitate that. I want to be better at that for sure. I do have knowledge of myself now and know some, though admittedly not all, of my anger ca...