Matt 5:3 Being at the end of your own rope

Boy its hard to be humble,  but it seems its good for us to be there . Not only that,  its a wonderful place to be. You can get your perspective , see what 's really important and relax - cause you're there

A political manifesto

Of thoroughly grand proportions is Psalm 37 . I went from end to end of the electorate this week to discover that at each end of the 3hours drive across it there was great hope though "drought"  invades the inbetween. This was the reading at the church on the very edge of this extreme, but that's just we all are - alone and on the edge  trying to keep what He's encircled  in between us under His watchful eye- just like a shepherd with his sheep . ;
 I met a friend for coffee on the way across who I'd met through passions shared .We quote to each other Churchill and love "The  Concert" . We both send too much time on the hustings . He is as passionate to keep a government as I am  to see it  removed .   I wish he knew the wonder of the power in those words of the psalmist ( paradoxically ,as GKC would say , he's been a catholic missionary and I don't hold that against him  . Instead he/I  worked with powerful men, whose words their very trade ( local journos) , somehow were weak to tell the truth men ; weak man they were , who protesting much, lacked integrity. They were real frauds to themselves and to the world,  unable to give back, it seems, the truth they held in store. How much damage they have done has yet to be revealed , for God himself can bring us back,  and means us to be healed .People with power or desperate for power do terribel things . But God is in control Psalm 37 .

Everybody "loves" Peter

Matt 14:30
Why ? Because we all seem to have a bit of him in us? Maybe its our wanting to do the right thing, or his great willingness to "have a go" that makes him attractive . Maybe its because we know deep down that we are weak as - relying even in our confident moments on our own limited knowledge and history of judgement?
Is it just that he is so human and weak in faith? --- that makes him our companion in spirit in this life? Thomas was not alone .So how many of the disciples were " any good ?" Remember the idea of "poor in spirit" and the promise - Matt 5:3

Peter sure "had a really good go" on that dangerous sea that night .

We as a family lost someone very very very special young and beautiful last week. The depth of the grief is like the sense of drowning, and it comes back again and again to frighten and engulf you .

But there has always been that hand . Unbelievable, but as powerful and real in people and ideas as the emotions and reality of loss that drive us towards despair.

Job 38:5

Well I tried to pick one but there are so many picture portraits here in this chapter and echoing through Isaiah and the Psalms .
As a practical risk management scientist ( with the opportunity to measure) I like this one best. Its kept a grand perpective on the universe alive and real for many generations!

Psalm 67:4

When you are surrounded by voices saying "them , not us" or "you have a problem"="not me" remember the big picture and find joy , comfort and a harvest in the inexhaustable future fund.