Sometimes I feel that we Christians say some things because we say them. I am not saying that we don’t understand what we are saying, or don’t mean what we say. I mean that we say them so often that we lose track of the meaning, or the power of the words becomes detached from them. At its worst, the words become a conversation filler.
I was interested to read that Prime Minister, Mr Cameron, is going to spend £2million on measuring the happiness of the British people. Happiness, according to the dictionary is a state of well being and contentment.
I do not see a lot of contentment in the society in which we live at the moment. All our labour-saving devices and technological advances have maybe given some a better quality of life, but this does not necessarily mean a more contented life. In fact, I think the opposite is true in most cases.
Why do we do what we do?
Some things we do just because we do – they sort of happen around us and we just go along with the flow. Some we do automatically, out of habit, and sometimes we don’t even know we are doing them. Sometimes that habit can be so compulsive that we cannot stop ourselves from doing it – we have lost control, and the drift into addiction can follow. We do some things out of our emotions – we laugh because we are happy, cry because we are sad, we lash out in anger, scream with fear.
What are you afraid of? Anything? Lots of things? Everything? Nothing?
Many of us are afraid of flying, but I remember Spike Milligan once saying that he wasn’t in the least frightened of flying. Not in the least! But crashing – that was totally different! He was terrified of that!
The first time I ever saw a drug addict was at a Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park – a long time ago. There were actually two of them, and I remember how awful they looked, but I also remember thinking “Nutters!” As years passed, I saw many more and I have to admit that I felt total disdain for them – they were nothings, and were not to be trusted as they would rob and steal. Time went by, though, and I started to see them in the chemists waiting disconsolately for their methadone. My heart started to change.
Do you like a bargain? Do you feel really good when you find one? Earlier this year, Libby and I were in Lytham. We passed a very up-market shop which sells women’s, or perhaps I should say ladies, clothes. It is a very expensive shop, and normally we always pass it, but this time I noticed that a sale had just started about an hour earlier. Libby decided it might be worth a look, so we went in. Libby found a tee shirt was reduced to a slightly less than extortionate price, but then I noticed a coat. It was a very special, very different raincoat, and it really was reduced – 80% off. Libby looked great in it, so we bought it. It was so different and such a bargain that Libby tells everyone about it.
I have heard some daft ideas in my time, but there was one which I came across years and years ago which has stuck in my mind ever since I first heard it. It wasn’t so much an idea, as a theory of life and I think it is also used to show the importance of logic in an argument.
The theory states that I am the only person in the world. No one else exists, just me. That is when the argument starts, because you chip in with the comment that you are there too, so I am wrong. Ah, but you are only there as part of my imagination. I am making you say that you are there.
We read a lot these days about identity theft. In the last year it cost £1.9bn in the UK, affecting an estimated 1.8 million people.
Wikipedia states that “the victim of identity theft (here meaning the person whose identity has been assumed by the identity thief) can suffer adverse consequences if he or she is held accountable for the perpetrator’s actions. Organizations and individuals who are duped or defrauded by the identity thief can also suffer adverse consequences and losses, and to that extent are also victims.”
It’s nice to get home, isn’t it? It’s good to get the shirt and tie, the suit and the shiny shoes off, and just get into some sloppy gear that you can relax in. It’s good to switch off all the thoughts about work, the people who have crossed your path, made or spoiled your…
This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. (Rom 1:1, NLT)
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God — (Rom 1:1, NIV)
I have put these two translations of the same text together for a reason. It is a reason which is very important, especially to the way we think today. It is all about just one word, the Greek word doulos. I don’t want to get into an argument about which is the best translation, but there is an important point to be made here.
I remember coming up with a different way of doing something at work. An older colleague shouted out to everyone, “There you are. If you want to find the easiest way of doing something, always ask the laziest guy you can find!”
Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”