Blog
This week, some of you may have been affected by the power outage in parts of Westville that lasted most of Wednesday and Thursday. We had no Eskom power at the church, but the solar panels generated enough electricity to make sure that we could carry on pretty much unaffected at the office. It wasn't long ago (when load-shedding was still a thing) that we would find ourselves pottering around helplessly for hours, tidying bookshelves, reading, preparing sermons with pen and paper ...
When comedy actors Adam Sandler or Rob Schneider feature in a movie, you can count on the fact that somewhere in the film, the other actor will make a brief cameo appearance and shout out from the middle of a crowd with a thick Spanish accent, "you can do it!" I don't know what the back-story is, but the phrase (with the accent) has entered popular culture (and can occasionally be heard in our home too!)
I feel a deep sadness this week over the outcome of the US election. Although, actually, it really should be none of my business. It's not my country and I didn't get to vote there. What is hard to accept though is that it seems so clearly to me to be the wrong decision. Surely everyone can see that?
There are some significant days in the church calendar this week. 1 November is All Saints Day - a day for remembering and honouring Christian saints and martyrs who have gone before us - a kind of extension to the list in Hebrews 11 if you will. Interesting, All Saints Day was known originally as All Hallows Day, making the night before All Hallows' Eve (or Halloween). The whole dressing up and trick-or-treating thing apparently came many years later :)
In 1961, Rev Arnold Walker, a Methodist minister based in Pietermaritzburg, wanted to help his congregation by encouraging them in the midst of the challenges of every day life. So, he began to produce a little booklet of daily devotions for them, with each day including a Bible passage, a prayer and a practical word for the day. Over 60 years later, Faith for Daily Living is read by some 150 000 people in 80 countries worldwide
I overhead a conversation in the office this week: a lady came in to say thank you for letting her organisation use one of our rooms for a meeting. She said it was the first time she had been here, but she was blown away by all the facilities we have at WMC. She's right! We have often commented on this incredible space that our church calls home and the opportunities it creates for us to connect with our wider community.
Our Exec meeting this week began with a time of prayer for our church. Often the opening prayer of a meeting is brief so that we can then dive into the agenda, but this week, it was good to spend longer listening, giving thanks, and asking for God's help and direction. There followed a conversation on our collective longing to be a more prayerful people. It's not a peripheral issue - the journey of prayer is in many ways at the very heart of the journey of discipleship. For my part, I came away challenged to be more intentional during Sunday services to invite our people to participate (in a non-threatening way) in the work of prayer, so that we don't just end up spectating while the preacher prays on our behalf!
We have a sad moment coming up at the end of this year as Laura Heale leaves us in December after over 16 years working in the WMC office. Laura and Alan are relocating to the UK early next year and so, with all the sad goodbyes comes the excitement of new adventures for their family, and especially the joy of being close to their two children who are both based in Europe.
Our discipleship commission met this week and much of our conversation centred on life-changing small groups. All of us in the meeting had experiences to share of learning and growing and being cared for in these amazing little communities that for centuries have been the engine of growth and maturity in the Church.
You have heard me quote Trevor Hudson's observation that every person we meet stands beside "a pool of tears". Every person you will ever encounter - including people who seem to have it altogether - has known sorrow and has been wounded by their pain.