For Christians Christmas is about the journey that God makes. God comes to us.

Rather than us as human beings reaching out to try and touch God, God reaches out and touches us amid the mess and dirt of human life. Among the animals Jesus is born and laid in a manger.

And it means this. God understands; God understands what it is to be human, to grow up, to feel sad, happy, lonely, and insecure, to feel pleasure and joy. And in that understanding we can meet with God. We can encounter God just as Mary and Joseph, Shepherds and Magi did 2000 years ago.

My prayer for you this Christmas is this. That you encounter God. Be it in the singing of carols, the gathering of family and friends, the sharing of food and presents, or in worship in Church. For this is the simple meaning of Christmas.

God is with us and we can know him. We can share Life with God.

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Christmas is Coming

“Christmas is coming: The goose is getting fat”

 

Well Christmas has been coming at least since August! We know because of the advertisements with which we are bombarded. Have you ever examined the words used to make some of the extravagant claims? A few years ago I wrote a prayer, using an idea from one of the ads on the front of a magazine. I wonder if you might like to use one or some of the advertisements which appear at this time, as a starting place for prayer?

Sharing Evening

As promised, an opportunity to share ideas, ( - or just come and enjoy food and each other’s company!)

Thursday 11th December
7.30pm at Sue’s
Share prayer, Share fare!
If you wish, bring prayer ideas and nibbles to share, but come anyway!

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Dear Friends,

Firstly – thank you for the past year. All Saints is a fantastic church and I feel privileged to be part of the family. It is exciting to be celebrating our second Christmas together.

Christmas is a time of myths and miracles. Some of the myths we willingly embrace – like Santa Claus or St. Nicholas. 

Detail: The Life & Miracles of Saint Nicholas
Artist: Alexander Boguslawski

St. Nicholas was a real person, although it is hard to verify many of the stories about him. However the meaning behind them speaks to us still today. Nicholas lived in the fourth century, and from a young age was very pious, fasting every Wednesday and Friday as was the practice of the early church. Having lost his wealthy Christian parents he was brought up by his uncle, who encouraged him in his vocation as he became a Reader and later a Priest and a Bishop. He is known as Nicholas the Wonderworker, having many miracles attributed to his name, and is a patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, thieves, students and of course children.

On one occasion he is recorded saving a group of children from a cannibalistic butcher, who had salted them in barrels to be sold as meat, but St. Nicholas caught the butcher and restored the children to life. The most famous story revolves around three girls for whom their poor father could not afford a dowry, and so they were threatened with being forced into prostitution. Nicholas provided the poor man with enough money for a dowry for the girls, a purse of gold for each child delivered through an open window. A later legend suggests he dropped the gold down the chimney where it fell into the daughters stockings they had hung up to dry by the fire – although chimneys did not exist in 4th Century Lycia where Nicholas lived!

Nicholas then was a preserver of childhood innocence, something we value at Christmas especially, and something that seems to have been eroded in our culture. Nicholas reminds us however that there have always been those who would use their power to abuse the trust of young people, and as a whole society we have a responsibility to educate and protect our youngest and most vulnerable members. The actions of a few however must not cause us to live in fear - there are many modern day St. Nicholas’ helping our children: teachers, youth workers, uniformed organisations, charities and social workers as well of course as parents and families - we should be thankful for all they do.

In one version of the legend of the three girl’s dowry, our saint is caught by the father, who asks him why he is giving the money in secret. The response is natural and obvious; Nicholas wished the glory and praise to go to God and not to him. Nicholas may be at the heart of our Christmas celebrations in the form of Santa, but he would not want our attention to linger on him. He devoted his life to Christ and would want us to do the same.

The Christ-Mass is a very special time for Christians; we celebrate not the myth but the miracle of Christ - God with us in the flesh. We do so through the Mass, the offering of bread and wine in which Jesus promised he would be truly present with us until he returns. It is a deep and powerful wonder that is worked among us when we gather at this feast, be it at midnight or on Christmas morning. We should come to Holy Communion as we always come, prepared and anticipating an encounter with God as we join with Angels, Archangels, St. Nicholas and all the saints in heavenly worship.

May you and your families have a blessed Christmas, filled with the joy of the Christ Child and the presence of the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father.

Eddie

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Sunday 14th December

3.00 pm Christingle Service

Sunday 21st December

6.30 pm Carol Service

Christmas Eve

3.00 pm Crib Service
11.30 pm Midnight Mass

Christmas Day

8.00 am Holy Communion
10.00 am Family Communion

What is X Mas Video?

Christmas Services Video

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Almighty God,

Whose servant Hilda brought different people together in the love of your Son.

Bless this room that we may continue her work,

and remember the work the people of this parish have done in her name.

Amen

This last Wednesday we celebrated the feast of St. Hilda with the blessing of our Hilda room. Previously known as the committee room, and during the works to the roof used as a chapel, the Hilda room is a place for small groups to meet from church or community. 

The room has an AV system and a table and chairs, as well as a prayer station. The room is already used by Open Space our young people's group.

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Praying with the Saints

I have to admit I am sometimes a little envious of churches dedicated to one particular saint. Then one might make an effort to find out all one can about his, or her, life and ministry and have a special affection for them. Anyway, my suggestion is to choose a particular saint to focus on. There may be a particular prayer associated with ‘your’ saint, maybe written by him or her. You may be able to imagine being alongside him or her. You may give thanks for them and the gifts they were given. My favourite is Alban. Would I have had his courage? Can I say, “I am Sue and I worship the true and living God!”?

Something to pray for

Often in his writings, St Paul makes it clear that we are all saints, so our friends in church are, literally “All Saints”. Just as it would not be possible to name and pray for all the saints, as previously suggested, so it might be difficult to pray individually for all the folks at church. However, some time ago, a “Prayer Chain” was created, whereby you pray for a particular member of the congregation, and someone else prays for you. If you are not in the chain, speak to Alvis Taylor.

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Dear Friends,

Autumns colours are already giving way to winter’s as the mists hang heavy over street and field. We are passing through remembrance-tide, celebrating All Souls, All Saints, and Remembrance. Advent and preparations for celebrating the Christ-Mass beckon. The year may seem to be vanishing before our eyes!

Yet in that space the Church celebrates an unlikely season as our liturgical year draws to its close. We remember Christ the King.

Image: nighthawk101stock

Kingship is a strange idea to our modern western minds. Our monarchy is valued and celebrated but we are aware that ultimate authority does not rest with our hereditary monarch. We tend to consider other nations with ruling dynasties to be dictatorships with the assumption that they are seldom benign.



Christ’s Kingdom is different, a fulfilment of the Kingdom of David. David was a shepherd boy, who I am sure you remember defeated the mightiest military force of his time (Goliath) with five smooth stones. When Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of heaven he does not speak of courts and hierarchy but of the lowliest being brought up to the highest places, of the first being last and the last being first. Following on from the teaching of the Old Testament, the writer of the book of Hebrews confirms that within this new Kingdom we are all part of a royal priesthood. At baptism I always anoint the new member of the family of God with oil as sign and symbol, just as the Queen was anointed at her coronation. Jesus’ Kingdom includes rather than excludes. It reaches out to the streets and draws in the lost and homeless. It confronts the principalities and powers of this world with the smooth stones of service and love.

The stones that David used were washed by the living waters of a river. Later the cloud that broke the drought in Israel in the time of Elijah was ‘a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand’, suggesting a fivefold shape as much as a size. The ministries of the church are described as fivefold by St. Paul as he speaks of the episcopal ministry of apostles, the diaconal ministry of prophets and evangelists, and the priestly ministry of pastors and teachers. Where the church has hierarchy it is anchored in these small things, watered by the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps this Kingdom season we too can find 5 small things to change how we engage with the world and bring in Christ’s Kingdom? We may not all be apostles but we certainly have oversight over our own households and buying choices, how can we do so in a way that honours those less fortunate? We may not all be prophets and evangelists but can we speak out on areas of injustice and share the love of Christ with others? We may not all be pastors and teachers, but can we give more time to caring for others and teaching them by example the best way to live their lives?

Then with confidence we can pray together the words of the Lord’s Prayer, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

God bless,

Eddie

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Watch the video about our Action Groups.

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Dear Friends,

When was the last time you went to Mass?

The answer is of course probably last Sunday or, one of the midweek services at All Saints. We don’t tend to use the word Mass very often, but most of us go to a service named Mass at least once a year – at Christ- Mass for Midnight Mass.

The different words we use for Holy Communion have different meanings and origins.



We might talk about the Lord’s Supper which reminds us that we are sharing a meal. St Paul writing to the Corinthians admonished them however:

When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk.

The Corinthian practice was to celebrate the Lord’s Supper as part of a meal, a ‘bring and share’ if you like. However it was clear that there was more bringing than sharing going on! We can’t assume that all early celebrations of the Eucharist were informal – the Last Supper itself was part of a very ritual meal. However the language of Eucharist as a shared feast, both now and pointing towards the heavenly banquet is part of our worship and liturgy.

We might use the term Holy Communion. Again to the Corinthians Paul writes:

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Communion speaks of being made one body with Christ, of the real presence of Christ in bread and wine, of holy intimacy with God. God does not force intimacy upon us, but in the Eucharist it is always available - God is reaching out to us in Jesus. The danger is that Communion can become a private devotion, Communion must be shared with one another as well as God.

At All Saints we refer to our main service as the Eucharist. This again comes from Paul

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me".

Eucharist means ‘Thanksgiving’ and this was the term used by many of the early Christian writers. When we gather at the table we give thanks to God for all he is and has done especially in Jesus. ‘Eucharist’ suggests far more than just saying ‘Thank you for the bread & wine’, it suggests a full prayer of Thanksgiving just as we use. In the early church these Thanksgivings would have had space for extempore prayers and have lasted far longer than the shorter Eucharistic prayers we use today – be warned!

Another term was also used by early Christian writers was the Offering. The Eucharist was understood not just as a supper, not just as intimacy with God, not just as thanksgiving, but as a sacrifice. Not that we need to re-sacrifice Jesus every Eucharist, but that at the table we participate in that sacrifice. This is most explicit in John’s Gospel where the story of the last supper doesn’t involve the ‘words of institution’ (‘This is my … Do this’) over bread and wine, but the images of bread and wine, body and blood encompass the whole of the crucifixion.

Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot … Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips … One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

For John what happened at Holy Communion was what happened at the crucifixion. The use of the term Offering by early writers also suggests that that they understood Jesus’s words ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ to mean ‘Offer this as a memorial offering of me’ although Greek scholars don’t all agree!

So what then of Mass, the term that many Lutherans and Catholics use on a regular basis, and Anglicans use less often – sometimes only at midnight? Mass comes from the conclusion of the service in Latin ‘Ite, missa est’ (‘Go; it is the dismissal’). Mass refers to the mission God gives us at every Eucharist, to take the Good News and share it with the world in word and action. The Mass then is a starting point rather than an ending point in our Christian lives. We express the term Mass as we ‘Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord’.

It is no wonder that in the Eastern Church avoids all these terms and simply call the Eucharist ‘The Holy Mysteries’ as one word cannot encompass all that God does for us at every Mass! All of these terms are found in our liturgy, so why not prayerfully listen for the words ‘Supper’, ‘Communion’, ‘Thanks’, ‘Offer’ and ‘Send/Go’ at your next Eucharist?

God bless,

Fr. Eddie

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Something to do

This month’s idea comes from several sources. The 17th century French monk, Brother Lawrence, working in the monastery kitchen, found it just as easy to converse and pray to God there, as in church. Pat, leading the mid-week service at my friends’ church last week, included a prayer/poem which used each day’s activity as a starting place for a prayer: Monday: Washing Day and being cleansed from sin, etc. One week last month in the Tearfund Prayer Diary, each day took a different regular activity such as cleaning our teeth, going to school, etc., as a reminder to pray for those who may not have easy access to water, education, etc. So that is this month’s suggestion, that you choose some everyday activities, and use them as a starting point for prayer, either for yourself, or for others whom the activities remind you of. If you would like to write them down, maybe next month we could gather together and pray each other’s prayers.

Something to pray for

Please read and pray about the need for action on Climate Change, and Christian Aid’s Hunger for Justice campaign.

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Dear Friends,

After this the Lord appointed 72 others. He sent them out two by two ahead of him. They went to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is huge, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.
Luke 10:1-2

I have to say the last 8 months since I arrived at All Saints have been very busy. As a Christian community we have achieved so much, and I am delighted to be a part of the All Saints family. There is a buzz at All Saints, and it has been noticed further afield in the Diocese too. Recent events celebrating Sue’s Licensing, and Bishop Alan’s visit to bless our roof have underlined the huge range of people involved making All Saints so vibrant.

The work and changes that I have arrived in the midst of have raised questions about what happens next! In the short term we need look at our organ and supporting our choir and musicians, building on our warm welcome and invitation to new people, and how to best care for members of the congregation and community. In the medium term we need to think about how to provide a Christian presence for the whole parish of Leavesden. Longer term people have lots of different ideas about how to make best use of our fantastic hall and how best to seat people in Church. In all of this we need to hear the voice of God – and that is not something I can do alone, just as Jesus shared his ministry with the 12 and the 72.



Having spoken with the wardens and PCC what I would like to do is form action groups working on three areas. These groups will be open to anyone with an interest and heart for that area, who is willing to get involved. The groups are ultimately accountable to the ‘Vicar and PCC’, and coming along is likely to get your initials next to an ‘Action Point’ at the end of the meeting!

The first area is Worship. This group will be meeting together to reflect on our worship and the way the space in church is best used for worship. Both practical and spiritual the group will be a place to think about regular services and to contribute to them. It may be involved in planning special services too. The layout of the church building over the coming years will also be considered.

The second area is Mission. All Saints has remained a healthy and lively church over the years by sharing the Christian Faith with others and by serving the community around it. Mission can mean a simple invitation to a neighbour, or it can mean helping our neighbours in need. This group will also look at how we welcome new people to church and follow up on our many weddings and baptisms.

The third area is Pastoral. When a church is as successful as All Saints pastoral care of the whole congregation becomes more challenging. However we are blessed with a gifted group of people who can provide pastoral care. This group will meet to consider how best to reflect the pastoral needs of different groups and ensure that no one falls through the gaps.

A number of people have already expressed interest in these different areas, and if you are interested then please speak to a member of the ministry team or a warden. I am committed to all three areas of church life but am excited about sharing ministry as Jesus shared his with the 72.

Fr. Eddie

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Something to do

Then Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God.” As we come to the Harvest Festival, and thank God for His provision for us, I wonder if you generally say Grace at meal-times? Sadly, I only tend to remember when I have guests and there hasn’t been a crisis in the kitchen! Perhaps now is a good time to start, using your own words, or reading one. Some of you may have one of those wooden cubes with a prayer on each side. If not – why not make one from card? – And here are some prayers you may like to use:

Thank you for the hands that sow the grain, 

Thank you for the hands that fish the sea, 

Thank you for the sunshine and the rain, 

Thank you for the hands that care for me. 

Amen

Food for our hunger, water for our thirst, 

Shoes for our little feet, but first things first: 

Thanks be to Heaven, Thanks be to God 

That we go satisfied, sheltered and shod.

O God, to those who have hunger give bread, 

and to us who have bread, give the hunger for justice. 

Amen

That last prayer provides a link to other matters we may pray about: justice and provision for the poor and needy; care for God’s earth; the practice of welcome and hospitality.

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Something to do

- Choose a spot that may be special for you: maybe a corner of your garden, or a seat in the park, or a church, or - - - ; or if you are away on holiday, maybe a place with a beautiful view, or a beach, or - - - . Spend time there praying, thinking, listening, meditating, knitting, reading, - - - . Buy a post-card of that place, or draw it, or take a photo, - On the back of the card maybe write about how you feel when there, or copy a poem about that place, or write a prayer, or - - -. When back in the busy world, use the card to remind you of the quiet times in that special place. Next month there will be the opportunity to share those special places.

Something to pray for

• Remember friends and family away on holiday, that it will be a time of enjoyment, & relaxation, and that they will be safe.
• Remember those who cannot manage to go away, that they too will be able to find fun and a chance to rest at this time.
• Remember the organisations who work to provide holidays for those in need.

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All Saints congregation celebrated the renewal of their church building, and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The service involved people of every generation, with anointing with Chrism oil for the power of the Spirit, lively singing of hymns and songs old and new, and the Eucharist offered at our experimental free-standing Altar - with plenty of incense and flags for good measure!

The church building has a new roof, has been fully painted white and blue inside, and the floors have been scrubbed and cleaned. A new AV system has been installed so we no longer need to rely on service and hymn books although booklets are available for those who need them

Many thanks to all who made such a wonderful homecoming possible.

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“But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. So I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’”
1 King 5:4-5

Dear Friends

According to the bible king Solomon’s temple took 7 years to build and involved thousands of labourers. Up to that point worship of god in ancient Israel had been in a tabernacle or tent. Which makes All Saints’ brief time meeting in the parish centre seem very civilised!

There are elements of the temple that we might recognise in our own church buildings.



Outside there was an Altar, and with it a ‘sea’ 15ft in diameter in which the priests washed themselves, just as we are all washed in baptism. Inside in the sanctuary the bread of the presence was kept, just as we reserve consecrated bread as a focus of prayer and for communion of the sick. Here too in the sanctuary was an altar to burn incense, also a part of our worship today.

In the holy of holies beyond the sanctuary there was the ark which contained the first scroll of the law, a jar of manna which had fed the Israelites in the wilderness, and Aaron’s priestly rod. Christians have seen all these items as pointing towards Jesus, who is the living word, the bread of heaven, and our great high priest. And so in Christian thought Mary has been seen as the ark of the new covenant, so she too has an important place in our churches.

This brings us to what is so different about our worship to Solomon’s temple. In the old covenant only the high priest would enter the holy of holies to make a blood offering. Now through sharing in Holy Communion we not only enter the holy of holies, but all become living arks carrying Jesus out into the world, just as Mary did.

Reading the book of Revelation we find a heavenly temple greater than Solomon’s. The signs and symbols of Solomon’s temple are seen in John’s vision of heavenly worship, but all together in one sacred space. It has to be said that many church buildings built through the centuries have tended towards the shape of Solomon’s temple with its exclusive areas, rather than the open temple found in heaven!

It is my hope and prayer that as we return to our historic building for worship that we seek to shape the building around heavenly worship. Maintaining the richness of sign, symbol and sacrament, that are not only part of All Saints’ tradition but rooted in scripture, and doing so in a way that is open and inclusive to all.

God bless,

Eddie

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It has been a real privilege to journey through Passiontide and Easter together, and now we look towards Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and God willing, our first service back in the Church building.

In this season our hearts and minds are turned towards closeness with God. Thomas, who although he doubted was the only one to place his hand in Christ’s wounds. The disciples who recognised Jesus in the breaking of bread on the road to Emmaus. The sheep who know the Good Shepherd’s voice. Jesus’ plea “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” And his promise of the Spirit, the comforter.

Through the history of the Church people have had profound experiences of holy intimacy. But there is none who could have been as close to Jesus as Mary his mother, who is described in the bible as having been highly favoured by God – full of His grace. As the mother of Jesus she carried God within her, and the Holy Spirit filled her.


Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan, a Catholic Priest, who volunteered to die in the place of a stranger in the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. He wrote passionately of Mary’s relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Among creatures made in God's image, the union brought about by married love is the most intimate of all. In a much more precise, more interior, more essential manner, the Holy Spirit lives in the soul of the Immaculata (Mary), in the depths of her very being.

In Luke’s Gospel we read of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist:

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Mary had such a closeness to God that at her greeting others were filled with the Holy Spirit! Which is one reason that Mary has always been recognised by the church as an inspiration to all Christians. In her perfect humanity and her profound spirituality.

Julian of Norwich is one of the best known English Medieval Mystics. Julian wrote of her ‘Revelations of Divine Love’, speaking of God’s love with joy and compassion when much of the world around her was suffering. In the time of the peasant revolts and the Black Death she wrote:

For all humanity that shall be saved by the sweet Incarnation and blissful Passion of Christ, all is the personhood of Christ: for He is the Head and we are His members.

As St. Paul wrote about Christ being the head and us being the body of the church, Julian understood this not just in terms of a command structure but as a wholeness. We are then as close to, as much a part of Christ, as our own body parts are as close to, as much a part of us.

As we celebrate this Easter season let us then long for a closer walk with God.

Holy and Divine Spirit!
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Spouse,
bring the fullness of your gifts into our hearts.
Comforted and strengthened by you,
may we live according to your will and die praising your infinite mercy.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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From time to time we upload PDF's of our Worship

Liturgy for Lent 5

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If you are between 11 & 18 and are part of the church - or know someone who is, then please download and fill in this quick survey - or pick up a paper copy from church!

Download

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As passiontide approaches I share a reflection for the coming days.

His father was a carpenter. Not that carpenters, know each other, certainly not from Jerusalem to that rural backwater. But I knew of the family. Generations of carpenters, not from the backwaters but from Bethlehem. A proud family, a good family, and with connections to merchants that traded to the ends of the earth. Craftsman, good work.

His mother, well she was young when she married I hear. From a family with good connections too, relatives who served in the temple.

It must have been a shock to his father, not the events that took place in which I had a part, but his son not following the family trade. Closer to his mother perhaps. A very different apprenticeship training to be a Rabbi. And the desert too - they say he spent time with John, that strange teacher whom Herod had beheaded.



It must have shaped him all the same, just as a carpenters shapes the wood. The asking of questions, the learning of the law and all the teachings of the rabbi’s that had gone before. There is plenty to learn as a carpenter’s apprentice, but the Rabbi’s they have to be able to speak the words of Moses and the prophets off by heart.

All that shaping, that working, ended in a terrible way.

He had made quite a stir of course, going through the regions, visiting Jerusalem. They say he healed the sick, spoke words of life. But I never heard him.

I did see him though, coming into the city, riding a donkey. Crowds around him, shouting, praising, waiving branches. His disciples were with him, and he was with them - Not distant from them like some Rabbi’s. He had the care a carpenter would have for his apprentices. He had a carpenters look about him too, it’s hard to explain, a keenness of eye.

And as I stood at the back of the crowd our eyes met, just for a moment. Like the acknowledgement between two craftsman.

Thing is times have been hard. I may be a carpenter but the work I have been doing is nothing like the work of His family. And so when the work came up I took it. I know what we all think of the Romans, but we needed to money. A simple job, no craft or great skill. Rough wood hewn and shaped, two parts one up and one across. And then they take them, make a condemned man carry them and nail the man to them, standing them upright to die.

When I saw him, when our eyes met I had no idea what would follow, of the arrest, of the crowd turning against him. But they took him, they crucified the son of a carpenter, nailed him to the wood that I had crudely shaped.

Perhaps it was because our eyes had met that for the first time I went to the place where the work of my hands was turned to execution. I saw from a way off what only the women would see close up. They were there, with the Romans. His mother and some others.

The men were further away. Some mocked. Others were quieter, I recognised them. Some had been his followers.

I cannot bring myself to say much more about his last hour. There was pain, pain that I was in part responsible for. But something else. It was a death, but not like any other. When a carpenter looks at a block of wood we can see all the things it can become. As He died it was like that, somehow it was like every death – that has been and could be. Like death itself was dying.

Afterwards some said he was a prophet. Some said he was the messiah. Others said that he couldn’t be. That no messiah could come from the rural backwaters. But I knew of His family. Generations of carpenters, not from the backwaters but from Bethlehem. The City of David. The City of the Messiah.

I found his disciples, asked the questions.

I no longer do the work I did.

The wood of death is behind me.

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I shall let you into a secret. Lent is my favourite season of the church year. Being a natural extrovert I need structured space to explore my shadow side – to reflect, consider and to fast. I wonder what we understand by fasting. Do we think of going without food for 40 days and 40 nights, or do we start a little smaller?

Fasting has always been part of the Christian life, the ‘Teaching of the Twelve’, a Christian book from the first century, states:

“Let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on Mondays and Thursdays, but rather fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.”

Did the early Christians go without food two days a week? No, the nature of such fasting would have been like Daniel’s fast, who refrained from meat, wine and rich foods for 21 days. It was a partial fast, common to Judaism in the first century, and it was also part of the early Christian’s pattern of rhythm of life.

And yes, it bears remarkable similarities to a popular diet at the moment. 5:2 fasting seems to have both physical and spiritual benefits!

I suspect that when writers in the New Testament talk about fasting in general terms this is what they mean, going without luxuries and rich food, but on a regular basis, as part of every Christian’s pattern and rhythm of life and worship. Jesus doesn’t say if you fast, but rather when - So fasting is for all of us – little and often.

The bible also speaks of deeper fasts, of Paul’s three day fast after his conversion, of Mordechai's and the Persian Jews fasting for three days in the book of Esther. Then deeper still - what of Moses’ two forty day fasts, and of Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness? Jesus’ fast in the wilderness was not part of a regular pattern of prayer; he was led, driven even, by the Spirit into the wilderness. A deeper fast must always be led by the Spirit. If we feel called to such a wilderness fast we discuss it with others of spirituality maturity and discernment.

Yet even when we fast in smaller ways it is still a reflection of that great wilderness fast. The wilderness, a place of emptiness, a place of repentance, a place of wandering, a place of temptation and trial - when we fast we eat a little of the wilderness. When we fast we create an emptiness within ourselves that is physical but also spiritual.

In the Hebrew Scriptures the word that we translate heart is more literally ‘The inward parts of the belly’. Our innermost being, spirit and soul are described in terms of organs that can be filled, that can be empty, and that can hunger. When we fast we feel that hunger, that lack of something we long for, we eat of the wilderness. When we offer our physical hunger to God, God takes that and in return can refill our spiritual emptiness.

In Luke we read that Jesus returned from the wilderness “in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside” (Luke 4:14)

When we take on general fasting as a regular pattern, when we are led by the Spirit to a deeper fast, when we fast during lent, God will meet with us and fill us in a deeper way. As we explore the call to fasting this Lent may we be open to Him, ready to be filled.

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