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With My WholeHeart - Psalm 22:14
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 22:14
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax. Recovering from heart surgery I could not find a more vivid expression to describe my aching body and soul. Anaesthesia, sedation and painkil…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 61:1-2
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 61:1-2
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 61:1-2 ‘Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him. “Come unto me all that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.”’ This is the Gospel invitation at the heart of the service of Holy Communion in the Book of Common Pray…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 64:6-7, 10
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 64:6-7, 10
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 64:6-7, 10 The fate of the enemy in the psalms is an inescapable motif and a problem for many. The origin of evil and sin has perplexed the human mind since the days of Adam and Eve. The sad truth is that, whatever the cause, the human heart can secretly harbour in its dept…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 119:69-70
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 119:69-70
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 119:69-70 Fat hearts are bad for you, physically and spiritually. This psalm is a spiritual health warning for those whose heart ‘is as fat as brawn’. Pride is the symptom of a gross heart. The problem is that the proud do not always see their pride, it escapes their notice…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 119:34, 36
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 119:34, 36
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 119:34, 36 Like the eye, the heart can wander. Sometimes it seems as if the eye has the heart on a lead! Like pushing a child on a tricycle and constantly needing to reset the direction with the handlebars, so the heart needs steering. We have to set the heart’s direction w…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 119:80
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 119:80
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 119:80 Shame has all but disappeared from our society like vinyl records and black Bakelite phones. Symptomatic, I think, of a culture that would like to shrug off guilt in the quest to feel good. Today’s mantra is that nobody should ever feel bad about themselves. This is …
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 119:32
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 119:32
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 119:32 Freedom. We may not have been born free, but for freedom we were made and redeemed. Walking near our cottage where I was convalescing I penned these couplets: Free as a fly that dodges the swat, free as a fish that misses the plot, Free as the wind that snaps the twi…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 104:15
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 104:15
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 104:15 God knows what makes the human heart glad! All manner of things including good food and good wine. Yet these are but tokens of God’s providence as this psalm makes abundantly clear. It holds before us in poetry the blessings of heaven that God has rained down upon th…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Shawl
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Shawl
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
In many spiritual traditions people have covered their heads in prayer. Medieval monks had hooded robes. To be under the hood helped them to turn inward, to have custody of their eyes and ears. It encouraged them to keep their curiosity in check, to not wonder about another’s way…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Bowl
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Bowl
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
An empty bowl is a wonderful symbol of openness. It will teach us to be receptive, to allow our hearts and spirits to align with God’s desire for us. Using a bowl or a cup as a prayer object can, over time, help us recognize that we ourselves are vessels for God. When our inner b…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Table
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Table
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
A table can be so many things—from a desk to an altar. It is around the table that we gather for meals. At the table we study, play games, sort the mail, pay bills, and do so much of what is needed for a household. Tables are often cluttered. In a rush we pile them high, be they …
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Candle
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Candle
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
Candlelight has all the associations of the past when, with a fire, it was the only source of light. Lighting a candle is different than lighting an electric lamp. A candle is a living, flickering light. It can easily be blown out. As we watch a candle burn we see the wax diminis…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Introduction
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Introduction
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
For many years now I have written about spirituality in the every-day. It is the every-day in which we live. Being human we often long for something more transcendent than the ordinary, but then we quite often miss that which is numinous and extraordinary right under our noses. S…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Opportunities
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Opportunities
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
We have preconceived ideas of what we consider opportunities. Unless an opening comes in a recognizable way, we might miss it or be afraid to take a chance. So much keeps us unduly cautious—like fear of failure or a sense of our ineptitude. Lack of imagination or the inability to…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Relationships
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Relationships
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
We are often not aware how full of expectations our relationships are—that we should be considered, understood, and done right by. Unstated rules, for the conduct of ourselves or another, lie like land mines on the path of our connections. The conditioned sense of one’s rights, o…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Daily Round
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Daily Round
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
If we count up the hours we make beds, wash dishes, run the vacuum or the lawn mower, pay bills, shop for groceries and cook, we will realize that we have spent not just days, but months and years in these activities. Every day we have a choice to just get through our daily round…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Challenges