Wisdom is the deepest yearning

Sparked by watching the extraordinary speech to the USA Congress by His Majesty King Charles, I began to reflect on how we find wisdom. 

I read an article yesterday, probably in The Daily Telegraph, (I think it may have been - I read around 5 newspapers each day and rarely remember what was where) on how that speech would have been formulated and prepared, and who was responsible for it, and how long it took to create and edit. The article was fascinating, and yet in some respects it wasn't surprising. 

As someone who's regular task is to prepare talks, aka Sermons, the process interested me. Most Preachers in a local church rarely get the opportunity to hone and fine-polish a talk in the way that this speech would have been, and - according to the article, The King spent hours in his private garden and on the flight to the USA, and on the journey from Andrews AFB to Washington, still smoothing it through and learning it's required nuances. The process spoke to me, and rang echoes in my own small act of sermon-prep, of how a really good talk is gradually sharpened until you can do no more.

And some words of defense for the local church Minister who faithfully preaches each week: when Church friends tell you they went to hear a wonderful visiting speaker at an event nearby and how brilliant they were, remember - that speaker got to prep, hone and shine that talk with plenty of time, lots of funny lines and gags and quotes, and now they're off again to give it somewhere else. We, the regular preachers who do it each week, and move on to another text the following week, have no such luxury of time.

Back to the King: then I wondered, as indeed journalists around the world have done, as to just how much POTUS would have actually heard and understood. Congress seemed to love it, but Trump wasn't there, and the careful diplomacy hid the many highly significant points that the speech sought to make. Would someone have had to have told him or explained it to him? Or is POTUS merely surrounded by "Yes" people?

One of my regular prayers is "Lord, please give me wisdom." As I intercede and pray for people and situations, I finally begin to wrap up, which is when I pray for myself. And the continual prayer in 38 years has largely been that - "Lord, give me wisdom!"

I feel so often out of my depth in numerous situations that are complex. These are pastoral and leadership situations, none of them straightforward, and they are more often than not, of such a nature where I cannot essentially go to someone and say "What should I do?" These come with the territory of being a Minister of the Gospel. I feel the weight of them and they often exhaust me mentally and physically and I would observe that as a Minister, it is what we carry and continue to carry, which most drains us. There is a picture that I have hung above my desk which shows a robed Priest sat on his own, and the moonlight is shining through the church window upon him, with his head in his hands. For me, this perfectly sums up the call in ministry to carry!

That also got me thinking about ordinary, everyday wisdom and listening. And it struck me for all of us, when we need wisdom or advice, that "listening to what we want to hear is easy!" 

Just think about that for a moment. All of us can play a pretend game of wisdom-searching wherein if we want to have affirmed what we already think or have determined is right, then we go to those who we know will merely affirm that same script and say "of course you're right!" How often we do that with those around us. But listening to something different, to something alternative, to a different perspective - can I put it like this - "listening to what we do not (or may not) want to hear" - is very hard indeed!

It seems to me that real wisdom isn't necessarily found in what we want to hear and may have been pre-determined in our minds. Yet often, that's precisely what we do. Might I suggest that this is "shallow-listening?" And as for whether it's wisdom - well, you tell me what you think!?

That's why I wonder actually, if in truth,  wisdom and listening go together. If we're not good listeners, then we are, it seems to me, less likely to show wisdom or even be thirsty for it. If we're more prone to talking and always having an opinion, then maybe, the lack of listening might indicate a dearth of wisdom - maybe!

When Solomon asks for wisdom in 1 Kings 3, did God give him the ability to listen well too? Returning to the POTUS matter, I'm struck that this is potentially an obvious deficiency. It is a high-risk area for many leaders. When self-focus becomes your daily aim, how on earth are you able to listen?

In the book of James, wisdom is portrayed as a practical, heavenly gift and not an intellectual one. This, according to James, requires godly living, relational harmony and endurance during trials. It manifests through righteous behaviour, peaceability and humility and distinguishes itself from earthly wisdom rooted in selfish ambition and disorder. (3:13-18)

So let wisdom be something we work hard at and aim to listen well in. And, like the good fruit of the Spirit, work ourselves towards.

The shock of summer

So we bravely move into British Summer Time! One day you're in shorts, and the next day you're back in Jeans and a jumper! Such is the summary of our day-to-day lives - some days are great, and others perhaps less so. I am, however, struck by how we are into the 2nd quarter of this year, and life seems to not lack pace. If we merely cruise along, we will have let this year float away. I am determined to not reach Autumn without having made something of this year, even when some opportunities are already escaping me. And that makes me annoyed!

I am distinctly aware of just how many in the church are having to manage and cope with elderly parents and the required management of their lives. We are not on our own! In fact, the chatter over coffee after the service can, for some, be a moment to touch base over the week's challenges. It is "very" not easy to be in this place of having to deal with finances, health, carers, medications, power of attorney paper work, house clearances or "matters technical" such as the right button to press on the remote control or what's now gone wrong on the mobile, heating, online banking, spam emails, phishing scam phone calls, paperwork, or trying to explain what an app is, let alone how to use one. To have such loved ones nearby locally is one thing, to have them live further afield is taxing indeed. For most, these seasons creep up upon us when we were least expecting them, and rarely do we fit them into our existing fast-moving realities. Sometimes you can laugh at it all, and others find yourself weeping or angry or in despair, These are real emotions and are okay. Don't feel guilty. The honest reflection, I think, first seen in The Diary of Adrian Mole, is akin to being parents to your own children, whilst finding yourself parenting your own parents! The expression in The Secret Diary escapes me for a moment [answers on a postcard, please]. And having to cope with all of this, particularly when an emergency comes along, is very, very not easy! And that's being polite. The stress, worry and the sense of being pulled in all directions, whilst finding part of you is sublimanally grieving underneath, either by what's happened, or even by what's not happened yet, its all so very difficult. Perhaps we should form a club of like-minded WBC individuals who can share their woes and tribulations?

The Easter period for us in WBC was a truly joyful and amazing one. Many have provided very positive feedback of the United Good Friday Worship, and to celebrate on Easter Sunday with a Baptism was very thrilling. I observed just how many churches across the SW peninsula were actively involved in Baptismal services. So much so that it was reported and remarked upon by local media. God is clearly doing something new in the UK. To try to label precisely what that is, seems to be a potentially clumsy action at this point. Calling it a "Quiet Revival" may well make us feel warm and fluffy inside, but its premature to give what is happening a title or to analyse it. It seems best for us to engage prayerfully and with all our energies in this current wave and see where it goes.

Going back to how good Easter was, let me put a different personal perspective: it crept up on me, and that's not happened before. What got me this time around was the late breaking up of schools - essentially into Holy Week, or was it simply that Easter was early? Whichever it was, being asked to do Easter assemblies in Holy Week completely threw me, when normally I am doing my best to keep my head above water in Easter preparations. I have this problem at Christmas too and have now inked out those traps in that season. Clearly I am going to have to do the same now for Easter! Even after all these years, I am still mastering my diary so that there are no surprises. Know that feeling?

We have introduced a new channel to our Joyned communication called "Creative" - all of you are creative in numerous ways. Join Joyned Creative channel and share your creations!

I meant to say (and remembered on our dog walk) that Pope Leo is having a top quality run at the moment as he engages prophetically with the challenge of North American war engagement. He is saying publicaly what so many of us in reality think and feel. The contrast is great wherein previously the North American church seemingly acted with prophetic utterance in some areas, now that is gone and lost. If ever they needed to stand up and be counted, this is the time!

Into all of your day-to-day diary and care challenges, and just survival and coping of life, I pray God's peace and blessing.

Pastor Sam