When talking to yourself is good
We joke about talking to ourselves. There are those who quip that it is the only intelligent conversation they ever have. For others it may be a mark of isolation, even loneliness, that they need to hear the sound of a voice, any voice, even their own. Some of us are just plain eccentric!
For Christians, there is a healthy way we need to talk to ourselves. The 20th century Welsh preacher, Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote a helpful and insightful book entitled ‘Spiritual depression’, in which he commented:
Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself.
He points to an important distinction. Too often we listen to ourselves instead of giving ourselves a good talking-to! We allow ourselves to be preoccupied with our woes, or our fears, or our bewildered perplexity at what is happening around us. In this sense we are ‘listening’ too much to ourselves. Instead, we need to give ourselves a good talking-to, by reminding ourselves of all we know for certain about God.
The Book of Habakkuk is a little-read book towards the end of the Old Testament. Habakkuk is not so much bringing a message from God as entering into dialogue with God. The prophet is utterly perplexed because it seems that God is sitting on his hands whilst his people are in such a spiritual and moral mess (1:1-4). To make matters worse, when Habakkuk brings this ‘complaint’ to God, the divine response leaves the man utterly thunder-struck. God explains that, actually, he is not sitting on his hands, but is raising up the fiercest, most violent and brutal killing machine of its day, the Babylonians, to judge wickedness, and (mysteriously) carry forward his good purposes (1:5-11). This raises all kinds of dilemmas for Habakkuk. But the manner in which he deals with his concerns is instructive. Instead of immediately launching forth in objection to what God is doing, he begins by reminding himself of what he knows God is like:
Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgement, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. 1:12
In other words, he talks to himself before he listens to himself. Do you recognise the difference? Before he listens to his own anxious questions about what (and why) God is allowing or doing (about which he has a very incomplete picture), he frames everything with a talk to himself about the things that are more certain – how God is reliable in his eternity, and how God is faithfully committed to his people (O Lord my God, my Holy One), and how he is working out his plans and purposes as he always has, and those plans and purposes are the same, and (we know) lead ultimately to Christ.
We may have perplexing questions about recent events such as ‘Why did God allow a pandemic?’ or ‘Why did God allow my relative/ friend to die of Covid-19?’ or ‘Why is there so much change coming to the Church?’ When we ask these questions, and allow ourselves to be distracted by the issues behind them, we risk ‘listening’ to ourselves too much. On that path lies despair, and endless doubt. Let’s be clear: these are questions we often need to ask. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with asking them (which is one of the lessons of Habakkuk). We ought to bring them with honesty before God. But we must give ourselves a talking-to first, by starting with what we already know about God. Deal with the perplexities of the life of faith and the bewildering unknowns against the background of what is known.
Let me put this another way: What we know about God is far more important than what we don’t know. We need to tell ourselves that in the midst of the hard things of life.
Your minister
Martin
Visit of Gerard Charles 9th October
We have supported the Charles’s family for many years. Gerard is OMF’s North England representative. Gerard will be speaking during morning worship on 9th October.
Afternoon Services
The Kirk Session is aware that there are a number of our folk who, either because of their own health or that of a loved one, find it difficult to attend worship either in the morning or the evening. We will therefore begin occasional afternoon services. On those Sundays there will be no evening service. The dates we have provisionally fixed for this are: October 2nd, November 6th and December 4th at 3pm.
Communion
The next communion service will be on the morning of Sunday 6th November.
The resumption of communion services has been tentative, given the concerns surrounding infection control. For many people these concerns are ongoing, and so we will continue to simplify the conduct of communion, taking care to minimise risks. Given the added care and preparation necessary, we will only celebrate communion on the morning of the 6th November.
Farmers in Nepal: Harvest Sunday 25th September
This year we plan to support Tearfund’s work in Nepal. Their information pack describes how:
The climate crisis is forcing families in Nepal to shrink back from their dreams. Trapped by hunger and poverty, communities are withering away. Most farmers in Nepal are subsistence farmers – meaning they plant enough to feed their families. When crops fail, families go hungry. Young people are forced to move away from once thriving villages to find work elsewhere and communities perish.
On Harvest Sunday 25th September we will learn about Mahima who lives with her husband and 3 children in a remote area of Nepal. Their community relies on monsoon rains for a successful harvest. However hard she and her family work, the impacts of climate change over the last 10 years has meant that rains are now erratic and crops only yield enough to last 4 months.
What is Tearfund doing? Tearfund has been working in Nepal for more than 50 years. This means they have established relationships with local authorities and communities, so able to partner with them effectively to transform lives. Through their local partners they are:
training farmers in new techniques to help them produce more crops in this changing climate setting up irrigation systems to make people less dependent on the rains teaching communities how to farm sustainably so they can protect the land for generations to come
£41 could train a farmer like Mahima in new farming techniques so they can free themselves from poverty.
£88 could help set up a new water irrigation system, enabling local farmers like Mahima to adapt to the climate crisis.
£184 could provide a farmer like Mahima with materials to launch a new business in struggling communities, investing in them for the future.
Please place your gifts in an envelope clearly marked ‘Harvest’ and place it in the offering basket.
Tins for Foodbank: In addition, we will receive and pass on tins of food for the Foodbank, which may be brought during morning worship.
Heating Hospitality
A number of churches throughout the land are planning to open their buildings to allow people to find a warm place to sit and enjoy company, without having to heat their own homes.
We plan to do this through the Open Door which meets on Thursday mornings. Once we are all updated regarding hygiene certificates (which lapsed during pandemic) we will be able to reinstate Home Baking.
Keswick Ayrshire: Confident Christianity: 1st October
Many enjoyed Keswick Ayrshire earlier this year. This is to be followed up by a day conference in West Kilbride Parish Church on 1st October. All the details and tickets can be booked at keswickayrshire.com