Psalms: 29, 98
Old Testament: Isaiah 66:18-23
New Testament: Romans 15:7-13

Movilio courting Olivia from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.  Being the last day/evening of Christmas, January 5th is a popular night for festive celebration and entertainment in Britain.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13)

So distracted…….must…..post…..to…….blog :S

Seriously……I think I’m relishing in my laziness….I only have some 20 days of being slothful….after that, and being ordained, praying the Daily Office every day becomes part of a vow and something I can’t ignore lol 🙂

Tonight was one of the first evenings in a while that I felt myself missing prayer….so here I am….some 60 minutes later with some thoughts.

The quote from Romans above can be used as one of the closing lines of Morning or Evening Prayer….and I think it’s important for us to take some time to look at this whole peace and joy business :).

As a former Roman Catholic, and finding myself in a fractured Church family…(although come to think of it, the Church is always broken)….I often find myself faced with walls of bias, mistrust, or outright distaste.

To give an example of what I am talking about….I have heard stories of RC clergy that have refused to give Anglican clergy the Eucharist. While this definitely falls within the priest’s jurisdiction of Closed Communion…it has always baffled me.

Similary, I find it odd when those who are ordained or involved in the Church “write off” or try to explain away the past atrocities of the institution they serve. For survivors of sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse, those scars are real and don’t go away. 😦

The message of the Epiphany though is that nothing that divides us is as strong as the the God who binds us together. The joy and peace that comes from believing is not necessarily a feeling of certainty…..but of a knowledge that we are part of something bigger….

Something that has the power to bring even the furthest apart to an intimate close relationship.

The walls of denomination, skepticism, or misguided behaviour mean nothing when we remember that God called the entire world “very good” and that his Son came to set up a tent with us in solidarity.

We are never alone…and while that notion can be scary sometimes…..it can also be the one thing that gives us something to hope for, and a joy to cling to. +