Those who wait...
From Father Michael, Methley Rectory
"Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength".
Have you been in a large bookshop recently and had a good look around? You would have seen, I am sure, the large so called "religious" section with books on all sorts of religious topics. Apart from Bibles and Prayer Books there will be many about the scriptures and their interpretation. There will be many books on topics which are hardly specifically Christian but are to help people with their search for a higher and spiritual sphere. There will be books of prayers for personal use, books of meditation subjects and methods and so on. I would guess that the next well provided single topic is for books on aspects of Computing!
The fact is very apparent that there is a great and widespread thirst for what is religious and God centred. We say very frequently "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". [Based on words of Our Lord Himself.] We, in Church, are some way along the road of understanding the will of Jesus and the nature of God Himself and the influence and strength of the Holy Spirit which helps us do what is expected of us. Yet, we all still have a way to go to deepen our faith and it is important that we strengthen our knowledge of both the Holy Scriptures and God Himself. At the very least we can study the Sunday readings carefully, listen to the sermon and make the intercessions part of our own prayers. Don't fall into the error of thinking that we need only concentrate on just one of the two divine requisites: "Love God" and "Love your neighbour". It is so clear that VERY many people work to improve the quality of life of those who are much less fortunate. Good, good, good. But remember that both aspects of Jesus' command are important and we cannot get by with just one and without the other.
Coming out of this thinking is the fact that we each aim to live a positive Christian Life which others will see and want to be part of - each using our God given talents to help and encourage others to do the same.