The war psalm

Be still and know that I am God. Ps 46:10.
There is a stillness and a calm about the morning and the only sound is the silence. Lately this type of day has not been seen much. The catastrophic fires, the mega hailstorm, the wind that blows erratically with a pace about it we don't  often see and in itself creating massive dust storms. Sometimes we feel quite helpless as all of this rages around us but we remember in our helplessness that God is the helper.  Listen to God - he may use anything to break through - not an earthquake, but a still small voice.

The Lord your God is with you.

The sun will shine again

'.....we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us.' Hebrews 6:28
There is hope in the blade of green grass growing on the verge.
There is hope for the burnt trees. They will sprout again.
There is hope for the dry burnt earth as gentle rain falls on its bed of white ash.
There is hope for the farmer that his dams are filling with fresh beautiful water..
There is hope for those who have lost all. The sun will shine again.
There is hope in the more calm of the day where the sky is blue not red and black
There is hope for the remaining wild life being found, fed and nursed.
There is hope. There is hope. There is always hope.
May we never lose hope.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

one green growth pushing through with hope

He has given us a new birth into a living hope. 1 Peter 1:3
There among the debris of bone  dry grass all but given way to bare soil, lay a collective of fallen branches from a tinder dry tree and  leaves that  have fallen prematurely. It was here I came upon a tiny flower its leaves and blooms trying to defy its surrounding circumstances and it was smiling with colours of pale blue and green upright stems. It was just tiny but its presence packed an enormous  punch in an environment that had all but given up surviving in the dry parched land. Its presence lifted my spirit and I called the flower  hope as I lifted my eyes from the gift to the giver.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Open our eyes that we may see

And love came down

Sir, we wish to see Jesus. John 12:21
Its pitch black in the middle of the day and the sun at sunset is blood red. Smoke consumes our daily living and where is God I hear some say. We have just celebrated Christmas and  what is Christmas? Its love that came down to dwell among us in a world full of crisis. Its Jesus love which will never fail us and I can hear him say 'I will never leave you, I will never forsake you, come what may.' and amidst all the chaos and drama there are many tails rising of countless blessings and unexpected miracle and a multitude of neighborly love to strangers and friends and  animals. That is Jesus walking beside us asking no more of us than to love our neighbor.. Nelson Rockerfeller said:Never forget that the most powerful thing on earth is love.'
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

There are a multitude of Christmases in love

Bells and bush fires

'To you, O Lord I cry. For the fires have devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have burned all the trees and fields. Even the wild animals cry to you because the watercourses are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. Joel 1:19-20
Bells have been a part of human life for many years. I recall some years ago the arrival of the bells to complete the set at St Saviours Cathedral in Goulburn, our Mother Church. They had been brought to Goulburn on the back of a semi trailer to be installed in the bell tower. They were all named after the ships of the First Fleet and now summons people to worship and on occasions of celebration and on times of  drawing a community together.  I can think of bells as church bells,dinner bells,school bells, fire bells, all used to gather people. In these terrible times when our country is on fire and lives, property, fauna and wildlife are perishing in unprecedented fire storms and mega fires,we lost the  church of St Saviour's  at Quaama near Cobargo. It had stood there for over 100 years a place of gathering, but the one thing that was left standing was the bell on its bell tower. I see this as a real symbol of hope. It will ring again in the future to gather people of that community  when the crisis is past,to grieve all the losses and to bring comfort and hope. How special is that. The one thing that gathers God's people has survived to gather yet again.
Let there be hope - let there be love.
Anne, servant of the Lords.

The bell --Retreat center Mittagong