Getting Celebrities Out of Here
Dear Friends
Our nation has been absorbed by jungle antics. Getting celebrities out
of fantasy land has been a month long obsession for Lord Hutton and
others, not to speak of bizarre TV personalities of whom I had never
heard. The bear pit of the tropical island reminded me of my Adventist
boarding school years. Experimental human chemistry, lousy food, poor
sanitation, dishevelment and creepy crawlies in a world connected to reality by a bridge.
John O’ Donohue is a current exponent of Celtic spirituality. His book ‘Exploring our hunger to belong’ attracted me because of our debate on the priority on ‘belonging’.
Try this: ‘Prayer is a bridge between our longing and our belonging’.
“One of the most tender images is the human person at prayer. When the body gathers itself before the Divine, a stillness deepens. The blaring din of distraction ceases and the deeper tranquillity within the heart envelopes the body. To see someone at prayer is a touching sight. It is as if they have chosen to enter into a secret belonging carried within the soul; they rest in that inner temple impervious to outer control or claiming……
Prayer should help us develop the habit of delight….It should arise from, and
bring us to, humour, laughter and joy…. In the silence of our prayer we should be able to sense the roguish smile of a joyful God who, despite all the chaos and imperfection, ultimately shelters everything”.
Having read this chapter heading I better understood the choice of art and the
title of the book Desire of Ages by EG White. It is not just a picture of Christ. It is a representation of our Saviour in prayer longingly bridging our seedy jungle island to the kingdom of our true belonging.
As Dwight Nelson says ‘Forward on our knees’ - the bridge to our belonging.
Please persist with your prayers; for yourself, for others and that God’s message of hope will reach many more,
Yours truly,
Victor