useless

According to Griff Rhys Jones, Darnley Mausoleum is "useless like a great statue is useless, or a great work of art is useless. It's also a great work of art".

Sometimes people are called useless. Maybe we have said it, or it has been said to us.

I remember preparing a paper at college on Utilitarianism and at the time I was somewhat taken with this ethical theory. In some ways I still am. After all the idea of "the greatest good for the greatest number" does sound quite appealing.

The danger is, of course, that usefulness becomes the litmus test for value.

The value or worth of something, or indeed someone, cannot be defined solely in terms of its usefulness. We need to go beyond utility.

God in all his magnificent glory exists beyond anything that we can offer, yet he chooses to draw near day after day and say, "I love you".

We are not loved because of our usefulness to God (phew!). God loves us because he loves us.

Ultimately relationships are not about 'doing' they are about 'being'.

To be in Your presence
To sit at Your feet,
Where Your love surrounds me,
And makes me complete.

This is my desire, O Lord,
This is my desire.
This is my desire, O Lord,
This is my desire.

To rest in Your presence,
Not rushing away;
To cherish each moment,
Here I would stay.

This is my desire, O Lord,
This is my desire.
This is my desire, O Lord,
This is my desire.
(Noel Richards)

See also Psalm 84 and Luke 10:38-42

wedding

It's been nearly two weeks since our wedding.

We had a fabulous day and we would like to thank everyone who came along, took part and helped out to make the day as special as it was.

Thank you!

risen

magic

What with the busyness of wedding preparations and work, not to mention my terrible cold (I'm not good when I'm ill), blogging has taken a bit of a backseat.

One thing that caught my attention this week was a magic wand in Abby's vet kit.

I'm not sure how it ended up there, and it certainly seemed out of place amongst the toy stethoscope, bandages, syringe etc.

It made me think that if all else fails you can whip out the magic wand in the hope of putting things right.

How often do we have that attitude to prayer? If all else fails - pray!

Begin with prayer - talking and listening.

twins

follow

Twenty one years ago, at about 9.30pm in a car park in Redbourn, I made a decision to follow Jesus.

There have undoubtedly been times when onlookers will have questioned the validity of my decision, and to be fair my actions have not always lived up to my words.

I have always been, and constantly remain, dependant on God's grace.

Regardless of any successes or failures on my part it will always be the best decision I ever made, and the glory belongs to Him.

love

While talking on the phone to a friend yesterday he asked me what he could do to more obviously demonstrate love to his wife.

My suggestion was to make a list of three things that really bugged his wife and start work on putting one of them right. To compliment that I also suggested that he make a list of three ways he could really spoil his wife and make one of them happen.

I confessed to him that if Justine heard my suggestions she might wonder why I don't put them into practice myself.

Fair point.

I'll shall start work on my two lists today.