I was thinking we all make excuses. We often use our vulnerable sides as an excuse>It stops us dealng with issues. I was thinking about story Jesus told about the woman who put twopence into the offering. I started to thinkk maybe she was hiding behind her poverty. Allowing it to imprison her free spirit. Too oftrn ot suits us to say we can’t do something even when we know we can’t and we’re oftrn quite relieved.

It’s strange isn’t it?
We all do it.
We make excuses
I mean we use our
Perceived weakness
Like a barrier
to keep people out.
To hide from ourselves.
We use
the things
the feelings
the attitudes
we have inherited
to define us.
Then we say
Sorry I can’t
I’m hopeless
I’m different from you
I’m not educated
I’m poor
I ‘m schizophrenic
I’m homosexual
I’m single
I’m married
I’m just a partner
I’m working
I’m tired
I’m not in charge
I’d love to but ..
I can’t

Its strange isn’t it
Something
Clicks and you
Simply change
You do something
You go out on a limb
You make a promise
You give something away
That’s what I did
I literally gave my poverty away
I opened my purse
I gave all I possessed to God
I can still hear it clinking in the box
Two little pennies
I had no more excuses left
I gave my weakness away
I walked through
A cross spaced shape
Into freedom.

Recently I’ve been reflecting upon the whole notion of confidence.  We mere mortals need to be more humble as we pass through time into eternity. Especially those of the evangelical kind. Sometimes we can act as though we know everything, or we can give that impression. We leave no room for doubt or those who might want to question.

Dare I say it, I’m sure when growing up I was even part of that merry band. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we cannot speak of what we have come to understand with a certain amount of confidence. Peter  in his epistle tells us to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have deep within us.

I’m simply saying we need to remember, we don’t see or understand the complete picture. We  only see through a glass darkly, as Paul says in Corinthians 13. Anyway here are some musing on the topic. While You read  have a listen to ” Gabrel’s Oboe, “Gabriel’s Oboe” from the Mission. I find this piece of music has a wonderful reassuring quality saying all will be well.

TIME ETERNITY ON THE TANNOY

To be standing in the midst of chaos

Like a traveller passing through the night

To feel there’ll be no tomorrow

If you don’t get on the next flight

An announcement on the tannoy

Tries to re-assure your mind

But the voice is so familiar

You  could be listening to yourself

To be walking in the midst of protest

Like a prophet fool of doubt

To know there will be a judgement

Even if the Jury’s out

Then you read a headline in the newspaper

Of what you dreamt the night before

And it sounded so familiar

Like the opening of a door

To be stumbling on the edge of freedom

Like a blind man gaining sight

To take one step forward

And begin dancing in the light

And a voice like a thousand rivers

Roars a welcome not yet heard

And etermity spins in silence

Leaving time to close the door

I was visiting Glasgow the other day and i dropped into Renfield St Stephen’s for some lunch. here was a reason for the visit but that is another story, for another time. the Church is based in the centre of the city and has a cafe that s opened most days. it was good to meet up with my friend peter who is the minister of the parish. Peter is a really interesting guy, he always has something thoughful and creative on the boil. After lunch he said to me ” have you five minutes?” We excused ourselves from the table and I follwed him along the corridor into the church.

There hanging in the sanctuary was the cross in space.

If you look closely at the material, it is bits of white paper torn up and glued together. The overlapping of the paper with the torn edges have the effect of creating a kind of angel wings look. I found all this quite wonderful and powerfully symbolic.Angels guarding the space of the cross!

It got me thinking that we could use this for our next “SANCTUARY FIRST SERVICE on the 3rd May..

The idea I have is all life in now understood through the cross.
The cross is the space we all need to move into and through.

I can see people slipping through the gap the cross has made.
Slipping into a new life a new place
You can pass from one place to the next
Interesting to think about the space the cross makes
in space, in our lives, in our world?

The cross helps us move through time
even into eternity.

The cross creates a new world order
the new creation!

The cross is the bridge that takes us from darkness to light.
From pain to healing from disappointment to joy.
from unemployment to understanding
that life is work in itself and gives meaning
because life has meaning
So we move from life to beyond

So I thought we could explore the cross as the space of recreation in the world.
The space for change
The space for hope.

The space of relationships

So I’m looking for help

Starting from
“and through him (Jesus) to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Col 1:20 The God is who is reconciling all creation- redeeming time
redeeming life even redeeming our cultures.

We could start to explore what this means?

It would be cool to use the image of the cross and have images back projected on the four pieces of paper

use light at the back and see how the cross image would look.

Use people to move through the space

use the cross space to create a dance
To create an idea of mystery beyond
What does a cross shaped beyond look like?

Anyway this is a starter for ten

It is usings and thoughts to make you think and contribute.

I’d love to hear some of your ideas we could use in the service.

You know something my spirits were raise this afternoon, the gardener has turned up and cut my grass. Is this a sign of old age?  Or perhaps a sigh of relief that Mrs iTalker will be very very happy. I’m told that in the modern world of home decoration the garden has become an extension of your home. Indeed it is looked upon as another room. It is not enough to have an attractive house inside, your garden has to reflect your personality. Hence the increase in all the gardening centres that have sprung up all over the place since the 1990s. So I thought you might like to see my wonderful garden. The heather has been a particular success it covers up the borders and means there is no need to do weeding. This is the brain child of Mrs iTalker.

All this has got me thinking maybe I have become mad. I bought a garden stove last week. I did so because I’m fed up with these electric paper shredders. I think I’m a jinx when it comes to using them. They always get jammed up and then I spend a good hour trying to free the blades. So I’ve come up with a cunning scheme – the wood burning garden stove. I’m going to use it to burn all my papers. No more shredding for me. It even has a wee grill on it so I might be able to cook a few burgers or sausages on it. Well as you can see the stove is a real burning success. But there is a downside I’m going to have to go for a shower I’m smelling of burning wood. I can see i still have a lot to learn about the use of these little wood burners but as I get more acquainted I’ll keep you up to date. Meanwhile I’m reasonably pleased with my acquisition. I know I’m doing something to environment but you must admit the wee stove looks good even a wee bit sinister? 

Its now Easter Sunday 2009. Later on today I’m going to use the text in Galatians 2.20 to try and explain to the congregation the impact that the death of Christ has on all of us who seek to be his disciple. In this section of the Epistle Paul writes these words” I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Here we know that this is not meant to be a literal understanding. Clearly Paul was never crucified in a physical sense. However here he is elluding to the challenge of putting to death the ego in order that a new more godly peron might emerge in our lives. I looking forward to seeking ro explain the practical significance of the resurrection on the lives of all of us who sy we are Christians. So tell me what is it about the resurrection that allows you to go to your work or studies with a different perspective on the world?

I wrote this last week while travelling in the Atacama desert.  The Atacama is one of the driest places on Earth,^[9] and is virtually sterile because it is blocked from moisture on both sides by the Andes mountains  by the Chilean Coast Range. Here in this hot dusty environment I began to think about the fate of Jesus hanging on a cross in the middle of a desert place. A place where the waste from the city is discarded. Humanity has a great ability to treat humanity with such inhumanity. And when it comes to God – well we just don’t seem to be able to recognise him.

 

A man cried

Seven phrases

In a dry hot dust covered desert

Most thought he was mad

But his words changed humanity.

It seemed no one was listening

He was too hot to handle

Everything was over exposed

Including their souls

Too much sunlight obscures the view

He cries I’m thirsty

He become invisible

Two thousand years later nothing changes

The crucified poor are still left

To cry I’m thirsty 

A man had six phrases left

Six before he died

Surrounded by tretchery

Lies and steel

As soldier stabs his hand with nails

He drew the sting and spoke a word

That demons fear

And angels can’t repeat

And hammered blows are cushioned

By the shock  of  the cry  - Forgive!

Nothing changes

The crucified still forgive today

And in forgiving are crucified again

By those who refuse to let forgiveness

Reconcile  their hurting hearts to bring about peace

With five still left

One for each finger on his palm

Open hand and tearful eyed

He speaks to broken hearts

A word of comfort to revive

Behold my kin my friend your son

You can survive

The cruel lost

Embrace my gift close to your heart

Love camnot be crucified it will survive

Four phrases left still breathing hope

He speaks a word

Where hope is lost

He hangs amidst a waste of space

A thief a murderer has graced

And something changed a selfish heart

To empty out his fearful thoughts

He’d be forgotten lost in time forever.

An echo to the thought returns

Not lost but found in Paradise

With the third cry comes a puzzle

Why would God deny his double

It’s one thing friends denying friends

But how can God deny himself?

Rejected lost abandoned divorced

Can it be the Trinity is broken?

Two against one

A Shadow cast across a face

And then a thought could God be dead

We’re all alone on the edge of time dying

God forsaken crucified by our fathers

The Desert man begins to sigh

Two more phrases still to cry

evil takes the strain of love

But cannot break the bonds if grace

There’s beauty in this awful place

Restoring faith to love and hope

And all who look uncover truth

Amazed to find that mercy lives

And now the cry that cannot end

Commands the ears of everyman

It’s finished.!

Completed

For all time!

A final phrase is breathed aloud

Father into their hearts

I’ve breathed my Spirit

Well I’m back in in Scotland after a busy couple of weeks moving around Peru. I was glad that Willie insisted that we get seats at the front of the plane. We arrived late into Amsterdam and just reached the checking in gate for Edinburgh before it closed. I don’t think either of us could have stuck another six hours in an airport. Anyway big thanks to Willie, he was a great travelling companion, we got on well and I believe we managed to move our projects on a little further in Peru. In due course we’ll share some of our future plans. Meanwhile it full steam ahead to sort out our barge project. Talking about home. It was good to catch up with Gordon Reid yesterday. Gordon has just recently retired from his charge in Dunfermline. He did the preaching for me  I knew the flight would get in late on Saturday afternoon. I didn’t want to be preparing a sermon when I got home.

Gordon is an engaging speaker and he picked up on our theme for the day which was walking the road of holiness. Its worth listening to as a download. Go to www.standonline.org.uk. While your there have a look at the Holy Week video. Its worth a look. Jonathan Winkley presents the video really well. Looking at this reminds me of footage we shot a few years ago. If I have time we might use some of it for the Tenebrae Service this coming Saturday Night

Anyway getting back to what I was saying. The biggest challenge was the Sanctuary First Service. I must say we have a brilliant team. Everyone worked so hard and in the end produced a first rate piece of work. if i have any criticism it is this, once again I think it went on a bit too long. However regardless of the time I think the over all concept worked. the palms we got were outstanding.

We commissioned Jamie Stuart, the author of the Glasgow Gospels to do a piece to camera about the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It was a great wee video. I’ll try and get a hold of it and put it up on the blog. The idea or the theme behind the service was this ” Some people just can’t see it” You know what I mean. there are things in life, that you can talk about till your blue in the face and still some people just won’t get it. Where we give up the Easter story tell us that Christ never gives up. However he weeps for those who just can’t see. He weeps over Jerusalem.

We also used a track from U2s new album, “White As Snow” to introduce a meditation written by Maggie Lane while she was in Jerusalem last week. This song reflects the same tune as the Christmas or Advent carol, O Come O Come Emmanuel. U2 have adapted it a bit and written a whole new set of lyrics.

After this we invited the congregation to move to four stations where they could encounter the four Cries for Salvation. The Cries of Creation, the Cries of Humanity, the Cries of the Heart, and the Cries of the Christ. I think we could have perhaps reduced the prayer zones, but i’d be interested to hear other people’s view point on the whole service. One other thing it would be good to hear from all of yiou who have signed up on the lenten Journey I’d love to hear how some of these texts have impacted on your lives. During this week I’ll make a post on the Lenten Journey so that I can hear from all of you. I’ll get Neil to text everyone.

Well I’ve been out of range of WiFi for the past couple of days. This post will serve as my last one from this trip to Peru. I’m sitting in the KLM Business Lounge writing this post. Like all travellers I can’t wait to get home.

Yesterday, was just one of those magical days in your life. We left Paul’s house just after 6.30am to miss the traffic. We were heading for the airport in Lima to take a flight to Cusco. From Cusco we would travel to the Sacred Valley to a town called Urabamba.

We arrived in Urabamba just after lunchtime. The little lodging house we checked into was amazing. Well specked, I’m told it is owned by a priest in Europe, it’s his nest egg for retirement. It was a good place to wash and get freshened up before heading out on a one hour trip to the latest Girasoles Home in the sacred valley. What a magnificent setting.

We picked up a crowd of the boys returning from school. They all climbed into the new minibus. This bus was donated by Greenbank Church Youth Group in Edinburgh. This has proved to be a tremendously useful gift . The fact is that this home is so isolated, without the minibus it is difficult to see how the boys would get about.

We arrive at the home around 3.00pm. What a welcome we received. I’m sure all forty boys run towards the bus shouting their words of welcome. Hector their house father jumps out of the van and introduces Willie and myself and our friend David who has joined us for this trip.

The home sits in what can only be described as a little piece of paradise. The huge mountains in the background and the shining silvery river running behind the home all adds up an amazing idealic setting.

The boys are anxious to show us  round their home to see their rooms. The first thing that strikes you is how tidy their rooms are. Willie comes over to me, “go on, take a picture of this wee boy’s bed, it could make you cry.” Well in this setting the sensitive side of McPherson is revealed as we look at a bunk bed with a wee boys teddy all ready and prepared for sleep. Its actually a little lamb. How wonderful to think that a child that once was on the street can regain something of the innocence and fun connected with childhood. More than this I recall to myself the words of the song.”Wherever I hand my hat that’s my home”

A few minutes later the boys are called for their evening meal. One of the children stands and gives thanks for the food. Then each table is served. Soup was the first course followed by chicken and rice, then jelly and angel delight. The boys didn’t leave a scap. It was great to see forty hungry boys getting tucked in.

After supper the boys had some time to play. David had brought a gift for the boys. A game of Table Tennis. This amuses a large number of the lads. Others had their pockets filled with marbles while others played football. In another area a group were doing homework, while a couple of boys had been detailed for washing up.

I move around the site taking pictures. Then something quite amazing happens. A rainbow appears on the sky just above the home. For me this was a sign a wonderful sign that God was smiling down our efforts.

On this journey we have visited the many varied projects run by Union Biblical and funded by the Vine Trust. It has been great joy to represent all of us in Scotland and beyond who have so faithfully supported the work. Of course I heard about challenges and difficulties but I also met people in Peru who are willing to face these challenges knowing that God is with us. For more pictures check out my picture gallery.

The return journey from Ica was very pleasant. We had our five hour trip reduced to four hours because we used the Royal Classic Service. The bus had seen better days but it was an express service. We even had reclining seats. This was pure luxury compared to the busy service bus the previous days. It was well worth the extra 17 soles.

I check my film in the cam corder and decided there was enough footage for Rae to use in a short film we’re making for a client of Sanctua Media. Willie also filmed me making our appeal to complete the latest Vine Trust promotional video. A trip like this is an excellent opportunity to get new footage for our film library. Willie and Paul sleep for a good part of the journey.

Today started off a bit more slowly. Both Willie and I have appointments with different people. I’m going to be meeting up with Pablo Lavador. He is the over all director of the Girasoles programme. We have a forty minute car ride into the centre of Lima but first Willie has to stop off to pick up his shoes from the cobblers. Willie explains how Peru is a great place to get things repaired. So if your shoes need repaired why pay forty pounds at home when you can get them fixed for five pounds. We stop off at the shop in the small town of Chaclacayo where Paul Clark lives. A lady is sweeping the dust into the street from her shop. It could be Bo’ness outside Brian’s Cafe. Makes you think the same characters are in every town the world over.

Before long I meet Pablo, he welcomes me with a genuine smile. He is the man who takes the responsibilty for the safe running of the five homes which Union Biblica at present run. Four of these homes are virtually funded by the Vine Trust. I’m anxious to hear about the new plans relating to the restructuring of the Street Boys Programme in Iquitos. Pablo explains the circumstances surrounding the closure of the day centre. Much of this has been brought about by the demise of the Rickshaw Project. Basically the influx of cheap Chinese rickshaws offered to drivers at very low rates has meant that no one wants to hire the rickshaws anymore. It is more profitable to take a Chinese Rickshaw on a hire purchase agreement. The point was that the profit from the motorised rickshaws paid for the programme.

These are some of the issues facing Pablo and his team. He had decided to return to a more basic programme of connecting with abandoned boys and offering a much reduced service using his existing budget. He moves on to explain how fortunate he has been in the directors of each home. The twice a year training programme for the directors paid for by the Vine Trust has proved to be a great success. We talk about how we can continue to add value to his service. In all this was an opportunity for me to ask questions and to express to Pablo our thanks as a trust for all he and his staff are achieving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I turn round and Lewis Malca is in the building. Be has come to take us to China Town for lunch.
Walking through this part of Lima we stop and state at a brick in the road with Marty and Paul Clark’s name in it. Apparently this was a gimmick to raise funds to brick the road. Willie suggests that this might be an idea I adopt to raise the funds for our proposed refurbishment of St Andrew’s Bo’ness. We finally reach our restaurant. The food was quite magnificent. Willie is still raving about the duck he had for lunch as we make our way through the streets of Lima in Lewis’s huge Jeep. I take a photo. It says it all.

We live in a world of have and have nots. We can stay in our air conditioned machines and ignore the struggling pain of the poor as they try to sell us their trinkets, or we can engage with our world and become changemakers by our example and lifestyle.

So does this mean we give up the things we love and live more frugal lives? Perhaps? But one thing I do know God has given us life to enjoy to the full. I’m discovering the more we serve the more we enjoy.

Go on tell me what do you think?

There is so much to learn and not enough time to understand all that you see around you. The Jungle seems a far cry from the desert but that’s where I’ve been for the past day. We took a five hour trip by bus to Ica. Ica is a city of around 300,000 people. It is in the Atacama desert. This is an area of olives and vines and nuts. It is also the area of Peru that was hit with an enormous earthquake in August 2007. The bus lacked air conditioning but it was busy as people came on and off with their luggage. Public buses are notorious working environments for thieves. I sit with Willie and Paul takes his seat across the passage for most of the journey, I’m listening to U2 on and off. I really connect with the new album, “No line on the Horizon”. The song “Unknown Caller” is for me an amazing experience of Joy. This is something we all need a touch of today. Willie gives me a nudge we’re nearly at our journey’s end “Watch your bag” he says, “there’s ‘a tea leaf’ behind you.”
I casually glance round. A boy in his teens dressed in white with a baseball hat pulled over his eyes is standing up behind Willie’s seat. The bus stops the guy gets out the woman in front confirms he is a thief and that we’ve fortunately survived his attempt at robbing us. We finally arrive at the bus station. We grab a taxi and within a few minutes were meeting Augusto and Nancy. This couple have been seeking to integrate 40 children from off the street into a family unit. Before long there is real evidence that this is happening. The boys are busy with their homework when we arrive at the home about 11am. By 12 noon they are getting prepared to go off to school. They grab some lunch and move out to catch the school bus.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During lunch I begin to remember the trip I made with Ken Jeffrey some three years ago. We were in a mini bus returning home from a ten day fact finding tour. Ken’s an Irishman who doesn’t mince his words. You’d think Ian Paisley was speaking as he shouts in my ear “I’m angry again Albert. I’ve not felt this angry in years. I need to do something to help these children.” It all came back to me as the children were eating their lunch. Ken’s anger had helped to move the hearts of Coupar Old to raise enough money to build a home. The children pray for Ken everyday. I’m sure he often thanks God for making him angry. I know at least 40 boys who are eternally grateful that God made him angry. I came away from the home encouraged that the children, some of whom suffered in the earthquake, now find themselves part of a new family