Air-quality

This was one of those rare occasions when I actually ploughed into the washing up. 

I bought some hyacinth blue the other day and they have flowered really quickly. 

As I was washing up I caught a waft of delicate floral scent. 

This plant is having a good effect on our kitchen atmosphere. So when you breath in, its pleasant. 

Living in Plumstead, London as I have for 3 years now, the air quality is not always tip-top. 

I wonder if the chemicals and dust that I breathe in on a daily basis have had an impact on the overactive thyroid that I have at the moment. 

I also know that stress and anger have contributed to it. When I say I 'Know', I mean I have a feeling deep in my gut. 

That made me think about the atmosphere I am creating, and letting other people create around me. 

What's my air quality like? 

Jesus has a fragrance which is beautiful to me (Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. The Bible, New Living Translation (2007)

Do I take time to breathe it in?

Snow breath

Sometimes it's so cold, it makes you catch your breath. 

I wonder if that has happened for many people having God moments in the snow.

I had one, waiting for people to arrive for the sunday morning meeting yesterday. (If anyone turned up).

 I had set up the projector and put the words of this song up:

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways!
Re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise;
in deeper reverence, praise.
  

Words: John Greenleaf Whittier, 1872

Music: Repton, Rest, Hermann, Hammersmith, Engedi 

I had the instrumental music playing in the background and I kept going to the door of the church to look out, not to see if anyone was coming, but to watch the gentle, peaceful drifting of snowflakes to the ground.

It was obviously too early on a sunday morning even for the children to be out playing on the estate, so the snow was untouched and there was a blanket of quiet covering the area.

It was a while before anyone turned up, which they did, braving the good few centimetres of snow to come to connect with God. 

I had a real sense of peace and rest during those moments. 

It really was a chance to breathe.

Breathe

The word 'connecting' can be used in a range of ways.
It can be very superficial: "I've made some good connections for work."
Or very deep: "We had a real connection."

Rob Bell, in his short film 'Breathe' talks about how the name Yahweh sounds a lot like breathing.
The ground of our being is as close to us as our breath.
If that's true, isn't it easy to connect with God? As easy as taking a breath?

But it isn't. Or is it?

This blog is a bit of a personal experiment in this area.
This year I'm going to try to notice and discover what helps me to connect with God.

Maybe others will come up with some good ideas too?

The picture above was taken on the way to see friends near Salisbury on New Year's Day. It was taken in the car, but we did get out in the fresh air later. The colours, the quiet, the pie, the breeze, the mud, the 'Heston's Christmas cake' all did me the world of good in my spirit. Good start to the new year.