It's all about where we are looking. My eyes are often on the chaos. My ears are attuned to the voices of despair and the boasts of dishonesty. I focus on the reason to be miserable and the causes of doubt. I fix my eyes on the things I lack – some of those things belong to other people, some are beyond my ability to buy, some are denied me because I have responsibilities to work and serve and love. And this, I’m convinced, is the single greatest cause of my unhappiness, my wishful thinking, my resentment, my envy, my feelings of inadequacy and my fear of the future. Taking my eyes off God, rejecting Paul’s glorious invitation to focus on the beautiful, the true, the noble, the just, the honorable, the pure, the commendable.

Maybe the hardest person to tell the truth to is yourself. Somehow it’s easier to say it to God. But to tell yourself the truth is really hard, and if you do that then you may have to change. What are these truths that people find so desperately hard to say to themselves? ‘You’re too dependent on life’s trivia. Your values are shallow. You’re losing your grip on what’s really important in life. You’re an addict. Your relationship needs urgent attention. Your performance is slipping. You’re hurting yourself. You’re starting to believe your press. You are not as perfect as people think you are. You’re not as bad as people think you are.’ These are harsh truths. But how much better is it that we say them to ourselves before someone else says them to us. Because you know what? You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Lies don’t do that. Carefully chosen words that are intended to mislead without actually lying don’t do that.

Spiritually speaking, the only people who can’t be healed are those who don’t think they’re sick. Christ saves us – but he will only save the real us – the us who know we need it. He can’t save our false selves, the mask-wearing actors we often feel the urge to be. Saints are not perfect people, we’re people who know we’re not perfect and so rely on God’s grace.

Because according to Jesus, it doesn’t matter when you were called to the vineyard, our reward is the same and so is our value. Those who have been in the church for many years provide stability, maturity, wisdom, perspective, an example of faithful perseverance which his crucial in any church. Those dear ones are the guardians of our story and the gatekeepers of our community. But, equally, the enthusiasm, the freshness, the healthy questions, the new perspective of the late hires is vital if we are to be a truly healthy parish church.

The strong Christians, though, have a big boat. It’s not so sturdy and is certainly less tidy that the other boat. In fact, it can get downright messy. With so many people in the boat, everyone has their own ideas about this, that and the other thing. There are a few rules, protecting the core values that keep the boat together, like love and joy that embrace the chaos and they welcome difference. They don’t sweat the small stuff.

Fourteen weeks From Eden to Egypt and Out Again. Here’s what I’m taking away – it’s the constant theme running through these stories, and is so apt for the summer of Covid. Hear the Word of the Lord: God has a plan. We can’t see what it is, but all our experiences are working together for the good – ours and the world’s. Hold on to that promise, go on in faith, and see what God will do for you.

A fugitive is not beyond restoration. A murderer is not beyond redemption. A person who lives with the consciousness of their moral failings, and who now wrestles with thoughts of whether God can ever use them does not just have a place in God’s heart, but a place in God’s plans. A person struggling with fear, doubt and inner conflict, a person who doesn’t even know who they are is the prime candidate for a series of miracles that changed a nation.

Faith seeks out the quiet sounds of God in the world filled with deafening noise. But as on a submarine, it does not take extraordinary spiritual ears to detect God’s work. All we need is ears, and the will to listen carefully. God often works in quiet mode.

From Pedestal to Pit to Prison to Palace by Rev. Duncan Johnston

But there’s another story running through all these events, and if you look hard enough you will see that same thread, unbroken and glorious, running through your life too. Stare hard. It’s the story of grace. It’s the epic tale of how despite our failures and our rejections and our weaknesses and our half-hearted, ham-fisted attempts of living a good life, we have not been alone. The God who sat with Joseph in a pit and rode next to him on a camel all the way to captivity in Egypt is the God who has gone with you through the most desperate times. And even today, if you feel like you’re in a pit, or being hauled out and carted off to captivity, God is going with you.