Finding Strength in God’s Words: A Reflection

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan

This morning several passages caused me to stop as I did the daily office.   I will read them as they brought meaning to me. This is not necessarily how they appeared in the liturgy. it is how they gave me meaning as I pondered and read over the psalm and the readings.

Jeremiah 15 verse19 says Thus says the Lord: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them.  

Psalm 6 verse 2: “Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak; * heal me, Lord, for my bones are racked.”

Jeremiah 15:6 “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord,  God of hosts.” 

Philippians 3:21 “He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.”

In Jeremiah God is speaking to Jeremiah encouraging him.  God is also calling God’s people back. This brought to mind the passion narrative according to Luke where Jesus says to Peter when you return strengthen your brothers,

It is my job to strengthen others, to pray for their emotional and spiritual healing. Praying that they will have balanced life and feel the presence of God in their lives. Just like Jeremiah God speaks this to me.  ‘When you return strengthen others’  Where have I turned away from God? When have I turned away from God?  God is gracious and forgiving. God says if you come back to me  I will take you back, and you shall stand before me.  I have not really turned away. Still, there are things in which I have not been consistent.

The words ‘You shall serve as my mouth if you utter what is precious,’ encourages me and strengthens me as I speak God’s word to others,  I feel empowered. If I ever doubted I am assured that I am as worthy as anyone else. The power of God’s spirit is on me, God’s word is in my mouth.   

Yet I am weak and some of me needs  healing.  ‘I am weak’ I translate as lacking discipline. I have not done as I ought. I do not always choose to do what needs to be done when it should be done. And I have to play catch up. I console myself as it gets done eventually. This feeds my dabbling into many things.  My concentration span is like that of a toddler.  I laugh as I doubt that many would believe that.  I strive always to act with integrity and authenticity.  I believe that if I put these first all else will fall into place. 

God’s word is authentic.  It is reliable, dependable (one and the same? I don’t know.) It speaks to faithfulness and trust. It is who I believe I am. It is who I seek to be.

God says to me, he will tell me what to say.  Elsewhere Jesus says I should not worry what to say. He will tell me.  I can only hear and speak his words if I listen to him.   I must hone the skill of discernment.

My bones are racked. I laugh as the psalmist seem to know that there is a pain in my right shoulder which gnaws at me from time to time. The remnants of an old injury. 

God further encourages me in Philippians. It speaks about embarrassment and humiliation.  I say my shame tree is dried up. But Philippians says it is not. God turns it goodness. It is transformed in such a way that it leads to God’s glory. It says as in Jeremiah, we experience suffering and opposition. We overcome by our faithfulness to God and the ways of God.    Because God is with us always.  

God says to us today:

  • God will always take us back; We will speak for God and others will turn to us. It is not we who will turn to them. 
  • God speaks through us to others healing them.
  • If we pay attention, we will find joy in God’s words and our hearts will be delighted.
  • The lord has compassion on my weakness and pain.
  • God will transform our humiliation it conforms God’s glory,  

May the strength of God pilot us. May the  power of God preserve us. May the wisdom of  God instruct us. May the hand of God protect us.  May the way of God direct us.  May the shield of God defend us.  May the host of God guard us against the snares of evil and the temptations of the world.

With God all is well. All will be well. All manner of things will be well. Amen

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The Fast I choose – A Lament

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan

As I was recording Compline this morning, I read the passage from Isaiah 53. It suggests that keeping the fast meant that we should feed the hungry and clothe the naked. I am burdened knowing that one of my own does not eat every day. She is not close by me, and I really would like to be able to get her a meal everyday. As people say the heart is willing, but the flesh is weak. I am unable to do this. I cannot get a commitment from others to ensure that she gets at least 1 meal a day. I can see why people dismiss things like this. They often say it is not their business. Every time I think about it, I feel a physical pain in my chest.

A friend sent me 1Chronicles 29:14 this morning. It is also sitting with me. “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?” David is asking the people for resources to build the temple. He will not build it. Solomon will. The community provides what is needed. He thanks God for the community’s generosity. My people are generous too. If I ask for money, I would get it. But what I want to happen and what the lady needs is a meal every day. There is little generosity in the doing. 1 Chronicles 29:14 sits with me because it asks “who am I”. “Who am I that for my sake, my Lord should take frail flesh and die?” Who am I, that my compassion is only in my thoughts? Shouldn’t I be more than this? Where is my get up and go spirit? Where is my ‘help even when it hurts’ spirit. Shouldn’t this be the fast that I choose? The heart is willing, but the flesh is unable.
Nobody should live that way in the evening of their days. She gave her best to the church and her children. Now she is in need and nobody ensures she is looked after. As Christians, we can’t live this way. One of our own may not eat today and we go on with our merry business as if that is a normal way of life. She shouldn’t continue to live that way. We must look out for our own. When I speak, I get the advice “you know what we should do…” But who is the ‘we’ to follow through? Nobody wants to drive on the road to her house. In my head I say “talk is cheap and we really must do better. Who is the ‘we’ I want to do better? Where are they? I only see persons going about their business with no care for the next person.

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, … Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?” Today I weep for all who are physically hungry. I struggle, I wrestle with my inability to more.
I suppose we do what we are able and God does the rest. I keep praying that somehow God will make a way to ensure she has at least 1 meal for the day as I ensure that the church does its part.

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Living the Law is Living Love and Righteousness

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan

Our readings for Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent comes from Deuteronomy 4:5-10, and Matthew 5:17-19. In Matthew, obeying the commands of God is paramount. Jesus says he has come to fulfill the law. Fulfilling the law says to me you become the law’s standard bearer. You must live it show it and teach it. The law looks like you. You become the good example of the law.

The Old Testament reading tells us the law is to be revered and respected. Deuteronomy 4:9-10 explains further. it says do not forget the things your eyes have seen. Ensure they do not fade from your heart as long as you live. Being exemplars of the law is to always have it at the forefront of the mind. Teach it, Deuteronomy says. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Verse 10 emphasizes telling others so that God’s words may be revered. The commandments are sacred.

We see in Jesus’ ministry and in the way he lived how he understood the law. He understood that the law was not a shackle. The law was about maintaining good relationships. It was also about caring for others. The law was love. The law was not like a doctor’s prescription taking exact doses at recommended times. Rather, it was a description of what our lives should look like. It is living a life of integrity. Yes, we sometimes get it wrong. But we pick ourselves up and put on the sackcloth and ashes. We ask for forgiveness, brush off. We forgive ourselves, and start again. We pay attention to how we behave.

Jesus says that the practicality of the law is love God and love your neighbour, in the same way you love yourself. He is very clear that showing that love means treating persons as you would want to be treated. He says elsewhere, we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and welcome the stranger. Here he says we must teach others how to live out the commandments. We must treat all persons with dignity. We should love them and guide them in the care of their souls. Show them how to relate to others.

we follow Jesus we are not afraid to love despite the possibility of rejection misunderstandings and persecution. Jesus teaches that life happens. We, are each called to live our best lives, unshackled in spirit and mind. We are called to be free thinkers coming more and more into the understanding of God. we should be showing the sacrificial love that Jesus exemplifies. We may not be called to give up our life like Martin Luther King. However, we too, might find ourselves in a place where standing up for what is right, makes us seem like the wrongdoer. This can be challenging. It requires courage and conviction.

Both Deuteronomy and Matthew suggest that the law is not to be abandoned, but is to be lived out fully and with a deep understanding. There is a Higher Standard of Righteousness to be attained. This right living is expressed in how we treat others. Jesus emphasizes that true righteousness goes beyond doing for doing sake. It is not just going through the motions, but making the laws be in your blood. It is a commitment rain or shine. People can trust your word and actions. That takes time to develop. As the Sunday School song says, “I feel god in my head, I feel him in my feet, I feel him all over me.” We become God in us. We live with a healthy respect for God.

Both passages highlight the importance of teaching and passing on God’s word and commandments to others, particularly future generations. We are to ensure that the knowledge of God and God’s law is preserved. we cant teach what we don’t know or understand. And if we keep learning, observing and reflecting, we will unlearn the wrong and keep focused on the right things. The love of God will keep you safe and secure.

We do so by binding unto yourself today
“the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay,
his ear to hearken to my need;
the wisdom of my God to teach,
his hand to guide, his shield to ward,
the word of God to give me speech,
his heavenly host to be my guard.

Binding unto yourself the name,
the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three,
of whom all nature hath creation,
eternal Father, Spirit, Word.
Praise to the Lord of our salvation:
salvation is of Christ the Lord.”

Amen

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Rest is God’s Gift: a sacred Practice and Spiritual Experience

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan


There’s a song that says
‘Hush little baby, don’t you cry.
You know, your mama was born to die
all my trials Lord, will soon be over.’

The song is burdensome and the people involved could do with a respite. As I read Hebrews 4: 1-10, the writer says we receive the same promises as the people in the wilderness. These include the promise of rest. The writer says the ‘wilderness people’ did not experience this promise because they did not have faith. It reminds us that God rested on the seventh day having completed his work. The writer says it is written elsewhere that they will never be able to rest because they were disobedient.

God keeps renewing the promise. and so, we too have that same promise of rest. God as the Message paraphrase indicates, resets the promise to Today. I think about sabbath rest. The line in the hymn speaks about sabbath rest by Galilee. It stills the heats of our desire. I recognize that rest comes in different forms.

Rest is physical but, not just physical. Rest is peace of mind. Rest is laying aside the burdens that beset us. Rest is the ability to move on. It allows us to begin again and start over. This only comes if we understand that we have this promise of today. This understanding allows us to be able to reset and restart.

Life can be thought of as a cycle of seasons. It is a cycle of beginnings and endings. We understand that this is continuous. It is not discreet endings and discreet beginnings. You may be beginning something in one area of your life. In another area, you’re in the middle of completing a task. Still, in another area, you are towards the end of a particular season. This business of rest becomes important because of the tensions and the complexities of life. Rest also becomes a brief period we must take from the busyness of life. We do this to rejuvenate. We recalibrate and reorder ourselves. It is a time of refreshment. Sometimes rest is not stillness. It may be a different kind of work that energizes you. You are then able to go back to the task at hand with restored energy.

Rest is a divine gift. Like most other things, God provides for our wellbeing. We should not just take the gift but recognize it as coming from God. We should accept it graciously and honour it as sacred. The world could have been ordered differently. It is for us to take the time, trusting God that by resting we are not losing out. Very often, we do not do things that we ought to do, because there is not enough time. We prioritize paid work. We focus on how we are seen by others rather than on what really matters. What really matters is our relationship with God and those who love us and who we also love. By taking the time to enjoy these relationships, we are not being frivolous. They give us the impetus to go on. Many times, just to ensure the wellbeing of those we love, we do things that make us uncomfortable.

Resting means, we do not carry our burdens all the time. We lay them down long enough to gather insight in new ways, courage and strength to pick them up again.

People rest in different ways: power naps, afternoon naps, a long bath and a glass of wine. Others rest by listening to music or reading a book. Some prefer doing crossword puzzles or gardening. It’s generally about doing something you enjoy.
In Psalm 23, the psalmist says God refreshes our soul. God ensures that the most essential part of us is taken care of.

Rest allows us to see the beauty in our lives and the blessings that surround us, even in the midst of trials. Resting gives us a profound sense of peace and contentment.

One writer suggest we can keep a Gratitude Journal as we rest. Journalling is a practice that can be done daily. It can be as simple as keeping a gratitude journal, where we jot down things we are thankful for each day, or taking a moment to express our appreciation for something. It helps us keep our head above waters in hard time.

Rest then is a spiritual practice that rejuvenates our bodies our minds and our souls. God gave it to us. We should honour this practice of reset, refresh, and reconnect as sacred. It is a holy conversation to which we are called. We sustain it with God’s grace and mercy. We do it everyday, whether we like it or not. because of its sacredness and how it feels once we do it.

“May the power of God preserve us. May the wisdom of God instruct us. May the hand of God protect us. May the way of God direct us. May the shield of God defend us. May the host of God guard us against the snares of evil and the temptations of the world. May Christ be with us, Christ before us, Christ in us, Christ over us. May your Salvation, 0 Lord, be always ours this day and for evermore.” We remember that all is well all will be well all manner of things will be well.

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Diversity and Divine Value: Being Differently Gendered

Posted on February 7, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan

Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, The Lord will surely separate me from his people;and do not let the eunuch say, I am just a dry tree. For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls,a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Isaiah 56:3-5

This reference to eunochs who are castrated men has me questioning how we look at gender.

Eunochs had a place in the ancient societies of the middle east. They looked after the harems. Being castrated meant that even if they were to have sex with the women of the Harem, no pregnancy would result.  Castration was also a way of subjecting and controlling these men.  Removing their ‘manhood’ would devalue the man, making him inferior to other men.  Some Eunochs are born that way. These persons can do nothing about it. Similarly with the differently able persons. It is something they live with, and we should accept them as they are – human beings.

Today, we have several genders, each type seeking to value and include different groups of people. These persons do not fit the stereotypes we have given ‘normal’ people and are excluded in many ways. These persons would have otherwise been considered outcasts or less than others.  But God values them even if the rest of society does not.  We who walk in God’s ways should value and not devalue the persons who are “differently gendered” too. The distinctions may not mean anything to us who society accept as normal, but it means the world to those who are unable to see their place in society, and those whose normal behaviour is not the same as most persons in the society.

In this passage, God gives value to the eunoch.  God says they have humiliated you belittled you, made you less in the eyes of society, but what they have done is unimportant.  Whether your able to have children or not doesn’t matter, even if you are impotent it does not matter. What matters is paying attention to God and God’s word. God says to the eunuch I value you.  God says I will make a monument in your honour within my house.  You will have a legacy greater than children if you follow me. 

We may like the comfort and security of knowing that others think like us and will behave like us, but God’s way has variety within it.  Paul speaks about people being as different as the parts of the body but like the body, we work together for the common good. 

This is a valuable lesson to learn.  When all is said and done, it is not what people think that matters but what God thinks. How God sees us as an individual counts.  God made us and said we are all good; not some good and others not good. All are good. All are worthy. All have a place, all have a legacy, but we must own it.  We must step into we we are to be by walking in God’s ways.

Each of us, whether we are differently abled or differently gendered, we can walk with grateful hearts feeling whole, and not inferior to others because God values us.  If God values you, God’s people in time will come to value you too.  In time they will come to understand that diversity is one of the laws of nature and it cannot be changed.  It’s God’s way of bringing harmony in a chaotic world, showing that all things and all peoples belong. They will see you as you are another human being.

Let us pray. God who is a God of diversity and uniqueness. who in creating life, did different things but brought them into one big space the universe. Help us to accept firstly who we are, each of us a mere human. secondly give us grace to accept that others differently abled or differently gendered is acceptable to you. In your sight while we may consider them blemished, they are whole and have the same value as we who consider ourselves normal. Help us Lord to be more loving and lovable. We ask this in the name of Christ. Amen.

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Trusting God Amid Distress: Insights from Psalm 55

Posted on February 1, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan

Hear my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my petition. Listen to me and answer me. I have no peace, because of my cares. I am shaken by the noise of the enemy and by the pressure of the wicked. Psalm 55:1-3

I have not abandoned my reflections. I just have not had time to write and record.

Yesterday I was very disturbed. I did not like what I saw happening around me. I was distressed. It was not only about the things that were happening, but the fact that I took it so seriously that my head hurt, and I had to offload to anyone who would listen. I found I was comparing myself with others. I was righteously indignant that if I knew they should know too. I even cursed myself at the end of the day that maybe I was being arrogant and subconsciously beating my chest that I remembered, and others did not. This could be true, but that was not the major player in my thoughts. This distress is of my own making.

I fret for my Church. My distress and frustration yesterday I realize came from that. Psalm 55 spoke directly to me about how I felt. My enemy is a flawed system that seem ready to swallow me up. I need saving. My church needs saving. My friends and family need saving. The passage says “I have no peace, because of my cares”. I realize I care too much. I am too much. I invest too much emotionally. While not a perfectionist, and I am certainly not regimented, I do like to see order prevail. I believe in participating in the common good. Why do I choose to take on things? I care too much.

The writer of Psalm 55 is distraught and overwhelmed. There is chaos and evil within the land. They say in verses 7 and 8 that if it was possible they would fly away like a bird. The writer asks God to change those who are against him or her. But I do believe the writer and I are in the same boat here. It is we who are anxious. It is we who require a change of heart and attitude. We must first deal with the chaos and I dare say the evil inside us. This change will assist us in showing and pointing others and ourselves in ways that are helpful. We need to put aside the anxiety to be able to see clearly and objectively.
There is a saying You can’t see the forest for the trees! We are unable sometimes to see situations as they really are. We lose our perspective because we care too much. We are too heavily invested. This where I think I am. Is it a bad thing? I am not certain. I do know that everything has a shadow side. Our best character trait can also open flaws in our personality. The thing is the consensus and oneness that I should be feeling is not there. The bonds that should exist are only surface deep. As the psalmist says in verse 22, of the would be enemy, “His speech is softer than butter, but war is in his heart”. It is this is the other thing that bothers me. We get so caught up in saying what others want to hear, we deceive ourselves about what really is. We also fool ourselves about what should be, as we only see it from our perspective. We cease to question and reflect. We cease to listen.

Our task is to lean on God. We need to trust God and the process as ultimately it is God who is in charge and who guides. When we are uncertain or frustrated, we can appeal to God to hear us. We can dump all our cares, and our fears on God. One thing of which we are certain is that God will see us through. God will see us through our indignant sef righteousness, our arrogance until we come to a place of humility and rest. God gives us the strength, the power and wisdom to be our best self.

We pray as Reinhold Niebuhr is said to have prayed.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

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There is no ‘separateness’ in God – No me without You

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups ¬{Jews and gentiles) into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, Ephesians 2:13-15

It amazes me the lengths people will go to, in the name of “them and us”. I am not certain why we find it difficult to accept other people as worthy as us, or as important as we think ourselves. But that is very often the case. We confuse privilege and status with being human. Maybe the better way to say it, we believe that not having high status and/or privilege means that one should not be treated as a fellow human being. Only those of my grouping count and are of value. I sometimes wonder why we do the things we do.

There is a family I know who by their attendance at church, they consider themselves devout Christians. Others think they are too. Yet their behaviour says otherwise to me. As I understand Christianity, we are not to be divisive, but are to always seek to be builders of unity. Yet this family operates from the perspective of divide and conquer. Irrespective of how others feel, if they do not agree, they act divisively. They do everything to ensure that only what they want happens. I single out this family yet I know 3 other person in 3 different congregations who behave like this. I know a priest who behaves like this. In business organizations and institutions I know people like this. I see politicians who behave like this.


Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations for Thursday, January 16, 2025, shares a captivating story. It tells of a man named Nanak. He founded the Sikhs. After a period of separateness from his community and contemplation, he understood that ” There is no Hindu. There is no Muslim. This was more than treat your neighbor as you would yourself. This was more than taking in the stranger. This was: There is no stranger. There is no you-against-me at all. We constitute each other. “ [1]
Sikhs believe that there are no strangers and all of humanity is equal. We are all to be treated the same.
I do agree. I believe the divisions are of our own making to satisfy our own elevated egos. Our illusions of grandeur which does not allow us to consider, that we cannot be the best at all things. We will always find that we are able to do some things better than other people and vice versa. It does not change who we are humans. Our circumstances do not define who we are. In many ways one aspect of our personality complements the area in which we are deficient.
References:
[1] Adapted from Valarie Kaur, “Becoming a Sage Warrior,” Daily Meditations, October 28, 2024, Center for Action and Contemplation, video, 38:13. 

Sikhs believe in the following principles. These are no different from the teachings of Jesus

  1. Equality: Sikhs believe that everybody is equal. Race, religion, or sex does not matter. And therefore tolerance of others.
  2. Social justice: justice should benefit everybody.
  3. Service to others: we should help those in need.
    The Richard Rohr devotion quotes Sikh wisdom as saying “All of us are part of the One. Separateness is an illusion: There is no essential separateness between you and me, you and other people, you and other species, or you and the trees. You can look at anyone or anything and say: You are a part of me I do not yet know.”
    This is great philosophy. It sounds like Ubuntu. “I am because you are”. I do believe we are all one. It is a teaching of Jesus that I hold dear. Jesus prayed that his followers would be one, yet our guttural (or is the word visceral?) need to be the greatest, to shine brightest, suppresses our humility to the point where we hurt ourselves, others and our community. This is so sad. What is even worse is that we cannot see that our own actions contribute in one way or another to this separateness. It is always the other persons fault and we feel not just hurt but opposed hated and unloved.
    There is so much in Life that we need to think about if our search is to be better persons and to serve Christ through the service of others. We cannot exist without other people. Jamaicans say “one han’ caan clap” May we understand that we need each other. may we see our way as Francis of Assisi did.
    Let us pray.
    Merciful God, to you we commend
    ourselves and all
    those who need your help and correction.
    Where there is hatred, give love;
    Where there is injury, pardon; Where
    there is doubt, faith Where there is
    despair, hope; Where there is sadness,
    joy; Where there is darkness, light.
    Grant that we may not seek so much to be consoled, as to
    console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to
    love; for it is in giving we receive, in pardoning we are
    pardoned and it is in dying we are born into eternal life. Amen.

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Journeying to New Jerusalem in faith and grace

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan

Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:25-27

I have never liked reading Revelation. The imagery used were horrific as far as I was concerned. I must also admit that I still many times pay little attention to what it says. However this morning the second reading is from Revelation 21. A chapter that despite my best efforts to block, I know starts with the words or something similar “I saw a new heaven and a new earth”. It then describes the new Jerusalem.
A place which seems to me to suggest all are welcome, if its gates are never shut. Yet only some can enter. Those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Nothing unclean can enter nobody who practices abomination and falsehood will be allowed to enter. So exactly who will be there. It cannot be you and me because we are far from perfect. We have all done abominable things. We have all lied and hurt persons. Yes we have asked forgiveness, but the passage does not speak to that. It says only those written in the lambs book can enter.


What are the criteria for our names to be entered into the Lambs book? DO we truly know? Someone I am sure will offer me a piece of scripture that answers the question. Psalm 24 comes to mind. It repeats what John says “And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false and do not swear deceitfully. Again do I fit in here? Do my friends fit in here?

I once had a recurring dream as a child of my family, my neighbour who was probably my best friend at the time and I being caught up ascending into heaven. After a while they started dropping back and I was the only person ascending. I would wake up traumatized. It would happen anytime I read Revelation, hence my inattention to what the book says. I now understand the dream and what it was saying. I was being singled out for special duties. I am carrying out that special assignment.

John was a Jew who lived by a strict code of conduct, as written in the Torah. they were hard pressed to keep it. I do believe in these verses John was encouraging his readers as well as himself, to keep the laws, to keep faith, despite the pressure to do otherwise. As Christians we have come to understand that the laws are to be understood as outlined in the Gospel of Jesus: – Unconditional love for one another, for God and neighbour as self. It is our faithfulness to this gospel and through God’s grace that we will be found worthy to be numbered in the Lamb’s book.

I am reminded that God’s grace comes from God. Our worthiness is not of our own making. Our worthiness is decided by God. We are just called to be our best selves doing all to the glory and honour of God. As Verse 26 says our task is to bring Glory and Honour to God. May God give us the strength to do so.

As we embark on a new year may we focus on the things of God. May the Serenity prayer becomes our own as we grow from strength to strength.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” Amen.

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Forbidden Desires

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan


As I open my Lectio 365 devotions these words hit me. I start to think about what could be a forbidden desire even before I start listening the devotion for the day. Immediately I say to myself, forbidden means hidden. But is that necessarily true? I reflect with no particular passage in mind. I think of the many ways I would rather be. I think of things that I want but they cannot be mine. I laugh as I consider having champagne taste but only beer money

Forbidden desires also make me think of illicit lovers. This illicit love doesn’t have to be with another person. It suggests to me much more than that. The things we are addicted to, even while we do not call them addictions. The things which we should not indulge in, yet we cannot help ourselves. The things which we do in excess or things we take to the extreme.

Each time I go to the supermarket and I am not leaving with a piece of chocolate. Or the fact that I have been known to eat a whole quart of Rocky Road ice cream in one sitting or an extra piece of some pastry that tasted too good to only have one piece. I think about the books by Danielle Steele that I pre-ordered, but have not read because once I start I am not going to put it down until I am finished reading. This means I cannot function the next day.

We all have these things that give us so much pleasure, that we are very often not willing to settle for just a small piece of it. I think of a friend who delights in someone at work. They are what he calls kindred spirit and he wonders if he is committing adultery by spending so much time with them. His guilty conscience he says makes him want to spend every free moment with his family. Weird logic. But it works for him and his wife is loving it. What is really going on in his head we may never know.

What I do believe is that we should try to never make our desires so overwhelm us that we miss out on living a balanced life. Shakespeare wrote “if music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and so die”. He in his love struck state believed we should indulge till we no longer have the desire. It should never be that we become focused on one thing that we close our minds to everything else. We should always be able to see something else besides what is directly in front of us. It is why I believe Jesus went by himself to be alone with his own thoughts and God. Remember when he had the discussion with the disciples in Mark 6:30-31 and they told him all about what they had done in their ministries. They were so excited and chatted so much Jesus realized they needed a respite. They needed to truly reflect on what had happened and so he carried them to a place of quiet.

Forbidden desires should also cause us to reflect. We should think about what it is that we really want out of life. We should reflect on what giving into them will mean for the future. Do they mess with us or do they set us straight. Each of us must answer this for ourselves. Socrates said “an unexamined life is not worth living” He is suggesting that a life without self-reflection and analysis of one’s actions and beliefs is not truly worth living as we should always be evaluating our choices and values to live a fulfilling life.

The Henri Nouwen Society published this prayer today which I do believe is timely with me so easily distracted by the words Forbidden Desires.
Speak Gently in my Silence, “Dear Lord, Speak gently in my silence. When the loud outer noises of my
surroundings and the loud inner noises of my fears keep pulling me away from you, help me to trust that you are still there even when I am unable to hear you. Give me ears to listen to your small, soft voice saying: “Come to me, you who are overburdened, and I will give you rest ….. for I am gentle and humble of heart.” Let that loving voice be my guide. Amen.”

May we always return to quieting our hearts and souls when forbidden desires overtake our thoughts. May we be disciplined enough to have self restraint. May God’s loving voice be our guide.

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The promises of a faithful God.

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Hilda Vaughan

Go … to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. Genesis 12:1-2


Happy new year!  It is a time of beginning anew, leaving the old and taking on new challenges.  Many set goals to be achieved and the more serious ones among us assess where we are with the old ones and realign ourselves to achieving them.


I have several notebooks that only the first few pages are written on. I used to buy one almost every year at this time.  I would list what I wanted to achieve, but never looked back or checked on my progress. The urgent things were done and I suppose the more important things were done.  But I must admit that many times the things that would give true satisfaction were never done.  Hanging out more with friends, visits to places of interest.  One that stands out that can no longer be done is for my mother to tell her story.  I never sat down to get it. 

In this passage Abram and his wife migrated.  They embark on a new journey.  His nephew goes with him.  They do not know where they are going. All they have is the promise from God that God will bless them and  they will be a blessing. 

We know nothing of Abraham’s situation. If life was hard and so he was seeking his fortune as people would say.  What is certain is Abram followed the urging of God for a new and different life.  A life where he would be blessed and be able to bless others.  God tells him he will have many descendants from which many nations will come. 


Whatever was going through Abram’s mind I doubt that he understood that world powers and kings would be part of his descendants or his legacy.  He would probably have big dreams of more sheep and goats, and herdsmen to care for them. He may still be thinking he needed an heir.  What’s the point of having all this wealth and leaving it?  He would have dreams of contentment and satisfaction of a life well lived.  It is this dream of contentment, satisfaction and fulfillment that we all crave.  We all want to be able to look back on our lives and to say we have done well, that we have lived full lives. 
The lessons from Abram are:
1. Go forward in faith
2. Go forward knowing that what God promises God will deliver.
3. Abram followed God’s direction. He did not just jump up and go. He was guided by God. 

We too should take heed as we embark on this new year, as life provides new opportunities to live fulfilling and contented lives, lives of joy and happiness. 

  • We should follow as Abram did.
  • We should trust God and not lean on our own understanding. 
  • We too even when we do not know how our plans will work out,
  • We go forward in faith, knowing that what God promises God will deliver.
  • We align ourselves as God’s guides, so we can be blessed and be a blessing to others.  In being blessed and blessing others, we find contentment and true joy.

God provides the strength, courage and wisdom we need to be blessed and to bless others. May we be bold as we journey away from the familiar into an unknown 2025. 

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