Sunday 5th September

To pick up a point from the gospel for today, “whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple”
Of course this plays straight into the modern way of thinking it could resonate with how we think and feel. We like setting standards, we thrive on targets.
Constantly been set goals and living with the same threat and promise of the child in the supermarket, …. “if you are a good boy, if you are a good girl….. then you can have……”
We have to be good enough……
When we feel and think like this it is not too far away from then saying…. They have to be good enough.
So to re read the gospel sentence maybe…. I have carried my cross so they should too.
I have sacrificed myself so they should too.
Look at what I have done….. that is good enough surely.
Do you see where this may lead?
So the scary bit comes in two places today… one might be the thought later that we should all sell our possessions and give everything to the poor…. Not the church…. The poor.
Second scary bit comes at the moment of crucifixion the moment we cannot turn back from… the moment after all the following all the effort… all the ups and downs of being a disciple
And we hear Jesus turning to someone we do not know, turning to someone we have despised perhaps, turning to an obvious bad man…. Call them what you like and hearing “Today you will be with me”
Let us all be very careful , as I have quoted before….
People do not see things as they are they see things as they are.
And this week I received in an e mail this quote worth considering:
WHEN YOU CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT THINGS,

THINGS YOU LOOK AT CHANGE