NO ROOM AT THE INN?
Christmas reflections - pushed out to the margins

HATE GONE MAD
Reflections on the terrorist attacks in USA, 11 Sep. 2001

FIRM FOUNDATIONS
Stuff to build a life on..

MAN, MYTH, WIMP OR WIZARD?
Who is this Hippy.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT 
Churned up and spat out the other end?..

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL...
Priceless..

IT'S GOOD TO TALK
The word is not vodafone..

DEAD MAN WALKING
The Film and THE MAN..

SATISFACTION - I can't get no...
Keith Richards and his tape deck..

FAST FOOD IN PLASTIC WRAPPERS
You want it you can have it .. sex, drugs and home improvements

KING OF THE BLUES
Eric Clapton's suit and more ..

EASTER REFLECTIONS
Chocolate eggs and a Roman execution....

IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME

the boat?

No Room At The Inn?

Reflections on the terrorist attacks in the USA 11 Sep, 2001

Who would have thought it? A seemingly invincible USA brought to knees and talk of world war as vast armies assemble in strategic positions. The death toll figures may not be new news, many many more have died from disasters and many thousands of children die every day from starvation, but what is new are the circumstances and the manner in which it was played out on TV before a disbelieving world.

Events such as these naturally cause us to wrestle with questions and wonder where is God in all this. Some would have you believe he's central in all this so called 'Holy war' anyway. Why didn't God intervene - surely he could have plucked an aircraft from the sky, enabled a sky scraper to stay standing long enough for all to escape?

I am sure he could intervene - but where would he draw the line? Every time a gun is pointed in anger, a hand is raised, justice is denied or a harmful word spoken?

For as long as humanity has the ability to think and choose, we have the capability of immense good or terrible evil and being beautifully creative or monstrously destructive. Perhaps this is something of what the old book means when it talks about being made in God's image? What we do know is this. Hate inevitably produces suffering. Whether it be on the world stage by terrorists or whether it be cruel words in the home.

In the days following the events in New York and Washington, Churches were filled and the 'Lord's Prayer' uttered by millions. We find these words expressed as a desperate cry to God to try and make sense of the circumstances but they also serve as a challenged to us all. "Your kingdom come , your will be done on earth as it is in heaven . . ."

I am convinced that in heaven there will be no terrorism, no hostage taking either by knife nor by sanctions, no suicide bombers nor carpet bombing of innocent people and we don't want to see these things on earth. During the course of these events we have seen the extreme actions of what is in all of us - 'me first', matters of pride - matters of hatred. Where we pray for a solution to this global conflict, let us be prepared to deal with the conflict within our own heart too.

Where is hope when innocent blood is shed? Hanging naked on a cross - hope that heals and forgives. Hope that wrestles with truth and justice, of what is right and what is not. Are we prepared to be an answer to our own prayers as we ask for God's Kingdom and will to be done on earth as it is in heaven?

Cheers and God Bless, Sean

The grass is always greener on the other side, right? There's always some other place to run to where we won1t have to face our problems isn't there! You can ride down any number of motorways and mountain passes and still not arrive anywhere better than where you were before. The Christian life of faith is certainly a different journey, but don't be fooled into thinking it's a bed of roses where everything in the garage works as it should all the time.

Faith in the God of the Bible, through Jesus Christ, doesn't give us immunity to life's struggles and make all our problems disappear. We still remain in a real, in your face hurting world. We will continue to be battered by the storms of life. There will be disappointments and failures, there will be confusion and grief: in fact our very foundations will be shaken.

That1s why we need to be sure of what our foundations are made of. Will they hold us up despite the traumas around us? What does our faith consist of - is it based on feeling or rooted in fact? Sometimes, God feels like a million miles away, not concerned with  us one little bit. That1s when we need to know that our faith is built on something more substantial than our wavering circumstances.

Remember, Jesus didn1t say, 'every little thing, is gonna be alright'. But he did teach about knowing peace in the midst of the storm.

(For stuff in the Bible along these lines see Matthew Chapter 7 verses 24 - 29).

Cheers and God Bless Ya. Sean

There are many myths surrounding the person of Jesus Christ and there are many opinions as to who he was and what he was like; A fraud, an outlaw & renegade, a magician and trickster, a teacher and storyteller, an all round good guy, a prophet, a saviour, a nutter, bastard son of a Jewish whore, the Son of God, religious fruit loop or friend of the poor and oppressed? But how can we sure exactly who he was and does it really matter anyway?

Many choose to make fairly wild attempts to describe Jesus without actually looking at the most comprehensive collection of stories and teachings attributed to him and about him - those in the Bible. Much of your average man in the street1s ideas come from a mix of, often negative experiences of church, Christmas cards, stained glass windows, the media or someone hammering on the door in the name of religion. In one of these Bible stories, we find Jesus actually asks his mates 'who do they reckon he is'. There had been a load of rumours flying around the market place, corridors of power and in the synagogues even then. If you're remotely interest it's vital to check out the facts, putting preconceived ideas to one side and getting yourself in a position to make a decision based on something of substance rather than hear say.

Cheers and God Bless, Sean

Life has it's hard knocks. It deals out a right hook when we least expect it and we walk into a brawl when we should have known better.

There is nothing more wounding to the human spirit than the carnage caused by broken relationships. It may be that of a a lover, a partner, a trusted friend, a colleague, a son or daughter or even with the church.

At best, a broken relationship can leave us with a sense of loss and betrayal, at worst it can feel like we1ve had the guts ripped out of us leaving us incapable of functioning at the very simplest level of relationship again.

For some, the scars heal; for others the wound stays open and infected; maybe made worse by the attempt to patch it up a bit by 'well meaning friends'. Where do we go when others fail us, when trust has been betrayed? Where do we go when we1ve messed things up and it seems the damage is irreparable?

Many of us, at this humble gathering of Zac1s Place, are for varied reasons 'walking wounded'. Many have tried to bridge the troubled waters with all manner of things, some with more success than others. Although you may be down, that in no way means you1re out, game over.

As the crucified Christ looked down upon his bunch of bedraggled and beleaguered mates, he felt the pain of his own relationship with his Heavenly Father being severed, as ours was. His Spirit was crushed as he stood in the gap of a hurting world isolated from it1s all loving Creator, so that we could be joined with him again. The bible speaks of him being 'bruised and crushed' so we might be made well again.

In our brokenness, in our questions, in our pain, can I encourage you to look to the One who can give us the faith to fight, to forgive and to forget, to dress our wounds, to restore and give us hope. For many the wound heals and leaves a scar. I pray that in a day to come, you will look at the scars on your heart that speak of broken relationship and as you remember the pain, also remember the One who did not and does not give up on you.

May the God of whom it is said 'a bruised reed he won't break, and a smouldering wick he won't snuff out' give you his peace to meet you at you point of deepest need.

(See Isaiah 53 verses 4 and 5 also Isaiah 42 verse 3).

Cheers and God Bless, Sean

Despite our society's apparent advances, we are living in very turbulent times. There's a restlessness that is reflected in the continuing breakdown of family relationships and a desire to fill life1s emptiness with 'things' often at the expense of people. We live  in a world that far too often communicates that your human value on this planet is determined by how you look and by what you have. Consequently, we have an increasing number of people looking in the mirror and not liking the person they see. This is perhaps reflected in the lyric in Bruce Springsteen's song 'Better Days' when he says that 'it's a sad man my friend, who's living in his own skin and can't stand the company'. The fact that somewhere in the UK, someone commits suicide every two minutes, is in part, a stark reality of this.

As we stagger towards a new millennium maybe it1s time to remember the words of the Man who often talked of human worth. He talked of the importance of loving God and 'your neighbour' - meaning all mankind, regardless of colour, social standing or appearance. Tacked on to the end of these well known words is the phrase that challenges us to love our neighbours, 'as we love ourselves'. There is a huge difference with being 'full of yourself', and 'loving yourself'. Maybe, just maybe, we1re losing the plot because we've lost sight of our own worth in the eyes of God and we struggle to see where we fit in. I long for each person to be able to look in the mirror, and despite their weaknesses, failures and inadequacy, see someone of value and someone of worth: Why? Because that is how the creator of the Universe sees you - significant, unique and special.

Cheers and God Bless, Sean

Advertising slogans aside, it is good to talk. There is something particularly special about renewing acquaintances and catching up or about restoring communication again after a rift.

In part, the Christmas message is a celebration of communication and restoration of relationship. Communication, in the human form of Jesus Christ - or as some say 'God in a body', meant that God was no longer 'distant'. He had entered our world in humility and shared the sorrows and joys of the frailty of humanity. But he didn't just come to wave and say 'hey guys look at me, I haven't got a white beard, a harp, a Harley Davidson and I1m not a space man after all'. He came to make it possible for the human race to restore relationship with it's creator.

The whole of this 'tea towel on the head' routine, stables, stars and wise men is all to do with God breaking into our world to talk to us. It is summed up well at the beginning of John1s Gospel in the New Testament where it says; 'The Word became flesh'. Jesus is the Word and this Word, took on human form so we could understand it and respond to it.

As we enter a new millennium, (how can we forget), which for some is a celebration of the Christian faith, we can revel in the great mystery, that 2000 years on, Jesus is still on the line wanting to talk. This Christmas, make sure the line1s not busy when he's trying to get through. It1s good to talk.

Cheers and God Bless Ya, Sean - Christmas 1999

I had a recent reminder of the Susan Sarendon / Sean Penn film 'Dead Man Walking' whilst listening to one of the tracks off Mal Pope1s new album of reworked Welsh hymns, 'Land Of My Children'. (Both the film and the album are well worth a look if you haven1t experience either).

The film is based on the true story of a nun, Helen Prejean, (played by Susan Sarandon), who ends becoming a friend of the incarcerated Matthew Poncelet, (played by Sean Penn). He's a particularly unsavoury character and had been on death row for six years, for his part in the violent murder and rape of two young lovers.

All Prejean is able to offer Poncelet is sincerity and compassion - much to the disgust of many watching on. It is this simple act of showing the love of Christ to this man, that he eventually faces up to the responsibility of his own evil actions. He discovers the truth and is able to walk, shackled to the guards to his death, with the knowledge that the forgiving touch of Christ had visited him. As he would have heard the guards proclaim, 'dead man walking', he knew he was walking into freedom.

There are no no-hopers where the Living God is concerned. Because he himself, in the person of Jesus, was a 'dead man walking' on our behalf, we can taste freedom when we face the reality of our need of God1s forgiveness.

Cheers and God Bless Ya, Sean

Way back in 1965, Keith Richards awoke in a London hotel room to make a startling discovery. During the previous night he1d got up, written, played and recorded into a basic cassette recorder, what was to become one of the best known guitar riffs in the history of rock and roll. Little did he know then, how that song was to speak on behalf of a whole generation - a generation that just plain couldn't get no satisfaction.

The straights, the religious leaders and the authorities were quick to criticise the Stones, but a restless generation of young people identified in those lyrics an anthem they could relate to.

Here we are three decades on. That same generation is now older: mankind travels into space with relative ease, we can watch live coverage of war in our front room, dial Australia direct and got more gadgets and gizmos than you can shake a stick at. In short we1ve been there, seen it a dozen times at least, tried this, crashed that and now wash the windows with a vast array of souvenir T-shirts - But are we any wiser for our experiences?

Despite our great advances in the fields of technology, entertainment, wealth and leisure, why is it that now, more than ever before our society continues to cry - 'I can1t get no satisfaction1. Family life continues to disintegrate with nearly half or all marriages ending in divorce, while suicide rates rise at an alarming rate along with the casualties of alcohol and drug dependency. You might have thought one day we1d learn - but no. History continues to repeat itself, while people are blinkered to the things that really matter.

Failure
The search for lasting satisfaction is by no means a new one either. Neither is the apparent failure to find it in the form of material wealth, an egotistical image, casual sex or 'recreational drugs'.

Possibly the world1s most rebellious, misrepresented, misunderstood man talked a lot about finding satisfaction. In fact he went further than that - he reckoned it could be found. Just because one restaurant serves up a bad meal, doesn1t mean you give up on food and so it is with life. Just because your hunger hasn1t been satisfied yet, doesn1t mean it can1t and that what you1ve seen is all there is.

Hope
Steve Winwood sang, 'Think about it, there must be Higher Love, without it life is wasted time...' Slightly earlier than 1965, Jesus Christ talked about giving our life meaning and purpose, despite the turmoil around us. Too good to be true? Check it out!

Cheers and God Bless, Sean

Somehow, there's a raw gutsy feel to blues music that says it all - the hollow sound of slide guitar and a back beat that resembles an old railroad train hauling an enormous load up an eternal incline. Blues music may not be everyone's 'alf a lager, but most of us at some stage are going to know what the blues is all about. Identifying an expression of our pain and suffering in the form of music can bring great comfort - particularly as the low points in our life will usually be incredibly lonely ones.

In an interview with 'Q' magazine, Eric Clapton talked about the way Blues music 'shares the burden', similar to talking with someone who1s had the same experiences as yourself. Identifying with the needs of people isn't usually what comes to mind when many consider the church. Often, it's a mix of images imported from the States of the 'just touch the screen and everything's gonna be OK' variety or of some high foluting archaic language given out by a guy in a frock who hosts afternoon teas.

Much of which is a far cry from what the Faith's leader intended - of whom it is said was a 'man of sorrows and acquainted with grief'. He spent a vast amount of his time with those who were hurting and were considered outcasts of his day. Often to be seen in public with the 'untouchables', it was partly his desire to identify with real people in real situations that angered the religious leaders, who then chose to have him publicly tortured and executed. Even then, as his mates deserted him and his flesh was ripped open he still found words of comfort for the thief dying next to him. They placed a sign above his head, 'King of the Jews - a additional one may have been 'King of the Blues' - one who shares my burden. I'll leave the last word to Eric, who answered Phil Collins' question on how could  Eric stand up in a £5,000 suit a play the blues?, by saying: 'Well, the point is, the blues is a state of mind. It's got nothing to do with acquisition. I can have all the money and cars in the world and still be very unhappy. It's an inside job'.

Sean Stillman Originally written for MAG News.