July 24, 2011
Philippians 4 v 8
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
This is my favourite passage in the bible and I used to have it on the wall of my science laboratory when I was teaching (would I still be allowed to do so these days?).
This verse was the subject of Ali’s talk tonight at our Praise and Worship, an ecumenical and informal worship). These words are very apt for all the many members of our church who are working so hard to perform the 150th Anniversary Pageant on Saturday night. There is much which is praiseworthy, lovely, excellent and admirable. It is wonderful to see the church family working enthusiastically together . I am sure some of these words will be used when our Minister says a few words at the end of the Pageant next Saturday.
A remarkable coincidence occurred today! Shortly before our 5.30 pm Praise and Worship, I received an email from a friend in Australia. Now her mum,Dora, died 2 years ago at the grand age of 102. She was a well-loved member of our church until the day she died.
One evening in the 1980′s I was the steward on duty when Dora was the leader of the service. The above verse was her text for her talk. She so inspired me by what she said that I placed that verse on my Laboratory wall for the first time. It completely changed how I treated the children in my class.I learnt that night what love and care for others really meant as a Christian and I have tried (not always successfully) to follow the message of loving others as you would wish to be loved. What I do know though is that, even if I found loving some people extremely hard, if not impossible, I rarely failed to give praise to any student for something I felt deserved it, no matter if I liked that person or not. Today I believe I still hold that principle very high in my daily contacts with people in the community.
So was it coincidence that email or the Lord reminding me that there are some people who haven’t been given the praise they deserve and for me to do something about it.
This is just one aspect of that beautiful verse and Ali showed by wonderful photos from the world around us how much we have to thank God for in our lives. After the terrible events in Norway and worries about the financial markets – take a look around us at the “Fine good things we see” and thank God for them.
