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If my memory serves me correctly, I have now given eight Ascension Day meditations here at Volmoed. So let me confess that the thought of having to give another, and find something fresh to say, bothered me all week. What more is there to be said, I asked myself?

All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually as the Spirit chooses…and all the members of the body, though many, are one body.
 
I Corinthians 12:4-13
 

As you know, I have just come home from a conference at Assisi in Italy. The opening lecture was given by a distinguished professor from Northern Ireland whose specialty is conflict resolution. He was one of those instrumental in bringing about the end of the conflict in his own country, has visited South Africa several times, and has also been involved in the Palestine-Israel situation. The person who introduced him at the conference said that there was one embarrassing story he could tell about him, but would leave that to the speaker to tell if he felt so inclined. He did not!

Bad news, we can’t forget but the good news is that we can forgive.

One of the common questions asked is how one can forgive yet remember or whether it is possible for one to forget in order to forgive. At this point my answer will be NO and NEVER.

This morning we heard a beautifully sung rendition of Kyrie Eleison (“Lord Have Mercy”). The words of this litany are powerful. It is one that stirs people into responding to the social realities that exist. One line, however, was both interesting and problematic. It read: “to empower the weak as they struggle against the bonds of oppression.”

In giving a word of encouragement before handing over to me to preach last Sunday, the pastor made a correlation between four women in the congregation and two other sets of people in the Bible. The day before, I had preached on Mark 15, so that chapter was on the pastor’s mind. In particular, his attention was fixed on verse 40 which tells of three women “looking on” at the death of Jesus. These were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.

I am reading Michael Moore’s autobiography aptly titled Here Comes Trouble. Moore, as you may know, is an Oscar-winning film maker and bestselling author, he is also a rather zany, off-the-wall kind of bloke. Moore was brought up a devout Catholic, thought of becoming a priest, but dropped out early along the way.

Spirituality & economics are inter-connected. In an individualistic & consumeristic culture & in a world where economic injustice is rife, we are committed to finding ways of living simply, sharing generously, caring for creation, & working for justice.
 

During the weeks of Lent we have been meditating on Jesus’ seven last words from the cross. We have heard him forgive those who put him to death, how he committed his mother Mary into the care of his beloved disciple John, assured the penitent brigand that he would be with him in paradise, heard his cry of thirst and of desolation. Next week we will think about his final words, but the words before the last are our focus today: “It is finished” (John 19:28-30).

It all started when we were sitting with a couple of friends, enjoying a balmy evening and appreciating the incredible scenery of South Africa’s “Wild Coast”. One of our friends had an accordion with her, and began to play that old chorus, “turn your eyes upon Jesus”. I have sung that song probably hundreds of time over the years. So it may be a comment on my age that I have appreciated it a lot more than many of the more recent numbers that come under that strange musical genre that has become known as “praise and worship”.