Beautiful Outlaw

Another full day today.  I took Thom to the Wallops this morning and worked at home until about 11.00 a.m.  This morning the outside door handle fell off as Sara was going out and, fortunately, I was able to get Geoff G to come by and have a look at it.  Fortunately it didn't require a new lock and Geoff came back this afternoon and fitted two new brass handles.  It did mean, however, that nobody could either leave the house or enter it by the front door for several hours.  As Sara was out and I went out at 11.00 a.m. it was no major problem - we simply used the back door.  I stopped off at Parkwood and had a swim, steam bath and spa and then drove to St. Francis's to attend a meeting of New Wine leaders.  It was good to see several people I already knew well (and knew me!) - Gale Hunt, Ian Cowley, Andrew Robertson, Tessa, Penny and some I knew only by sight.  We ate picnic lunches and listened to a presentation by a priest from Canford who spoke about his forthcoming sabbatical and his Spanish pilgrimage - Camino de Santiago - which he undertook over 4 weeks.  He also referred to an excellent book by john Eldredge - "Beautiful Outlaw" which looks closely into the personality of Jesus and his breaking of laws based on religiosity - I introduced that word to the group and it found much approval as a word to describe how some churches and Christians can behave - very much like the Pharisees.  Some wonderful reflection here and interesting to talk about such things amongst the more Charismatic ministers.  I really did enjoy the session.  Afterwards, Paul, Andrew (Robertson) and I prayed together as a trio.   Tonight Sara and I were the guests of Andrew (Fergusson) and his wife at their home near the Godolphin School together with all the other members of the Christianity Explored group.  We ate a wonderful beef pie cooked by Betty together with baked potatoes and cabbage and leaks followed by chocolate and orange tart (from Linda) and lemon mousse (from Sara).  Keith, as usual enjoyed the food as much as anything else.  At the end of the meal we reflected on our journeys through the course and had a time of open prayer.  We prayed especially for one member who has made leaps and bounds with their faith.  We also prayed for me as I seek to discern where God is currently calling me in my ministry.  I did have some great news today - my theological reflection of the ethics course had pulled my marks up from 55% and 56% for the assignments to an overall 60%.  A real achievement for a Level 5 piece of work which I did find quite hard. Now on with the assignments for intercessory prayer and funeral ministry. I think that "beautiful outlaw" sums up well my vision of Jesus after so much prayer and reflection over the past few days.