Thoughts for the Day

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.'

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: 'Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.'

Then one of the seraphs flew to me holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongues. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: 'Now that this has touched your lips your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.' Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I; send me!'

*Picture is of a painting from the Church of Elijah, Boboshevo

(New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Isaiah's wonderful vision of his call by God reminded me of something that happened many years ago. We moved house and I went to the little church nearby. The building was modern, all honey-gold wood and glass, and during the prayers I heard a loud voice over my right shoulder say "Ask about the choir!" It repeated itself, and I looked round, but there was no-one there. The voice was so insistent and so clear that I spent the rest of the service thinking about it.

Afterwards two people came up and asked if I'd been at Midnight Mass and was I "the lady who sang"! Well the long and the short of it was that I agreed to become their Choir-Mistress. They'd managed to gather a few singers for Christmas but they were in an interregnum and had no-one to lead them, and I had been running church hoirs for some years.

Looking back I know that God had a hand in this, because it was to lead on to me taking a much more active roll in worship, becoming a Lay Reader, then a Deaconess....and well, the rest as they say, is history! I have never heard the call so clear as on that day, and I have never been in doubt that that is what it was.

God calls all of us to take his message of love to the world, and he gives us different gifts to fulfil that ministry, whether it be to teach, offer hospitality, to preach, or travel alongside someone who is suffering. The trick is to hear the call which sometimes comes as a whisper, or through someone else's words, or through our bible study. We can ignore it, but be warned it will come again and again until we respond.

Sunday 7th June, follow up thoughts

Heavenly Father,
Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ,
told His disciples to go and make
disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Help us to hear Your call
and respond to it.
Amen.

A prayer for Trinity Sunday:

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
three persons, yet one God,
we praise and worship You.
May we learn to live and work together
to fulfil Your mission to the world,
and follow Your example of loving unity.
Amen.