I keep on buying the wrong type of Banana.

Happy Tuesday All!

Decorating my new flat

I have been in my own new little home for about a week now, learning all the ins and outs and learning about the community around us. The first couple of nights were a little tough, as I was woken by every little noise, and sometimes the noises are not that little, but as it happens, I had moved in on holiday week, so there were football games to be announced with fireworks, and a long weekend to celebrate 3 nights in a row, but with the passing of those things, it is actually a very calm area, and it appears that on a normal evening, I am the one up the latest making noises for my neighbours. Also, I keep on buying the wrong type of banana. There are so many different varieties here, some for cooking, some peel and eat, and at least 3 varieties that are no good for either of these things and seem to have no fathomable purpose. I keep buying the wrong kind. It's driving me crazy.

Last week I spent most of the week working on some material for our current series in the Bible and Anxiety. I have very much enjoyed this work. I have spent many hours listening to sermons and translating them for our teaching team, and helping pull together some material for the small groups to study as well. This is a three-week series that we will be working through in the services and in the small groups. Anxiety is a theme which many identify with, and thus word must have gotten out that we would be doing work on this, since on Sunday evening (the main service here) the church was absolutely packed. Remembering that we are still in our temporary side-hall, which can comfortably only house about 200 people sitting. We had people sitting on the floor, and on the stage, on the railing outside and in the reception area, so, we are praying hard and working hard to try to get the new auditorium into some sort of shape within two weeks’ time. I don’t know at all how this is going to be possible, but Brazilians have faith in action that always astonishes me. So, I shall keep you updated!

Yesterday, I was also able to go to a Capoeira class here in the center of Recife. For which I am very grateful. I didn’t realise how much I had missed it until I was able to find the time and the courage to take part in a new class in a new group, who were very welcoming, the movement was excellent and they train every evening which makes it much easier for me to take part with my very unreliable schedule!

Because of my concentration on what the bible has to say about anxiety I have really had a chance to stop and think a little more about what a society, universally we live in, and I thought I would note down a couple of simple thoughts here. None of which are my own, but if you feel moved to hear more, please message me and I will send you the links to the sermons that I have been listening too.

One of the first things that most people recognise, is that we are always in a rush. As a society, we are moving from one thing to another. The dawn of electricity has made it so that we no longer live and work by the sun, but on a schedule that is determined by how many hours we can possibly stay awake for, and how many cups of coffee our digestive system can handle to keep us pumping on. We are a society that is in a constant barrage of sound and movement. Of noise. We come home, and we switch on the TV just so that we don’t have to listen to the silence. As a side note, everything that comes from the TV causes us anxiety as well – there was a time when we wouldn’t be available to the news channels 24/7  a day to hear of the calamities of the world, but now, we are at their disposal – and since the media make most of its income by describing tragedies to us – we are left  with a chronic stone in our stomachs, waiting for the next broadcast. We have, in general, moved away from a healthy silence and solitude, into an era of noise, hurry and crowds. This, alongside the daily worries, which are only natural, causes us anxiety.

What a day we are having, having switched on the news, I am personally currently worried about Brexit, North Korea, Trumps next tweet and at least another 5 more minor things, as well as the health and safety of my family, my next meal and whether or not we will have the auditorium ready soon enough. And that’s just me, I never considered myself chronically anxious, also I don’t have a partner or children to worry about, or an illness and I am not currently worried about my job or my parent’s health.  There are many motives for which to stress, to be preoccupied and to worry, that are understandable but on top of all of this we seem to have anxiety most about the FUTURE.

We worry about things that have not even happened yet. We worry about future hypotheticals, we worry about future political events in times of peace, we worry about future relationship breakdown in strong times, we worry about situations which never happen. And the worst is, that if they DO happen, we have suffered twice. Once in the anxiety leading up to the event, and through the event itself. We are beings who worry too much, and this robs us of the joy that we have in today. The moment to moment relationships and blessings that around us now. We miss the important things in our lives as we are thinking about future things.

The bible talks about anxiety many times. Jesus is no stranger to this human phenomenon and speaks of it many times. The most well-known passage about this is in the gospel of Matthew (6:24-34), please take a read of this. In the passage Jesus reminds us of our value to the Father, that he cares for the birds in the air – they have their needs met daily- and the lilies of the valley – which are clothed in splendour, beauty, even though they flower one day, and the next are in the furnace. We are of great value to God who loves us. His Love for us is unchanging, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We needn’t worry that his care for us will run out tomorrow, it will still be there. The end of the passage states: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Take some time, if you like- read this passage, consider it. Live in today, spend some time in solitude (which is different to Isolation – solitude is time that we spend in quiet, calm and peace), and when you are with those around you, be thankful for them, and focus on the now. It’s only available in the moment.

Philippians 4:4-7 says

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ jesus.

Study Snacks

P.S. I am somewhat without pictures this week I realise. As mostly it has been me and by coffee and my computer. I apologise. Will try to make more of an effort next week.