John 11:44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’

I have been itching to blog for a while but have been making excuses. Aware that I have nothing of worth to say. So why have I decided to blog again today? 

I am yet unsure. All I am consciously aware of is that there are ideas bubbling within me and if I don't break the seal soon I might not ever again. 

This week we have prayed for and celebrated Christian unity within the Church in England. Yet what does this actually mean for us today? 

We live individualistic, micro-unit lives. We connect with those we pass with a blank stare and a focused frown. We may choose to communicate and socialise with our work colleagues to an extent but there is always a line. We contact our 'friends' through social media and 'like' or 'favourite' their life posts without a second glance. We are too busy to offer hospitality to our brothers and sisters in Christ on a Sunday, or any other time of the week for that matter. Where is unity here? How can we pray for it if we do not model it ourselves? 

This week our sermon in our community fellowship was on Lazarus. Our preacher was our amazingly creative and inspirational deputy Warden: Rev. Dr. Kate Bruce. She made two points. The second was, are we willing to unwrap one another, to be there, despite how bad they smell, despite the wounds and likelihood of being leak on in the process? The first was, are we willing to be unwrapped ourselves? Do we really want to experience the full freedom in Christ which we have been given? I won't get into my rant on how the latter informs the prior and how without the latter you can't have the prior, that is for a different writing piece. 

What struck me was that unity is about going the extra mile with people. It means really being there for them. Not just on social media but in the street, in our churches, on our pew, in our workplace. Do we really connect with people? Are we willing to? That is the main point: Are we willing to? 

A friend was sick recently. On her way home she couldn't help herself and found that she was vomiting on the path. She was ill, in pain and in tears. She had no tissues, she felt weak and she was judged. No-one helped her. Not one person. Put yourself in her shoes. How would you feel? 

Recently, I have been reflecting with friends that I find it hard to pray for myself. They have said something similar. However, we do feel we can and do pray for one another. It is these prayers we feel we see answered, not all in the way we would like. Hearing this sermon in our college communion made me think that this was even more the case. Where are we more vulnerable than in our prayer life? We have dreams, ambitions, hopes which we can share with God. We have frustrations, anger, despair which we can yell at God. We have tears, laughter, dancing, which we can pour out to God. On our own with our creator, loving father, saviour, comforter, this is just between Him and ourselves. Living in unity with others means sharing all of these, and more, with those we are in community with. This is the hard part. This is the true depth of who you are. This is what we are praying for where we are praying for unity. Are we willing to embrace this? 

We do embrace this at Cranmer Hall. Well, I know some of us do. However, do we make time to go deeper together? 

This is my challenge this week. Are you willing to make it yours? 



Pray God opens your eyes to where He has people He wants you to truly connect with and why. 



What do you think about what I have written? Write a comment and let me know.