Reading (Hebrews 10:19-25)
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Thought
As many of are aware I really enjoy baking and cooking, and that means I spend quite a bit of time in my kitchen. I am extremely blessed with my kitchen, it is lovely. It is lovely for many reasons, the first is its size; it is large enough to have a good sized table in it, this makes it a very sociable place; Rob and I are often to be found at the kitchen table eating, talking or doing the crossword. It is a light room, it has windows on both sides and, as the front of the house faces south, on a warm sunny day (as it is today as I write this) the light floods into the kitchen. It has a gas cooker and hob which responds instantly when you turn it up or down. The kitchen has plenty of cupboards and a large work surface. When I moved into the house a few years ago I had the very tired kitchen taken out and a new one fitted, so the room is designed just as I want it to be.
Over the past six weeks I have been staying at my parent’s house during the week and I have been cooking and baking in their kitchen. It is not quite the same as mine; it’s smaller, there is a lot less space to work on and nothing is in the same place as it is at home. Sometimes I can be found in their kitchen spinning around as I try to locate what I would be able to put my hand on straight away at home. And to make things more interesting the cooker and hob are electric, so a few things have boiled over. The comfort and familiarity of my own kitchen is gone and it is replaced with an unfamiliar and often confusing experience. Over time I have become much more accustomed to my parent’s kitchen and have become quite used to the cooker and hob as well as where everything is placed.
The experience of working in someone else’s kitchen has allowed me to appreciate what I have but also to rethink my own; am I using the space to its best advantage? Do I have things stored in the best place possible? What have I learned from the different experience?
During lockdown we have all had to experience the unfamiliar. We have been forced to move away from our comfort zones of seeing friend and family and familiar church services and we have experienced something different. At times we may have felt as if we were spinning around looking for what we wanted. However the end of this time will come, we will be able to meet up with people again, to sing together again as loud as we wish, to worship again in the familiar ways of before. But it is important that we learn from the experience, that we review what we had in order to see if anything needs to change. Hopefully we will be better at appreciating what we have and not take the many blessings of being able to meet together for granted.
Prayer
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many blessings that you pour on us. We are sorry for when we have taken these blessing for granted.
Amen
Song: