A Reading
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons thorough Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will …
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.
(Ephesians 1: 3-5, 13-14)
A Thought
This week, Jeff Bezos became the second private citizen to fund and execute a successful journey into space. Last week Sir Richard Branson achieved the same milestone.
Their objective is to open space tourism to all. For a very reasonable £220,000 you too can experience a 10 minute flight, including 3 minutes of floating in orbit, after receiving necessary safety training. Realistically, such travel will be reserved to the extremely rich.
Jeff stated that he expects space travellers to change their attitude to the world upon their return to earth. Travellers will observe from space how fragile and beautiful is the earth, protected crucially by its atmosphere, and contemplate their role in it.
We all share a desire to understand how we fit into the world and whether our life has purpose. Having lots of money provides more opportunities to try different experiences which may fulfil some purpose, if only for a limited period.
But neither Jeff, Richard nor we need to spend lots of money and leave this earth to find our reason for being.
For remarkably, we are all created in love by God, and God wishes to have an eternal relationship with each one of us.
When we invite God into our lives, the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and the purpose for our lives becomes that of serving God and our fellow citizens. The Holy Spirit guides and counsels us in our relationship towards our neighbours and our planet.
This confidence of purpose and outcome is permanent, not just for 3 minutes.
Hopefully Richard and Jeff will find the answer soon too.
A prayer
Almighty God,
we thank you for feeding us with the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ.
Through him we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice.
Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory.
Amen