Climate change – ho hum boring; that is until the reservoirs dry up and we are faced with drought. “That’s not going to happen” according to President Trump and our Government. The latter pay lip service to the problem but for various reasons (all well founded you understand) find it inconvenient to do anything about it at the present time.
One or two things have happened. There was the decision to bring back the termination date for burning peat fuel in the generation of electricity from 2030 to 2025. And cars don’t emit as much dangerous gasses as they once did – a welcome measure enforced on us by the EC. However, as a country, we are nowhere near our target for the reduction of co2 gasses.
This week President Higgins, speaking at the 55th BT Young Scientists and Technology Exhibition in the RDS, reckoned our future was safe in the hands of the students who entered such enterprising projects. The event covered a wide variety of subjects in its 550 entries. Climate Change was well represented forming the subject of 88 of them.
The Environmental Protection Agency has reported a speeding up of the Global Warming process. Six of the ten warmest years in Ireland have occurred since 1990. This has happened alongside a reduction of frost and an increase in rainfall. The most likely outcomes of all this are flooding of rivers and increase in sea levels. Simultaneously there will be water shortages caused by excessive periods of heat.
Ever since Adam was a gardener who chose to rebel against his Maker and incurred, among other things, the penalty of banishment from paradise and a cursed earth (Genesis Chapter 3 verses 17/19) man’s responsibility has been one of stewardship “the earth he has given to man” (Psalm 115 verse 16).
As often happens in scripture whenever there is judgement pronounced there is a promise of a way of escape also given. “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease (Genesis Chapter 8 verse 22). This means day will follow night. One season will follow another. The world will continue to function predictably according to God’s design. This is the grace of God upon all His creation.
But not forever! “As long as the earth endures” looks to the climax of earth’s redemption, achieved by Jesus on the cross and being worked out in time for both the earth and humankind (Romans Chapter 8 verses 20/25).
Isaiah was given a glimpse of this redemption and recorded it in Chapter 65 verses 17 to 25.
Until God’s new creation comes (Revelation Chapter 21 verses 1 to 4) we face the challenges presented by climate change etc. in the confident certainty for every believer in Jesus that a glorious future awaits them. So remember these texts Believer when you are coping with flood or famine – the best is yet to come!

It is a question that is not often asked! Someone is bound to answer, “The date for a start”! The German saying “Kommt Zeit Kommt Rat” translated as “Come Time Come Wisdom” does not always live up to its expectations! Nor do the resolutions, made on New Year’s Eve, have much chance of a life beyond January!

With the end of the holiday period and the Christmas decorations coming down there is a sense of déjà vu about the place. Its back to the future as we repeat the events of last year. The routine, the weather, the customs and the family traditions all play a part in the narrative of our lives. Repetition creates a kind of security.

As the writer to Ecclesiastes puts it:
“What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Chapter 3 verses 9 to 11).
There is in the repetitiveness a beauty, a time of flourishing, and a sense of continuity to life way beyond our present existence. We have a heartfelt desire to know it all yet God has put limitations to our finding out what the future holds.

This desire was evident recently in the exploration of space. It commenced with the US successfully sending a camera into space to photograph a lump of material which may show us what the planets were made of.
Then came the Chinese space probe which touched down on the far side of the moon this week. The Chang’e-4 lunar probe, launched in December, made the “soft landing” on Friday and transmitted the first close range image of the far side of the moon.
And so we continue the pursuit of knowledge while the fighting, famines, genocides, separations and wall-building continue in chaotic fashion around the globe.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations chapter 3 verses 22 to 24).
What’s new about the New Year? It’s the same mercies that are new every day.

Jesus prayed for his people: After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (St John Chapter 17 verses 1 to 3).
Now to see the fulfilment of Jesus’s prayer in your life would make it a new New Year

Millennials and their offspring, the Generation Z, are largely unaware of the meaning of ‘Advent’ and even our Calendar is under threat as the flight from all things Christian continues to gather pace in the West. They have ‘Thrown out the Baby with the bathwater’ and part of the bathwater was the Advent Calendar.
The Calendar was usually produced on two A2 piece of cardboard with 24 small ‘flaps’ cut in the front of the card. These flaps are numbered 1 to 24 and referred to the first 24 days of December.
Popular versions of the calendar would have gifts behind the flaps. Some of these would be religious such as the gifts of the wise men – the Magi (St Matthew Chapter 2 verses 1 to 12) but in the main they would be children’s toys. The one thing they had in common was they culminated on Christmas eve with the Babe in the manger. This was usually the largest flap which, when opened, revealed the stable filled with animals, shepherds, angels and Joseph and Mary all gazing upon the infant Jesus lying in a hay filled manger.
The popularity of these Calendars, which were usually opened at breakfast, lay in the suspense of the unknown which was revealed one day at a time. It was exciting gifts that lay behind the flaps and there was an even more exciting conclusion that couldn’t come soon enough.
That conclusion was the birth of Jesus heralding Christmas Day which, for children (and adults), meant gifts seen in the calendar and in our imaginations became a reality! The giving and receiving of gifts was intended to remind us of God’s great love gift to us of Jesus.

At some point early in our family history we obtained an Advent Calendar which was based on the Bible. It traced the promises of Jesus coming to earth from the beginning in Genesis Chapter 3 verse 15 when, immediately after the Fall, we are introduced to the “serpent crusher”. He was to be uniquely born from the seed of a woman and would deal satan (for that is who the serpent is) a mortal wound (1 John Chapter 3 verse 8). In the process he would be wounded Isaiah Chapter 53 verse 5).

There are a number of arcs in scripture where they start with a promise and end with its fulfillment. Everything between these events is moving, sometimes in a winding way, towards the promise’s fulfillment. Here in the beginning we are promised a serpent crusher and the fulfillment comes with Jesus – The angel said…he is to be named Jesus because he shall save his people from their sins (St Matthew Chapter 1 verse 21).

In this way was the serpent crusher is ushered into the world. The wonderful two-fold declaration was given to Mary stating that there would be salvation for his people and their sins would be forgiven. All this and much more was accomplished by the cross and resurrection (Hebrews chapter 2 verses 14/15).

Our Advent Calendar is long gone. The reality it portrayed remains. Let the joy of the once crucified now risen Jesus reign in your hearts as we look to the conclusion of the next arc; “And if I go … I will come again and take you to be with me” (St John Chapter 14 verse 3).

It was this Thursday’s edition of RTE’s programme “Ear to the Ground” which introduced us to Dr Rory Harrington’s work of encouraging local farmers to recreate wetlands. Retired to a farm in a Co Waterford valley he was able to study the problem of waste water first hand and see a solution implemented.

With improvements in farming methods, farms have expanded and many have doubled the amount of livestock they carry. This has produced an increase in waste water. The remedy has been to contain it in large tanks and spread on the land at certain times of the year to improve its fertility.
Dairy farms with their need for additional hygiene have a major problem of disposing of this dirty water. Severe storms and other factors can cause the system to overflow causing seepage into the watercourses.

The solution arrived at in Co Waterford has been for farmers to surrender some acres of marginal land in low lying areas and create a network of ponds producing a shallow wetland. Water passing through it is interrupted by clamps upon which grow bacteria which extracts nutrients. These in turn create growth in the vegetation which sustains an increasing amount of wildlife.
In addition, the wetland captures carbon improving our footprint in accordance with EC requirements.

Whilst the topography may not lend itself to a wetland on every farm there are many locations where this could be successfully introduced assisting to reclaim areas where wildlife has been deprived of its habitat.

Many species are under threat. It is a rare thing to hear the curlew’s call. The bird, once common, is now almost extinct in Ireland. Flocks of Lapwing were seen to winter near ponds in an old sand and gravel quarry but they are gone. Most ground nesting birds are under threat. It is years since we have heard the skylark.

Environmental schemes are not the full story. It requires those who live in the country to take an interest in their surroundings. It is not an easy task as we live in a fallen world where God’s rule has been rejected. Any gardener will tell you that weeds, the emblems of sin, do not have to be planted! Our farming methods so easily pollute and destroy fertility as many barren places testify.

In the end the dust eating serpent of Genesis chapter 3 will meet its fate Isaiah chapter 65 verse 25 when the restoration of all things is complete: – The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

It was slightly embarrassing to be describing to former colleagues this week the location of our new church premises as the name GRACE has not yet been fixed to the front of the building! It blends in well with the street-scape and whilst we might not wish for prominence some distinguishing marks would be useful.
It did lead however to some consideration of the word ‘grace’. The dictionary quotes 11 different meanings but the one that applies to the church is ‘God’s unmerited favour’.

There is an incident in Victor Hugo’s play Les Miserables which illustrates it well. At the start of the play we meet Jean Valjean who is an embittered convict who cannot seem to relinquish his life as a thief. He is on the run and is given shelter in a cathedral. In the morning he has gone and so has the silver! The police catch him and bring him and the silver back to the Bishop. The latter rebukes Jean for leaving so soon and for leaving behind the two majestic candlesticks which the Bishop puts into the bag containing the silver.
He bids Jean farewell in front of the bewildered police and Jean gladly takes his leave!

This act of grace when the recipient deserved the reverse illustrated the Biblical use of the word. In addition, you cannot come to a place where God says “No more grace for you”. This is shown by the Bishop’s generosity in handing over the remaining articles of value, the two candlesticks. God’s grace is far deeper than the depth we may sink to.
The fact is that all God’s blessings come to us by His grace. There are none of us that merit any of them. As the Psalmist says in chapter 14 Verses 2 and 3 –
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
Our best acts come from mixed motives. Sin is endemic in the human race from its beginning. The universality of sin is an empirical fact and which is easy to demonstrate! (G K Chesterton).
The question is “Has God grace to match the situation?” St Paul gives the answer (2 Timothy Chapter 1 verses 8 to 10) …God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”
The only part we can contribute towards our salvation is our sins. When we turn from them and look to Jesus who took them on his body on the cross paying the price we should have paid, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (St Mark Chapter 10 verse 45).
Those who trust in the work of Jesus on the cross on their behalf experience the forgiveness
which deals with guilt and brings freedom to live a new life (Romans Chapter 6 verse 4).
Hugo has the grace shown to Valjean change him completely till at the end he makes restitution returning the candlesticks to the now dying Bishop. The reality for the sinner who comes to Jesus is much better!

Followers of this blog will realise that this has been a pretty special week for all associated with Grace Church in Pearse Street, Dublin. It’s not every week that so many good things come together. To recap they were our Jubilee – 50 years in existence, the 20th year of our leader, Patrick Mullen’s ministry and the taking over of new church premises, at no cost to ourselves, funded from the sale of airspace above the old building.
As was fit and proper there was plenty of joy and gratitude to God last Sunday to mark the occasion. The Psalmist captures it well in the opening verses of Psalm 103
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
There was also the sense that we were only bystanders watching God at work. His grace (god giving us what we do not deserve) was appreciated and responded to with music and singing. It was an exceptional time and we thank God for it.

There is a danger, of course, that our love for God becomes conditional on our receiving his benefits! So much of our daily interaction with others falls into that category. But loving those who love you is not the whole story. Jesus said; “‘You have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies” (St Matthew Chapter verse 43).

That set the bar very high prompting one enquirer to ask Jesus a question. Here is the dialogue; “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly” (St Luke Chapter 10 verses 26/28).

This fourfold love of God, “all your heart, soul, strength and mind” is not dependent on getting a new hall or any of the many other benefits! It is a love for God Himself.
This command (the Shema) was given to the people of Israel before they entered the Promised Land. It was part of their article of faith (Deuteronomy Chapter 6 verse 5).
It requires the total devotion of one’s whole being. This love is not to be divided between other gods or idols (Exodus Chapter 20 verses 3 and 4).
The old doxology puts it well –
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

We would have to admit we are not very good at celebrations in Grace. Dates come and go almost un-noticed. However, when the years rolled up to 50 and this coincided with Pat reaching the 20th year in leading us we seemed to have the makings of an event! Then the Lord replaced our old building and delayed the completion of the work on the new one till a few weeks ago, it seemed like He was saying “Now will you celebrate all my goodness to you!”

And so it came to pass that we enlisted the help of our Dutch friends, the ‘Band of Brothers’ plus Bert to provide us with music to match the occasion. This band ‘Trinity’ has come a long way since the lads, as schoolboys, came to work on an Irish farm for part of their summer holidays. They have developed their Christian testimony playing at some of the major European venues and also in the Americas.

We have attempted to invite all those who in the past helped to make Grace the church that it is today. Some went to work in the suburbs helping to found the church which is known as ‘Dublin West’. Others from the Far East, Chinese-Malaysians and Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong were closely identified with us in their earlier years. They have built a new campus near Lucan and use the original premises in Dublin for a Mandarin speaking work to reach the many mainland China immigrants who come to Dublin to study.

Our home base in Pearse Street has proved to be a good venue for ‘Jobcare’. They are focussed on developing people who require some assistance to get into the Job scene. Taking their cue from the fact that all are created in the image of God and therefore of infinite worth, they have helped many over the years.

It is some time ago that one of our members felt the frustration of the demanding nature of the work he was doing, gave up his business and with the blessing of the Church re-located his family to Cameroon. The Lord led them to settle in the nDop Region and become involved in Wycliffe’s work of producing the Bible in the language of the people. This has prospered and teaching literacy is ongoing.

Allied to the translation work a number of people from Grace visited the Region and the Lord alerted one of them to the need for clean water. From small beginnings many wells have been dug and water filters manufactured. This work has prospered and thanks to the training of local people there are now many facets of the work continuing in local hands.

Our central location has given us an ‘All Nations’ dimension. Specifically, we cater for Romanian, Lithuanian and Russian congregations, each using their own language.
For all these things and many more we give God the glory. The name Grace on the front of the building portrays the Grace of God in all our ways. The words of Jesus are written in stone above our entrance depicting the primacy of Scripture.
“Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away” St Luke 21:33.

“My Father never spoke about it.” In common with most sons and daughters of those who fought in World War 1 it was not a topic that was open for conversation.
The sheer horror of living through that experience had to be buried in the depth of the mind, to be disturbed as little as possible.
Only once do I remember him speaking and that was at a regimental reunion. The Commanding Officer was there, at least most of him. He had lost his left arm and his left eye had a black patch over it. As a small boy the patch fascinated me but I didn’t have the courage to ask him what was behind it!
The reunion took place in a garden and some of the men had difficulty in using their crutches. It was before the days of plentiful wheelchairs. They gathered in small groups but I was not included. I expect they congregated with those they had been with in the trenches. It was a sunny day and there was plenty of food and drink. It seemed to be a good reunion but I do not think it was ever repeated.
My Father spent three months in the Somme. The average life-span of a 2nd Lieutenant there was six weeks. He was one of the fortunate ones. He was posted to the Italian front and spent the remainder of the war based in Fume in the Adriatic.
My uncle Willie was not so fortunate. He was killed in action at Beaumont Hamel.
He was mother’s eldest brother. His life-size photograph of his head and shoulders I guess was a product of the war office. It hung in our living room as if to deny the fact that he was no longer with us. I expect similar photographs graced the walls of German families evoking similar emotions. A mute testimony to the folly of war.

That was in Scotland. In Ireland the soldiers did not fare so well. They found their homeland was a different place when they returned. Some continued to fight in whatever party they favoured. Others faded into obscurity as they had been ‘contaminated’ by fighting for the British. Those who were killed in action were never spoken about outside the family circle and not till recently were they properly recognised and mourned for their bravery.
It is this latter group, numbering many thousands, that are being remembered in many towns and villages around the country. In some cases, it is a wall with all their names cut into the stone. In other places a war memorial is erected with names engraved and headed with a cross. Crosses are the one thing in common between the graves of the opposing armies. The cross has become the international symbol of sacrifice – penal sacrifice. It also symbolises peace on a cosmic scale between God and his creation. This peace comes “…through Christ reconciling to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians chapter 1 verse 20).
It creates not just an armistice, a truce, but true freedom and peace within. The guilt is gone. The anger confessed. The enemy within is repented of. All taken by Christ on himself who “forgives our wickedness and will remember our sins no more” (Hebrews Chapter 8 verse 12).

The joy which met the news that the Pakistan Supreme Court had revoked the 2010 conviction of blasphemy was tempered with the realisation that ‘freedom’ might be an even bigger challenge for Asia Bibi. She has become the poster-girl for Pakistan’s infamous blasphemy law. The law carries the death penalty, a verdict which has not yet been carried out and it is this absence of capital punishment that has enraged some Islamists.

Asia Bibi, who is a Roman Catholic, like most Pakistani Christians was a low caste worker acting as a servant for a group of Muslin women who were harvesting berries. She was returning to the group with some water but because she had taken a drink it was said that the water was contaminated by her drinking it. An argument ensued in which the Muslim women freely blasphemed Jesus claiming he was a bastard as he had no father and other such derogatory statements about Christianity requesting that she become a Muslim.
It was in this context that Asia said, “I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save mankind? And why should it be me that converts instead of you?”

Five days later Asia was challenged by a mob who beat her and, returning to her home, attacked her family also. The local Mosque used its loudspeakers to accuse her of blasphemy and encouraged people to take the law into their own hands. Asia was imprisoned and a year later, formally charged. The charges which were put before the court were exaggerated and Asia was handed the death penalty.

The sentence was appealed and support given by the governor of Punjab who investigated the affair on behalf of the President, Asif Ali Zardari. The governor and his wife visited Asia a number of times and anticipated an acquittal. He was shot by his Islamist bodyguard.

The Minority Affairs Minister said that he was first threatened with death in June 2010 because of his support for Asia. He was shot through the window of his car about a year later. He had been the only Christian member of Pakistan’s cabinet. In subsequent hearings there has been an understandable reluctance to depart from the guilty verdict and the case has acquired a significance far beyond its importance because of the draconian blasphemy law.

All this makes the acquittal verdict reached this week highly significant. There have been calls for the death of the three supreme court judges. The Tehreek-e-Labaik Islamism political party, who have made the upholding of the blasphemy law their main cause, have created civil disturbances in a number of cities. They want to have the verdict reversed and are calling for Asia’s death. Yesterday the government, in an effort to placate them, have said Asia cannot leave the country. Asia has exchanged one prison for another!

Jesus said, “A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God” (St John Chapter 16 verse 2). That time is now here. It shows the intimate connection between witness and martyrdom that Jesus foresaw. “Have faith in God” (St Mark Chapter 11 verse 22).

The Halloween season traditionally brings out the creepy side of life. Youngsters engage in “Trick or Treat”. Dressed in scary costumes they visit neighbours and require payment of fruit and nuts (or sweets and coins) to go away! The days of performing party-pieces are all but gone. The turnip lantern has been largely replaced by the pumpkin complete with a lighted candle shining through the teeth and eyes of a fearsome effigy carved on the side of its circular head!

For the adults it is the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints, martyrs, and all the faithful departed. It probably grew out of the Celtic festival of Samhain which marked the end of harvest and summer. It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the ‘otherworld’ thinned. Tricks were played by spirits and ghosts with the inclusion of Dracula the Vampire in the more blood-thirsty recent times.

Dracula was written by an Irishman called Bram Stoker. He wrote it after researching the folklore of Romania and chose the setting of the Carpathian Mountains for the castle which was to be the vampire’s abode. He had never visited the location making up the castle from a combination of the ruined Slain’s Castle in Aberdeenshire and Whitby Castle in Yorkshire.

The fact that vampires are particularly nasty creatures has not dimmed their popularly which has increased each Halloween till this week when a commemorative coin worth €15 was launched by the Minister of Finance in Glasnevin cemetery!
This was an appropriate place for the launch as Dracula lived on the blood of his victims. Legend has it that they, once bitten, became addicted to blood so you could have a lot of nasty Dracula’s causing havoc about the place. Help is at hand however as a crucifix will keep them at bay and a stake driven through the heart means that they will trouble you no more!

It is interesting that in the book the crucifix should be given the power over evil. Popular folklore usually gets it wrong! It attributes power to the symbol instead of the source. The writer to the Hebrews (Chapter 12 verse 2) helps to clarify what was happening on the cross. He writes that we are to run the race of life looking unto Jesus “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God.”
The cross represents the greatest suffering in history. Jesus not only suffered physically but also experienced God’s just wrath on the sin of the world which Jesus had taken upon himself. The promise of future reward and joy gave Jesus the strength to suffer despising the shame that was inherent in crucifixion. The wooden cross has no power nor does it become powerful when a human image of Jesus is fastened to it. Actually the Bible never uses the cross as a symbol of Christianity. Stoker, like so many others got it wrong in attributing the power to the symbol rather than the substance which is Christ (St Matthew Chapter 28 verse 18).