Taking it Slow

I know I have not said much recently but I have been taking it slow. SLOW, I hear you say. Yes I have been very slow and this has not left me with more free time but less. This is because taking it slow has not meant sitting around. I have been taking the time to remove the convenience from my daily tasks.I have been making my own pasta,bread,  detergents and cosmetics. It has only by going back to these basics and learning what goes into my food and detergents that I have begun to realise the sheer amount of chemicals we heap into our bodies on a daily basis without even thinking about it and sometimes without even knowing. We are so eager to find the most convenient way of getting what we want, at the lowest price possible, we do not stop to think about the consequences for our own health, the planet or the other living creatures on it.

We have a habit of doing the same with the our faith. We constantly seek to make Church convenient, shorter and more relevant.  The Church has sought out Fresh Expressions of our faith diluting the Gospel and in some cases ignoring the sacraments entirely. We have diluted what should be central to our faith so much that many people do not understand what should be central to their faith. When you teach people shallow meaningless faith, you will only get a crowd of people who will stay as long as they want to consume your product. When your product ends or changes they leave. Their presence is not based on a faith in Christ or his teachings but on a shallow gimmick. When the gimmick ceases to be useful or changes into something they do not want they leave.

As a Church we need to look back at what should be central to our faith, return to putting Christ at the centre of our faith, mission and evangelism. It is only by spending time encountering Christ, learning the truths of our faith and by sharing them with others. Inviting them to join in our weekly meal, teaching them it's significance, allowing them time and space to encounter his love. This slow steady way of revealing Christ through our actions and his presence is the only sure way of growing the Church in any long time way. Christ is as relevant today as he was 2,000 years ago, he is present in our lives through the sacraments. He has not abandoned us, I only hope we do not abandon him.