There is one remaining festival that we have not looked at over the last few weeks. If you read back you'll see that at church we're currently looking at the Old Testament book of Leviticus and a few weeks ago we looked at the Feasts of Israel listed in Leviticus 23.
The Feast of Trumpets takes place on the first day of the seventh month with the Day of Atonement occurring on the tenth day. This ten day period is a time of preparation and repentance and may involve fasting and study of the Torah. This year Rosh Hashanah was celebrated on 17 September and Yom Kippur on 26 September.
If you read this blog on a regular basis you might have picked up that I occasionally run. On one of my September runs, back from a local park, I noticed a group of people gathered beside a lake reading from a book. Given their location and their dress it was obvious that they were Jewish.
It was not until a few weeks later when I was preparing for Leviticus that I came across a paragraph that explained that on or around Rosh Hashanah it is customary to visit a body of water containing fish and recite a specific prayer - in which the people symbolically cast away their sins in order to start the new year anew (Rosh Hashanah is Jewish New Year). This recalls God's promise in Micah 7:9 that God will cast all our sins into the depth of the sea.
In preparing for this talk I began to think about Lent - which is for Christians traditionally a time of reflection and preparation in the run up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday - remembering the death of Jesus and celebrating the resurrection. But it is a tradition that is more evident in some parts of the church. The Bible does not talk about Lent and therefore it has no place in some church traditions. But in doing away with Lent I wonder if we've not thrown the baby out with the bath water. Anyway - that's something I'm thinking about at the moment. What do you do for Lent?
Today we had a visit from Mark, the cycling Santa - travelling around visiting all of the various centres helping out with Operation Christmas Child. Yesterday was a bit wet; today was a bit windy.
Then this afternoon it was off to the local Warehouse to help packing the container which is now on its way to Swaziland with nearly 8000 shoeboxes on board.
My countdown calendar tells me that it is only 150 days until the London Marathon 2013.
The trouble with big problems is that they often seem so big that we can't imagine how we can possibly make any difference. As a result we often end up feeling powerless and doing nothing. The statistics relating to world poverty can be totally overwhelming. And yet in the light of this situation Christian Aid has a vision - to end poverty.
Rather than being overwhelmed by the situation Christian Aid looks to work with its partners across the world to help people out of poverty, with long term solutions. These solutions are often creative and imaginative. They provide people with the resources they need to help themselves. They are often quite simple - but have an incredible impact. It's about breaking the problem down into manageable bits. About taking a global problem and looking to tackle it at not just the global - but also the individual level. Making a difference one person and one community at a time.
On 21 April I am going to be running the London Marathon for Christian Aid and I would love your support. Together we can make a difference. Whether you give £10, £25 or a £100 your kindness and support will allow Christian Aid to make a difference in the lives of some of the poorest people on the planet.
The easiest way to sponsor me is to head over to my Virgin Money Giving page by clicking here.
Otherwise you can simply get in touch by leaving a message below.
There are 150 days to go until the marathon so I will keep you posted each week - I'll let you know how my training is going, as well as post news and videos from Christian Aid
A few weeks ago I blogged about Motivation - if you missed it you can catch up here. And the question I ended that post with was about what is it that gets me out of bed to run. This morning it was dark and it was wet - although not particularly cold - when I left the house at 5.15am for a 5 mile run. And when the alarm clock goes off in the morning quite a few of the motivating factors I discussed last time probably don't apply.
When it comes to my running I think there are two main motivating factors that get me out the door in the early morning - there are a lot more that apply on a warm sunny summer afternoon whilst on holiday in the countryside.
The first is a goal or a target. For example, a race that has been paid for and is in the diary. My competitive personality will then ensure that I train for that race. When there is nothing to aim for it is a lot easier to stay in bed. Running becomes a lot more hit and miss. But when there is a date in the diary, a start line to aim at, then it is a lot easier to drag myself out the door in the mornings.
The second motivating factor is accountability. When you're doing something with other people it is a lot easier because you encourage each other - but you also check up on each other. I haven't joined an actual running club - but that is a great way to get and stay motivated. Instead I have joined an online running club - the various groups and forums on there provide the necessary motivation not to skip a run. I receive virtual cake at the end of each month for running 100+ miles a month. Then there is the longer term target of a total of 1,500 miles during 2012 - being done with a whole group of people aiming at the same target. Sharing how we're getting on, encouraging each other back after injury, sending smiley faces to those who have already reached the goal, and virtual hugs to those who are going to miss out for one reason or another. There are words of advice - a virtual kick out the door for those who are just being lazy; and advice to see the bigger picture for those who need time to recover from injury.
There's more to this than just running though - part three: coming soon
