A few months ago, my daughter passed her driving test. First time. A proud Dad moment.

One of the basic rules for any driver is mirror, signal, manoeuvre – or MSM. And yet, if we give the benefit of the doubt on the first, it often seems that many don’t bother with the second… either that or there are an enormous number of vehicles whose indicators don’t work.

It strikes me that the MSM principle is one that can be applied to many situations – not least perhaps in workplaces and churches but also in our everyday home and social lives. Indeed, it wasn’t really until the last 15 or so years of my working career that I learnt how to ‘use the mirror’ properly in my job: to look around and take in to account how my proposed actions might impact others and who else needed to be considered.

Often I would go straight to the manoeuvre – to take a decision and do something (or say something) without telling or considering other people – and I admit I still do at times. As with driving, if one makes the manoeuvre without using the mirror or signalling our intentions, there will be consequences and often very damaging ones at that. Paying attention to such things is common courtesy (and diplomatic!), of course – but such considerations often fall in to the blind spot…

It also strikes me that the mirrors in a vehicle are one of the very few ones we use that are not about looking at ourselves – and that too is perhaps a useful principle to live by. Using them to consider the position of others and what their manoeuvres are and how they might be signalling them. Enabling us to take into account other people’s views (literally and metaphorically) and to weigh up the consequences.

You probably know what it’s like when someone else makes a decision, makes a manoeuvre, without due reference to others, without looking in their mirror. Over and over again we are impacted, swept aside as if unimportant by the signalling and manoeuvring of other people.

So having looked in the mirror, taking that time to consider others, we can then take our time to signal our intention: in other words, to communicate it.

There again, of course, there are difficulties. As George Bernard Shaw said, ‘The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.’

Like the indicator on a vehicle, our communication can be non-existent or at best intermittent – let alone being affected by that very human attribute: misinterpretation. ‘A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest,’ as Paul Simon wrote. (For example, some may decide this post is about driving a car with the illustration distracting from the points being made.) It’s easy to ‘miss the point’ isn’t it… We think we have signalled clearly but it may not be seen or heard or received as such.

So, as in driving, manoeuvring in life, at work, church or at home is sometimes complex. Yet how we enact such actions is all part of how we show love and respect for others.

How each of us, as the Bible puts it far more simply, loves our neighbour.

Maybe we can all take a little more time to look in the mirror?

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

 Details of my books are at richardfrostauthor.com

The post Mirror, signal, manoeuvre appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

Malvern has been a special place for Jane and I for many years. Nestled in the Worcestershire side of the Malvern Hills, we first visited over 30 years ago and have been there many times since. Indeed, I write this sat in a special place within that special place: a self-catering cottage at Cowleigh Park Farm.

We first stayed here all those years ago and also a couple of other times when our children were very young. Having changed hands and been refurbished in the intervening 20 years, arriving and walking in was like meeting an old friend.

A place of ‘Comfort. Security. Warmth.’  (to quote a line from Looking to Move On). A sunny afternoon, sat in the garden with cups of tea. Sublime.

But what a difference a day makes: snow the next morning (and even heavier the day after – but with Jane giving the car a push up the driveway, we still got to Crufts!).

Malvern is the type of place we could see ourselves living in. Other places have fitted that description too: Romsey, Brockenhurst, Sherston, Ripon. Places which have a special place in our hearts (although our beloved Devon will always be home and a new one beckons there too.).

The 1980s and my 20s coincided. The first half of both saw regular visits to another special place. Taking the four hour train journey from Bristol, where I was living, to the city of York. Long weekends two or three times a year, staying in the same B&B with the same couple who ran it. York became a special place. A place of comfort, security and warmth amidst the challenging years that my third decade had become. A place of solitude. A place of retreat. A place to be me – or perhaps it was more a case of, to find me. A place to reset with God.

It seems to me we often ‘find’ ourselves in other places. Places away from the normal demands and expectations. Places which help us to ‘reset’ ourselves with God too. Places to remind us of what has been gained and what has been lost and needs recovering.

When thinking of special places, I am minded to recall how Jesus had his own. Often in the mountains (the parallel with the Malvern Hills is not lost on me) but always a place of solitude, a place of retreat. Perhaps even a place to find himself… and to reset himself with God.

Not everyone is able to travel to such places of course and making a special place within our homes set aside for prayer can also be helpful. Whether at home or elsewhere, having a special place to reset with God can bring a different perspective. Providing that objectivity of distance and separation to refocus on all that may have become blurred.

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

 Details of my books are at richardfrostauthor.com

The post A special place appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

It was Oscar Wilde who said ‘Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.’ Far be it from me to call my books ‘art’ but life it seems is paying some resemblance to their titles.

There are elements of Life with St Benedict with the sad, impending closure of Alton Abbey, of which I am a lay member (an oblate) of their Benedictine Monastic Community. But, more than that, in the last year to eighteen months, Jane and I have been Looking to Move On and in such times we have continually been needing to look at ways of Finding Stability in Times of Change – and will need to continue to do so.

We have both hugely appreciated all that has brought us ‘life’ as part of our current team of churches over the last 4 years. It has become apparent to both of us that Jane needs to re-frame the future of her ministry as continuing to work as a full time stipendiary priest is no longer possible. Into that context of exploring other avenues, Jane has been appointed to the post of part-time Associate Minister in the Totnes Team Ministry, based in Marldon. We are already well known in the Totnes Team, where Jane served her initial curacy following her ordination in 2015. She will be licensed there in mid-June by the Bishop of Plymouth.

We feel it is the best ‘next step’ for us both individually and together. We will continue to be part of the Haldon Mission Community until the end of April and the Diocese is already working with the Team Rector to support the ministry here in a number of ways until a new appointment is made.

Like everyone, we have A Story to Tell and, as the last post reflected on, it’s one which will have various edited versions. There is this one, the one you are reading now. The public version. There are various private versions containing different pieces of the story too – and, sorry, you probably won’t get to know those.

Whereas many people would share their story with those they see most regularly (and on social media!), such is the nature of clergy and vicarage life, boundaries have to be in place with those who are nearest but not quite as dearest as others we know.

Just a handful of people have known a fair amount of it and they have accompanied us with their prayers, wisdom and support along the twists and turns, the ups and downs of that story. People who have journeyed with us for years. Trusted prayerful companions. What we have shared with them has been kept watertight and we are grateful to those who ensured there were no leaks.

It would seem, on reflection, that God sent us to where we have been since June 2019. Sent rather than called, as Jane sensed very strongly at the time. Sent for the expected and the unexpected – notably supporting six (now eight) churches through pandemic lockdowns and a year-long absence of a Team Rector.  That was a time of great challenge but also great things – new ways of being church, new ways of encountering God.

As predicted, we have pleased and we have disappointed. We have gained and we have lost.

And now God is calling us on. Another place – a familiar one at that. Another chapter in the ongoing story. Another way to encounter the truth of what St Benedict said: ‘Always we begin again.’

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. More details of the books are at richardfrostauthor.com

The post Always we begin again appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

Although it’s all rather predictable, The Apprentice continues to be a must watch programme in the Frost household.

Suited and made up, the bright (and not so bright) young things are put to work by the all-seeing Lord Sugar. Ridiculed and praised in unequal measure, the candidates make mistakes and outrageous comments. Some incapable of mental arithmetic and those for whom ‘Maps were before my time’. We’re shown facial expressions and linger over conflicts, calamities and confusion. From the 4am recorded phone call (and how much they appear to get done in the 20 mins before the cars are outside…) to the ‘You’re fired’ pointy finger in the Boardroom.

Lord S makes known his thoughts in no uncertain manner (and is a dubious role model) but it makes for good telly.

And the key to the programme’s success? 140 hours of footage condensed in to less than 60 minutes. We only see what the producers want us to see. It’s all in the editing and the narrative. It’s all in the telling.

The same is true in our lives. We all have edited versions. We all have our narrative. Be that in our memories, the here and now, and into the future. We produce accurate accounts as well as those edited to suit the narrative. We have different versions of the same episodes according to who’s watching – or depending on how we are feeling at the time. We let other people see and hear what we want them to.

One of the books I’m reading at the moment is The Fatigue Book (the visitor is still here, by the way) and it’s where this image comes from. In it, Lydia Rolley writes about the importance of the narrative we have about ourselves. The words we use about our state of health, for example, and how through that narrative illness can become our very identity.

And that’s also true about the words which linger over conflicts, calamities and confusion or the narration of our mistakes and regretted comments.

To that we edit in the words of others. Words more hurtful than sticks and stones. Words which often say more about the person who said or wrote them but which have seared in to our heart with all the impact of ‘You’re fired.’

We present this editing of our memories, thoughts and actions to ourselves as if they are the final broadcast – and we live according to that version. It becomes our identity.

So what about all the stuff that ends up on the cutting room floor? Yes, some rubbish bits are best forgotten but what else should have made the final edit?

Our lives are not about making ‘good telly’ but, as Jesus said, about having ‘life in all its fullness.’ (John 10:10)

As an author (and occasional film maker) editing is key to producing the finished version. Taking out that which is not relevant (or is best forgotten) and keeping in what makes for fullness (and is best remembered).

It’s all in the telling – and fullness comes in how we tell ourselves the story of our lives.

Illustration by Rachel Alice Leggett in The Fatigue Book by Lydia Rolley (Hammersmith Health Books 2022)

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

My two new books, Finding Stability in Times of Change and debut novella, Looking to Move On are available in paperback online or from me and also an eBook. More details at richardfrostauthor.com

The post It’s all in the telling appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

‘Mindful of what you feel, look at Rembrandt’s masterful depiction of the parable… Give your attention to how the light falls on the scene. Record all that you observe about the light. Stay with it… what do you hear when you listen and what is the light in the painting saying to you?’

Henri Nouwen’s invitation to meditate on this famous painting returns our thoughts to the imagery of the previous post. It comes from further reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son contained in Home Tonight, a collection of transcripts of talks and other notes published after Nouwen’s death.

Not for the first time, I have sat with this painting again. I imagined myself actually sitting in the scene. Taking a place alongside the father and his sons, and the others who are present. (You may like to do the same.)

I found myself sitting in the space at the bottom right hand corner, not far from the feet of the elder sibling. Looking at the father and the prodigal. Listening to what was being said.

The father’s love for his son being expressed simply.

The son’s head against his father’s chest.

The father’s hands resting on his son.

I wondered what each of them was saying.

Yet as I sat, I became conscious that perhaps nothing was being said.

That despite the noise of the party being prepared elsewhere, there were no words.

There were no words.

There was silence.

It struck me how words place limits on how we feel.

Words place limits on love.

That love is far greater than any words.

I was reminded of words often attributed to John of the Cross, a 16^th Century mystic and developed by Thomas Keating, a 21^st Century monk (whose writings significantly influenced this writer’s own journey of faith): ‘Silence is God’s first language.’

And I have often wondered what that actually means. How can silence be a language?

A phrase like that goes against much of our way of living and thinking, doesn’t it? We all need to be told we are loved. We all need to be able to tell someone else of our love for them (however that love may be defined or expressed). We all need to know that God’s love is very present and never absent. Using words helps us to understand that love. It makes it tangible.

But if silence is God’s first language (and God uses other forms of words and communication to ‘speak’ to us as well) does that mean silence is actually the true and full expression of God’s love?

That God’s love is beyond words.

That God’s love is fully experienced through silence.

‘Silence is God’s first language,’ Keating writes. ‘Everything else is a poor translation. In order to hear that language, we must learn to be still and rest in God.’

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

My two new books, Finding Stability in Times of Change and debut novella, Looking to Move On are available in paperback online or from me and also an eBook. More details at richardfrostauthor.com

The post No words for love appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

There once was a man who had two sons. The elder one was in line to take over the family business. The younger, disillusioned with his lot, went off to a distant land.

Sibling rivalry is nothing new, of course. Neither is parental estrangement or the presence of family conflicts. When thinking about the latest set of painful events to afflict the royal family, I am sure I’m not the only one to be reminded of the parable of prodigal son.

As one who experienced sudden and unexpected maternal loss in my early life, I have some sympathy with the range of resultant emotions and behaviours; the impact of acclimatising to stepfamily dynamics; and the desire for others to hear my story when I didn’t always take time to hear theirs.

Prince Harry’s story is, like many others, a very sad one. The years of anger and grief have exploded in to the public domain. One hopes it is not as long before he ‘returns’ to his father and brother – and sees if he is welcomed back – before the time for reconciliation has been lost.

My own father had a brother and sister who had become estranged from each other. One of the best things my sister and I ever did was to bring the three of them together for the first time in well over 30 years. It was just the once. Within a year, both my father and his sister were dead. But their time for reconciliation had not been lost.

In the same way that I have reflected on the parable in a previous post (coincidentally, one which also reflects on my relationship with my own father) I have been drawn again recently to the writings of Henri Nouwen.

In his seminal book of the same name, Nouwen reflects on Rembrandt’s painting of The Return of the Prodigal Son, writing: ‘It was so easy to identify with the two sons… But what of the father? Why pay so much attention to the sons… when it is the father with whom I am to identify? Why talk  so much about being like the sons when the real question is “Are you interested in being like the father?”

‘It feels somehow good to be able to say, “These sons are like me,”’ Nouwen continues, ‘But how does it feel to say, “The father is like me.”… Do I want to be not just the one who is being forgiven but the one who forgives; not just the one who is being welcomed home but the one who welcomes home; not just the one who offers compassion but the one who offers it as well?’

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

My two new books, Finding Stability in Times of Change and debut novel, Looking to Move On are available in paperback online or from me and also an eBook. More details at richardfrostauthor.com

The post Any love to spare? appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

The first chapter of John’s Gospel is one of those quintessential readings we hear at this time of year. Traditionally, the last one read at a service of lessons and carols, it takes a different approach to other readings about the events leading up to and surrounding Jesus’ birth. It is typical of John’s Gospel to make it so distinct from the other three gospel accounts.

While many hold the tenet that the Bible is to be taken literally and is the unquestionable, unchanging word of God, the Bible is a collection of writings written in a particular time and culture and also contains much wisdom to influence how we live in our own time and culture.

And yet, in places the Bible is boring, repetitive, confusing and you get told the climax of particular events well before you get to the ending. It is so badly written in places.

And that is why it is to be precious for us. Because our lives demonstrate something that is often boring, repetitive and confusing – and at times badly written.

One of the many reasons why I am a Christian is because of passages such as the one we have just had. Not so much because of what it says but also because it is quite confusing.

Just take verse 1: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.’

Word, light, life – what’s all that about? All these different metaphors that the gospel writer uses.

John, who may or may not have been one of Jesus’ disciples probably wrote or dictated it about 40-50 years after Jesus had died and he gives Jesus the title ‘the Word’ and also gives him the names ‘the light’ and ‘the life’.

So we could read it as: ‘In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God’ – this ties in with words in Genesis, Jesus was there at the beginning and also an indication there of Jesus being fully divine. 

^‘All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being’. Bit of tautology there but it emphasises the point. ‘What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.’

So John is combining those titles to really emphasise the point about Jesus and who he was.

Verse 6: ‘A man sent from God whose name was John.’ (That’s John the Baptist not John the gospel writer.) ‘He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, Jesus, was coming in to the world.’

So John the Baptist came to talk about Jesus – they were distant cousins and you may recall the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth when both women were pregnant. Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother and that wonderful song of Mary that came about – the Magnificat.

The Gospel continues… verse 10 ‘He,’ so we’re back to Jesus now, ‘He was in the world, and the world came into being through him yet the world did not know him.’ 

Spoiler alert: ‘Jesus came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.’

John giving away a bit of end of the story – ultimately Jesus would not be accepted by those he came to save – events we recall at Easter.

But, verse 12, ‘to all who received Jesus, who believed in his name, Jesus gave power to become children of God’.

Wow! We’re getting to the heart of the message of John’s Gospel, the heart of the message of the Christian faith, the heart of the message of Christmas. That through Jesus we can become children of God.

This passage, this introduction is in many ways, to draw a parallel with an article that might appear in an academic journal, an ‘abstract’: a summary of the whole piece.

And in one line, John gives a summary of the summary, verse 14: ‘And the Word – so remember that from before – the Word became flesh and lived among us.’

This is the Jesus whose birth we now celebrate, the Word, the Light, the Life. The man who was with God and is God, is born a human being.

‘And we (those who receive Jesus, who believe in his name) have seen his glory. The glory as of a father’s only son.’ In that culture, with its very patristic attitudes, the son of a father was held in very high regard. ‘We have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.’

That is what we celebrate this Christmas. The glory  of God’s son, full of grace and truth.

But what of our lives? What does this say to our time and culture?

We live in difficult times and have done so for quite a long time. The pandemic, the continued presence of Covid, many struggling with heat or eat decisions, the rising cost of living, the impact of industrial action, the events in the world around us. And then for some there may be the first Christmas without a loved one… the list goes on. We live in dark times and thus it is that this time of celebrating the light, Jesus, is so important.

The writer David Cole said this: ‘What is darkness? Darkness is not actually a thing. You can’t switch it on, and it only exists when there is a lack of light.’

But also it’s my feeling that those times of darkness need to exist in order that we can see the light more clearly.

This a message for us as we live in our own time and culture.

For as John also writes, back to verse 5, ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’

So this Christmas, each of us has a choice about whether or not to hear and receive God’s message of life and light. We can choose to live in darkness or we can choose to live in the light of life.

Thank you for reading this post – please share it with others, subscribe to this blog and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

With my prayers and best wishes for Christmas and the coming year.

The post Light & Dark appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

So the day has come. It is no longer a case of ‘When I’m 64…’ as Lennon and McCartney put it, but ‘Now I’m 64…’.

In many ways, age is just a number. I don’t feel 64 (whatever ‘feeling 64’ is meant to feel like). In my head I’m a lot younger – indeed the fact I am, physically speaking, of such an age continues to be somewhat of a surprise.

It’s commonplace nowadays for well-known people to be asked in interviews, ‘What would you say to the younger you?’. When I ask that of myself, not that I am well-known, I’m not sure. ‘Life is for learning’ has been a motto of mine for many years. I’ve learnt as life has gone on and that approach has been very valuable for shaping the person I am. I wouldn’t have had it any other way (probably). I would though, I think, have told myself more about how to deal with the transient nature of friendships (and I wish I knew how to deal with that still…)

For myself, I have endeavoured (albeit not always successfully) to live with memories of the past only so far as they help me to live in the present and in looking to the future. ‘The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there,’ as LP Hartley wrote. As long as I live, I never want to be one who lives in the past.

I’m reminded of something Groucho Marx once said but in this politically correct world in which live, I best not repeat it. So let me turn to another American from the movies for further wisdom. The filmmaker and actor, Clint Eastwood, himself now 92, was once asked how he coped with age: “I don’t let the old man in,” he said. “Inevitably things drop off or seize up. Whenever you get a pain here or an ache there, you think: Oh dear, this is it. But you don’t let the old man in.”

And, inevitably, most experience more difficulties as age progresses (although some of course experience these from earlier in life too). Health plays a big part in how we live our lives – and so does money, housing, occupation and many other factors. All influence our experience of life at whatever age and stage.

But we do also have choices. In relation to aging, there is something about choosing not to let the old man or woman into the way we think or behave. About choosing not to live our lives dominated and shaped by other factors, even when those are very difficult. I’ve written elsewhere about how common it is for a person’s identity to be defined more by a situation or condition than by the person we actually are. How common it is to lose that sense of ‘I am’.

Pinned on our kitchen noticeboard is a fading piece of paper from years ago with a message still relevant for today. It carries some words by Helen Mallicoat…

‘I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly my Lord was speaking:

“My name is I AM.” He paused. I waited.

He continued.

“When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I Was.

“When you live in the future with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I Will Be.

“When you live in this moment it is not hard. I am here. My name is I AM.”’

Thank you for reading this post – please share it with others, subscribe to this blog and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

My thanks to those who so kindly contacted me after the last post: I was very touched by people’s concern. My two new books, Finding Stability in Times of Change and debut short novel, Looking to Move On are available in paperback online or from me and also an eBook. More details at richardfrostauthor.com

With my prayers and best wishes for Christmas and the coming year.

The post ‘When I’m 64…’ appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

Whether it’s in the speaking or in the writing, I have often encouraged people not to compare themselves with others. Regularly using two favourite quotes to emphasise the importance if not doing so: ‘It is a mistake to compare the outside of other people’s lives with the inside of our own life,’ as someone once put it. And, more pithily, the words of Oscar Wilde: ‘Be yourself – because everyone else is taken.’

But in recent weeks, with its focus on launching and publicising two new books, I have found myself doing just that. Comparing myself with others who promote their books so successfully (and of course, themselves, which always brings a degree of discomfort in this whole process – this isn’t about me, it’s about the books). Comparing myself with those receiving plaudits and rave reviews. Comparing myself with those whose books are sold in bookshops, a still necessary outlet amidst the emphasis on online presence. All those who say theirs is a ‘bestseller’.

And then there’s me. E-mails sent to over 40 independent and Christian/Cathedral bookshops – only 4 replies. Press releases to a similar number of magazines and newspapers with just a handful of responses. Barely any retweeting from others… unlike everyone else. It’s hard work and it’s all been rather demoralising at times. Perhaps Eric Morecambe was right about me too… (click here to read what I mean by that).

I had fallen in to the trap of comparing myself with others. A trap with no practical purpose or relevance. I am who I am and can only do as much as I can. The rest is up to other people and up to God.

And then, amidst what it is of course purely me feeling sorry for myself, come the encouragements: that ‘handful of responses’ were no less than six publications wanting review copies. The encouraging initial interest and personal sales to friends and acquaintances. Contact with an organisation who can help with distribution to bookshops. People telling me they are still using my previous book, Life with St Benedict.  A lovely first review for Looking to Move On and a wonderful one for Finding Stability in Times of Change – both capturing what I had always hoped readers would gain from the words they have read.

My own words, both spoken and written, echo in my mind: if we continue to try to be like someone else then we will always have a sense of failure and inadequacy.  My mind had turned to being thankful, recognising the positive things and the feelings generated by the humility of being affirmed.

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

Those two new books, Finding Stability in Times of Change and debut novel, Looking to Move On are available in paperback online or from me and also an eBook. More details at richardfrostauthor.com

The post Go compare appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

Last summer, Daisy the Vicarage Dog was very poorly. This normally lively (to be put it mildly) now eight year-old Cocker Spaniel was barely able to move at times and had lost both her appetite and her bark. After many appointments with the vets, specialist interventions and different medications, she was diagnosed with a very rare auto-immune disease: Wegener’s… no, the vet hadn’t heard of it either (as he reminded us on many occasions – and continues to do so…).

After months on steroids, the symptoms eased and she was back to her normal self. Steroids meant she drank a lot more – and, thus without giving too much information, she has more towels than Jane and I put together. She would also wake up very early and for weeks we saw more sunrises than ever before. So much so, that in itself took us to the vets. We were prescribed sleeping tablets – for Daisy, that is.

Then a few weeks ago, the symptoms started returning. So, to use one of my favourite phrases (which I believe is original) we followed the ‘wisdom of hindsight in advance’. We went straight back to the vet to catch things early. And she’s back on the steroids. And she’s fine – apart from the reappearance of the two aforementioned ‘issues’.

Five o’clock mornings are something I don’t particularly want in these Covid-fatigue times but our son came up with an excellent suggestion. You see, Daisy is besotted with me. I am, in her life (and maybe in a couple of others too), I am her No. 1. Jon suggested putting an item of my clothing (recently worn) in to her crate at night so she could smell my scent (or smell my smell, I guess would be an more accurate phrase…). A way of helping her to feel safe and secure. And, so far, so good!

Many of us like our creature comforts, don’t we? That favourite item of clothing or snack. The best chair. The comfortable place.

Physical comfort, such as a hug or holding hands (my wife and are well practised at those) also help us to feel a sense of safety and security.

One of Daisy’s favourite habits is to sit on my lap in the car (when I’m not driving, I hasten to add – but she would do the same, given the chance). Our 20-something year-old daughter will still occasionally sit on my lap too. It’s comforting for both of us. I would love to be able to sit on someone’s lap and be held: like a child with their parent.

In times of prayer I often imagine Jesus sat next to me on the sofa or in the room. I imagine God’s arms holding me safe and secure.

The psalmist’s words have become a regular source of comfort for this particular creature:

My soul clings to you, your right hand holds me fast.’ (Psalm 63:8)

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

My two new books, Finding Stability in Times of Change and debut novel, Looking to Move On are available in paperback online or from me and also an an eBook. More details at richardfrostauthor.com

The post Creature comforts appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

Stability. It’s become the watch word of the current economic and political crisis.

We’ve had the whole Brexit palaver. The pandemic. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Energy and cost of living crises. Inflation and strikes on a level not seen since the 70s. The death of the Queen. Economic turmoil from the major-bodget… and another Prime Minister. The fault-hunters are finding rich-pickings too. Society has changed from using language to, as someone put it, langrage.

Years of instability. Years of change. And that’s without the personal times of difficulty encountered by many of us in our own lives.

Several people have commented that the title of one of my new books, Finding Stability in Times of Change is very apposite. But, being the good former public servant that I am, I feel the need to hide behind a quote by a fictitious politician: ‘You may think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment.’ (But I agree all the same…)

Stability is a topic I have written about on many occasions – indeed, the very first post carries (almost) the same title as the book. Stability is one of the three ground rules of Benedictine spirituality. For the monk or nun it is worked out by remaining in the same monastic community for life. For those of us living outside such places, stability can be found in the outworking of our faith and trust in God in day to day living.

Finding stability in times of change and uncertainty is crucial. I’ve written recently about having long Covid in the form of fatigue. It’s been a time of instability. Of being buffeted about. Yes, there is a familiarity in having my ‘friend’ here again but also difficulty. Things are improving but the storm continues.

In another context, I remember a few years ago talking with work colleagues about how it was all very well (and very good) helping people to find a job or start training or voluntary work but the actual change involved in doing so could be very destabilising. If those who came to us for help didn’t receive support in coping with such change, things may well fall apart before they’d even started.

The cost of food, energy, mortgages and other essential elements of life are major factors in the current storm. Covid infections are rising again and flu is becoming more common. These are not easy times.

The winds of change and instability are ever present in our lives – whether we like it or not. Like the disciples on the lake, even with Jesus in the boat, we cannot stop the wind. But there are ways of finding calmer waters, finding stability in times of change, and it is those which we are to be seeking, nurturing and living with.

In this country at least it’s very rare for someone to be completely blown off their feet by the wind – and yet often the winds of life buffet and move us from place to place, perhaps without even realising it.

We can’t stop the wind but we can control where we are blown, more than perhaps we realise and certainly more than most of us believe.

My debut novel, Looking to Move On is also available. More details are at richardfrostauthor.com

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

The post Stability appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

I first wrote a book over 30 years ago. Called All God’s Work it reflected on the nature of work being not just paid employment but also tasks done in voluntary,  community and domestic roles. It also explored the experiences of being unemployed. After numerous rejections it was finally accepted. Twice. But it was never published. In one case the publisher apologised for mistakes made at their end and with the other, sadly, the owner of the business died and thus the book did too.

So I turned my writing fingers to articles for newspapers and magazines, interviewing a wide range of people including Terry Waite, John Major, Nick Park and some of the first women to be ordained. Other writing emerged: press releases, Bible study notes and materials produced in the course of my work. Then, in 2019, two books appeared: Life with St Benedict published by BRF and A Story to Tell … published by me.

The first came out of the experience of being drawn more deeply into Benedictine spirituality and the realisation that an ancient piece of writing, the Rule of St Benedict, had so much to say about 21^st Century living. The second, which also has its own website as well as being a book, came out of my increasing awareness that we can learn so much from people who met Jesus. So often we focus solely on what we learn from Christ himself that we miss out on other insights: after all, each of us learns a lot from other people too.

And now this week, I am honoured to see not one but two more books come to fruition. Both written over the last couple of years and, as with Life with St Benedict, both experiencing rejection – and then acceptance by independent, traditional publishers.

Taking the biblical miracle of the calming of the storm as its focus, Finding Stability in Times of Change considers how the storm symbolises periods of change, transition and difficulty and how the calming of it signifies stability. One only has to think back over the last couple of years to see how we have all endured tremendous change and how unsettling it’s been. The book includes insights and personal stories from others along with practical and achievable suggestions for readers to consider in their own life.

With a Foreword by Andrew Nunn, Dean of Southwark, Finding Stability in Times of Change has been described by Morwenna Ludlow, a Canon at Exeter Cathedral, as ‘perceptive and wise – a valuable guide on life’s journey.’ And fellow, well-known author, David Runcorn, describes it as ‘a timely and helpful book… it feels like a conversation in the midst of the winds and the storms – with ourselves, with each other, with scripture and the hard won resources of Christian faith – and with God.’ (Click here to buy, read more, including the first chapter, and watch a video interview.)

This week also sees the publication of my debut novel, Looking to Move On. This was a ‘lockdown surprise’. Like others who developed new interests in those very strange times of change, mine came in the form of reading more fiction and writing it too. Looking to Move On came together from a couple of short stories – and then took on a life of its own. Such is the freedom of fiction, one can make the characters do whatever one wants them to do – and sometimes they do it by themselves!

It’s a contemporary story of loss and love, grief and joy, conflict and resolution, tears and laughter. It’s not overtly ‘religious’ and the title reflects the message of the book which is one of hope over adversity and that moving on, rebuilding life, is always possible. I’ve had the privilege of meeting many people who experience difficulties and their stories have inspired much of this one. (Click here to buy, read more, including the first chapter, and watch a video interview.)

In some respects, both books explore how we cope with and move on from difficult situations. In many ways, they are both about stories and how we all benefit in the telling and the listening and the reading. I hope you will find them helpful too.

More details about all the books mentioned in this post can be found at richardfrostauthor.com

Looking to Move On is published by the award-winning, Chronos Publishing and available to buy through Waterstones. Finding Stability in Times of Change is the very first book from a new publisher, Endulini Publishing and available on Amazon. Alternatively, you are welcome to contact me to buy copies direct.

If you are in Devon, you are very welcome to come to special Double Book Launch events:

• Fri 21 Oct at 7.15-8.15pm at St Stephen’s Church, High St, Exeter
• Sat 22 Oct at 12-1pm at St Michael’s Church, Teignmouth, Devon

The post Two new books appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

The last few days have given rise to thoughts, memories and emotions in almost everyone. In particular, many have spoken about the servant Queen. One who had been equipped to serve. One who served her country, it seems to me, right to the end.

My sense is that, like many people at such an age and stage, the Queen knew that death was not far away. And I wonder if, like others sometimes do, she ‘hung on’ for one final act: inviting her fifteenth and last Prime Minister to form her government. Having done that, that one final act of service and duty, she knew she could now move on.

Service. The word is one that sits with many meanings and in many settings (indeed, the Collins English Dictionary lists no less than 17 nouns and several verbs in its definition). At the other end of society’s hierarchy, we think of people ‘in service’. Those who lived ‘downstairs’ while the high and mighty lived high and mightily ‘upstairs’. In recent decades we’ve increasingly heard businesses and organisations boast about their level of ‘customer service’: whether it’s how staff answer the phone right through to encouraging customers to leave five-star reviews. A recent example for us was when we last visited the lovely town of Malvern. For the first time (and the last) we rented an apartment from a well-known service (there’s that word again) that lets owners, known as hosts, rent out their own properties for people to stay in. It was, as in the post I wrote at the time, a near disaster. But what struck us afterwards was when we received the ubiquitous ‘satisfaction survey’. For it was left to the host to decide whether or not to publish it. Needless to say, our responses did not pass that aspect of customer service quality control.

And, for me, there’s the rub. So often it seems that ‘customer service’ has become a synonym for simply making the organisation look good and not always about the service they actually give to those who are their customers.

On another tack, last Saturday, in Exeter Cathedral, 15 people were ordained to be members of the clergy in the Church of England. Within the service (there it is again) those being ordained not only heard what is required of them but they promised to do it… Will you be a faithful servant… Will you work with your fellow servants… ‘By the help of God, I will,’ they responded. There will be many times when they will not deliver a five-star service and there will be plenty of people who will give them a bad review… but with the help of God, they will do what they can, and there will be many who will appreciate their efforts also.

I’ve reflected on the topic of service before. But what does it mean to serve? To serve other people? To serve God? In what ways are we to be servants?

Many biblical examples come to mind. There’s Martha and Mary, two very different examples of service and Jesus himself speaks on several occasions about serving others.

Like in the dictionary, though, all of us will have many different definitions of how we have served others at times. Service which perhaps didn’t even receive acknowledgment let alone five stars or maybe other occasions when we did know what it meant to someone else. Many will have served us also, with and without our acknowledgement.

Paul writes, ‘Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.  Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 2:3-5)

And a prayer based on words of Augustine of Hippo:

Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you, the joy of the hearts that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you; grant us so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

Two new books: Finding Stability in Times of Change and a debut novel, Looking to Move On will be published soon. Details of both books and launch events are available at richardfrostauthor.com

The post Five-star service appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

There’s been a falling out – but I never was good at keeping friends. The visitor is outstaying their welcome. Not that they were welcome in the first place, but you know what I mean (if you don’t, you may like to read the previous post).

The situation isn’t any worse – but I’m not sure it’s any better. Being in the house makes it fairly manageable – although I’d forgotten how tiring getting dressed can be. Pacing things continues to help. A little at a time. Reading, doing puzzles, a bit at the computer, (very) short walks, sleeping… I’ve also been grateful for ‘The Hundred’ being on TV too. Admittedly, the purists may feel it’s, well, ‘just not cricket’ but it has opened the game to many, many more who are unfamiliar with the traditional version.

As with many people who experience significant health issues, it’s the mental aspect that also presents its challenges. When it comes to going out, the visitor tells me: ‘If you walk that far, you won’t be able to manage to get back.’ ‘All those things you want to do – and you can’t,’ the inner voice says with a smirk. And often my response becomes one of ‘I think… therefore I can’t.’

In the course of my working career (and in aspects of personal and family life) I have met many whose health, physical or mental, has caused much wider problems. It was not so much the medical condition itself that was ‘disabling’, it was the fear of making it worse that caused life itself has become diminished. Many have paid that very huge cost of living.

There is an irony in my current situation too – and it isn’t lost on me. In the next few weeks, two new books I’ve written are being published. One, Finding Stability in Times of Change is based on the occasion when the disciples were sailing across Lake Galilee – something they had done hundreds of times before – and a storm blows up. Life is going along quite normally and then something happens that changes everything. And didn’t we all know that in the pandemic – and continue to do so in that other cost of living crisis. Ultimately, though, it is the knowledge of how that story ends which can give all of us hope in such costly and difficult times: the storm will be calmed.

And alongside that hope, as also mentioned last time, the Psalms are a gift that keeps on giving in difficult periods. These are just two sections which I have found helpful, maybe you might too:

‘I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 

He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.’ (Psalm 40:1-4)

And these reflect so succinctly how we can both reach out to God in the storm and know that we are completely safe:

‘My soul clings to you, your right hand holds me fast.’ (Psalm 63:8)

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

Details of both books are available at richardfrostauthor.com. The second book, a debut novel, Looking to Move On is now available to pre-order at Waterstones.

The post The cost of living appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

A friend has come to stay. We first met in 1988 when they wrecked my life.

Since then, we’ve met just once, a few years ago. So it was a surprise to meet them again, if I’m honest. But there again, given what happened, perhaps it wasn’t.

The very first time, I didn’t know what was going on. They arrived unannounced and were unwelcome. The impact was so great I had several months off work. Other aspects of life were cancelled, cut short or postponed, not least of which was one of the most important things I have ever done. Plans and hopes were replaced by uncertainty and fear.

After three years, they eventually moved on only to return nearly two decades later. The impact was less but they stayed for longer – seven years this time.

And now they are here again. Unannounced. Unwelcome. The impact is significant – not as bad as first time, it has to be said, but worse than the second visit.

The fear was strong but short-lived, although the uncertainty remains uncertain. Some plans have been adjusted and daily living accommodates this friend’s propensity to increase the cost of energy. One of the impacts is that my trusty FitBit has almost gone back to where it was a few years ago.

I don’t know how long they will stay for but I am grateful I can draw on those past experiences. I now know how to manage the cost and the impact. I’m the one in control but that doesn’t always make it easy. I am also comforted in the knowledge that chronic fatigue is common for others post-Covid too.

And I call this illness ‘friend’? Like Jesus called Judas in the garden at Gethsemane?

Friend is not a word I would have used in the past – or even thought of doing so. But those experiences have taught me many things.

Firstly, the importance of rest (it’s no coincidence that this blog takes that word as part of its title). So many people do not develop a habit of resting (not unlike me those 30 or so years ago). Rest doesn’t just mean doing nothing: it may mean doing something that is relaxing or fulfilling or refreshing in nature. Resting recharges the energy supply.

Secondly, pacing. Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘There is more to life than increasing its speed.’ It’s very easy to lull oneself in to false sense of superiority by always working or never stopping. Always seeking to avoid the ‘emptiness’ of having nothing to do. Someone recently told me how they felt like a rechargeable battery which was lasting a shorter and shorter time. Pacing adjusts life to suit the amount of energy available.

Thirdly, the Psalms. I first really began to encounter the wisdom of the Psalms in that first period of chronic fatigue/ME. The Psalms speak of human emotions at their most vulnerable and despairing and at their most hopeful and joyful.

The Psalms also speak to us of what God has done. The psalmists (David and many others) regularly write about God’s faithfulness and how God blessed or brought them out of trouble. Maybe take some time to look at some of them.

Consciously bringing to mind what God has done in our lives is so crucial to weathering times of difficulty.

Doing so enables us to not only remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness but also enables us to give thanks and praise to God for the never-wavering love for each of us.

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

Do also take a look at richardfrostauthor.com

The post The cost of energy appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

A few years ago I was invited to write an article for Who do you think you are?, the companion magazine for the BBC’s family history series. The piece told the story, indeed the tragic story, of my great, great, great grandparents, Sophia and Richard (Frost) who lost four of their nine children in an explosion of gunpowder which destroyed their house in 1839.*

Last week, as Jane and I travelled on from North Wales we stopped off in Telford and touched history. First, an 18^th Century ‘wagonway bridge’ at Newdale (now called Lawley) which Richard, Sophia and family would have walked across. Then visiting the gravestone of the lost children in Wellington, a town within the larger Shropshire conurbation.

Unlike those featured on TV, there is no-one famous among my ancestors and indeed no-one whose skills have been ‘passed on’ to me. The Frosts of past times possessed more practical abilities in their little finger than I do in my entire body… a stone mason, coal miners, agricultural labourers, cotton mill and iron foundry workers.

It’s a sign of modern times that I describe them using their occupations, isn’t it? Indeed, our answer to the question ‘What do you do?’ continues to mark out aspects of who we are. We might also define our identity by describing our marital or relationship situation or where we live (often an indicator of status or lack of it, in itself). For some, living with a disability or significant health condition becomes their identity – indeed it may well have subsumed it altogether, as the role of caring for someone may do also. We might hide aspects of ourselves because we feel we will no longer be loved, liked or wanted ‘if people knew’.

We might also live life based on what we think other people think about us (as if we actually knew other people thoughts…). There is a very perceptive quote about how our sense of identity can be distorted by such thinking: ‘It is a mistake… to compare the outside of other people’s lives with the inside of our own life.’

Living life with any approach based on comparing ourselves negatively with others will almost certainly lead to feelings of inadequacy, failure and lack of fulfilment. Such inner convictions (and dare I add, our prejudices) skew, rather than affirm our sense of identity and self-worth and make it very difficult to genuinely answer the question, ‘Who do you think you are?’

The title of this post is not ‘Who do you think you were?’ As one gets older it’s easy to think about how we were when we were younger and what life was like then. But such reflections can in themselves skew our current view of who we are.

‘I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.’ (Jeremiah 29:11)

Whatever age, God hasn’t finished with you yet: ‘Who do you think you will be?’

While we may not be able to change some aspects of the situation we find ourselves in, we can change our attitude towards it. In his resignation speech, Sajid Javid alluded to this approach, saying:  ‘It is a choice. I know just how difficult this choice is. But let’s be clear. Not doing something is an active decision.’

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

*You can read the article here.

Do also take a look at richardfrostauthor.com

The post Who do you think you are? appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

The beginning of a holiday can sometimes feel like being in a badly landing plane.

Whether ‘piloted’ by day to day work, family or other responsibilities, it can take a while to adjust to the change of pace and other aspects of being on holiday. Whether or not we like or enjoy them, the temporary absence of those ‘normal’ routines can give rise to a range of unsettling questions and expectations.

How long will it take to get there? What will the accommodation be like? What do we do if it rains (or it’s too hot)?

It may take a few days to switch off: so we feel guilty that we’re not immediately ‘having a good time’. If we’re fortunate, we might then have some good days: and then spend the last ones thinking about going back to work or whatever our ‘normal’ looks like. And then there’s the inevitable ‘Did you have a nice holiday?’ questions – and the socially acceptable answer one feels honour bound to give, even when it may not be true.

I write this in the place where Jane and I had planned to go to a couple of years ago. We were on the brink of booking a self-catering cottage in the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales when Covid Lockdown put a stop to anything anyone considered to be normal routines.

It took us a while to get here. It took a while to switch off. Post-covid fatigue messed with my mind  in the first couple of days. The accommodation is clean and comfortable (we’ve stayed in better, we’ve stayed in worse). It’s been hot but manageable (rain has never bothered us, by the way).

The beauty of the surroundings is stunning – from the rugged mountains of Snowdonia to the calm seas of Caernarfon Bay. It’s good to get away.

Where we are staying is 10 minutes’ walk from the aforementioned sea and its view over to Anglesey (it was good to know I could manage that walk too…). Years of cliff edge erosion has left rocks of all shapes and sizes among the pebbles and shingle from the never-ending tides and, no doubt, storms too. To get to the water’s edge requires both careful clambering over the rocks and walking on the fine, slippery shingle, watching one’s step carefully in all respects. There are rocks to sit on and places to simply stand and stare. To listen to the sea, the wind and the birds (no seals today, though).

The comparison is obvious, isn’t it. The rocks and shingle of life can be obstacles or cause us to slip up in our desire to reach the calmer places. We all want to find stability in times of change and difficulty (and yes, that was a deliberate plug for my new book.)

Yet, at the end of the day (literally, with the beach at Clynnog Fawr), while some may shift (or be joined by others) the rocks and the shingle remains. Those aspects of life which cause us difficulty or make us slip up may always be with us in some form or other.

And, at the end of the same day, the path to the calmer waters also remains. It often depends how we negotiate the rocks.

You may like to think about which rocks you clamber over and which you sit on – and where you simply stand and stare.

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

In August, my new book Finding Stability in Times of Change will be published by a brand new, traditional publishing house, Endulini Publishing. If you would like to receive an advance copy and be able to write a review for Amazon and Good Reads, please click this link. Do also take a look at my new website at richardfrostauthor.com

The post Seaside rock appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

One of the unexpected aspects of having Covid and the fatigue that has come with it (I got more than I bargained for in my recent trip) has been watching far more of Wimbledon than usual. One thing that struck me has been the players with ‘the big serve’: the ones who can propel the ball at over 130 mph. Ace follows ace (interspersed with faults) but perhaps also a tendency of being ‘all serve and no volley.’

I have to admit that when it comes to watching tennis, I tend to switch off at the end of a set and then re-join when the next one is nearing its conclusion. I can’t really be doing with it until it’s closing in on the final result.

Both those insights – for player and spectator – reminded me how many aspects of life are to be about the whole thing, not just the bits which are our strengths or preferences.

Like me, I’m sure you have met people whose approach is like those with the big serve. Always seeking to impress, to make their mark, to score the ace. I’ve done it myself – with plenty of faults too. Then there are those who can’t be doing with things that aren’t achieving anything or aren’t as enjoyable. Ditto.

As I write, it’s one of the times of the year when many are being ordained to be a minister in the Church of England. After two or three years of intense, demanding training, people of all ages and backgrounds have reached that stage of putting on the dog collar and being called ‘Reverend’. Many will take up a post as a curate (a further three years of training in the sometimes harsh realities of parish life) and will go in to it believing they have to serve lots of aces.

So, let me tell you about James (that isn’t his real name). A week before he started as a curate, the resident vicar told the congregations a bit about him to help manage their expectations – for congregations have a lot of expectations of the clergy. They needed to know James wasn’t going to achieve match point straight away.

But a week later, James tried to do just that: fresh out of the locker room, ready to serve aces. First Sunday, as people gathered for the morning service, he opened the church door: “We can’t have it closed: we’ve got to welcome people…” Not on a cold summer’s day in an ancient church whose central heating hasn’t worked for months and there’s no money to repair it, you don’t.

“I’m not going to wear robes” was the next thing… “We need to have children’s work…” “We can have a weekly prayer meeting”… all to a congregation who liked their clergy to wear robes, which didn’t have any children or young families, who had never been used to praying together and didn’t know how to do it.

Eventually, after a few other tricky encounters, James put down his racket and turned out to be a very good curate indeed.

Whether we are ordained or not (and in many respects there is no difference), being people who serve is about playing the whole game. The bits we don’t like as well as the parts we do. The times when we want to impress and the occasions when we don’t need to. The moments when we want to give it all up and those when we wouldn’t be doing anything else.

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

In August, my new book Finding Stability in Times of Change will be published by a brand new, traditional publishing house, Endulini Publishing. If you would like to receive an advance copy and be able to write a review for Amazon and Good Reads, please click this link. Do also take a look at my new website at richardfrostauthor.com

The post The big serve appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

Under pressure? Want somebody to love? Or just to ride your bicycle?

Recently, I went to see Queen with Adam Lambert. A presence in the music industry for over five decades, most of Queen’s songs are over 30 years old – and yes, I knew every single one of them.  A concert twice cancelled due to you know what, the two intervening years gave me plenty of time to acclimatise to the fact that Adam Lambert was not going to imitate Freddie Mercury – nor did he. Yes, we saw ‘the great pretender’ in video and heard his voice but this was a band who in the energy and musicality, had also looked forward and continued to do so.

So, from one Queen to another. During the recent Jubilee celebrations, reflecting on her presence of over seven decades, Her Majesty quoted some words from Winston Churchill: ‘The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.’ While I can see what the great orator was trying to get at, I am also minded to disagree.

The problem is that we can find ourselves looking back much more than we look forward. I might have expected an exact Freddie lookalike (Adam Lambert was superb, by the way). In church life, we see this in the phrase, ‘we’ve always done it that way’ or being told how the last vicar did it! We might tend to think of ‘the good old days’ or talk about ‘in my day’ (as if ‘my day’ was not ‘today’).

Yes, there are many aspects of the past which were good and, arguably, better than the current times. But it is one of life’s great sadnesses when not letting go of the past eats away at someone’s very personality and soul (and, sadly, I have met many for whom that is true). So many appear not to ‘want to break free’.

If we are constantly looking backwards we will never see where we are going.

Later this year, my debut novel is being published. A story of loss and love, it speaks of hope over adversity and that moving on in life is always possible. Indeed, it’s called Looking to Move On.

And in many respects, that’s what we can all be doing both as individuals and within our churches. Here in Devon, the Church of England is encouraging us to take ‘Next Steps’ on how we grow in prayer, make new disciples and serve people with joy. So, how are we moving on, making progress, taking next steps in our own lives? They don’t have to be big steps – but we do need to be ‘walking’.

For in order to look forwards, we are to look to God, Lord of the past, present and future, to inspire, encourage and strengthen us. The Lord and his faithfulness to us, not the past in itself, is to be the foundation of all we do.

The psalmist summed this up very succinctly: ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, we will labour in vain.’ (Psalm 127:1)

May that be true for each one of us.

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others, subscribe and contribute your thoughts at the WorkRestPray Facebook Group or follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

The post From one Queen to another appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..

One of the consistent messages of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations has been about the Queen’s service and stability. Thrust into the responsibilities of monarchy aged just 25, she has been, it seems to me, equipped to serve in a way that no other Queen or King has been.

She has also been a source of stability despite the various meanderings of her 14 prime ministers (over 170 across the world) and 7 Archbishops of Canterbury, amidst times of war, peace, pandemic, Brexit and numerous other events and difficulties, let alone those she has faced within her own family.

While my years are not quite as many as her reign (and not unlike the Queen and Paddington Bear, I have been known to have a marmalade sandwich in case of emergencies), this particular blog post does mark its own moment in time for this particular author. For it is the 100^th such entry.

Through WORK. REST. PRAY. I have aimed to offer reflections on how faith relates to those three important aspects of our lives and also to our wellbeing, sense of identity and self-worth – added to which have been some films and images and stories to further explore different facets of human life.

The three guiding principles have been based upon the facts that:

• WORK is not just paid employment
• REST is sometimes elusive, occasionally enforced but rarely intentional
• To PRAY is to underpin all those activities.

Looking back over the last three and half years or so, while I have wandered ‘off script’ in a few of these ramblings, I was struck by the figures for this website which showed that the most read of those 100 posts are…

• Tools in the Toolbox
• Time for a Good Rest
• Stability in Times of Change
• Calling

It also strikes me that they perhaps reflect, in a small way, what many people are looking for today. (Maybe click on the links and reflect on them for yourself for a bit – and feel free to post your thoughts on Facebook or drop me an email or message me through Twitter.)

In what ways has God equipped you for service through providing the tools in the toolbox? In what ways do you seek out times of rest and relaxation? What brings stability in your life? How do they all influence your sense of calling and service?

Thank you for reading this post – please do share it with others and subscribe for future ones.

The post Equipped to serve appeared first on WORK. REST. PRAY..