church, pressure, time, worry....peace?

Speaking of which...on Sunday evening I was faced with the dilemma of where to go to church? Normally Sunday evenings are work time, but being the summer holidays the youth group is taking a break (even though young people are now even more bored thatn ever). I couldn't decide between somewhere that would be socially easy yet spiritually not where I'm at, or somewhere socailly difficult but more reflective, Taize-esque, a bit more where I'm at. I was sharing this 'dilemma' with a friend on MSN (philipjamesgoodacreAThotmailDOTcom - should you wish to add me). They pointed out that there is no way that I could recreate my time at Taize by going to a reflective, Taize-esque service, and that if I wanted some time to reflect, or to use their words, "spend some quality time with the Almighty", I don't need to go to church to do that.

It seemed like the most obvious thing in the world. I knew (somewhere in my head) that this was the case, but for some reason I felt that I ought to go to church. Scary.

Anyway, I went to possibly my favourite place to sit and 'be' for a while. It was great. As I walked up there, I was amazed by the colours around me. The heather was so purple, and the clouds were kind of purpley-grey. As I sat for a while, I was reminded of Matthew 25-34, especially when Jesus talks about the lilies (He'd have spoke about the heather had He been doing His thing in the Peak District). I've had this bit of the Bible quoted at me so many times, but it still doesn't fully sink in, or rather, I need to be reminded of it time and time again. Perhaps we all do.