大象传媒

Good morning.

William Neil was a Scot who was born in Ayrshire.聽 In his poem 鈥淎utumn Light鈥� he sees the autumn afternoon sun make the white horses on the water gleam as if gold; and hears the wind 鈥渟ighing down red and saffron leaves鈥� across the moor.聽 And though he senses being surrounded by distance and peace,

鈥淭hese sights ...聽I came here for.鈥� [Copyright material]

It鈥檚 about the sense of discontent and dissatisfaction and disconnection we all experience from time to time: when our visions aren鈥檛 fulfilled, our hopes unrealised or our expectations sometimes dashed.聽 The times when in William Neil鈥檚 words 鈥淚 do not find what I came here for鈥�.聽聽

But if what we are all here for鈥�.the visions, the hopes, the expectations鈥�.are all centred on ourselves, then frustration can lead to a kind of self-destructiveness.聽 If instead they鈥檝e been for the good and the wellbeing of others through a commitment to justice and peace, then there is a divinely inspired discontent which is always creative.

What鈥檚 the difference between our discontent and God鈥檚?聽 The difference is one we overcome whenever our discontent is for others and not for ourselves, because divine discontent bridged the gap between heaven and earth for us and for our salvation, as the Prayer Book puts it.

For all of us.聽 And for the Kingdom of God which is not a Kingdom for God but for us.聽 Which is why the man from Nazareth said 鈥淪eek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else, everything else you need will be given you.鈥澛�

Help us, good Lord, to live and work and act for you.聽 Amen.