Nothing interests me more than meeting the Living Lord Jesus. He is peace, joy, purpose in life, happiness, a sense of humour, the ability to overcome difficulties, serious sufferings, and separation. My blog today is an attempt to describe meeting Him this last week. 

In the main service of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Churches Together in Leyland met on Wednesday 20th January, at St. Ambrose Church, in Moss Lane.  We followed the service that the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland had suggested.  During that service we were given a blank postcard and asked to fill in the question “What are you looking for” in the context of our Unity Service. 

It was a good question, and one that follows a week in which each day we have been asked, together, to consider and converse with each other, about certain aspects of our Christian experience, in relation to the general theme of the Week of Prayer, “You are Witnesses”.  Each day during the week we have taken the Word of God from Luke, Chapter 24 – the chapter that includes striking stories of the Resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, the stories have come alive for me, this week, as I have heard them read section by section.  Incidentally, this chapter includes the famous ‘Road to Emmaus’ story. 

On a recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land, November 2009, the last place we visited after seven memorable days, was the site of Emmaus, some seven miles from Jerusalem.  (To be fair, this is one of four different sites for Emmaus around Jerusalem, but that did not take away the spiritual impact of the place.)  It is located in a Palestinian area, and in a village where Christians are represented , among the many Muslims, by one Christian family and two Franciscan priests, who look after the shrine. I became very friendly with Fr. Francesco, the Polish Superior, in the short time we were there; I found him full of joy.  

Fr. Francesco and I had our photographs taken together, and at the scene, there was a lovely picture of Jesus ‘breaking bread’ behind the high altar.  But, life in that place was not easy: to get there one must first negotiate several road blocks, all constructed by the Israeli authorities, but also the roads and infrastructure surrounding life in this area are very poor, and the tiny group of Christians had – not surprisingly – suffered some difficulties created by their Islamic neighbours. On balance, I suppose this could perhaps have happened, in another country, and in another context, the end result being quite the reverse – Christians making it hard work for a Muslim minority!  But, to continue and reiterate our ‘ecumenical’ theme, on that occasion we celebrated a mass in the Catholic Church there, and the Word of God was proclaimed by a Salvation Army Officer, who works at their HQ in London.  Certainly, we experienced the presence of the Risen Lord, between the pair of us – with also the Anglicans, Methodists and URC people – and those who were Catholics, for we, too, were there on pilgrimage, with the express purpose of being in the Holy Land, gathered in the name of Jesus. All these memories have added to my appreciation of Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 24, during this last week.

Tuesday 18th January marked Day 2 of the Week of Prayer, and in the Methodist Church, Leyland, at the 12 noon Service, we were asked to consider ‘how we are witnesses, through stories’, and we shared with each other the following questions: 

1.                Have you ever been drawn into the stories of others?

2.                Has there been an occasion when you were able to share a story of faith?

3.                Where can we find the “Gospel Gossiped” using modern communications? 

For me, It was enlightening to hear from an Anglican of St. James’ Parish, Slater Lane, Leyland, how he had been inspired as a prison visitor, by the story of a prisoner, on a long sentence, in Wymott Prison, Near Leyland,  and who had come to Christ after committing serious crime – the result of his addiction to alcohol. Indeed, it transpired that the parishioner felt he could identify with this prisoner, as he had also been under the ‘curse’ of alcohol addiction, for a certain period, in his own life. Significantly, the prisoner’s story had provided inspiration to my fellow Leyland Christian. 

Thus, there has been a real and serious conversation taking place all week among the Christians of Britain, during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and for me, the ‘light’ that has been ‘seen’, in Leyland, is a sure sign of the Presence of the Lord, when people gather in His Name – especially as we are all involved in the prayer services, for and because, we believe in living and working for the Unity that Jesus prayed for, when he exclaimed: “That they should all be one.” 

Below are the results of those postcards in answer to the question: “What are you looking for?”  Not everyone present actually produced a card – we must have numbered about 100 or so people. From the results, It is fascinating that so many people, quite independently, should refer to “peace and harmony” in life!  Hopefully, the answers may help those who read this ‘blog’. 

• I am looking for the day when all people will be kind and loving to each other.
• Hope and inner peace.
• Eternal life.
• A caring, sharing, loving Christian community here in Leyland.
• To grow closer to the other Christians, in Leyland, as we walk, day by day, our journey together, witnessing to God.
• I am searching for more faith for me.
• For peace for all, a peace that lasts, is not transient and brings harmony and quiet to all in this noisy life.
• Unity, working alongside each other, with love.
• Friendship, understanding and peace across our faiths.
• Peace.
• A sense of fellowship with Jesus.
• I am looking for the day when all people of whatever faith will accept each other.
• For the gift of life, for the gift of peace and harmony around the world.
• I pray for peace and reconciliation with our Lord, in this country and around the world.
• Some indication of how we can stand and be proud of the fact that we are Christians in this current ‘unfashionable’ wave of indifference.
• For all Christians. to love one another. with no divisions.
• For all Christians to focus on Jesus and not on differences. For peace and harmony.
• Harmony and peace and tolerance in all religions and faiths.
• “The Peace of the Lord” for all people
•  A way to get us all together, to respect each other, and to work together.
• A peaceful, caring Church, Neighbourhood, Country and World.
• Christian unity “not before time”. I hope it comes about in my time.
• Fellowship, acceptance and tolerance.
• The One.
• The cross unites us, but I’m looking and praying for the Lord to help us overcome the     “human” influences that shape the different ways we worship in order to learn from one another. Better ways of enriching our walk with God in order better to glorify Him, shed His light afar, and spread the good news.
• I would hope that as Churches in Leyland we may discover how to make “our search  for unity” more alive with new people involved.

I think the Lord, himself, would have written some of those thoughts, had He been asked, as we were to complete this exercise – perhaps, a kind of meeting with Him, in Leyland, this week, and I feel a great joy in all of it.