THE CELTIC DISEASE

 

 

There's a blood disorder called Haemocromatosis, which means the sufferer has too much iron in their blood.  It's usually not all that serious, but can be if it's not treated over time.  And the treatment is indeed strange, no medication, no physiotherapy, just bloodletting..... literally bleeding the person of a pint or two of blood so that their iron level goes down.  This genetic fluke or disorder is only found in a tiny minority of people throughout the world, except for the Celtic nations along the Atlantic fringe of Europe, most particularly Ireland.  Estimates are that somewhere between 11% to 25% of the Irish have this mutation.  Many think it goes back to the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840's when only those with this genetic mutation survived, because they had the energy to survive, with so much iron in their system.

 

Two years ago my brother was diagnosed as having haemocromatosis and has had to go for regular sessions of bloodletting every 3 months.  As a family we were all tested for it as well, and we all turned out to have all this iron in our systems.  Thankfully I don't have so much iron that I need bloodletting but I get the iron levels checked once a year.  One of the side benefits of this is, if your levels are within safe limits, you tend to have lots of energy.

 

But...do you get the rich symbolism here.  Hearing my brother talking of his blood flowing out and how that enables him to have life, I just can't help but think of Jesus who shed His blood that we all might have life.  Hallelujah!  Maybe with one in four of us Irish having this condition there's a whole new opportunity to evangelise in a way that's up close and personal....The shedding of blood doesn't just give physical life to us here and now, but His blood gives us abundant life on this earth and eternal life for ever and ever!

 

The "Haemocromatosis School of Evangelism", has a ring to it don't you think?  No, well, maybe we'll call it something else then.

WATER IN MY MOUTH

Sounds like something profound is about to come forth doesn't it, lots of yeah's & verily's. Not really. I was just thinking about a preacher I heard many years ago who used to swim every day for an hour in the sea. Not in the cold wild Atlantic of course, but in the Caribbean....nice if you can get it. And he said back then how he would spend an hour praying in tongues everyday while he swam. When I first heard this I didn't swim regularly, so after a few days I forgot about it but thought he must be a great guy to do all that praying.

Don't know why, but after many years that memory came back to me the other day. I swim 3 or 4 times a week now, so maybe that's why. Anyway I started to pray in tongues as I swam in my local pool in Carrigaline. Try as I might I couldn't get the hang of it. I swallowed so much pool water, and the life guard started giving me strange looks. I decided to make a hasty retreat only to be approached by an older gentleman from the next swimming lane asking if I felt allright today.

Maybe that preacher was a better swimmer than me, or had a different shaped mouth, or more of an anointing, or maybe he was just mouthing off all those years ago. Just as well we're not cynical!

WHY I REMEMBER PATRICK

St. Patrick's Day, or Paddy's Day as most of us now call it, is our National Holiday on March 17th. As children, my siblings and I loved to go into Cork city centre to watch the parade, wearing our St. Patrick's Day Badges as well as the Shamrock. We only got a little sprig of shamrock but my Dad used to wear a huge bush of the stuff (he still does). When our kids were small we used to bring them into the parade too and wave the Tricolour flags with them. Now they're teenagers and far too cool for that.

For most of us Paddy's day is a nice bank holiday, a day off, a time to wear green if you're so inspired. But for me, it goes a little deeper. I really like it that the national saint is someone who both in his Confession and his Epistle (his two authentic documents) clearly point to a man who had a personal relationship with Jesus. I mean, we could have had someone like St. Gobnait as our national saint, who only seemed concerned with turning ordinary water into holy water. Imagine that as a legacy to the Irish nation!

So, here's to Paddy's Day, and to the memory of someone who played no small part in the conversion of the Irish in his generation. May the Lord raise up more Patrick's for our generation. And, sorry if you're into St. Gobnait....but maybe you need to get a life?

CAN WE USE PRAYER BOOKS?

Like many in the church here at Grace I come from a Catholic background. As a child we never opened the Bible but would often read from prayer books both at Mass and at home. To me the prayers seemed distant and cold, addressed to a far off God or Saint. When I came to know the Lord in a personal way I put all such prayer books far behind me. Now I read the Bible, and prayed only from my heart...prayers of thanksgiving, living requests, and pouring out my deep felt needs to the Lord. The thought of using a prayer book was like taking a step backwards from a living relationship to cold formal religion.

But then.....as life became more hectic, I found my prayer life began to take more and more of a back seat. Not good. Not at all good for any Christian, not to mind a church leader. Then one day I was listening to a friend who also leads a church (in the UK) and he mentioned that he uses a Christian Prayer Book to help him in his prayer life. In my 26 years as a Christian I had never heard of a Bible based Christian Prayer Book. At first my old prejudices began to rise up within, but because I respect my friend I listened carefully. What he said made sense. And I decided to check it out for myself.

I ended up buying 2 prayer books by Eugene Peterson called "Praying with Moses" and " Praying with the Early Christians". This has really helped my prayer life. Some days during the week I have the time to pray in my own style, the way I've prayed since I came to know the Lord in 1980. But some days when it's wall to wall, I read out these beautiful prayers from the prayer books during my devotional time. It helps me focus in faster, yet still connect with God. I've found my relationship with God has gone deeper, introducing new thoughts and reflections that otherwise may not have occurred to me.

So to all those who have thrown out "religious" practices, take another look.....You may find a baby or two swimming in the bathwater.