Claremont Hospital

Mary spent all of August in agony with a painful right shoulder.  She never got a decent night's sleep, and by September capitulated and went to the doctor.  He booked for a consultation (six weeks wait, of course).  He hinted that of the choice of three hospital he could refer her to, the small Claremont mixed NHS and private one in Sandygate, Crosspool, may be the best option.

Meanwhile, she struggled both with the pain and incapacity.  And I got severely rebuked for my neglect by our assembled children at our annual family gathering day in early October.  Lizzie even insisted that we 'went private'.  Mary wasn't clear how it may have got injured.  We'd prayed (seemingly unsuccessfully) for the shoulder twice in our Sunday evening bible study time, when I invited folks to 'do some of the stuff' after teaching on healing.

The appointment duly came round, and I went along in case the examination left her unable to drive.  And anyway, I'm soft like that.  The last time we'd visited Claremont was when a dear elderly local Church member had had a hip replacement.  If my recollection is correct, at that point it was fully private. 

It was run by a small Catholic order of nursing nuns.  The impression that stayed with me was the splendid illuminated inscription commemorating the Pope's prayer of blessing on the Order and their labours of love and mercy.  It read (something along the lines of), "Thus, with apostolic blessing, the work of the hospital is sure to flourish..." (and probably added 'to the honour of Our Lady, or some equivalent).  Hmm.  You don't seem to get much of that 'apostolic = sure blessing' stuff in Jesus Fellowship.

The building was in the middle of a make-over, and there were tradesmen everywhere.  The Main Reception had disappeared, and certainly the inscription was nowhere to be seen.  Instead, behind a timber and plastic sheet temporary partition, staff were trying to eat meals.  We found the departmental reception desk and its adjacent waiting area.

Mr Ali, the consultant, had a stripped down model of a shoulder on his desk: fascinating.  He asked Mary to undress, and then thoughtfully added, "I assume this is Mr Callard?  I once got this far with a patient, and the gentleman with her turned out just to be the driver."  With a few arm bends and swings, he confirmed a torn tendon. 
 
Then the matter of how to treat it.  The discussion went backwards and forwards about the relative advantages of surgery, the likely success rates, and what Mary would consider was a satisfactory recovery.  In the end, he offered two months' of physiotherapy to see if it would improve use and reduce the pain.  And instructed, "No heavy domestic work". 

We booked some dates at the desk, and thoughtfully drove home.  "Better than an operation and six months with my arm in a sling."  Mary stated.  She'd been canvassing some advice.  And was more stubborn in prayer for getting healed than I.

After the first round of physio, Mary had to lie on the bed holding outstretched a can of baked beans, then swinging it in arcs - several times a day.  The second time she graduated to a larger can of pie filling.  The pain was subsiding.  After the third time she borrowed a kilogramme work-out weight from Barrie, which was "much easier to handle".  She packed it to take with her when we were away for weekends recently, but muttered about the heaviness of her overnight kit.

Finally, triumph!  She'd got restored mobility, and very little pain.  The physiotherapist signed off her notes, and booked an appointment with Mr Ali.  By now, the Claremont building work was done, and a transformed Reception glowed with subtle LEDs.  We padded softly down the thickly carpeted corridor.  Mr  Ali had been running late all afternoon, but took his time to confirm the results.  "No operation," he congratulated. 

Maybe there was just a sprinkling of apostolic good fortune around.

Serious Snowdon

I have to be careful here.  I'm aware that there's something of setting an example at stake, and all hasn't been, er, quite as it should have been.  But I'm not quite apologising, either. 

It started a couple of weeks ago, with Jack hinting at doing a sponsored walk.  Snowdon was "one option".  One day I'll explain about Enneagram types and why righteousness matters so.  "If you're thinking of climbing Snowdon, I'd like to go."  I decided to tackle fire with fire.  "What have you got in mind?"  I braced myself for inflation.  "Andrzej wants to come."  It is in the nature of the apostolic to die between two criminals. 

Of course, it was Jack's birthday coming up on Friday; and school holidays, so that would include Titus.  Then, inexplicably, we needed to take two vehicles.  Then, equally suddenly, there was the prospect of some camping overnight beforehand.  Like I said, inflation.

Last time I climbed Snowdon I was 21.  I did it twice in two weeks, as an officer in a boys' camp based in Anglesey.  We always stuck to the Watkin Path up, and the Pyg Track or Miners Track coming down.  A decrepit local hire coach would come round from the Beddgelet Road to the Llanberis Road to pick us up.

We settled for the Rhyd-Ddu Path.  My SatNav (or, in Cymric, SatNaf), said 3 hours 20 minutes drive.  "We'll need to be on the mountain by 8.00am," Jack instructed.  I've never before got up at 3.00am.  4.00am or 4.30am to catch a flight, yes.  But I intended us to be away at 4.00am, and there were bacon rolls to heat up in the microwave ready for when we stopped for breakfast.  And untold goodness-knows-what may await us on M56 and the North Wales coastal route.

Viv's conversation faded out after an hour.  When, just after 6.00am, I stopped for petrol nor far short of Conwy, no-one stirred.  Breakfast would have to wait.  I'm sure I went through two sets of speed cameras at roadworks.  The mountains looked like huge Stollen cakes.  The still lakes offered awesome reflections.  Mist trailed from Snowdon's peak, but we hoped the weather would continue to brighten.  The van appeared and Jack and team tumbled out.  They hadn't bothered to pitch a tent, just crashed out in the vehicle.

After half an hour, my phone popped up a signal.  I told Mary where we'd got to.  "Really you should let the Mountain Rescue people know your plans."   "Yes, dear."  But no. 

About halfway up we hit mist, which then turned to rain.  We togged up in waterproofs.  Lying snow extended up the path.  At one gate we stepped down from the drift to climb over.  It was getting to be hard going.  Every other step produced slips, or sinking through the harder crust.  "I just want some forward traction!" I shouted to no-one in particular.  At points we weren't exactly sure of the path, despite the frequent cairns and a sporadic trail of earlier footprints.   

The Bwlch Main ridge loomed.  "I can't believe we've got to go along there," I muttered.  But we did.  Now slips and sinking were serious, not just slowing.  I was jerked from my self-preoccupation by Titus up at my heels.  He couldn't resist speeding up as we came to any temporary descent, but took my warnings attentively.  We criss-crossed over from one side of the ridge to other to find the most manageable route. 

Then, the marker stone appeared where the Watkin Path merges in.  And without warning, out of the gloom ahead, the Visitor Centre.  Is it intentionally reminiscent of Noah's ark?  Elation made the last few yards a pleasure.  Solid drifted snow extended up to the Centre roof.  No cup of tea, then.  We carefully picked our way up the ice-coated steps to the summit trig-point for a photo.   

We sank back behind the Centre wall and de-briefed.  We'd all found it pretty scary.  We agreed that if the weather had been colder, or windier, or snow had started falling, we'd have called a halt.  We'd stick together for the descent.  We found sliding down some drifts as useful as trying to pick our way by foot. 

Viv was out in front when we realised we hadn't found the main path.  For a minute it was grim.  Jack fumbled for a map and announced we'd inadvertently diverted to the alternative South Ridge route.  That's alright then.  We trudged on to the final steep decent and emerged from under the cloud blanket.  Glorious views all around.  Exhilaration.

We were back in the car park by 3.30pm, and gratefully topped up with hot drinks.   On Sunday, AJ emailed me a BBC News link.  Three climbers were rescued by helicopter off Crib Goch.  "Was that you?"  Hmmm.  It could easily have been.  Good birthday, Jack?

Prayer (Watch) Survey

A couple of years ago, one of our prayer watch "motivators" quizzed me about prayer.  Here's a compilation of the exchanges.  I didn't have room to add it to my Sunday morning session notes. 

"I've been doing a few interviews of brothers on the prayer watch recently and wondered if you would mind taking part yourself.  If you wouldn't mind- perhaps you could answer the questions below.  The idea is that you just get to express what prayer means to you - what you do, when you do it etc,. if you don't like a question you can ignore it - or you can add anything you think I've missed."

Q1  You're a well busy apostle...when do you find the time to pray?

Hmm.  Not apostle - member of the apostolic team.  I have a time of prayer and "personal devotion" every morning, which entails getting up early.  I also try to practise "recollection" or spiritual responsiveness, when I'm doing other things and feel a nudge to take a time out - may be a few moments (like 1-1-1), or a bit longer.  If I'm travelling on a long journey, I try to fit in some prayer: I find no problem speaking in tongues at any time.  And, I pray as I prepare for meetings and correspondence, decisions, and counselling/ministry, or church discipline times.

Q2  Do you pray "apostolically"?  How?

A rather sketchy definition is that the apostolic ministry is a bridge between God's purpose and the world's need, with the body of Christ as the unit God uses.  So, you need to be clear on God's side (like, mJa has a very specific call to UK), aware of the spiritual and human context you're operating in, and skilled to build the church so Jesus incarnated again can do what Jesus does - though us!  In Jesus Fellowship structure terms: assistant pastors oversee a group of sheep; elders oversee groups of sheep forming households; senior leaders oversee clusters of households in Regions; and apostolic men oversee clusters of Regions.  All that gives you plenty to go at.  I'm conscious that I may be the "last line of defence"  in a church situation, and so need conclusive wisdom.  I also need clear sight to distinguish what's actually God's vision for us, and what's feasible to bring into application; to weigh up initiatives and to get households over their obstacles.  I need both pace and patience, and I need to understand the powers that are at work in scenes.

(after Q2)....So, how, by praying, do you get to know about, or deal with the "powers at work" in a scene?

I suppose I can most relate this to church planting situations, where you come to recognise territorial opposition, and household building, where people go though various  scrapes.  We need God to reveal stuff to us, not be humanistic or psychological, and that means probing in prayer.  Sometimes it can come as people share their discernment together, but then we need to focus prayer on the challenge that's been unearthed.  In evangelism, too, very uncomfortably, we're the sort of church that provokes spiritual opposition out of its hiding.  But I'm assured that's so that we can press for more victory!  It can seem you're getting shaken to bits, but God says, "Don't lose your nerve".  Most (white) UK churches only know defensive prayer.  Despite the secularism, the UK is very idolatrous: for example, I love to see consumerism overturned by our common purses and simplicity.

Q3  Do you think regular prayer times are important?  Why?

Yes, I do.  We humans arrive a better point of connection with spiritual things when distractions are tamed.  This can include the distractions of constant novelty, irregularity, and disorderliness.  A daily time and place has been my practice for many years - in fact a brother commented recently that he came away from a marquee campaign some 15 years ago with the memory of me sitting praying on the top deck of the bus each morning.

(after Q3) ...What else helps you "tame the distractions of constant novelty, irregularity and disorderliness"

Well, lots of veteran charismatics have got fed up with the happy-clappy, and gone back to traditional churches, even the Orthodox church.  I'm committed to finding long-term satisfaction and meaning in mJa (as well as leading!), so I need to note that it's not always what's spontaneous, or even informal, that carries spiritual life.  The J Generation is the speed-dating, binge-drinking culture.  I love 24/7 because it's the sort of "crash and burn" approach that the J Gen does naturally.  But it can't be everything!  I think our relationship with God is worth costly investment!

Q4  What do you do in your prayer watch hours?

I pray through Together, because my prayer and ministry is for the Church.  I may meditate so I can listen better, and mature a bit.  I value opportunities for any longer time because that shows the Lord - in a little way - that I hold Him as a priority in my busy life.  It also means I'm not just skimming  in the shallows. That's all three times a week on average.

Q5  Do you think we have to have something to say before turning up for a prayer time?

I very rarely haven't, but I'm happy to abandon it for the sake of  touching the spiritual more firmly, by letting God set some agenda.  Having said that, I'm the sort of person who, if things are "flat", gets on with the obvious thing to do - pray about groups of leaders, or events, etc.  I find I do the same thing with meetings - if they're going nowhere, I'm likely to step in and do something to get moving again.

Q6  Do you think listening is important in prayer?

Always.  I think that our Church wants and needs its leaders to have heard from God.  Sometimes that's the only "different" contribution I can bring, because other guys in my various scenes are better than me at evangelism, organisation, relationship, detail, etc.  To pass on truth and grace you've got from God is just so essential.

Q7  How do you listen?

First you've got to be ready to grapple with whatever it may be that God could say.  That's my inward preparation.  I know saints who, quite frankly, are too afraid of what God might say, ever to level with Him.  That's tragic - living on the run.  Then I find some trigger that has carried "life" in the past few days - maybe something I've read, or that someone has shared, or some incident.  (I jot these things down, too.)  And I say, "Okay Lord, talk to me some more about that..."  Or I may say, "I wasn't very happy about the way I handled that - give me the truth", or, "We didn't seem to get very far in that incident - where was the power?", etc.  And we go on from there.

Q8  What would you say you have learned as a pray-er over the years?

I most enjoy prayer that suits my temperament - you have to discover that for the long haul, and develop it.  But if it's only that, it can be self-indulgent.  So sometimes you have to go another way - just respecting that the Lord isn't made in your image, and the value of any prayer time isn't measured by your own buzz!  I did about three years of contemplative prayer - just sitting for half an hour or more, more or less in silence, and telling God I was doing it 'cos I love Him.  Other times I'll punch the air or whatever.  Equally, I'd be very happy if I could find an isolated spot and bellow my head off - I find that breaks oppressions.  I don't do "union with God" very well; I have to think of Him being somehow "out there".  And I don't know how to get my spirit to other places, like Elisha and Paul did.  So there's lots more to learn.

Q9  What about fasting?

I've fasted one day per week for many years.  I don't find it easy: my attention at work falls off, and I get moody and irritable - actually the second day of a longer fast seems better.  I fast for perhaps a week, two or three times per year, usually when we've got a bigger event coming up, like a campaign, or the AMEN Multiply visit.  Recently, if necessary, I'll have a light breakfast, because I can't afford concentration lapses when I'm driving.  But usually I find an anointing, and, at the end, I find more spiritual flow in my everyday life rather than anything spectacular.  Do people know that seven days is the limit in mJa? So agape to agape is best.

Hope this helps.  Feel free to edit, or ask for clarification - Mary couldn't follow everything on the first time of reading it. 

ohmygosh ...one week two or three times a year...ohmygosh.....Didn't know about a 7 day limit with fasting though, I've heard of some much longer ones going on.  If I manage more than 6 hours, however, I'll throw a big party.

Mmm -  1 Corinthians 7:17.  I will say, on the subject of (longer) fasting, that for us it should be within our covenant commitment, or else it becomes "will worship".  There are times when I'd gladly make 6 hours the limit, too!  Coming off caffeinated drinks once in a while is even more "crawling up the wall".  Bless you

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