"Someone who is pretending to be something or someone they are not".
1 comment:
Richard
said...
How is it possible to determine that person? Do they have to be observed overtime so that a flaw can be suspected or you might even be able to “call their bluff”?
In church I observe the expressions and actions of my fellow worshipers – discretely, of course! – and it is possible to surmise a level of sincerity -sincere or not sincere- I suppose.
At a recent Ashley morning service a pretty girl – I can’t help noticing these things – sang at the front so I could observe her expressions quite openly and they were wonderfully in keeping with the words we were all singing. Was this her act merely as a performer or was her very soul propelled by God’s Holy Spirit working through her? Either way I don’t care, here was a delightful rendering.
I recall a short holiday break at Wells and before breakfast at my hotel I attended the 8 am communion at the Cathedral. Before the service and as I went to find a seat I noticed a well dressed and rather distinguished man of middle years kneeling at prayer; there was no doubting, in my mind from the humbleness shown by his posture and from his intense expression that he was a devout believer and I thought of William Wilberforce at prayer intent on his political and noble mission to abolish slavery. By their fruits you will know them. What aspirations had this gent at Wells held? I shall never know, but I do care.
Another great William; Shakespear in “As you like it” penned these well known lines “ All the worlds a stage, Men and women merely players. Each one has their entrances and exits etc… scholars must forgive my paraphrasing. So by the bairds reckoning where all in this act of life together. Only by the quality of their/our fruits are we known to God.
I pick up on Clare’s talk on the Sunday morning I mentioned earlier and her story of the pastor/ brain surgeon. This man gathered up more followers as a respected surgeon leading a hospital Christian fellowship than as a pastor dedicated to a church where the congregation never grew. We should seek the vacation or calling that God has for us and ask for boldness in pursuing it as a prophetic action. Thank you Clare for you have encouraged me to write and submit this piece.
1 comment:
How is it possible to determine that person? Do they have to be observed overtime so that a flaw can be suspected or you might even be able to “call their bluff”?
In church I observe the expressions and actions of my fellow worshipers – discretely, of course! – and it is possible to surmise a level of sincerity
-sincere or not sincere- I suppose.
At a recent Ashley morning service a pretty girl – I can’t help noticing these things – sang at the front so I could observe her expressions quite openly and they were wonderfully in keeping with the words we were all singing. Was this her act merely as a performer or was her very soul propelled by God’s Holy Spirit working through her? Either way I don’t care, here was a delightful rendering.
I recall a short holiday break at Wells and before breakfast at my hotel I attended the 8 am communion at the Cathedral. Before the service and as I went to find a seat I noticed a well dressed and rather distinguished man of middle years kneeling at prayer; there was no doubting, in my mind from the humbleness shown by his posture and from his intense expression that he was a devout believer and I thought of William Wilberforce at prayer intent on his political and noble mission to abolish slavery. By their fruits you will know them. What aspirations had this gent at Wells held? I shall never know, but I do care.
Another great William; Shakespear in “As you like it” penned these well known lines “ All the worlds a stage, Men and women merely players. Each one has their entrances and exits etc… scholars must forgive my paraphrasing.
So by the bairds reckoning where all in this act of life together. Only by the quality of their/our fruits are we known to God.
I pick up on Clare’s talk on the Sunday morning I mentioned earlier and her story of the pastor/ brain surgeon. This man gathered up more followers as a respected surgeon leading a hospital Christian fellowship than as a pastor dedicated to a church where the congregation never grew. We should seek the vacation or calling that God has for us and ask for boldness in pursuing it as a prophetic action.
Thank you Clare for you have encouraged me to write and submit this piece.
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