With the unfolding horror of the Hamas attacks on the Jewish community and the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza it seemed right that on a beautiful crisp Autumn morning in the park, not only should we give thanks for all we enjoyed here, but that we also looked square in the face of what was happening in the world and prayed. But what to pray?

Peacekeepers or Peacemakers?

The perhaps over-familiar words of the Sermon on the Mount might be misheard or misinterpreted.  Jesus’ didn’t say “blessed are the peacekeepers.” But “blessed are the peacemakers.”  The distinction between the two is vital. Peace-keeping can actually be the opposite of Peace-making. 

Peacekeepers’ ambition is to keep the peace at all costs.  As a result, we can often avoid the discomfort needed to solve issues at the core and instead focus on maintaining the status quo.  But the status quo of our world needs to be broken, and keeping the peace isn’t enough. Taken to its extreme, keeping the peace would have meant allowing slave owners to continue to own slaves, it would have meant not allowing women to vote, and would enable countries to invade others as long as it doesn’t impact petrol prices too much.

Peacemakers, on the other hand, can be disruptors. They recognise that sometimes, they need to disrupt the status quo to allow real peace to prevail. Peacemakers actively build peace; they speak up when it’s uncomfortable and step in where injustice has taken a foothold.

When we talk about peacemaking, we talk reconciliation. We’re talking about building bridges and creating opportunities for relationships to be mended and strengthened.

When done Jesus’ way, peace can literally be the opposite of safety. 

And a living example of this can be seen in Vivian Silver. The 74-year-old Canadian-Israeli has  spent her adult life campaigning for peace and human rights for Palestinians, particularly those living in impoverished Gaza. On Saturday morning, Vivian was one of the many hostages kidnapped by Hamas and currently her whereabouts and welfare is unknown.

So this morning we prayed, we sighed, we groaned and we asked for Peacemakers’ voices to be heard. And we were reminded ; 

“For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8.

And as has happened before, the bandstand, for a few minutes, became a ‘thin-place’, as a white dove (and no matter if it was a pigeon!)  perched on the railings….

We used the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury too:

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=928811495281762&set=pcb.928811668615078

And amidst it all, we sued words from Psalm 23, words from our litany of thanksgiving, words from our Companions liturgy and words from Celtic encircling prayers. Overall, a very moving, sobering time together

We began by sharing with those newer to us, the events of our 10th birthday – do scroll back 4 years to see what was so special that day! And after thinking of the Holy Spirit pigeon’s affirmation of us, we used the following words before staying, then, with a deep silence which was very special:

Then we were invited to write on a sheet divided into 2 columns headed ‘Church with…’ and ‘Church without…’ (the latter being a sort of tag line for ThirdSpace). These are the things that we came up with:

Church with: Birdsong, Faith, Acceptance, Christ, Welcome, Festivals, Hospitality, Support, Genuine community, Doubts, A coracle! Nature, Flexiblity, Open invitation to bread and wine, Variety reflecting individuality, Open to other traditions, Creativity, Inclusivity…

Church without: Heirarchy, Walls, A 5-year plan, Prejudice, Certainty, singing! PCC! Preaching, Dogma, Qualifying rules, Religiosity, Power-plays, Bureaucracy’ Division between church/non-church/religion/non-religion, New disciples …

We used the words of our ‘Emerging Creed’ and finally, we shared bread and wine using those early ‘Companions’ words and named those who we knew who needed to be included in that.

It was a very special gathering and we are all so thankful for this place, this church and these people! Hoorah!

Our meeting last week was an impromptu bring and share. We began sharing things that we were thankful for before Sarah B brought this reflection on the Celtic saint, Canaire as the main contribution:

Canaire was a woman who lived as a hermit in a cell she had built near Bantry Bay in the south of Ireland. One night, while she was praying, all the churches of Ireland appeared to her in a vision. It seemed as if a tower of fire rose up from each side of the churches. The highest of the towers, and the straightest toward heaven, rose from Inis Cathaig, the island we now call Scattery Island, where Senan (see March 8th) lived and prayed. Canaire became convinced that this was to be her place of resurrection, and so began the journey at once. She had no guidance except for the tower of fire, which continued to blaze both night and day until she arrived. When she reached the shore, she completed the last stretch by walking across the waters as if she were on smooth land.

Senan met her, but told her, ‘Go to your sister who lives on the island east of this one, so that you may be her guest.’ ‘That is not why I have come,’ said Canaire, ‘but to find hospitality with you on this island.’ Senan insisted that only men were allowed on the island, even as visitors. Considering her reply, she may well have been the first Irish feminist! She said, ‘Christ came to redeem women no less than to redeem men. No less did he suffer for the sake of women than for the sake of men. No less than men, women enter into the heavenly kingdom. Why, then, should you not allow women to live on this place?’’

In honour of her stubbornness Senan gave her what she asked for: communion from his hand, and a place for her to lie. The moment she gladly received the sacrament she was taken to heaven. She probably had a positive effect on Senan, for early legends say that Aidan of Lindisfarne (see August 31st) was his disciple, and Aidan certainly was a significant mentor for both men and women. The site of Canaire’s grave is now partially submerged but can still be seen in the waters off Scattery Island, marked with a simple flag.

Our prayer today is by Mary Low: Teach us to follow in Your steps across the icy waters of prejudice and fear to the perfect communion of God’s Kingdom. Amen.

Thoughts on this – we can accept the truth of her statement coming from today’s place. What seems more interesting is that this one sentence to Senan seems to have impacted him, he went on to mentor Aidan who encouraged both men and women in ministry.

Sometimes perhaps we are called to courage, to call someone out to whom the world has given greater status.

This led into a number of folk sharing their thoughts before Julie shared a poem called ‘Small Kindnesses’ by Danusha Lameris.

And we shared bread and wine to words written by Steve:

We like to think of ourselves with Enlightenment eyes as

Individuals

Authentic choosers

Freewill warriors

Single autonomous souls

But what if I am a community?

A host of many

More multitudinous than we can imagine

Living in bewildering symbiosis

Part of a greater interdependent whole

What if that rich bio-chemical soup makes up me?

I am my microbiome.

It is integral to my selfhood, my decisions,

my likes, dislikes, values and my shalom?

So we might say, “Though we are many, we are one body.”

Gathered today through choice around the bread and the wine

with their story of sacrificial love, redemption and renewal.

So we eat the one body…

And drink the one wine…

And we are jointly and severally comissioned

as artists and prophets,

as lamed vavniks and kingdom seekers.

Blessings.

Amen

This Sunday at the bandstand we began by sharing images and stories of individuals affected by the horrors of war and took a minute’s silence to remember.

The war in Ukraine, the economic crisis, climate change, the strains on the NHS, the problems of illegal migrants, the corruption in the police force, fake news and the polarisation of politics… the news is unremittingly grim and I am not alone in feeling pretty much helpless in being able to do anything of real significance to make anything better. Except…

In clearing out a load of books recently, I flicked through ‘The Ragman’ by Walter Wangerin for my eye to fall upon a short passage referring to his belief in the lamed vaniks. I had no idea what that meant and hurried away to find out more. From that came inspiration, encouragement and hope that I can make  a difference after all.

Lamed and vav are Hebrew letters that represent the numbers 30 and 6. In the Talmud, according to Hassidic tradition, there are, at any one time, at least 36 righteous people whose unremarkable but faithful lives effectively save the world from destruction. The idea has its roots in the story of Abraham interceding for the people of Sodom, asking God to spare them if there are 10 righteous people. Now I do not subscribe to a God of wrath who needs to be appeased by 36 good people to stop him obliterating us all, but I do believe in the notion of ‘ordinary’ people being conduits of the kingdom of God, creating ‘thin places’, altering history, unbeknownst to them or others. I found 3 readings for everyone to walk with and 3 questions to consider. Here they are:

Jewish thought:

The lamed vavniks are fonts of lovingkindness, pouring compassion on the world and using the gifts and talents they were given by God to raise up those around them.

“Without their acts of lovingkindness,” writes Rabbi Rami Shapiro, “life on this planet would implode under the weight of human selfishness, anger, ignorance and greed.” In his book, “The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness,” Rabbi Shapiro explains that cultivating the sacred art of lovingkindness is enrolling one’s self in the ranks of the lamed vavniks.

“The tipping point for maintaining human life on this planet is thirty-six people practicing the sacred art of lovingkindness at any given moment,” he writes. “These need not be the same thirty-six people at each moment, however. I believe that people step into and out of the lamed-vavnik role, and that at any given moment thirty-six people are stepping in.”

Rabbi Shapiro calls us to a similar mission and offers some sage advice. He writes, “Once you realize that the whole world depends on you for its very survival, you will not lack in opportunities to serve. Just remember that you are a hidden saint.

This is expressing the view that since nobody knows who the Lamed vavniks are, not even themselves, every Jew should act as if he or she might be one of them; i.e. lead a holy and humble life and pray for the sake of fellow human beings. 

vermontcatholic.org

Christian thought:

For Catholics, Pope Francis reminds us that sainthood is a vocation for which we should all strive. In his Apostolic Exhortation, “Gaudete et Exsultate: On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World,” he writes of the saints “next door,” those members of our families and communities whose often- unrecognized holiness plays a part in our salvation as members of the People of God.

He writes, “Let us be spurred on by the signs of holiness that the Lord shows us through the humblest members of that people which shares also in Christ’s prophetic office, spreading abroad a living witness to him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity.”

Pope Francis reminds us that real history is made up by so many of them, quoting St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross: “The greatest figures of prophecy and sanctity step forth out of the darkest night. But for the most part, the formative stream of the mystical life remains invisible. Certainly, the most decisive turning points in world history are substantially co-determined by souls whom no history book ever mentions. And we will only find out about those souls to whom we owe the decisive turning points in our personal lives on the day when all that is hidden is revealed.”

Originally published in the Fall 2020 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.

Secular thought:

The final words of George Eliot’s Middlemarch

And Dorothea, she had no dreams of being praised above other women.
Feeling that there was always something better which she might have done if she had only been better and known better, her full nature spent itself in deeds which left no great name on the earth, but the effect of her being on those around her was incalculable. For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts and on all those Dorotheas who live faithfully their hidden lives and rest in unvisited tombs.

Questions to ponder:

1.        Identify, remember and give thanks for those who have been lamed vavniks in your life. (People who have lived in a way that has made life better for the quality and modelling of their lives).

2.        How can we, or anyone, save the world from Climate Change / the innocent losing their lives, homeland, families, security in war-torn countries / the damage of conspiracy theories, fake news and politics of hate? Rob Bell suggests that the idea of quantum entanglement – where everything is connected and can influence other things, no matter the physical proximity – might apply to more than just quantum physics. Could it be that an act of loving kindness might affect others in the world unbeknownst to them? How might this encourage us to pray / act / speak differently, despite feeling that so much going on in the world right now is outside of our power and influence?

3.        How could you ‘enrol in the ranks of the lamed vavniks’ in one practical way this week?

Back at the bandstand after sharing our thoughts, we shared bread and wine for the world, for those know to us and those not known who need Jesus now. There is an invitation to be a member of the lamed vavniks. The way we live, what we say, what we pray, really can influence people far away and situations seemingly way beyond our control. Like Walter Wangerein – I believe it!

We began our time together ithis mornning n glorious sunshine and blue skies with a wonderful Mary Oliver poem ‘Just a minute said a voice…’ which begins:

‘Just a minute’ said a voice in the weeds.

So I stood still

In the day’s exquisite early morning light….

Which allowed us all to give our Creator a minute and to be present to the moment.

Then it was a sharing of the story of two saints arising from our recent visit to Tuscany.

Steve shared an image of Saint Sebastian and gave an overview of his significance before sharing an image of a fresco we had come across in St Augustine’s, San Gimignano, dating from the 1400s. We had been rather aghast at its theology.

There despite Mary baring her bosom to show how much she had done to nourish the world, despite the wounds shown by Christ to show how he had sacrificed himself to save the world, God was unmoved. He just hurled his arrows of plague and pestilence upon the people anyway! Only by pleading with St Sebastian to protect them could the people find help – you see him here spreading his cloak over them to deflect the arrows! When we saw this artwork we agreed ‘That’s not MY God’!

The next day we had visited Siena and I was keen to visit the home church of St Catherine of Siena – where, coincidentally, her mummified head (and right thumb!) are on display over the altar in a chapel dedicated to her! The image of her face shared on WhatsApp was less enjoyed- you can look it up on Google images should you wish! Like her contemporary of Julian of Norwich in the 1300s, she challenged errant Church theology and corruption as mystic, author and activist. Despite being born into a time of plague, she taught that our relationship with God is not one of contention but rather God was the sea and we the fish – God is the one who sustains all life, in whom we are immersed.

Repentance and spiritual renewal was not to be found through the sacraments or indulgences (!) but by love for God and resonating with our favourite Celtic saint, Brendan, she encouraged total trust in God: ‘Turn over the rudder in God’s name, and sail with the wind heaven sends us.’

Finally, a favourite quote of mine by her: ‘Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.’ Which I have shared many a time with pupils I have taught as well as taking to heart for myself. There are different seasons in our lives with numbers of callings, I think, but it always worth coming back to as we consider what our calling is that only we can fulfil…

So, we walked with and considered those three quotations and what any might have to say to us:

‘Turn over the rudder in God’s name, and sail with the wind heaven sends us.’

‘Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.’

‘God is the sea and we are the fish’

We returned to pray for folks we know and for the world in all its turmoil, oppression and injustice, before using the Companions liturgy to share bread and wine. A final Celtic blessing was followed by much discussion of these things and others over coffee at Cool River!

So, to give folks an insight onto what we get up to some Wednesday evenings – this is what we did last week at Bod – a local pub to us.

Every so often we used to have an evening called ‘Headspace’ – always at a pub – as a fun, relaxed evening together. This was our first time back in a pub since lockdown and it was good to revive an old tradition.

Headspace consists of everyone writing questions, whether serious or silly, and putting them into a hat. We draw then out in turn, each having to answer first and then others joining in.

Here were the questions we had time for this week:

Is the good the enemy of the best?

Which fictional character do you think you are most like?

Name 3 biblical books you wouldn’t miss!!

If you could go to just one sporting final, which would it be?

What sport would be funniest to a mandatory amount of alcohol to?

Deserted railway station. 1 hour. 2 glasses. Dubonnet and gin with the Queen or Sherry with Sandra Bullock?

Deserted railway station. 1 hour. 2 glasses. Bottle of whisky with Alex Salmond or Elderflower Cordial with Nicola Sturgeon?

Lots of laughter and some heated debate when we deviated from those to related – or unrelated- issues! A lot of fun and good for getting to know those newer to the group!