Touch.

Posted by & filed under bandstand, bread and wine, Controversial Jesus, Kingdom of God, Outdoor church, park, sharing coffee, Third Space.

On a lovely, sunny but fresh March Sunday morning we met in the bandstand in Hall Leys Park.

 

..be silent
be still
alone empty
before your god
say nothing
ask nothing
be silent
be still
let your god
look upon you
that is all
she knows
she understands
she loves you with
an enormous love
she only wants to
look upon you
with her love
quiet still be……..

St Hilda Community

Touch

Touch is very important. I love to be touched, I’ve had some very precious experiences of care, compassion and being touched by nursing staff when in hospital. Jesus loved to touch people, particularly those at the bottom of society – the lame, the blind, the deaf, the maimed, the leper. These people were untouchables in their society. Just think about how wonderful it was for them to be touched by Jesus. These people were told that they were impure and were rejected by society and told that God rejected them. So imagine their joy when this famous prophet and healer touched them! Jesus touched people to show them compassion, to heal them and to restore them to society. But Jesus act of touching outcasts also had a political element. Every time he touched a leper or the blind or the lame he was challenging society’s purity system. The Sadducees and Pharisees understood that. In Luke 11 when Jesus is berating them over the purity system a Teacher of the Law says to him; “Teacher you insult us!” No wonder they plotted to get rid of him.

Mark 7 – New International Version – UK

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the market-place they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, ‘Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?’

6 He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

‘“These people honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.”

8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’

—————————————————————————————————-

Luke 11 (NIV-UK)

37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

39 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside you – be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

42 ‘Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practised the latter without leaving the former undone.

Then we took 10 minutes to go around the park reading the following:

Jesus – purity or compassion!

Jesus was born into a social and religious culture that for centuries had been designed around a “purity system.” It seemed to begin with the purity code found in Leviticus. In Leviticus 19:2, we read: “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’ ”

Holiness was understood to mean “separation from everything unclean.” Therefore holiness started to mean the same thing as purity. A whole social, economic, political and religious structure was built around the social vision of purity. People, places, things, times and groups had their “proper place” in society, classified by their “purity” or lack of it.

A person’s purity depended to some extent on birth. Being rich – unless you were a tax collector – usually meant you were pure, being very poor almost certainly meant you were impure. Physical wholeness was associated with purity, and a lack of wholeness with impurity. People who were not “whole” – the maimed, the chronically ill, lepers, the blind, the lame – were impure, they were at the bottom of society, they were literally the  “untouchables”. Another group of people were classified as “impure” because of their occupation – tax collectors, prostitutes, tanners, butchers, those who prepared the dead for burial, and possibly shepherds.

So Jesus grew up learning those cultural and religious expectations. He was told God was holy/pure and “that’s just the way it is.” His world had sharp social boundaries between pure and impure, clean and unclean, righteous and sinner, whole and not whole, male and female, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile. Yet it seems, Jesus experienced God in a dramatically different way. He experienced God as concerned with compassion for people and with mercy and justice.

In his book “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time,” Marcus Borg says that “Jesus deliberately replaced the core value of purity with compassion. Compassion, not holiness, is the dominant quality of God, and is therefore to be the fundamental character of the community that mirrors God.”

Jesus criticised a system that emphasised tithing and neglected justice (Luke 11:42). He spoke of purity as what happens on the inside, not on the outside (Mark 7:15). In Mark 7:19 he declared all foods clean. He called the Pharisees “unmarked graves which people walk over without knowing it.”(Luke 11:44), a criticism that might seem obscure to us. The key is that corpses (and therefore burial places) were a source of impurity. To call the Pharisees “unmarked graves” is ironic: they were a movement seeking the extension of purity laws, and Jesus declared them to be instead a source of impurity.

Borg says: “Jesus’ subversiveness may not seem very radical today, but he was seen as very dangerous by the Sadducees and Pharisees.  Jesus challenged the purity system not only in his teaching but also through his many healings, every time he touched  a leper or a woman with a haemorrhage, or touched the dead to raise them to life he was challenging  the purity system. Instead of expressing the holiness of God, ritual purity became a means of excluding people considered unclean and impure. In word and in deed Jesus ignored and actively challenged these distinctions of ritual purity as a measure of spiritual status.”

The Jesus movement allowed everyone to take part in this new community – women, untouchables, the poor, the maimed, and the marginalised.

In Borg’s view, Jesus turned the purity system with its sharp social boundaries on its head. In its place he substituted a radically alternative social vision. The new community that Jesus announced would be characterised by compassion for everyone, not compliance to a purity code, by inclusivity rather than by exclusivity, and by inward transformation rather than outward ritual. In place of “be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 19:2), says Borg, Jesus deliberately substituted the call to “be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

Garry Wills in What Jesus Meant writes that, “No outcasts were cast out far enough in Jesus’ world to make him shun them — not those who collaborated with the Romans, not lepers, not prostitutes, not the mentally ill, not the blind, not the deaf and not the lame.”

When Jesus shared meals with people it was frequently a political act. He often ate with outcasts, as well as with others. His practice of inclusivity when sharing food incited criticism from the advocates of the purity system; this criticism has been preserved in the gospels in a number of places. Jesus is accused of “eating with tax collectors and sinners” and called “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”

Marcus Borg writes: “Whereas purity divides and excludes, compassion unites and includes. For Jesus, compassion had a radical sociopolitical meaning. In his teaching and table fellowship, and in the shape of his movement, the purity system was subverted and an alternative social vision affirmed. The politics of purity was replaced by a politics of compassion.”

For consideration and prayer:

Are there those you are tempted to exclude as impure?

Is it possible to embrace both holiness and compassion?

Pray to experience what Borg calls a “community shaped not by the ethos and politics of purity, but by the ethos and politics of compassion”.

The Beatitudes – reimagined.

The poor and those in solidarity with them – God is on your side.

Those who mourn and feel grief about the state of the world – God is on your side.

The non-violent, gentle and humble – God is on your side.

Those who hunger and thirst for the common good – God is on your side.

The merciful and compassionate – God is on your side.

Those characterised by sincerity, kindness and generosity – God is on your side.

Those who work for peace and reconciliation – God is on your side.

Those who keep seeking justice – God is on your side.

Those who stand for justice and truth as the prophets did, who refuse to be quiet even when slandered, misrepresented, threatened, imprisoned or harmed – God is on your side!

With thanks to Brian McLaren & Rob Bell.

After a time of intercessory prayer we shared bread and wine using the following words:

Sharing Bread & Wine

God calls us

Community of saints,

Beloved of God,

we are invited to come and gather for the meal of love and liberation,

to feast on the dreams of God,

to be nourished by a taste of what God desires to do among us.

 

God whispers “come”

and live abundantly,

turning from all that claims our allegiance other than Christ;

from money, power, and control.

 

Come, and

love relentlessly;

following Christ on paths of uncertainty,

taking risks for one another,

calling down unjust power from its throne

and lifting up the lowly,

and the impoverished.

 

Blessed are those, Jesus said, who hunger and thirst for justice,

for they will be filled.

 

And so let us come to share the gifts of God,

expectant,

eager,

open

to tasting the rich blessings of Christ

born from unexpected places, and people, and experiences.

 

In this sharing of bread and wine,

we remember the life, death, and resurrection of

the One who fills the cosmos,

and yet still takes on flesh among us today.

 

On the night he would be arrested,

Jesus gathered his friends and companions.

In the midst of a tense and dangerous time,

they found each other at table.

 

And as they did so, Jesus took bread, gave thanks to God, broke the bread and shared it with his disciples saying;

“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

     (share the bread)

 

When the supper was over, he also took the cup, gave thanks to God, and shared it with his disciples, saying;

“Drink from this, all of you; this is the cup of the new covenant. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

     (share the wine)

 

And so we pray together:

For the sake of our shared lives,

the life of this land in which we live,

and the lives of those yet to come,

nourish us and renew our hope

that Christ may be known again among us.

with thanks to “enfleshed”

We continued our fellowship over Fairtrade coffee at Cool River.

 

 

 

 

   

 

What comes our way…

Posted by & filed under General.

Fi led this Sunday and this is her stuff – which we all found so helpful…

Mama always said:
“Life is like a box of chocolates.
You never know what you’re gonna get” (Forest Gump)

 

One of the things I’ve really appreciated about my community at Third Space is its flexibility to bend and respond to what’s going on –personal and/or world wide. Recently, when P and I were going through a potential health scare, I had a real sense of my community reacting to that, rallying around, praying, adapting to where we were ‘at’. It meant a great deal. No expectation to put on a happy face.
Even within this small church, our week to week experience of life can be so different. I’ve been celebrating the joy of a new member to our family, whilst for others of us……things have been more challenging. Gump’s Mama was right, you just never know what you’re gonna get. The toffee? (no thanks) The Malteser? (yuk) The coffee cream? (yes please)

The Sufi mystic Rumi echoes with the same sentiments.
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

The writer of Ecclesiates would agree with Forest I think;

For everything that happens in life—
there is a season, a right time for everything under heaven:
2 A time to be born, a time to die;
a time to plant, a time to collect the harvest;
3 A time to kill, a time to heal;
a time to tear down, a time to build up;
4 A time to cry, a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, a time to dance;
5 A time to scatter stones, a time to pile them up;
a time for a warm embrace, a time for keeping your distance;
6 A time to search, a time to give up as lost;
a time to keep, a time to throw out;
7 A time to tear apart, a time to bind together;
a time to be quiet, a time to speak up;
8 A time to love, a time to hate;
a time to go to war, a time to make peace.

We live in this tension of what life throws at us and yet the knowledge and faith (even if it is a bit shaky at times) that God is with us, for us and in all things. What do we do with that?

From the bandstand this morning, we used the practice of The Examen to help us reflect on the past week – whatever it had brought us – good, bad or indifferent.
The Examen has been referred to as : ‘rummaging for God – going through a drawer full of stuff, feeling around, looking for something that you are sure must be there.’. We look back on the previous day, week, rummaging through the “stuff,” and finding God in it. We know He is there.
St Ignatius, in his teaching of the Examen expected that God would speak through our deepest feelings and yearning; what he called consolation and desolation. Consolation is whatever helps us to connect in love to ourselves, others, God and the universe. In his language – whatever leads to an increase in faith, hope and love. Desolation is whatever blocks that connection…
What in our life connects us to Life, love, faith, hope, peace… the qualities of the Spirit
What is it that drains us of that Life….? What should we ‘embrace’ What whoudl we ‘keep at a distance’?
Here’s one sequence of Examen meditation and prayer to use that you might find helpful.
Give thanks
Replay the day you’ve had. Freeze frame the people or moments you’re grateful for.

Look for Hope and Joy
Where have you seen moments of forgiveness, compassion, courage, joy, unexpected love…….

Notice any sadness or regret.
Some news you heard about or event you were part of? Some word you regret or action you neglected? Recognise the down as well as the up.

Consider, in light of all this, how might tomorrow be different regardless of whether it’s a toffee, coffee cream or Malteser you get?

Epiphany 2020

Posted by & filed under bandstand, bread and wine, Controversial Jesus, emerging church, Environment, Epiphany, Outdoor church, park, seasons, Third Space.

Epiphany means to be revealed, it is associated with the visit of the Magi (wise men) to the infant Jesus when God revealed himself to the world through the incarnation. It is therefore Christ revealed to the Gentiles. According to Matthew 2:11 the Magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In the Western Church Epiphany Day is on 6th January and the Season of Epiphany finishes on the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

God,

this epiphany

seed us with hope

and empower us to be

fuel,

light,

fire,

action,

love

for the coming

of your Kingdom.

Amen.

Matthew 2 The Message (MSG)

1-2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory— this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signalled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”

3-4 When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified—and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well. Herod lost no time. He gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

5-6 They told him, “Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly:

It’s you, Bethlehem, in Judah’s land,
no longer bringing up the rear.
From you will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule my people, my Israel.”

7-8 Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, “Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I’ll join you at once in your worship.”

9-10 Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!

11 They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.

12 In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country.

Epiphany 2020 – some thoughts:

Early sunsets and dismal weather forecasts seem to stretch on indefinitely at this time of year. Darkness looms, literally and figuratively in 2020. With the rise of right-wing populism around the world and most governments refusing to tackle climate change seriously despite Australia literally being on fire, I find myself desperate for some encouraging news.

Despite the depressing state of the world Epiphany fills me with hope. Stars in the sky!  Light in the darkness! Astrologer priests following a star, travelling from distant lands to bring gifts to a poor baby in a feeding trough. God revealed in human form. Christ, the Light in the darkness. What’s not to love about Epiphany!

I believe Jesus taught us to find God incarnate in this world, in our neighbour, in sharing bread and wine, in the natural world, in the ordinary things of this Earth. Sadly, our culture places the most value on power and money and celebrity. Even many of us who call ourselves Christians are more fascinated by celebrity and success than by the radical way of Jesus. Once you can see God in the ordinary everyday things of life and know that you don’t have to climb the ladder of success or be more pure or more perfect to find God, you can honour God in what Jesus calls “…the least of these brothers and sisters of mine” and in the very earth beneath our feet.

Brian McLaren offers a prophetic critique of Christianity’s misplaced fascination with power, wealth and success:

“Growing numbers of us are acknowledging with grief that many forms of supremacy – Christian, white, male, heterosexual  – are deeply embedded not just in Christian history, but also in Christian theology. We are coming to see that in hallowed words like almighty, sovereignty, dominion, supreme, elect, chosen, clean, remnant, sacrifice, Lord,  dangerous vices often lie hidden.  We are coming to see in the life and teaching of Jesus, and especially in the cross and resurrection, a radical rejection of dominating supremacy in all its forms.

The theological term for this is kenosis, which means self-emptying. Rather than seizing, hoarding, and exercising power in the domineering ways of typical kings, conquistadors, Presidents and religious leaders, Jesus was consistently empowering others. He descended the ladders and pyramids of power instead of climbing them, released power instead of grasping at it, and served instead of dominating. He ultimately overturned all conventional understandings of power by purging it of its violence – to the point where he himself chose to be killed rather than kill.”

St. Paul urges us in Philippians 2: 5-8;

 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

 who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 

rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death –
even death on a cross!

We then had a time of prayer focusing on Climate Change.

Sharing Bread and Wine.

For this place and this time, we thank you.

For the beauty and wonder of creation, we thank you.

For your guiding light and presence, we thank you.

For daily food, for home and family, we thank you.

For minds to think, hearts to love and hands to create, we thank you.

For life and health and work, for leisure, rest and play, we thank you.

For all who pursue peace and justice, we thank you.

For Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection, we thank you.

For bread broken and wine poured out, we thank you.

For your extravagant generosity, we thank you.

A Blessing for 2020.

may you take the risk of bringing your vulnerable, broken self and not your sorted self so that the gospel can flow

may you take small actions that become graced in the least predictable ways

may you resist the temptation towards a theology of answers

may you remember to pause and reflect

may you always be willing to listen

may the deep joy of the spirit make you a bringer of fun, play and laughter

may you accept the invitation to express venturesome love

may you take the risk of conversation that is two way

may your faith guide you to choose wisely and ethically for the good of others

may you develop the practices of soft eyes, compassionate responses and hospitality

may the holy spirit enliven your imagination such that you find the world magical, enchanted, awe-inspiring and breathtakingly wonderful

amen

Jonny Baker Worship Trick

We continued our fellowship at Cool River with Fairtrade tea and coffee!

At the turn of the decades at the bandstand

Posted by & filed under General.

We began with these words after a moment of listening to birdsong and taking time to appreciate the stillness of the morning:

We are here at the invitation of God
The God who lured us into his kingdom
Speaking forgiveness and acceptance and love
And brought us here together to be welcomed at this place.

Whatever our day, our week ahead,
Whatever our state of mind or heart…

Today

With one another,
With all the saints around the globe,
With the saints of old
And with the saints resurrected,
We come with gratitude and praise.

Therefore… let us be at peace.
May we know the love of Christ that surrounds us.

Breathe it in and let it wash over you
God is here, we are here
God is love, we are loved.

Welcome to the bandstand.

 

Everyone then got an envelope and piece of paper and had time to write on one side of the sheet a list of things we wanted to give thanks for from 2019, before coming together for our Litany of Thanksgiving.

I shared quotes from Adrian Plass’s excellent book I’d just read ‘Jesus, safe, tender, extreme and spoke a little about each. Here they are:

(p114) Here he speaks of ‘the need to set one’s mind to the place where there is always an expectation that God will be involved and creative and active… Take the experience of being stranded in a railway station, for instance. Instead of finding it annoying and boring, I might become intensely curious about what God will do with this unexpected and, in human terms, unwelcome extra half hour, or however long it is… The problem with this, and it is a perennial one for me, is that I slip out of the habit of making the right mental adjustment and forget that God is not just in the picture but in charge of the picture. It is worth working on, though, because daily life in the context of an omnipotent God with really good ideas can be quite exciting.’

Help me to practise the expectation that God will be involved and creative and active in every event of my life…

(p184) ‘Unless and until we begin to genuinely seek out the centrality of Jesus in our lives and pray for the courage to set aside personal agendas that never were initiated by the Holy Spirit, we cannot step out and perform the big and little and mild and dramatic and banal and bizarre acts of service that will be required of us. I pray that as you join me on my journey, you will feel personally inspired to reach the place from which all things are possible and to feel affirmed in your own attempts to be ‘extreme’ for Jesus.’

Help me to find what it means for Jesus to be in the centre of everything so that my life takes on new meaning…

(p189) In his 30s, Adrian Plass had a mental breakdown and in a moment of anguish hit his hand against a telephone kiosk pane of glass, smashed it and cut his wrist badly. He suffered the humiliation of being arrested. For a long time afterwards he looked at the wound on his hand and thought about the wounds on Jesus’ hands, thinking about the love and heroic obedience of Jesus.
“Much more than this” the voice of imagination, or delusion, or Jesus, would whisper in my ear at these times, “I would do and have done much more than this for you and for the rest of the sheep who have no shepherd. I am still bleeding for you – for the world. They will not let the bleeding stop. Will you make the shedding of my blood worthwhile? Will you make the shedding of your own blood worthwhile? Give me your wound. Give me all your wounds. Do you dare to do that and let me transfigure them and use them as currency in any way I choose?”’

Take my wounds and transfigure them so that they can be used for good…

Following this everyone was invited to write a prayer on the other side of their paper detailing hopes and fears for 2020 and incorporating anything from the Adrian Plass extracts that resonated. I suggested that then – or later in the day we might each say that prayer and listen for a response – whether of our imagination, delusion or maybe just Jesus.

We performed our annual burning of prayers atttached to the shepherd’s crook last year and attached new ones for the year ahead.

We finished with the sharing of bread and wine using the simple words

Jesus for me, with me, in me

 

Christmas at the bandstand

Posted by & filed under General.

So in the lead up to Christmas we made some angel decorations to place around the park for people to take away with them. Fiona had found instructions on

https://mycraftchens.com/christmas-ornaments-twine-angels

and we spent a hilarious evening making the angels – some finding the creative task more challenging than others! We attached labels wishing the recipient joy or peace or love over Christmas and inviting them to take the angel home. We distributed around 40 or so and even before we left the park, some had been taken. The next day only two were left. We hope that everyone enjoyed that unexpected small gift.

Christmas day was simple and lovely. I shared something of my recent discovery of the amazing Jonathan Bryan, featured on Songs of Praise 8 / 12 / 19 and CBBC’s My Life documentary:

Jonathan Bryan has severe Cerebral Palsy and  is ‘locked in’ – he has no voice, cannot eat, has no voluntary movement of his limbs but after being taught to read by his mother, through looking at a letter board, he can now communicate his thoughts and his faith. He has written poetry, short stories and a book ‘Eye can write’ and has been an advocate for severely disabled children, particularly for those who have no voice, meeting with the minister for education of the disabled to promote their chances of receiving an education and learning to read.

On Christmas he says: ‘Sometimes heaven and earth come so close that they almost touch each other and I believe that in the baby that was born that first Christmas they became one. To me this is the magic of Christmas.’
Jonathan describes himself as a voice for the voiceless and of being locked in a life behind a curtain but also speaks of beyond the curtain. His mission is to break others out…
When he met Michael Morpurgo, the latter wrote in his preface to Jonathan’s book: ‘Jonathan has opened a door for us into his world. He is not locked in any more, and neither are we – we join him.’

The parallels with Jesus are numerous – and for another day, but, briefly, watching these documentaries has given me fresh insights into the significance of the Creator reducing Godhood to the locked in disability of being human – open to being labelled and rejected and seen as nothing – in order to tear down the curtain that we might enter that other world of total liberation…

For some time I wanted for myself to rewrite Mary’s song – the Magnificat in my own words to make it more accessible to me. This is it:

Mary’s song
I can’t tell you how I am bursting with awe and wonder! I want to sing at the top of my voice! I can barely believe it! Me! Can YOU believe it? I’m just an ordinary girl and he picked me! Picked me for something that will mean that this simple, poor, unexceptional girl will be spoken of forever – for centuries – in lands I have never heard of and times I will never be able to imagine.
GOD has come – the Creator of all that is – the one whose very name is holy…GOD – with me, in me. This is a God whose forgiveness knows no end, who keeps on working in our world, for our world, challenging oppression and oppressors, championing the powerless, the voiceless, the hungry, those who know they need MORE. The ones who think they have it all miss the God who’s there for us. You need to know: God is faithful. This God who worked for our ancestors in the past is at work for all of us now, working to bring all things to fulfilment. And somehow, in some way I know it all begins here – with me.

A prayer:
For Jesus – limited to a frail body – who had to learn to speak and in that limited form break open the way for us to enter a new reality and for Jonathan who reminds us of God’s values of the weakest being the strongest, of hope and of joy and of there being MORE Thank you!

We finished with bread and wine as always – lovely to see everyone – not least our new doggie visitor held by Paul (of al people!) – the image of him running with dog clutched close will stay with some of us for a very long time!!!!

3 stones at the bandstand

Posted by & filed under General.

This morning we met in a very wet bandstand, back for the first time since the floods. We had a stone of choice to hold throughout our time together and used the words of John Bell’s ‘Three Stone Meditations’ from his book ‘He was in the world’ (Wildgoose publications).
For copyright reasons I won’t reproduce it but the first meditation began our worship focussing upon God’s creation of the stone we held.
After that I shared a reading from the brilliant Bryan Stevenson’s ‘Just Mercy’ where he speaks of stone-catching rather than stone-throwing (a notion arising from the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery). Rather than joining in with throwing stones, we are called to catch them – defending the attacked and letting them find a place to lean – to find solace and comfort and acceptance…
This was followed by a confession I had written for last week (Remembrance Sunday):

As we remember the horror of war and capacity of humanity to hate and to kill, we turn to our Creator to acknowledge our own failings…

God our Creator,
We confess how far we have fallen from your call to be characterised by love.
Forgive us for the times when we have participated in that which fuels factionalism;
When we have labelled and dismissed others as if they were less than us;
When we have leapt to conclusions about others and been too quick to judge.
Forgive us for when we have intentionally and unintentionally used words as weapons
And when we have harboured unforgiveness for wounds inflicted on us.
We have failed to see others as more than the things we dislike about them
We have been blind to seeing everyone as bearing your image and loved by you.
We see the seeds of violence and war in ourselves
Lord have mercy.
Raise us up to be more self-aware,
To be peacemakers and peace-brokers
To learn generosity of heart and to follow the example of Jesus
And this we ask that your kingdom might come – in us and through us
Amen. Amen.

The second part of John Bell’s meditation focuses on the stone the builders rejected and rather than intersperse sections with sung responses we had silent prayer for related issues suggested by each. The final meditation focuses on us receiving the invitation by God to come as living stones. This fitted easily with the sharing of bread and wine.
We finished by laying down our stones at the foot of the cross and perhaps laying down stones we might otherwise have thrown in the coming week, allowing our empty hands to be open to catch a few instead! Two books used to day that I cannot recommend more highly – do read them!

Francis and the Wolf

Posted by & filed under Franciscan Incarnational Theology, Outdoor church.

Inspired by last weeks Franciscan Benediction that Paul shared with us from Work of the People * and Richard Rohr Centre for Action and Contemplation* talking about St Francis of Assisi in the context of non violence and peacemaking, I was inspired to be a bit Franciscan this morning.

We read the words from our liturgy

Rooted and Grounded

This morning we are here to touch the cold, wet, earth                                                                                

Firm under our feet

Here we are rooted and grounded

In this Thin Space/Third Space

To stand on …

God made Holy Ground,

This is holy ground …

Giving us roots and wings,

Here in this place teeming with creatures

like the first creation, 

Seeing the magnificence  

elemental, historical, futuristic

Where the grass sings and the earth hums

Roots and wings

Rooting us, upholding us                                                                                                                                           

Help us to see God in this place   

All connecting, my life, our lives, all life                                                     

to share our own joys, sorrows and laughter

and intercede for all in God’s earth.

 

Followed by the Franciscan Canticle of the Creatures 

Most High, all powerful, good Lord,
to you be praise, glory, honour and all blessing.

Only to you, Most High, do they belong
and no one is worthy to call upon your name.

May you be praised, my Lord, with all your creatures,
especially Sir brother sun,
through whom you lighten the day for us.

He is beautiful and radiant with great splendour.
He signifies you, O Most High.

Be praised, my Lord, for sister moon and the stars,
clear and precious and lovely, they are formed in heaven.

Be praised, my Lord, for brother wind;
and by air and clouds, clear skies and all weathers,
by which you give sustenance to your creatures.

Be praised, my Lord, for sister water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and pure.

Be praised, my Lord, for our sister, mother earth,
who sustains and governs us
and produces diverse fruits
and coloured flowers and grass.

Sharing the story in which Francis meets with the wolf that has been terrorising the villagers of Gubbio and eating their livestock. The villagers were convinced that the wolf would attack Francis, but on meeting the wolf Francis discovers the wolf is too old to hunt wild animals and was finding the villager’s animals easy prey. He persuades the villagers to feed the wolf and in turn the wolf leaves the livestock alone. The bravery of Francis lead to peace between the villagers and the wolf.

We were challenged about how we can be courageous in bringing peace in the situations and the world in which we live.

Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Like that of Christ, our mission on earth is to bring to others God’s peace.

God’s state of “perfect well-being” and completeness. Shalom is the Hebrew word for this rich concept of “peace.” Often used as a greeting of peace, Shalom is a wish that those so greeted will find healing and fullness of life.

Pray that you can bring Shalom to those you meet this coming week.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Saint Francis tells his followers, “Our Lord says in the Gospel, Love your enemies (Matthew 5: 44). If we feel offence, injury, anger, hurt or rejection how do we handle that is the light of loving our enemies.

Pray for those we know who need to know love.

Where there is injury, pardon,
During the violence-ridden Crusades, Francis discovered a path of peace, pardon and non-violence. The “little poor man” went to Egypt to engage in a peaceful dialogue with the sultan, a meeting in which a spirit of forgiveness, respect and understanding prevailed. Francis would have the same message for those in our times who are so quick to see violence as the only cure for terrorism.

Pray for the miracle of God’s peace to be in the hearts of those who lead in our world.

Where there is doubt, faith,

Pray for those who have lost faith or who have their faith sorely challenged ask God to show you ways that can restore faith to those people.

Where there is despair, hope/Where there is darkness, light,
Think of Saint Francis following Jesus example and embracing lepers and lovingly washing their sores. Surely, many of those suffering souls felt an inner surge of hope and human dignity when they experienced care.

Pray for the strength to show care and love in difficult situations

And where there is sadness, joy.
Francis used to say that he wanted his followers to go about the world like strolling minstrels, “to inspire the hearts of people and stir them to spiritual joy.” They give us an example to follow in our own day!

Pray that we will be like those strolling minstrels and inspire the hearts of people we meet who feel sadness

For ourselves we pray

Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand and to be loved as to love

Pray for awareness that

It is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned ,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

 

The Peace

May deep peace be in our thinking

May deep peace be in our hearts

May there be deep peace between us and God’s good earth

And may the deep peace of Jesus be with us.

 

We broke bread and poured out wine to the words 

The bread                                                                                                                       

It represents

The provision of God

The bountiful harvest

The work of the labourer

The hands of the baker

In remembrance

Of bread broken

And shared

Of a body broken

Of a people blessed

And a forgiveness shared

 

The wine

It represents

The provision of God

The bountiful harvest

The work of the labourer

The skill of the vintner

In remembrance

The ransom paid

The hands pierced

The blood shed

The redemption

The celebration of the resurrection

 

Paul read the Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers

Half-truths and superficial relationships

So that you may live deep within your heart

May God bless you with anger at injustice,

Oppression and exploitation of people

So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace

May God bless you with tears to shed

For those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war

So that you may reach out your hand

To comfort them and turn their pain to joy

So that you can do

What others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children

And the poor

AMEN

https://www.theworkofthepeople.com

10th Anniversary and God comes to the Bandstand!

Posted by & filed under bandstand, emerging church, General, Third Space.

So… We had the most marvellous time this Sunday celebrating ten years of meeting at the bandstand. We could hardly believe it but the evidence is there on the website! Words created over the years were used again – the Litany of Thanksgiving, Paul’s words about the changing meaning of bread and wine, new words written by Steve affirming God’s love that does not have to be worked for but is FIXED and words from a 16th century hymn personifying the cross, whose arms sheltered the world which informed our prayers and anointed blessings…

The central part of time together was recalling important and lasting lessons and experiences and much loved companions. Barbara shared in particular how helpful and poignant something had been for them in their last difficult year.

A handful of years ago, Fiona had spoken of the baptism of Jesus and the Spirit as a dove. We imagine a white dove, but apparently, in that region the word dove was given to the ubiquitous rock pigeon. The point was made that we tend not to notice pigeons – they are everywhere – and perhaps there is something of the Holy Spirit reflected in that. We need to open our eyes to see Him everywhere!

Well, over the last year or so, as Barbara and Grayden have had to deal with so many health problems and scares, wherever they have been they have seen pigeons! Each time Barbara has said ‘Look. God is with us!’
As she shared that, something remarkable and unique happened. A pigeon flew through the entrance to the bandstand and landed! It proceeded to walk steadily around the circle of us – all the way round and then back again before flying off! It was extraordinary!

There was nothing overtly supernatural – was it a fluke or was it God telling us just how much she loves ThirdSpace? I know which I choose to believe! It was special and I don’t think I will be the only one on Wednesday reading Mark 1 and seeing the baptism of Jesus in a new light!

For ThirdSpace’s ten years we are supremely thankful. We send our love to all who have been part of us, inspired and encouraged us. Amen for ten!

A time to…..

Posted by & filed under General.

Last Sunday Fiona led us at the bandstand and there was SO much food for thought. We walked with the following words and reconvened to share our responses, pray and share bread and wine. Do enjoy a read!

I love the changing seasons but I am not a fan of the seasons changing. The creeping, lengthening darkness and shortened days are not things I look relish. Recently, we’ve had some sparkling summer-end days but they have been quickly followed by damp, dull, greyness and in the air there is a sense of nature beginning to hunker down. But. Without this, what opportunity is there to renew, to re-energise, to grow. This word renewal isn’t one I naturally summon up at this time of year..so these words we used in Third Space last week caught my eye. (apologies to whoever wrote these –take the credit if they’re yours!) Following on, you’ll see some words from commentators, theologians and the Bible based on the themes woven through these words. Happy Autumn. Happy Renewal.

Here today, through bread and wine,
we renew our journey with Jesus
Here today, through bread and wine,
we renew our unity with one another,
and with all those who have gone before us
Here today, through bread and wine,
we renew our communion with the earth
and our interwovenness with the broken ones of the world.

We renew our journey with Jesus

“Just read the gospels more. Many Christians treat the gospels as the optional ‘chips and dips’ at the beginning of the meal – take it or leave it. The dynamism of the gospels and the person who walks out of the pages to meet us central and irreplaceable and he’s always a surprise. If you want to know who God is ; look at Jesus, if you want to know what love is ; look at Jesus, if you want to know what being human is; look at Jesus, if you want to know what grief is ; look at Jesus and go on looking at Jesus until you are not just a spectator but part of the drama, which has him as the central character.” NT Wright.

That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared. (Luke 24)

 

We renew our communion with the earth and our interwovenness with the broken ones of this world.

“Imagine a moment before the Big Bang banged. Imagine a creativity, brilliance, fertility, delight, energy, power, wonder and goodness that was sufficient to express itself in what we call the universe. …and then dare to imagine that this great big beautiful, mysterious goodness wholeness and aliveness surrounds and upholds us even now. Finally try to imagine that this is also the great big beautiful, mysterious, goodness, wholeness and aliveness into which all of us and all creation will be taken up – in a marriage, in a homecoming, in a reunion, a celebration.” (Brian Mclaren)

I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband. I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighbourhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate. ”Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. (Revelation 20: The Message )

 

We renew our unity with one another and with all who have gone before us.

“The eucharist – I’m a big fan. Having an open table is not about radical hospitality, a virtue we have of including everyone. It has to do with this God we have, who includes everyone. And I don’t like it! I wish I could make the guest list! I don’t enjoy the fact that all the people are welcome at this table because it means its people I don’t like or they don’t like me or they piss me off or who I’m just uncomfortable with. It’s not that we’re trying to be open and virtuous – this is about God. It is this foretaste of the feast to come. Church isn’t perfect, it’s practice. We’re practising this Kingdom thing.’ Nadia Bolz Weber.

If you’ve got anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favour: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Philippians 2.

Hymns, Psalms and Poetry

Posted by & filed under Alternative prayer activities, Band stand, Outdoor church.

I was at a friends funeral recently and we sang the song “How Great Thou Art”. Whilst singing the second verse I was reminded of how brilliant it is to worship out of doors.

“When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.”

 

The story of the song from it’s first appearance as a poem written in Swedish by Carl Boberg, tells how it was inspired by Psalm 8 alongside a walk home through a thunderstorm and the following calm.

Psalm 8

1 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels and crowned them[f] with glory and honour. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;  you put everything under their[g] feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

The author, Carl Boberg himself gave the following information about the inspiration behind his poem which he wrote in 1885:

“It was that time of year when everything seemed to be in its richest colouring; the birds were singing in trees and everywhere. It was very warm; a thunderstorm appeared on the horizon and soon there was thunder and lightning. We had to hurry to shelter. But the storm was soon over and the clear sky appeared.

When I came home I opened my window toward the sea. There evidently had been a funeral and the bells were playing the tune of “When eternity’s clock calls my saved soul to its Sabbath rest”. That evening, I wrote the song, “O Store Gud”. (O Great God) 

The poem was translated into German, then Russian and from the Russian into English by a Methodist Missionary called Stuart K. Hine

He wrote, adapted and paraphrased, adding to the original poem to produce the hymn which is such a big favourite today.

In true Hine tradition we were tasked in:

  • Writing a poem about how great God is
  • Adapting a verse to make it fit with our experience of worship out of doors
  • Writing a new psalm

I was amazed at what people could write given no notice in the short time of the ten minutes allowed.

*****************************************************************************************************************************

A little Wordsworthian rendering 

“Thoughts composed in Hall Leys Park on 21st July 2019 on the first anniversary of being diagnosed with a high grade prostate cancer. 

Here. Now. In this moment

Bird song blesses and delights my heart. 

The silent river weaves it’s endless journey to the sea

And I am canopied neath ancient trees,

life’s form is echoed in each branch and leaf and hyphae hid. 

Then I who know life’s precious gift 

With joy and gratitude am filled. 

Then only silence fills the void 

As I contemplate the One, whom time and space cannot contain.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A new verse                                                                                 

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,

consider all the works your hand has made.

Eyes raised to the hills, trees that proclaim their maker,

Your love throughout this space, this time displayed

 

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

A little plagiarism noted in this one 

                  O Lord my God                  

I give you all my thanks and praise

for moments of blessing I recall

The autumn leaves falling on us as if they were raindrops

                               The singing sun rising above Riber

For the life that encompasses us in the park, above, below, behind, in front on our left and on our right. 

For the birds that sing and the trees that speak. 

Their tangled branches over our heads and their roots spreading beneath us, hugged by fungus. 

O Lord, Our Lord how majestic is your name.

When I look at my friends, how blessed can I be. 

Sharing the love of Jesus, receiving the love of Jesus and having companions to walk the way of Jesus. 

How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art. 

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Enigma

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the wordsmiths among us 

“Oh Splendofigorously emineatiae 

Our words are not enough 

Oh our rootengroundedness imminence 

Our wonder, full 

To say nothing is to say something

To say something is to pretend we know 

And yet we yearn and that

Yearning is your child-like gift 

Take delight in our nonsense 

You are our end and our beginning 

Our breath in and our breath out 

Yahweh!”

*******************************************************************************************************************

Hine had to leave the Ukraine after the genocides of Stalin and then return to the UK from Eastern Europe due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

One man told Hine this story: he had been separated from his wife at the very end of the war, and had not seen her since. At the time they were separated, his wife was a Christian, but he was not, but he had since been converted. His deep desire was to find his wife so they could at last share their faith together. But he told the Hines that he did not think he would ever see his wife on earth again. Instead he was longing for the day when they would meet in heaven, and could share in the Life Eternal there. These words again inspired Hine, and they became the basis for his fourth and final verse to ‘How Great Thou Art’: “When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation to take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. Then we shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim, My God How Great Thou Art!”

We prayed for all those who were separated by death, war, illness, accident, relationship breakdown and disaster.

Again in Hine tradition we used words adapted from the hymn for sharing bread and wine

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;

Allowed  Him to die, I scarce can take it in;

That on a Cross, my burdens gladly bearing,

He bled and died so that love would win.