Eternal Echoes

Lectionary musings- Numbers 11: 16-30

Moses is struggling under the burden of leadership- the word comes from God " gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel"- and in obedience Moses clls them together, and they gather before the tent of meeting.

God then takes the initiative of spreading not only the burden of leadership, but also the Spirit's annointing for the task amongst the gathered elders...

Two of the elders had not gathered with the rest before the tent of meeting, but had remained in the camp, this did not stop them from recieving the Spirit's annoointing and they began to prophecy where they were... a young man disturbed by this reported to Moses, and Joshua, felt that they should be stopped....

Moses reply is interesting, he is not jealous, and he is not interested in seeing the Holy Spirit's annointing stopped in these men- rahter he declares:

"Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them."

We live of course in post-pentecost days, the Lord has poured out the spirit on all flesh, we should expect to see visions, to dream dreams, to experience healing and other kinds of tongues.... but more we should expect to find God at work in the world outside of our churches wooing his people, calling us to see his work and to join in.

Tom Stuckey in his book "On the edge of Pentecost" calls us to look for signs of the spirit rising, signs outside of the four walls of our meeting places, out in the world, for the earth is the Lord's;

Commenting on the reading today Methodist Minister and Chair of Cornwall district Chris Blake says:

Is the Holy Spirit only active in places and in ways that we understand or feel are appropriate? What should be our response when the Spirit seems to be at work in a way that seems to us to be 'out of the ordinary'?

The Holy Spirit will surprise us, working in and through unusual places, people and situations, Lord grant us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to respond.

                                          

Church Times Interview with Gordon Brown...

GORDON BROWN’s commitment to eradicating Third World debt is rarely questioned even by his critics, and has been described as his passion since his party was in opposition. Perhaps if it were not, our interview, marking the tenth anniversary of the 70,000-strong “human chain” for debt relief, would itself have been cancelled.

A few days after Labour’s devastating results in the local elections, Mr Brown looks tense and exhausted, having come straight from Prime Minister’s Questions.

Despite this, and his tendency to drop statistics into the conversation at an alarming rate, the subject still seems to stir up that passion, as it does occasional moments of warmth. He smiles as he recalls his own first attempt at campaigning on world poverty — taking part in the “Freedom from Hunger” Oxfam campaign of the 1960s.

“My brother and I made a newspaper that we sold, like a news-sheet. I must have been less than ten years old. It was my older brother’s idea, really: I was his assistant. The terrible irony is that we are having to run another campaign now, all these years later, because of the food crisis in parts of the world.”

Mr Brown goes on to say:

“We must understand that globalisation cannot work unless we can find a way of including everybody in the benefits of global change. One of the ways we can help people understand they have responsibilities to each other is not simply that what happens in one place can happen in another — like economic change or terrorism — but also that we share similar values, and we share similar beliefs that compel us or impel us to make big social changes.” This is evidence that Mr Brown at least believes that he is practising what his father preached from that Kirkcaldy pulpit. Poverty reduction Some of the effects of debt relief attributed to debt cancellation so far: • Teacher numbers have doubled in three years in Tanzania: more than 62,000 teachers have been recruited or retrained • Primary-school fees have been abolished in Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and in rural areas of Benin • In a free childhood immunisation programme in Mozambique, almost a million children were vaccinated by the end of 2004 • User fees have been abolished at rural healthcare clinics in Zambia • New roads have been built in Burkina Faso, particularly in rural areas, Source: Unfinished Business, Jubilee Debt Campaign, 2008 See the full interview here

Lessons from my garden ( living with depression)

Over the last week I have combined my need for exercise with my gardens desperate need for some attention. The Manse has a big garden which is full of interesting shrubs and plants, once lovingly cared for by a previous minister who loved to spend an hour or so in the garden before he started work. This week I have done the same, and both the garden and I are feeling better for it; before now I have set out to blitz the garden all in one go and ended up cursing and blistered for my trouble, not wanting to venture into it for at least another month! Rather than even attempting a major blitz I have set myself a small task every day, and  I am amazed because I have achieved something!

So now I look out onto a garden- all three lawns are cut and neat, the large area under the trees in the front has been cleared and weeded, the back garden flower beds are also weeded, and I feel that I have accomplished a lot! Next week I will tackle the hedges, these are split neatly into three, so I will take on one section each day for 3 days...

...and I wonder how it is that I had not worked this out before..... I've applied it to other tasks too, and managed to file 2 sets of expenses and fill in ( after a fight with the student loans company) Jo and Jon's finance forms. I will do Christopher's tomorrow ( his is more complicated for a variety of reasons).

I am beginning to recognise that I often felt overwhelmed by things because I looked and saw an unclimbable mountain, taking the time to step back and breathe more deeply has allowed me to see that it needed to be tackled in stages...

Common sense? Well yes, but sometimes it is hard to gain perspective.... as for me, I am taking things one day at a time, I don't feel that it is time to dive back into work just yet, I will take the Dr's advice and continue to rest, and to treat myself and life more gently!

                                 

Late spring

This year's fresh leaves

Are gone too fast;

Before we could savour their newness

They dulled and opened;

Drawn out quickly

By the insistent sun.

.

The first spring flowers

Long gone now,

Have given way to

Brighter cousins

Unashamed

In their summer glory!

.

And as the mornings cool gives way

Too soon to heat,

The year moves by

Too fast,

Too fast…

I thirst- lectionary reflections; John 7 37-39

I tell you thirst,

And you say my life

could flow

with cool

refreshing

Spirit

streams,

And yet I know

the truth…

this land

is parched and dry

reliant on

a trickle of

water…

water brave enough

to push, and

fight it's

way through

the boulders

of doubt and despair

that dam the flow

of truth

and life.

 

And still I thirst…

Will you break through?

"If"- Bloggers Unite for human rights ( and synchroblogging)

The synchrobloggers have decided to join this month with the Bloggers Unite for human rights project, the web-site says;

"While the words might change from country to country and are sometimes taken for granted, human rights represent one of the universally agreed upon ideas — that all people are born with basic rights and freedoms that include life, liberty, and justice. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations.

Bloggers Unite For Human Rights challenges bloggers everywhere to help elevate human rights by drawing attention to the challenges and successes of human rights issues on May 15. What those topics may include — the wrongful imprisonment of journalists covering assemblies, governments that ignore the plight of citizens, and censorship of the Internet. What is important is that on one day, thousands of bloggers unite and share their unified support of human rights everywhere."

There are lists of suggestions for topics to blog about, and a quick glimpse at the news this morning simply reveals more. Do I criticise the Burmese regimen for the way that aid is being refused, do I comment on the earthquake in China and question the Chinese governments response, do I write about Dafur, or Afghanistan, do I write about famines or wars.....Amnesty International offer us a range of issuses to pray over and act upon....

It would be easy to become completely overwhelmed, and so say nothing... I must speak out, and yet I wonder if my heart is truly in it.... Yesterday there was a knock at my door, the yearly Christian Aid collection was taking place, and like many people I scrapped around and managed to find £3.00 in change which I deposited in the envelope and handed to the collector. Christian Aid do a wonderful job working in many different countries and in many different situations, and I am forced to pause and to wonder at my attitude, is giving the leftovers enough? I have a comfortable lifestyle, and am not unable to give, and yet I battle with my own selfishness, like many people in the west I struggle on an almost daily basis being both a victim of and a participator in the affluenza epidemic! To quote from the affluenza web-site;

"To reform the world we must first reform ourselves."

To be reformed or transformed is an ongoing process for all of us, to become truly aware of those who suffer and struggle in the face of oppression and disaster I must lift my eyes from myself and my often small concerns. I must take God's "if seriously for he says:

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
       to loose the chains of injustice
       and untie the cords of the yoke,
       to set the oppressed free
       and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
       and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
       when you see the naked, to clothe him,
       and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
       and your healing will quickly appear;
       then your righteousness will go before you,
       and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
       you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
       "If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
       with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
       and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
       then your light will rise in the darkness,
       and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
       and will strengthen your frame.
       You will be like a well-watered garden,
       like a spring whose waters never fail .

Too often we speak out about human rights, we criticise and complain, too often we long to be like a well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail, and yet we miss God's "if" we demand justice for others and yet at a deep level we are unwilling to be changed! What do our daily living habits have to say about our true attitude? Yes people in Darfur and Tibet, in Burma and China need justice and aid and basic human rights.....I can speak up, but words are often easy... do I live up to my words?

Juliet's comment brings the truth home:

"We can choose whether or not to blog about human rights today, we can say what we think, wrestle with our consciences in public without fear of persecution or imprisonment. We can set our own blog agenda. For some, the mere act of posting their views and beliefs in the blogosphere is a life-threatening choice".

I for one am challenged!

Other blogs you may want to check out are:

• Sonja Andrews on Human Wrongs
• Adam Gonnerman on Guantanamo Bay in the eyes of God
• Julie Clawson on Human rights and Christian comfort
• Steve Hayes on Human rights and Christian faith
• Sally Coleman on "If"
• Adam Gonerman on "My Charade is the event of the season"
• Janice Fowler on "Voice Overs Needed" (or "Wake up - Speak Up")
• Mike Bursell on Human rights (and Christian responsibilities)

Great quote

From my Father-in-law:

"How can I soar with the eagles of divine challenge whilst being pecked

on the heels by the ducks of trivia?"

.

I ask you.... how?

Humility- invitation to poetry

Christine at Abbey of the Arts issues another invitation to poetry, with this picture:

               

and this commentary:

The image  was taken at a sheep farm in Arlington, WA, about an hour from Seattle.  We went there as part of a Slow Food event and got to see the dogs herding the sheep which is quite remarkable.  I was most moved however by the donkey they keep in the pasture with the sheep. Apparently he provides some extra protection for them from coyotes because he bonds with the sheep and then his size scares away some of the predators.  At one point the dogs had herded the sheep behind the donkey and the image made me smile. I was reminded of the Isaiah 11:6 quote “and a little child shall lead them.”  I believe in the power of humility and of offering ourselves to the wisdom of animals, so this photo made me wonder what you, my wonderful poet friends might imagine.  Where do you go when you choose to relinquish your own ego and follow a path that might seem foolish?

This is my poetic response:

As a
strange,
gentle protector,
she comes
among us.
and we are
mostly unawre
of her power
to protect
for she lives
and eats
and breathes
so naturally
alongside us,
one of us
given for us…