Eternal Echoes

Time out from tinsel....

This morning  I as looked out across my garden it seemed that winter had arrived, bare branches reached skywards  where only a few months ago there were flowers and green shrubs. Now the leaves have fallen, and the bare branches of many of the shrubs have been pruned back.The scene in monochrome, even the vegetable beds that Tim has been working on so hard are waiting for the new season, the soil has been dug and the beds prepared but they are bare, open to the winter rains and frosts...

Yesterday I re-potted a couple of my orchids, even these indoor plants have entered into a time of waiting, their stalks have been pruned back, their colourful exotic flowers are gone for this year, and I have moved them to a place where they will receive just the right amount of warmth and light for the waiting time....

There seems to be little life in the garden, and the orchids look like dead sticks, but all is not what it seems, new life is simply waiting to burst forth when the time is right, but for now this bit of creation has entered into the waiting time.

In contrast to the quiet and stillness of my garden are  the local shops where even in the village Christmas has arrived with full force, adverts in the local Co-op tempt us not to wait until Christmas Day to begin feasting, while in a neighbouring village the lights have been on for weeks now. If I turn on the television I am bombarded with adverts, the radio offers the same constant feed of consumerism, preparation is all about consumption.

No wonder we are weary, we have lost the ability to truly rest, and have forsaken the wonder of waiting, replacing anticipation with headlong rush of activity adding stress to a season that sends bank accounts and relationships spiraling into disaster. How tragic that parents are judged not by the love, care and concern that they have for their children but by the size of the parcel they are able to provide. I speak to mothers who sacrifice bedtime stories and cuddles for part-time jobs simply in order to buy that latest toy for a child whose head has been filled desire for a toy that has been advertised solidly from September onwards. I speak to families stressed out by not being able to buy the approval of relatives and friends. I hear it from my own children as living on student loans they struggle to resist the perils of the season!

I want to stand in the centre of our towns and shopping centres with a big placard  that simply reads STOP! I wonder if I did, how many people would take the time to come and see just what I was up to, and why I wanted to break into the frenetic activity I find around me. I want to invite people to take time out from tinsel, and to give themselves a breathing space. In that space I pray that some form or perspective might begin to dawn...

I am aware that I am repeating myself. I have said so much of this before, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record I will continue to say it. We need to STOP! Advent is not about chocolate filled calenders it is a season of repentance and fasting just as Lent is, it is also a season of preparation, one that calls us not to look to the babe in the manger but rather to the risen Christ WHO WILL COME AGAIN. Last Sunday's gospel reading brought with it the challenge not to get caught up in dissipation and drunkenness but challenged us instead to look beyond the cares and desires of this world.

Do I struggle with all of this? Oh yes, I was brought up to believe that Christmas was all about presents and feasting. I feel guilty if I don't enter into the spirit of the season, but through my struggle I want to encounter the Spirit who made the season a cause for celebration, the Spirit who opened the virgins womb and made the incarnation a reality. That same Spirit is the one who brought life to the lifeless body of Jesus and raised the babe of Bethlehem restoring him to heavens glory. It is that Spirit, the Holy Spirit whose fire I want to fill my life in and through the coming celebrations, and because of that I need the season of Advent, not so that I can prepare through purchases filling my life with clutter. Rather I need to be emptied, I need time out from tinsel, for although it is particularly noticeable at Christmas time, glitter and tinsel beckon to us through out the year in one way or another.

So I am taking time out, to seek the one who calls to us; he sees that we are weary and burdened, and he invites us aside. He offers us rest, and if we chose the road to radical recovery, and long, no yearn to live a life free from consumerism's grip and look instead for contentment, he promises to walk with us and work with us.

We can choose to take permanent time out from tinsel, and in doing do we might just find that we really have something to celebrate!

The Risen Christ, by John Young

Returning to Gods embrace...

What does it mean to be real, to be open , to acknowledge at one and the same time our inner brokenness whilst embracing our spirituality and seek a route towards wholeness?

These are questions I grapple with, I cannot tell my faith story from a standpoint of strength because I fail on a daily basis, I do not have a high standard yard stick which I feel I must clear on a daily basis in order to be a success, I mean I fail at the little things, in attitude and through forgetfulness... sometimes I fail at the bigger stuff too

Do I fail because I am weak?  Well yes, but this weakness is not peculiar to me it is part of my inner being, where love and selfishness vie with one another, where greed and generosity jostle for position, where demands sometimes overrule mercy and grace...it is part of my humanity and when we are in a place where we can be real and open, it is a part of our humanity that we voice these struggles. If we fail to do so we wear masks!

We all wear masks at different times, sometimes out of necessity for a given situation, sometimes out of fear, fear of being seen for who we are, and for fear of the other... The other; he who expresses his journey in a way that is unfamiliar to me, she who questions my path and my motivation... she who challenges my assumptions and questions my creeds. To drop the mask would necessitate a revealing of self...

Jesus both revealed self and accepted the other, he was not riddled with flaws as I am, but certainly opened himself to criticism, abut his friendships, his cleanliness and his eating habits! He received the clean and the unclean alike, touching both (often to the horror of the former)...

How weak as I am can I pattern my life after his?

First I must accept his embrace:

"The Father interrupted the sons strategy for return....The int eruption ... performed a transformation. After failure in the distant country the son reconstructed his identity as a "son not worthy to be called a son". By the sheer joy of his fathers embrace, without a word his identity starts to be changed again. The son made his confession but right at the point where his strategy dictate that he inform his father about the new identity he has constructed for himself.... the father interrupts him again. The confession made to the father who embraced him has taken his identity in relation to the father out of his hands and placed it into the hands of the father. With a command to the slaves, the father reconstructed the prodigals identity. He ordered a robe the best one- put on him, a ring placed on his finger, as the prodigal was transformed before our eyes he called him son of mine. First he symbolically remade the "son who is not worthy to be called a son" into the "son he could be proud" of, then he named him "son of mine". The secret, the father would not let his son, his lost and dead son out of his hearts embrace."- Volf Exclusion and Embrace

God does not let us out of His embrace, She treasurers our very being in Her heart, He waits for us patiently, arms and heart ready to receive... despite our frailty, our weakness and our brokenness we are received, we need no masks, we have no need to construct a new identity for ourselves (it will be rejected anyway).

Once we have received the embrace of God, truly received it we will be changed, and we will find ourselves able to love and accept others...

The problem is we leave home often, sometimes without realising it, we wander away and when we meet others in need of embrace we reject them because they are other... at that moment what is sorely needed is for us to return home and receive the embrace of the Father, the kiss of the Mother.

As children grow, they come to believe that they no longer need touch, no longer need to be embraced.... they are wrong, just as we are when we leave home and stray away from the loving arms of God...

Go peaceful, in gentleness, through the violence of these days,

Give freely show tenderness in all your ways...

Through darkness in troubled times, let holiness be your aim,

Seek wisdom, let faithfulness burn like a flame...

Be righteous, speak truthfully, in a world of greed and lies,

Show kindness, see everyone through heavens eyes.

God speed you, God lead you, and keep you wrapped around his heart,

May you be known by love...

.... may you be known by love.... - Paul Field

Black and white vs. grey...

Read this thought provoking post from Sky Lowe-McCracken...

We do not have the death penalty here in the UK I am very grateful for that, but we do have to deal with ethical questions and moral dilemmas... abortion and euthanasia have both hit the news recently. It is easy to make black and white statements, easy to draw lines not to be crossed until we are faced with crossing them, or watching a loved one suffer...

A friend gave birth to her 4th child, a baby boy, he looked perfect, but in fact there was no part of his body formed properly, his internal organs would fail, he was blind and deaf, he could barely eat, the prognosis was grim, he would not live for more than a few weeks, his parents made a brave choice, they brought him home and loved him, they cared for him and he died peacefully in his mothers arms at 4 days old...

Pregnant with her 5th child she accepted tests to scan for the same condition in this baby... she decided that she would have an abortion if the gene were detected, for if it was the case the child would not live... this baby was healthy... he is now 18. I cannot condemn or criticise her for her decision to abort if the worst was confirmed, this was a grey area...

When Chris was in intensive care we made a similar decision, as he suffered set back after set back and we were told to expect the worst, we took the decision that should he deteriorate more that only pain relief and no further medical intervention should be taken... his tiny body had been shocked and prodded enough... he pulled through and we did not see our worst fears confirmed. But I did sit with parents where this was the case, little Neal died in his mothers arms following surgery.. he was 3 months old... I had sat with her as she held him for the first time, she would only hold him once more, the tubes removed his last touch was his mothers arms not a ventilator or a needle... was she wrong, should she have decided otherwise

It is easy to be black and white when you have never been faced with grey... but how often is that really the case?

There is a huge difference though between refusing further intervention and taking a decision to end a life, reports from the continent make me ask seriously if a line needs to be drawn, when do pain and suffering make life so intollerable that we can make a pronouncement on the life of another human being... when will maddness step in, how will these things be regulated.... when are we showing compassion and when are we simply playing God.

What does it mean to be human, and is there ever an end to hope?

Hard questions, grey areas... Lord grant us your compassion, your wisdom and your peace as we walk thorgh the hard stuff...

Christian aid- the challenge .... and two stories of hope...

I have just been to our youth led Christian Aid Service, it was both challenging and disturbing for many different reasons....

The first I guess was a distraction for me because Joanne had a migraine, but pushed on through and played anyway , even after a long weekend of concerts.... she is passionate about justice in a way only 17 yr olds can be!

The challenge came through the scriptures which we were to discuss, I am amazed how easy it is to use spiritually sounding words with no real understanding, how we can put a little money into the  collection with no real impact upon or change to our lifestyle.

I am disturbed by our complacency, and also our priorities... one of our elderly members was more disturbed by what the teenagers were wearing than by what was being presented! I wonder at our commitment to justice and truth when we are more concerned with individuality than community... for how can we care for anyone or anything when we live in a bubble of self.

I do not simply want to put a few pounds into an envelope this year, rather I want to be different, I want my lifestyle to reflect my love for the whole world... if it is to truly do this I must live more simply, and I must recognise community and the need for interdependence not only on a local but on a global scale.

At present I am scratching the surface, we buy fair-trade, we re-cycle, we use low energy lighting and economical appliances, we try to turn lights off, and try to walk short distances instead of driving... but I can do more, I want to do more...

Stories of hope...

I heard two testimonies today one this morning- concerning tractors in Romania, one of our smaller chapels supports farmers and an orphanage in Romania, a tractors head gasket had blown they called for help. the Chapel folk prayed.... the money was given, a new head-gasket was purchased and is now on its way to Roumania... they raised too much money and the surplus has gone to the orphanage, the Chapel is now committed to raising enough funds for a New Tractor to replace the old one... God answered  prayer, and renewed a vision, and brought about healing in relationships in our small Chapel for where there was a rift healing has started!

The second testimony concerned a lost broach, it was special to its owner and was lost in the extensive gardens of a retreat house on a quiet day... she prayed and others prayed and miraculously the broach was found.... testimony to God's care in the minute detail, his care and love for us.

It could be said that the second testimony was unimportant, perhaps the broach could have been sold... to raise money for the poor, but perhaps it was God saying I care.... for our God is in the business of restoration!

Stop the traffik

STOP THE TRAFFIK is a major global coalition of organisations, networks and community groups whose goal is to demand freedom for every human caught in trafficking around the world, with a particular focus on children and young people. Officially launched at the European Parliament in Brussels on March 21st by singer Daniel Bedingfield and STOP THE TRAFFIK Chair Steve Chalke, it will culminate on March 25th 2007, the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Check out the web-site