Eternal Echoes

Next week....

Next week is busy- I have a Christingle Service on Monday- for Clackclose School, parents and grandparents invited, orange and biscuits, coffee and mince pies (of course) for the participants afterwards.

Tuesday sees a couple of meetings, and a visit to the Guides and Brownies at Feltwell to collect their Angels for Saturdays exhibition.

Wednesday is quieter- time to prepare for the Advent reflection on Thursday swiftly followed by a Carol Service in Methwold Social centre... preparation also for the sermons on Sunday (Christmas Eve) and Monday (Christmas Day).

Whilst Thursday morning will be spent out at Feltwell with the guides decorating and preparing the Chapel for Saturdays exhibition.

Friday is my day off so last minute preparations for any family stuff before

Saturday and the Feltwell Exhibition and storytelling event...

Sunday and Feltwell again for their special Christmas Eve Celebration, then hopefully I will get to Midnight Mass (where I become an closet Anglican).

.... apparently next Monday is significant...hmmm

I am so pleased that a quick look at all of my activities reveals that most of them are out in the community rather than behind Church Walls, even those behind Church Walls have a significant community involvement (such as working with the guides to prepare the church). I have been struggling with being so burried in meetings and studies recently, I loose passion when I loose focus on the fact that God so loved the world.....my passion is not for study or meetings but for Christ, and for the people he has made, those who he loves, those he came to die for....

I love this statement of prupose adopted by the Congregational Church:

The Church is an organisation that exists for the benefit of its non-members.

Long may that be so!

Like John Smulo I love the church , but it drives me crazy when we become so fixated upon ourselves and our practices that we forget why we exist... We exist because we have recognised the love of God revealed in Christ, more than that we have realsied our own unworthiness to receive that love and come together to help one another to walk towards wholeness! In our walk we invite others to join us, imperfect and flawed as we are the invitation is made... come and join the Holy dance of celebration for God so loved the world that he gave himself in his son.... come...

God truly with us...

My daughters have overtaken the kitchen in a baking spree, leaving me free to write an assignment, and whilst that seems a little bizarre and upside down I have made the most of the time they have given me so....I have spent most of the day writing about gnosticism- looking at the question of special knowledge for some- and also the thought that Jesus only seemed to have a physical body- that he was not truly human and therefore did not suffer the Crucifixion in a physical way...

... and I started to muse over the loss involved in worshipping a God who was not truly with us...

... for I wonder at times if we have created a God who is remote, who we cannot relate to, I wonder if we choose not to acknowledge the reality of the incarnation as we deck the Christmas season with tinsel and trinkets and well lit cosy nativity scenes. Don't get me wrong I love lights and enjoy the Christmas celebrations with my family...I'm not even averse to giving and receiving gifts.But I wonder in the pressure to produce the perfect event ( highlighted by the Christmas season) do we miss the reality, the earthiness of the God who chose to be with us?

One of the greatest wonders to me is that God made himself vulnerable in Christ, this fully physical giving, even in experiencing birth, this total identification with humanity at its most fragile, most dependant state shows complete commitment. This God experienced physical pain, but also physical love.... he experienced feasting and hunger, exhaustion and exhilaration- the creator at one with the created...

To know that I am understood when I am tired and cranky and unable to be spiritual for my body asserts its needs ( for Jesus needed sleep so badly that even the storm did not wake him)... to know that I am understood when I feel like dancing with joy and such exuberance is not frowned upon as unspiritual... to know that I am fully known not just in spirit but also in mind and body- and in the interconnectedness of these makes the command;

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind- a possibility for me and not just words to aspire to!

That Jesus could weep and that he could give an embrace from a friend  - that he could receive the sensual touch of a woman's hair on his feet with and accept the strength and consolation the gesture brought makes his sacrifice more complete, more accessible than a purely spiritual sacrifice...

... and his bodily resurrection gives us hope, even now as we prepare to celebrate Christmas, for it reminds us of the reality of his humanity, he was born as we are through blood and sweat, and probably not a few tears, and though a deep joy would have welcomed his arrival as one long awaited so would exhaustion and concern for his safety... for God had entrusted himself to humanity that we might entrust ourselves to him.

There lies the wonder, there lies the mystery, there lies the truth of the incarnation- God  with us- made flesh- a gift love given in completeness- fully God and fully human! God truly with us!

.

Doing December by Dave...

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Also go and see Dave's Posada entry today, it is worth the visit...

an advent prayer...

Stars and angels

herald you,

O mystery of mysteries.

God incarnate.

They say you came

to make the deep things clear,

but you spun stories;

leaving us more questions

than answers.

.

Teller of stories

help us to grasp the

wonder of your story.

Break through

our dulled familiarity

and burst upon us afresh…

Pierce our darkness with

starlight.

Awaken us from sleep

to hear the

angel voices!

.

Stir our hearts

with wonder,

fill our senses with awe.

Save us from the oppression

of comfortable pleasures

afforded by wealth,

that we might see you

amongst us.

.

Stars and angels

herald you,

O mystery of mysteries.

God incarnate.

They say you came

to make the deep things clear,

but you spun stories

leaving us more questions

than answers!

.

So weave your tale

Unblock our ears

Help us to hear.

Open our eyes

Help us to see.

Free our minds

Help us to know.

Help us…

... still sick... but looking up

... I'm still not well, in fact a bit worse if anything, but I have cancelled all of my meetings over the next few days, and am taking it easy. Emma has decided to take over the Christmas baking ( a big relief for me)... so apart from picking a few things up tomorrow I can rest...

Chris has a hospital appointment in Kings Lynn, but Tim - a hero on the driving front these last few days, having been to Manchester and Hull with Jonathan on Uni interviews and auditions- is going to take him. If all goes well it will lead to an operation- but currently that is scheduled for 28th December- not ideal, but so long overdue we'll have to accept the disadvantages!

These things don't challenge my faith though, or not in the way they once would have.... I'm not searching out hidden sins to understand why life is less than perfect at the moment... in the words of Forrest Gump "sh*t happens"... deal with it....

.. so I'm going to make the most of this resting time by reading and catching up on study, by making sure I get some rest...

... and amazingly I've discovered grace in folk around me when I had fully expected them to grumble...

... I sense the grace of God with me in my grumpiness..and for that I am humbled and thankful.

Ipswich Murders-Vulnerability and reflections on the Mother heart of God

Murders are taking place in the normally peaceful East Anglian town of Ipswich, I received an e-mail from the Colchester prayer net-work who are promoting a day of prayer and fasting for Ipswich and its frightened residents.

The murdered people are all women, and so far thought to be prostitutes- but they were people, with families who loved them, families who are now grieving and mourning their loss.

I don't believe that prostitution is either good or right, but there are times when it is entirely understandable- young girls who leave abusive home situations and are struggling to survive can be lured into prostitution. We hear stories of young women duped into prostitution and kept as slaves by unscrupulous others who had promised to help them find a new home in a new country. Students sometimes see this as a way to minimise their debts... the list goes on...

... these women are vulnerable, and in Ipswich at the moment that vulnerability is heightened by the threat of murder...

It would be easy to turn a blind eye to the situation, to consider that they put themselves into a vulnerable position and wash our hands of the need to care.

... but if we search our hearts we will know that that is not the attitude Jesus would take, he would welcome the company of these women- and seek to reveal their true worth to them by setting them free from shame and guilt and fear....

... Jesus weeps over our lostness, and grieves deeply over our indifference, as he looked out over Jerusalem he revealed the Mother Heart of God in his voiced desire to gather the residents like chicks under the wings of a mother hen...

... do I believe that God would want to protect the residents of Ipswich from evil- well yes I do, and I believe She calls us to action through prayer, this is a mystery that I don't understand, but I do know that when I seek Gods purposes and don't pursue my own agenda I start to see things in a new light...and at times like this that means weeping with those who weep...

We are of course called to prayer over many different issues, problems of war, famine, and natural disasters easily eclipse the town of Ipswich and it's problems... but I guess that is the point... in Gods heart they don't...mothers are concerned over the smallest details of their children's lives, from bumps and bruises to major operations.... from the smallest to the biggest questions...

...so tomorrow there will be a day of prayer and fasting for Ipswich, please take a moment to remember that town in your prayers, remember the families who have lost loved ones, the young women who fear walking the streets, the Police involved in solving the murder... and for the murderer... may God have mercy....

Mike blogging on the same issue has this to say:

Why are men so brutal? What have we done to deserve such a capability? May God have mercy on our souls.

.. as for me I suspect that we all know we are capable of brutality and that brutality is the flip side of passion...when we are forced to acknowledge our own frailty and vulnerabilities it shocks us to the core...

May God have mercy on our souls ....

"My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief, until the
Lord looks down from the heaven and sees.
What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the
women of my city" (Lamentations 3:49-51)

The Methodist Church website contains the following prayer provided by the National Christian Alliance on Prostitution;

LORD, we pray for the families of all the young women
who have been murdered in Ipswich..
We pray that you would hold them in the palm of your hand.
We pray that they would know your comfort in the midst
of their agony and grief.

LORD, we pray for the streets of Ipswich that your peace
will surround the women there.
We pray for the community that they would know your comfort
in the midst of this

Hat tip to Turbulent Cleric for the prayer

just look....

Time out from Tinsel

               

A bit early but......this is my offering for the synchronised blog on syncretism....

The syncretism I am tackling is that of culture and church, specifically in my case western culture expressed in the UK.

The blog title "Time out from Tinsel" is the same as the subject matter I have used for a series of Advent meditations. We are offering these meditations as a church in the run up to Christmas as an oasis in the rush and bustle of the Christmas season.

... as a practitioner rather than a theologian I suspect this blog will be devoid of the really deep stuff , but rather that it will reflect the needs I see going unmet by the Church which holds the true message of this amazing celebration.

Much of my work is amongst young families, families who are under enormous pressure from adverts and peer pressure.... from early October we are bombarded with pictures, words, slogans and encouragements to make this a Christmas we will never forget.... everything from new toys to complete household refurbishment are supposed to somehow facilitate this picture of perfection....

.... every year I hear stories from people who have sunk a little further into debt, never really recovering from last Christmases excesses..

... and what saddens me is the way the church buys into the culture.

Why can't we celebrate simply, why do we fill our churches with Christmas tree festivals in order to raise funds from the over stretched public?

It seems to me that somewhere along the line we have lost the point, God left the wonders and riches of heaven to be born amongst us. He did not choose a Kings Palace, or a rich man's mansion, but a virgins womb and a stable birth. We celebrate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords born into poverty- and we celebrate by getting ourselves into debt and covering the truth with tinsel !

Suicide over finances is not uncommon at Christmas.... divorces are kicked off over Christmas excesses as couples struggle to keep a grip on reality... pets are abandoned and violent outbreaks are increased... ironically although Jesus came to set the captives free we become enslaved to the excesses of the season! How many of us dare to be different and celebrate a meaningful and truly simple Christmas! My teens have challenged us to do this properly this year, and I am truly thankful for the challenge... they want to stop in wonder, not wonder at the wrapping paper!

Jesus challenged us to find contentment, and yet as a nation we swallow consumerism hook line and sinker... but the church is no different this week my inbox has been filled with Christian Book companies and retailers advertising their perfect luxury Christmas gifts, ... must have Bibles and journals and music... we are encouraged to buy ,buy, buy!!!! Somehow these invitations to consumerism are veiled in promises of spiritual enlightenment, if only we will part with the necessary cash....

Jesus highlighted the importance of loving and valuing one another, Paul urged the Corinthians to have regard for the poor by not entering into an exclusive orgy of feasting..... many of our Christmas morning services in an attempt to connect invite children to show off their gifts.... so put yourself for a moment in the place of the poorer child and ask whether we might not have lost the plot....

So how do we show the wonder of Christmas to our communities? Celebration is central, and we must not loose it, but lets take a step away from the tinsel and glitter and take a long hard look at the love....

How will we truly be inclusive? I'm not talking condescending - giving to charity, stuff... we invited a family home last Christmas, they struggle on the minimum wage and in terrible living conditions, and they opened my eyes to small delights like candles and carols... yes they had presents- hard won through disciplined saving- but the smaller comforts were missing- and the reality of God with us was squeezed out by care and concern over what had been spent, we need to show a different way... Inclusiveness requires a giving spirit on our part, it requires that we value one another more than tinsel and glitter, it requires us to peep below the surface stuff, to see God....

... it requires us to lift the masks of "happy family advertisements" to acknowledge that for some Christmas is cold and hard and painful....

...and if we can carry this attitude with us into the year ahead we might be getting somewhere...

... we may drop our nice middle class western facade and start to welcome others in...

Tinsel is all very well, but too often it simply masks the cracks and hides the hurts, not only that but it smothers the wonder, the mystery and the awe we should experience as we look upon God with us, weak and vulnerable, asking all, giving all!

Andi at Nouslife challenges us to think about our eating habits, to curb gluttony... lets think also about our spending habits.... lets thing about including the poor and valuing them for who they are...

... lets think about enjoying friends and family and time together, for in this season too often we are too worn out with preparations to enjoy the celebrations... Churches do this, we wear ourselves to a frazzle ... lets learn to be again ...

My pagan friends make much less fuss than my Christian friends at this time of year, they celebrate the season ,they are less consumerist (I guess the don't have the wise men excuse)... they spend time with one another... they have much to teach us!

God is with us- born into poverty, he identifies with everyone, let's ditch the tinsel so we can see the stars.... let's  keep silence until we hear the angels sing, let's seek to love our neighbour as ourselves at this time. let's be inclusive...

... in that atempt let's not forget that we live in a world where needs are not met for the majority of people on a daily basis, and so may our giving be different how about ducks or pigs or a cow... go on you know you'd like to give one... share the joy , share the message, share the meaning!

Let's take time out from the tinsel.... that the truth might be revealed!

Other folk blogging on syncretism are as follows:

• Phil Wyman on "Syncretism in the Evangelical Church: The Consumerism of the Altar Call and the Sinner's Prayer" 
• Sally's Journey on "Time out from Tinsel" 
• Matt Stone on Family Values 
• Steve Hayes with an interesting turn about on where we find syncretism! 
• Mike Crockett on Church and Culture: a double-edged sword 
• Carl Nystedt on Syncretism: Pros and Cons 
• Billy Calderwood's Swimming in Divine Chaos 
• John Smulo's Blog 
• John Morehead's Musings 
• Mike Bursell- Mikes musings

Within Our Keep by Alan Harris What is this stillness in the stable? What glow is here within our hearts? Who lies so small between us? Far more seems given us in this bed than infant pounds and length-- how weigh, how measure possibilities? Although just now our baby sleeps, his waking eyes reveal an inner light-- some holy mystery within our keep. We bow. We love. We are silent.

Feeling guilty

I've been told to take time off, I have a really bad cold, a sore throat and a headache that won't go away... on top of that my thyroid is playing up and so the medication needs to be brought back into balance, plus the Dr has decided to send me for tests following an odd blood test result last week.... but there is so much I should be doing and I feel guilty...

I've put off going out to a meeting this evening, and am going to take it easy tomorrow...can someone explain why I feel guilty, I keep thinking I'll be OK if I just take some pain killers I'll get through the next event or two or three... but the truth is I'm not doing anyone any favours, and I'll probably make myself worse!

I have to tell myself I am not indispensable and that the world will continue without me, even the Church will cope, that a children's club with a grumpy and sneezing leader is not a terribly bright idea... but somehow the feelings of guilt remain, so I'm not even doing the things I can do well because I feel that I should be doing something else... add to that the well meaning and concerned people who say things like" are you sure you can't just manage this one event?"... and I'm feeling guilty all over again!

... now I know I'm no the only one who suffers from this crazy behaviour/ thinking, is there a cure???

More family celebrations

This evening I attended my last High School Music concert, well a concert that my children will be involved in as High School pupils anyway. ... Joanne was performing with the Concert Band, on Oboe, and the Pops Orchestra, the String Ensemble and the String Quartet on Viola. She also arranged music for and conducted a small group of lower school pupils, who played beautifully. These were youngsters who have had problems, some academically, some emotionally, and some simply with self esteem.

Tonight she was awarded the Senior Music Award for Outstanding Achievement and Commitment.

Joanne has always loved music like her older sister Emma. Joanne plays with Norfolk County Youth Orchestra and Norfolk Symphony Orchestra, and is showing signs of becoming a talented musician.

Musicians are often perfectionists and this comes at a cost, over the last few years Jo has struggled with self esteem issues and self harm, over the last year she has battled to come through.

It is hard in the Church community to say my child has a problem, please pray for them... it is OK  to struggle with physical stuff, but somehow we expect our youngsters to be mentally and emotionally intact- it somehow raises questions in peoples minds when Christians struggle with tough stuff. Jo is a Christian, and she has fought her way through a mess of emotions and questions, life is not plain sailing yet but that struggle was recognised this evening.

Last year she would not have been able to wear the dress she wore this evening because her arms were a mess! Last year she was finding school so hard there were days when she wanted to walk away.

I am very proud of her not only for her achievement as a musician, but because she has grown into a beautiful young lady who when she sees others struggling with life tries to encourage them, and encouraging them through music is something that comes naturally to Jo.

The award was a complete surprise to her and to us. It offers a sign of hope and a vote of confidence.

If you are going through a tough time with your children  remember, God is with you, there is a special place in his heart for those who struggle with the tough stuff! I am one of the fortunate ones, I have seen my daughter pull through, some don't....we need to listen to and be aware of one another, to encourage and build up rather than to criticise and condemn. The church is not made up of perfect people, but more often is a place where the wounded tend the wounded....