Eternal Echoes

A call to be planted, (meditating on Psalm 1)

You say:

 

Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread….

 

But it is not always easy

to discern who the wicked are,

and sometimes sheep's clothing

fits wolves really well….

 

You say:

 

I should "delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and ….. meditate day and night."

 

I ask you, how I can meditate

when all the world

clamours for my attention, 

when  e-mail and  net work sites

 stream information to

my desktop

second after second...

 

You say:

 

I am" to be like a tree
   planted by streams of water,
yielding fruit in its season,
with leaves that do not wither."

 

I pray that you

would help me to find

space,

peace, and

and strength

in this rootless world

to be rooted

firmly

in you.

 

Photo by Ian Britton

³

 

thoughts on consumerism, spirituality and faith...

I have spent the day thinking, having finally taken a whole day out for study, and I am writing this post in an effort to collect my thoughts. My MA dissertation is going to be a narrative reflection on my involvement with the Journey into Wholeness group, this is a project which seeks to connect with spiritually minded folk, we began in New Age Mind Body Soul Exhibitions and have diversified from there.

Some of my work will center on critiquing the culture of spiritual consumerism, and it is this that set me thinking.The western world is centered on consumption, I will scream if I hear another politician suggest that we need to spend our way out of recession. I am fed up with hearing calls for the banks to begin lending freely again... do we really want to create another bubble of un-payable debt?

Everyday I speak to people who are struggling to make ends meet, who have requests for payments they cannot hope to make, the sense of hopelessness they feel is tangible, and even their debt it seems is up for sale. Each week I receive about half a dozen phone calls from companies offering to help me to reduce my outgoings, out of interest I asked for details from one, they help they  offer is minimal, the profit they stand to make is what they are interested in. I am not surprised, but I am saddened that folk in difficult situations are preyed upon in this way.

So how did I get there from my initial thinking about spiritual consumerism, simple really, there are many therapies and programmes on offer in the spiritual supermarket today, most of them are expensive, and most of them are not an end in themselves rather they lead the consumer deeper and deeper into expensive practices.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with holistic therapies, but when I see one therapist advise someone to go to another therapist and then another I start to question practice....

... and then I have to pull myself up short. A quick look at my bookshelves reveals the truth that I too am hooked into a consumerist cycle, moving from one book to another always searching for the next idea or answer. I cannot critique the culture without critiquing myself and recognizing the seductive subtleties of a consumerist mindset.

I consume books in the way that others consume clothes or sports goods, how then can I criticize those who seek wholeness through the New Age supermarket....

I think the truth is that we are all lost, we are searching and seeking peace in our different ways. The problem with much Western Christianity is that it is also affected by consumerism.... WE are also affected by consumerism and need to reconnect with the true source of wisdom and peace.

What really bugs me about a lot of Christian marketing is the crass stupidity of it, who can forget the WWJD (what whould Jesus d0) craze, the t-shirts, mugs, wrist-bands etc etc.... or the Prayer of Jabez (just say this everyday and God will bless you maddness)... again everything from mugs to special Bibles (what???). What can be more off putting than a terrible slogan on a T-shirt designed to attract attention which I am sure it does in all the wrong ways?

And who benefits from all of this? Noth the consumer that is for sure!!!

We need to begin to be truly counter cultural, not caught up in a consumerist maddness all of our own.

Creation’s witness

Creation

beckons

us

to

witness

her

call as

…another season

turns..

 

another

beauty

is

revealed…

 

another

potential

uncovered

and

released…

 

nothing

is wasted

unless

we

allow

the

waste…

 

by

blocking

our

ears

to

Gaia's

ancient

wisdom…

 

Photo by Dave Perry

 

Peace….

Peace

has a tune

of its own,

of waterfalls,

and gentle summer breezes,

peace lifts

my soul

to unexpected heights,

soaring and diving,

then plunging

deep

it runs strong

and bold.

Peace,

this

intangible,

yet

all enfolding

grace,

unexplainable,

uncontainable,

peace….

 

 

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we^* have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have obtained access^* to this grace in which we stand; and we^* boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

(Romans 5: vs. 1)

 

Grace....

A wise friend once told me that there are times when we must encourage ourselves to praise God. He quoted Psalm 103:

"¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul;
   all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

 ² Praise the LORD, O my soul,
   and forget not all his benefits-

 ³ who forgives all your sins
   and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
   and crowns you with love and compassion, "

No matter what is going on in your life he said, always remember that God not only knows, but continues to love you. He loves you through the good times and the bad times, when you have succeeded and when you have failed, when you hurt and when you celebrate...

To be crowned with love and compassion is not to be crowned with gold and glory and things that impress, it is much more precious than that, it is to be crowned with grace....

There are times when I need to remind myself of this, and to lift my voice in a song of praise....

life....

I have spent the day preparing my two services for next Sunday- this is quite a miracle for me as I am not usually this far ahead of myself- but it is necessary this week as I am heading down to Essex on Wednesday morning form mum's funeral and because tomorrow is busy.

One of the services that I have been preparing is a Baptism for a little girl, so it seems that I will be dealing with both ends of life this week. I guess I could have asked for the weekend off and for someone else to take the Baptism but somehow it seems right to carry on. We can't postpone death and we can't postpone life either! Both are natural parts of our being...

I am pondering this as I re-visit the Baptismal promises from the Methodist Worship Book, not those made by the parents and God-parents, nor even those made by the Church family, but those made by God. The words:

"......for you Jesus Christ came into the world; for you he lived and showed God's love; for you he suffered death on the Cross; for you he triumphed over death, rising to newness of life; for you he prays at God's right hand: all this for you, before you could know anything of it. In your baptism, the word of Scripture is fulfilled: 'We love, because God first loved us."

ALL THIS FOR YOU..... Before you could know anything of it....

This promise always goes ahead of us in life, throughout our lives. God loves us first, not because of anything we have done but because it is God's nature to love us, and he continues to love us through all of the twists and turns, triumphs and failures of life. As I preached yesterday I was struck by the look of love that Jesus lavished on the Rich young man/ ruler ( Mark 10). He turned away, but Jesus did not stop loving him...

I am always filled with awe that no matter where I am on my journey of faith, be it up or down that Jesus still loves and prays for me....

ALL THIS FOR YOU..... ALL THIS FOR ME....

Image by He Qi

Pondering the rich young ruler (Mark 10: 17-31)

 

Oh he knew

they envied him,

his fine house,

his elegant clothes,

his well stocked

store houses…

 

…he had everything,

yet he had nothing,

no peace,

no assurance,

no confidence

in his position…

this blessing was

not a blessing

for it left

him empty.

 

Inside his heart

were questions

demanding answers,

questions his head

tried to deny…

 

…until one day

when his hearts dis-ease

overcame

logics' platitudes, he ran

and threw himself

at the feet of the one

who could free him

from their weight….

 

relinquish the blessing,

he was told

then follow…

 

…but while his heart leapt

for joy,

his head overruled

and he turned away,

to be followed

by love's gaze

but not

to follow it…

 

Special Days Friday Five...

Sophia over at RevGals is preparing for a special weekend, and that has got her thinking about the special rites of passage in our lives which we participate for ourselves or in which we support and bless others: baptism, confirmation, marriage, ordination, graduation, funerals, etc. Such important days, so exciting and joyous, but also sometimes anxiety provoking or deeply painful....So, this week, please share five memories of such sacred moments with God and her holy people from your life and the lives of those you love.

Here are a few of my special days....

1. My wedding day. Tim and I were only 20, and not a few folk were rather skeptical about whether we would still be married 6 months later.... 27 years later we are still in love having traveled through many of love's and life's ups and downs!

20th Feb. 1982

 

2. The birth of each of my children... no details!

All 5 just after the twins were born 14th March 1989

 

3. Graduations so far; Paul's graduation from Katy High School in Texas at the Houston Astrodome. Mind blowing for us as nothing quite like it happens in the UK. (Sadly we have no digital images of that) Emma's graduation at Canterbury Cathedral in Nov 20

................

Next Summer we will have 4 graduation ceremonies to attend as Paul and his wife Louise, Chris, Jo and Jonathan all graduate with their first degrees! ( we hope!)

 

4. The day I dropped Chris off at Cliff College to begin a degree in Theology, it may sound like a small thing, but it was huge... for anyone who does not know Christopher's story you can find it here.

Chris with friends in Cliff College grounds.

 

5. Recently for me promising to serve the Congregations here in the Snaith and Selby Circuit at my welcome service last month.

............................

 

These are only a few of the many special days I have celebrated in my life, some have been happy occasions and some sad. I was glad to have been able to be there when my mum died recently. I wouldn't have missed being there.
 

….stars and butterfly wings

Do you ponder

incarnations

impossibilities?

 

That one so great,

so glorious,

should

choose

to become

so small,

so vulnerable?

 

That he who

sang the

stars into orbit

rendered himself

voiceless?

 

That the designer

of a butterfly's

wing

would take a saw,

(a nail,

a hammer)

in his hands?

 

Such an action

brings me to my knees,

such love

revealed

in a wild

no, crazy plan…

 

…how could I ever question

whether he understands

my life?

 

Do you ponder

incarnations

impossibilities?

 

 

Picture from the Hubble telescope.

Faith’s journey (sometimes)

 

 

Sometimes the way

ahead

looks

impossible,

for we

lack the skill

to negotiate

such terrain…

 

and we tell ourselves

that it would be easier to

turn back…

 

BUT,

if we dare to look up,

to catch the distant

vision,

and regain a passion

for the journey,

the road looks

smoother than

it once did…

 

..and if we dare to place

our foot upon that road

we may just find that

restoration

goes ahead of us

and healing

follows

in her wake…

 

…and that

somehow

we are standing

on sure

and solid

ground…

 

sometimes

the

miracle

come

with the decision

to

step

forward.

 

Sometimes…

 

Hat tip to Dave Perry for the inspiration and the photo.