Eternal Echoes

(Older) Women doing theology....

I have just returned from the Women's fellowship meeting at one of "my" Chapels, most of the ladies who attend are over eighty, a few are in their nineties and those in their late sixties are considered young! This was a special meeting for Holy Week, where the minister traditionally leads.

I presented them with some reflections from the perspective of the women who though they are barely mentioned are there on the edges of the story. We looked at Mary mother of Jesus and wondered how she felt during that final week, and at Mary and Martha and Mary Magdalene, pondering accounts from the anointing at Bethany to the foot of the cross on Good Friday.The "talk" turned into a conversation- we were doing theology together.

We considered the silence of Martha, who once complained about her sister Mary's devotion to Jesus; this time she was almost absent from the text she was serving, and that was enough for us to surmise that once again Martha was in the kitchen.

Many of these faithful ladies felt that they were Martha's toiling away out of sight, un-commended and yet probably making the evening meal. They spoke of the extravagance of Mary in a wistful way, but the feeling was that they were where they should be. I have a lovely picture of these Martha's in my head, I see them carrying a serving tray and being hit by the strong scent of nard and dropping the tray in shock so that the smells of the kitchen mingle with the perfume! I wonder if the perfume from the sauces was an acceptable sacrifice and added to the depth of the moment...

We moved on and discussed the women at the foot of the cross one of the ladies wondered how that image might help mothers whose sons had been killed in Afghanistan- this broadened into a discussion about grief made public as the T.V. cameras insist on recording every homecoming! All in all it was a surprising and stimulating afternoon.

Only one lady was upset, she did not like thinking differently about the Scriptures and was upset that I did not use the King James Bible... ah well....

Women praying by Raymina Mays

He enters in- musings for Holy Week (John 12: 20-36)

 

The hour has come,

the time is here,

he enters in

 

not without

questions

and doubts,

 

not without

a deep foreboding...

 

The hour has come,

the time is here,

he enters in

 

with passion

and conviction…

 

though he struggles

he prevails

 

The hour has come,

the time is here,

he enters in

Praying at Gethsemane by He Qi

Life...

Here was death

and life entwined;

this home

where life

was celebrated

afresh

became

a house

of preparation.

 

Death was close

BUT

life was closer…

 

Yet

only she

perceived either;

while we

lost in

our dreams

and expectations

were

blinded to

the truth.

 

Death would not

overcome

but would

be faced

and entered into,

only then

could real

life

begin…

A beautiful thing...Reflecting on John 12: 1-8

Hair and perfume,

costly perfume,

sensuous hair,

it was too much

to look upon,

this (private) act

of love

and devotion…

 

it was too much,

too much,

but though the

air was filled

with electric confusion

he accepted

her gift

looking on her

with love…

 

it was a beautiful thing in his eyes.

 

When Judas protested

as he often did

the rebuke was short

and plain…

 

…what we witnessed

was more than worship,

she had understood

his need…

 

it was a beautiful thing…

Images for prayer

I am an ENFP personality type (Myers Briggs), and as such am easily distracted, this can make prayer difficult, especially when focus and silence are required! This is not helped by the fact that under pressure I become introverted, and INFP's are notorious for not getting anything finished..

....I find I need focus, and for me the focus that works best is imagery. This week I discovered two images that helped me to pray. One became an intercession, the other was adoration and praise.

The first image was nothing new; it is a well known piece that comes in many forms the most famous being by Michael Angelo, and that is the pieta. The image of Mary holding her lifeless and broken son became for me an intercession for the world, and one for which I had no words. I had just watched Panorama's expose of the chocolate trade "The bitter truth" and found myself lost for words, this along with several other incidents that life brings were weighing heavy on me and I needed to pray but distraction kept setting in.

I was thinking about the pieta for another reason when that thinking turned to prayer. As I held the image in my mind I saw in Christs brokenness the brokenness of each situation and was able to hold them before God in a powerful way. Words were unnecessary...

I find El Greco's painting to be a powerful interpretation.

The second image was more a vista, Tim and I went for a walk on Friday to Grimwith Reservoir in the Yorkshire Dales, as the expanse of the scene opened before me walking too became a prayer, it was like breathing praise which turned to adoration:

So why am I blogging this, well mostly because I often speak to folk who struggle with prayer, they feel guilty that they are not praying properly, whatever properly might be, and it saddens me that although there are many ways to pray that we still promote a few word based or silent options to folk. No wonder people feel bereft and alone at best, and forgotten and guilty at worst...So perhaps it is time to get creative..

I wonder how do you pray best? Let me know in the comments...

Finally just for fun I thought you''d enjoy this table based on Myers Briggs personality types:

click on the picture for a larger image.

Wot, no palms? Sermon blogging Luke 19: 28-40

Our journey through Lent is coming to an end, for some of us it will have been a journey marked by wonder and fresh insight, for others the weeks have flown by and we might find ourselves left wondering how we got to Holy Week so fast, for others the journey may have been difficult and confusing, even painful. Probably for most of us Lent has produced in us a mixture of feelings and experiences, a mix of devotion and nothingness. However we have travelled though we have made it, we are here.   

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We began six weeks ago with Jesus in the wilderness, facing temptations and overcoming them.  We have heard Jesus challenge to Herod and his lament over Jerusalem, the very people who should have listened to him. We have heard parables; of a fig tree to be tended and a wayward son to be forgiven, we have smelt Mary’s perfume wondered at her lavish devotion and joined the disciples in their confusion. It has been a wonderful, perplexing and varied journey; we have covered a lot of ground in just six weeks.  

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Now we have reached the edge of Jerusalem, and we are preparing to enter into Holy Week, we know what lies ahead. This was not the case for Jesus disciples, their wild three year ride was about to take a strange and dramatic turn, one they could never have conceived of in their wildest dreams.   Let’s join them in our imaginations; they are at Bethany, the village where Mary, Martha and Lazarus make their home, the news of the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus has the whole place buzzing, and its proximity to Jerusalem means that this miracle has not gone unnoticed by the Sadducees and Pharisees at the Temple.  

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At the edge of Jerusalem he tells his disciples to collect a young donkey, one that has not yet been ridden, they bring it to him and set him on it and our story continues in a familiar fashion…  Or does it, for there were no Palm branches in Luke’s account and no fickle crowds who would change by the end of the week! There may however have been another procession, in a colourful account of Jesus final week two modern day theologians suggest that as Jesus entered one gate on a donkey flanked by his jubilant crowd of ragtag disciples, through another gate Pilate entered with all the fanfare and might of Rome, flanked by soldiers. Both had come to bring peace, but the types of peace they were bringing stood out in stark contrast to one another. Pilate’s peace was a peace of order and control, a peace achieved by oppression and suppression. Jesus peace was something more, something deeper: it was something that touched the very soul of those who received it, and far from oppressing and suppressing Jesus peace was a peace that set folk free.  

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The Pharisee’s were incensed at Jesus procession, and demanded that Jesus tell his disciples to be quiet, perhaps they fear that such jubilance will be squashed quickly by Pilate at best, and seen as a possible uprising for which the whole nation would suffer at worst. Jesus reply: "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." Can hardly have helped matters!   Hear those words again in the light of Luke’s account…  

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There are no fickle crowds here, only disciples cheering and praising God for the miracles and wonders they have seen.   There are no palms; instead the ground is carpeted with their cloaks, swept from their backs in an act of worship and devotion.   We cannot tell whether Luke’s account or that of the other gospel writers is the accurate account, but we can choose to learn from it.   

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So often we are asked these days where the church is going, some declare it irrelevant, some are confused by us, but others are intrigued by our story, which is really a series of stories interwoven and passed down through time to form the people we are today…

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  Perhaps we need to take note of the disciples recounting of the miracles and wonders they have seen and re-visit in our memories the times when God has come close to us, shaped us and challenged us and called us on.   Perhaps we need to read the gospel afresh to gain insight from the excitement and wonder of the disciples as they looked to an unknown and yet exciting future. We do so of course from the other side of the cross, we know their story will plunge them into unbearable depths of despair, but we also know that it will rise with the hope and wonder of the resurrection to come.  

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We are people of the resurrection and nothing can alter that fact, the disciples hope was not misplaced, although their expectations may have been. The same is true for us, and more, for as resurrection people we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit who will lead us in God’s ways of wisdom, who will equip us and empower us with all we need…   Perhaps the challenge for us then is to take the time to really listen and to discern what the Spirit is saying, and then to dare to follow. However strange and upside down that path might seem; maybe we would do well to begin here: 

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"Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime…

Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron…..  

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Then he said, "Do you understand what I have done to you?  

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I've laid down a pattern for you…  

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That is the pattern laid down for us today by a king who comes riding on a humble beast of burden; that we should seek to love and serve one another and our communities, blessing them and showing them the way of peace…   And though that way might seem upside down to many it is his way, and he calls us to follow!

Redo, refresh, restore... Friday Five

Over at revgals Songbird says:

We're in the thick of it in church life as we approach the end of Lent. Palm Sunday and Holy Week await. In the midst of this busy-ness, I undertook a little redecorating here at RevGalBlogPals and found a new template for us.

It's the sort of task I like in the middle of chaos, a chance to redo something, to refresh the way I feel, to restore some sense of order.

Please share with us five ways you redo or refresh or restore your body, your space, your blog, anything in your life that needs perking up this week.

1. I am always faffing around with my blog template, but inspired by revgals I have settled on this new and cleaner template, it feels unfussy. I like that!

2. I have cleared my desk, all unessential clutter has been put away and I feel like I am ready to head into Holy week in an unhindered way. I get into ruts sometimes when my desk becomes a pile of confusion and my mind soon follows!

3. I have built sometime into next week for prayer and meditation. I have recently been reading about prayer and personality type, as an ENFP/ INFP I often pray best with images and when my creativity can be stirred up, this needs time and attention, but without it I soon become dry and turn inwards.

4. Walking. I need to walk, to breathe fresh air... wide open spaces work best, but almost anywhere will do! Today is my day off, so I went here:

Grimwith Reservoir in North Yorkshire.

5. Scripture; this week this has caught my imagination:

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:4

In the shadow of the pieta… (pondering the annunciation in Lent)

(For this I

was called favoured...)

 

His face was set,

towards Jerusalem,

and every step he took

tore at my soul;

the shadow that

followed in

his wake

had darkened

and deepened

in those days,

and the promised blessing

weighed heavy…

 

..what call is this?

what favour

to watch your son

proceed

to certain death?

 

Night by night,

my dreams turned

to nightmares

piercing my

already aching heart

ahead of time.

 

There were no angels here,

no shepherds singing

or rejoicing,

no magi bearing gifts.

 

And yet the world went on,

crowds came and went,

his disciples squabbled and questioned.

 

I held my tongue,

he knew where he

was going…

 

and I waited,

waited for

my heart

to break.

 

This African pieta by Sister Mary Grace Thul reminds us that Marys experience speaks deep into the heart of many mothers today. Mothers who will watch their children die, who live in the fear and shadow of that death day by day. As I ponder the themes of Lent I find that it speaks to our fear and brokenness if we allow it to at depths that we often flee from preferring instead to look always to the resurrection and not wanting to dwell in the place of confusion or pain. For me the need to dwell in the shadow is essential for it extends the mystery, and highlights the wonder while at the same time acknowledging  darkness of  some human experiences. I need the pieta, to truly celebrate Easter!

Hope in doubt.

This is a power point created for a reflective service on the Monday of Holy Week;

Download Hope in Doubt- meditation

Hope in times of doubt; reflection for Holy Week 1- Peter's tale

John 13:31- John 14: 14

Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial

 ³¹When he was gone, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. ³²If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

 ³³"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

 ³⁴"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

 ³⁶Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?"
      Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."

 ³⁷Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."

 ³⁸Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

 ¹"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God trust also in me. ²In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴You know the way to the place where I am going."

Jesus the Way to the Father

 ⁵Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

 ⁶Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you really knew me, you would know  my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

 ⁸Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

 ⁹Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? ¹⁰Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?

The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

¹²I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

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

 

We were all confused that evening, we all had questions, and although he had answers for us we still didn’t understand…

 

He told me I would deny him, and I didn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it, but we all know that I did. That is something I will never forget…

 

As for Thomas and Philip, they were simply brave enough to ask the questions that were forming in all our minds…

 

We look back now, and much of it makes sense, BUT I still have questions, I still have doubts….

 

You see following Jesus has not been an easy breezy walk in the park; it wasn’t when he was here amongst us, flesh and blood present; we had so many questions and he had so few answers for us. When he did answer he told us stories, and often left us to figure them out…

 

We still tell those stories to one another, and are still surprised by them, each new telling brings new questions, and I am left wondering how something so simple can be so deep….

 

And now we are following a Jesus we can’t see and touch, a Jesus we can’t hear, well not directly anyway…

 

Yes we were all confused that evening, but we haven’t got everything sorted out now, it isn’t all pinned down in black and white, we don’t have clear cut instructions or a how to manual…

 

What we have is a glorious recollection of his work amongst us, a record of his teaching (though we each remember it slightly differently) and prayer…

 

Without prayer I don’t know where we would be, because there is something amazing about prayer that rekindles hope…

 

Even in my darkest times when hope seems far away and the questions are too numerous to count, prayer helps…

 

And when I can’t pray for myself, and there have been times like that believe me, but when I can’t I know that others will ….

As time goes on I am beginning to see that doubts are not necessarily bad things, because doubts can make me dig deeper for understanding, when I was young I wanted everything to be certain, everything to be answerable and easy, now I am aware that life is full of grey areas, full of mysteries….

 

…and mystery can be a place of peace and rest, a place where God is close, a place where being surrounded by his presence we know that we cannot know all things, but that all things are truly in his hands….

 

But that does not mean that we should cease to question, for this world is a perplexing place; injustice abounds, violence seems to rule, and bad things do happen to good people….

 

So yes, I still have questions, still have doubts, and sometimes those doubts can be as black as the mid-night sky…

 

But I also have hope, because somehow deep in my heart Jesus has kindled a flame that will not die away, it did not die away, even when I reached my lowest point. Even when I denied him, he did not let me go….

photo and explanation here