Eternal Echoes

Friday Five- Friendship

Over at revgals Kathyrnjz says:

I spent the better part of last week on a continuing education cruise with a group of revgals. Both the class on hospitality and the connections made with friends (old and new) were phenomenal. I always have a difficult time with re-entry into reality from times away but this, aided by getting nailed with strep throat, has been more difficult than usual. Not only does it a take a few days (weeks? months?) for it to stop feeling like I am on a boat, but my heart misses my friends.

In parish life the boundaries are clear and they are there for a reason, but it can make the life of a minister a lonely one. It is such a tremendous gift to spend a few days with women who not only are wonderful and gifted, but who also get exactly what you do and why you do it. The hugs are genuine and free and the laughter is awesome.

Many of us have friendships - past and present - with these same qualities. And so today we will celebrate Friday with friendship:

1) Do you remember your first best friend? What did you do together? Are they still in your life?

I do remember my first best friend she was a German girl called Jane, we both attended the same International School in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia. The nature of both of our fathers' professions meant that we only knew one another for a few years and then lost touch. I eventually moved to England, and I know her family went to Thailand but i don't know where she is today.

Our lives only really connected through school, and the local exp-pats club, I had a very privileged, but strangely lonely childhood.

2) Did you ever have to move away or have your best friend move away from you?

See above, it has been an ongoing theme throughout my life though as a lot of moving makes longterm friendship difficult, it is easier now, but has always been a problem.

3) Are there people in your life now that you can call 'friend'?

Yes, but once again I have moved away from many of them. I am planning to meet up with one friend in June, and hope to see some others when we holiday and sail down in Norfolk this summer. I often envy folk who have always lived in the same place.

I also have a number of on-line friends who have become real friends and not acquaintances, also facebook and blogging help me to keep up with folk I might otherwise have lost touch with. Friendship has been kind of re-defined by cyber-space, but it is too easy to call someone friend via facebook, many of my fb friends are really net-working contacts. 

That said Tim and I are now finding time to become real friends again (sometimes family life makes that difficult!), we went sailing today, and that was good!

4) What are some of your favorite things to do with your friends?

Have time to talk, that might be while we are out walking, it might be just sitting and sharing a cup of tea or a glass of wine ( depends on the time of day)!

5) What is a gift friendship has given you?

The greatest gift of friendship is the permission to be yourself with someone, and time...perhaps in todays fast paced and fragmented word it is one of the best gifts we can give!

Marley and Ellie are friends!

he took a towel (John 13:1-10)

he took a towel…

 

how easily those

words roll from

our tongues,

how easily

we miss the depth

of his action….

 

HE took a towel

and a bowl,

cast off his robe

and washed

their feet…

 

kneeling before

each one,

he washed their feet…

 

“hands that flung stars into space”

washed feet

before surrendering to nails…

 

he took a towel…

 

…and invites us to do the same....

There IS potential here

Dave Perry at Visual Theology has produced yet another thought provoking picture - a triptych- through which he challenges us to think about discipleship. He says:

"Discipleship involves us in an unceasing divine dance of artistry and empowerment whereby imagination, love and trust are changing the world."

As he often does, it set me thinking:

There IS potential here,

for in this land

heavens promise

is awake

and active….

 

There IS potential here,

each tender shoot,

patiently nurtured

could offer

a one- hundred- fold

return….

 

There IS potential here,

if we move and work

in the rhythms of grace,

and hear the Spirit’s

gentle call...

.

...if we wait,

and watch,

prepared to respond….

 

There IS potential here.

Not a load of fuss about nothing....

I am in the midst of trying to explain to two relatively elderly congregations why Safe-guarding is important for our work amongst children and vulnerable adults. Whilst many of the members understand most do so with an air of resignation muttering about the way the world has changed, others proclaim that we are making a whole load of fuss about nothing. People wouldn't have thought twice about letting someone take children on an outing on their own, risk assessments and CRB forms had never been heard of, and nobody would have thought that two adults would need to be present for a group of 5 or 6 children!

Nobody would have thought... what an interesting statement, no they probably wouldn't have thought, but that does not mean that everything has suddenly changed! Pedophiles and other abusers are not a twenty-first century phenomenon, they have always been around, the difference is that recently we have dared to acknowledge the fact, and the voices of those who had been silenced for years are now being heard.

And the church is not immune! That of course should not be news to anyone, the Catholic church's struggle with coming to terms with its history of abuse is often in the headlines, new revelations are not uncommon, and it is easy to point the finger. In doing so other denominations really ought to be aware that the likelihood is that we too have untold stories and dark corners in our pasts.

So Safe-guarding is not a whole load of fuss about nothing, it is a responsible way of ensuring that the Church is a safe place for all; that includes protecting adults who work with children or other vulnerable adults from false allegations. False allegations leave terrible stains on people's lives, teachers, ministers, care-workers and many others have faced ruined reputations and careers because of false stories told by folk who are seeking attention for one reason or another.

In a complex world we need the church to be a place of safety, a place where we can truly echo Jesus by saying; "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew. 19:14). We can say it with integrity because we have made every effort to remove hindrances by creating a safe and ordered way of working.

Will this mean that there will be no abusive behaviour? Probably not, but our awareness of the issues and willingness to listen will at least begin to make the church a safer place.

Spiritual hunger and worship

I attended two acts of worship today, I led the first one- a fairly traditional Communion Service following the Easter Liturgy from the Methodist Worship Book. I then joined another Chapel for their morning service a traditional preach inserted into a traditional hymn prayer sandwich. There was nothing wrong with either service, but if I dare say so I am left hungry for something more...

Every week I talk to people who are spiritually hungry, and often these people have not been to church since their early teens, they as if things have changed, and all too often the answer is not that much! Every week I talk to folk who are church members and they often comment on how creative my services are, I usually try to give people at least one way of responding in prayer that means they have to leave their seats and actively participate in something, sometimes I do more and other times like this morning I use a traditional format. Some people who are church members critisise the creativity declaring that tradition and by that they mean a 5 hymn prayer sandwich is the only way to worship....

Like many worship leaders/ preachers I find myself caught in a difficult place, a place where to be frank creativity is stifled by the demands of congregations, and yet these same congregations wonder why nobody wants to join them. My own perspective on this is that we have been on a spiritual starvation diet for years, for so long in fact that we don't know that we are starving, the only thing that wakes us up to the fact is when we are offered something more. There are then two responses, we either dive in enthusiastically or we run and hide...

Hiding can take many forms, it can insist on tradition, it might question whether prayers can be offered in anything but words, it might dismiss meditation and storytelling, it will very often demand that all should return to normal. Those who do engage with creativity are so often hungry for more that a return to tradition only leaves them dissatisfied and frustrated.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that all traditional worship is invalid and that it should be dispensed with, but I think it is important that folk are offered a varied worship diet, for just as we all learn in different ways we all worship in different ways. I personally need space and silence, I am also fed by imagery and am not fond of three point sermons where all the loose ends are tied up for me. A conversation with a friend through facebook today highlighted for me the simple fact that people are increasingly asking for more, wanting more, this may be a symptom of an age where entertainment is available on demand, but it might, just might and I really believe that we should think seriously about this be a sign that the Spirit is moving in the church blowing away our cobwebs and waking us up from our sleep.

Does that mean that every service should turn into an art workshop/ meditation space? Well maybe.... it might mean that we look again at the richness and depth of our liturgies and spend a little more time in preparation and prayer than we might normally...

I don't have a list of fix it answers or a How to Book for each situation is unique, but I will leave this post with a question and a suggestion:

Allow yourself to be quiet for as long as it takes to be still, then ask yourself, am I hungry for more of God?

If the answer is yes then make a commitment to pray, to get in touch with the source of that hunger and then in company with others find out how to feed that hunger...

But this post should come with a health warning. THIS IS A HUNGER THAT CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE SATISFIED! 

A simple prayer station at "Soul Space" a walk through prayer installation.

A view across the whole tent, we saw folk from different denominations, of different faiths and none, 300 people in al,l on one afternoon at a small Market Town Carnival.

How should this inform our worship????

another perspective.....

Found this old post of mine, and it made me smile again... time for a story then:

Once upon a time in a land far away,a beautiful, independent, self-assured princesshappened upon a frog as she sat contemplating ecological issueson the shores of an unpolluted pond in a verdant meadow near her castle.The frog hopped into the princess' lapand said: " Elegant Lady, I was once a handsome prince,until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.One kiss from you, however, and I will turn backinto the dapper, young prince that I am and then, my sweet, we can marryand set up housekeeping in your castle with my mother,where you can prepare my meals,clean my clothes, bear my children,and forever feel grateful and happy doing so. "That night,as the princess dined sumptuously on lightly sauteed frog legs seasoned in a white wineand onion cream sauce, she chuckled and thought to herselfI don't freakin... think so.

via sallysjourney.typepad.com

Ocean debris turning Hawaiian beach 'in to plastic'

Following Earth Day yesterday this video should really make us think!

He is risen... the lamb becomes shepherd. Sermon blogging John 10:22-30 and Revelation 7:9-17

The excitement of Easter is over for another year, the services where we reflected on the depth and mystery of Christ’s passion are behind us, the Easter hymns have largely been sung and now in the fourth week of the season preachers like me are struggling with whether to put them into a service or not. The Easter eggs are eaten and we are all considering how to loose the few pounds we gained in eating them….

 

If we are not careful what we will be feeling is a huge anti-climax, all that preparation, and now with a few exceptions for we still look forward to Ascensiontide and Pentecost we are facing that huge swathe of the Christian year known as Ordinary Time…

 

And yet because of the resurrection our lives should be anything but ordinary, the whole story of Christ from end to end and ongoing through the church is extraordinary…

 

HE IS RISEN!!!

 

THE SPIRIT HAS COME!!!

 

Despite all of our difficulties and trials, despite our ordinariness we worship an amazing God, and through his life in us we should become extraordinary people, people with a story to tell as real as Mary’s was that first Easter morning, as real as Peter’s was when the Spirit was given at Pentecost, for our faith is a living faith. The wonder and mystery that God would choose to dwell amongst us, born as a babe in Bethlehem, the astonishing way that Jesus taught, healed and lived, the depths of love he revealed through the cross, and the sheer power that overcame death to bring about resurrection life should make us catch our breath and fall to our knees, and there is more for that Holy Spirit God’s gift, God himself was given to the church to guide, inspire and equip us ….

 

And this was not a one off, for his story is an ongoing story, told again and again until it becomes part of us, and it should infuse us with life….

 

But so often we find our feet trapped in the miry clay of ordinariness…

 

Time then for a vision to lift our eyes…

 

 

This passage from Revelation is set after a catalogue of suffering, terror and tribulation has been described in previous Chapters- multiply the series of disasters that cross our news screens week by week by several hundred and you start to get the picture. The picture was so terrible that it drew forth the harrowing question; “Now that the day of wrath has come, who is able to stand?” (Rev, 6:17)

 

And so we are given a vision to re-kindle the fire within us, a vision of the risen Christ, a vision white robed worshippers falling before him such is the depth and passion of their worship… and these robes are not insignificant, just as the Prodigal son was given a robe not simply to keep him warm but as a sign of restoration, his return to his family as a son not a slave so these worshippers are given robes, a sign that they belong to this place where every tear will be wiped away, and the “lamb that was slain will become the shepherd and guide them to the waters of life…”

 

This is rich imagery, imagery that we may find helpful and may find difficult, a lamb who becomes a shepherd is an impossibility for all but God…

 

To see Jesus as the lamb is challenging, and yet that is the picture we are offered here, it reminds us of his sacrificial love, reminds us that he endured the cross for us, reminds us of those images we may want to turn away from…. but it also reminds us that he overcame, for he is here, the lamb has become the shepherd once more, the resurrection was real!

 

HE IS ALIVE!!!

 

And so the words of our Shepherd come to us freshly infused with life: “My sheep know my voice” he says in the gospel reading… “My sheep know my voice…”

 

Just think about that for a moment, how many people’s voices do you instantly recognise? A loved one calls and does not need to say who they are because you know them, and they know that you will recognise them…

 

“My sheep know my voice.”

 

And yet I wonder if we do… if despite the fact that we may have heard the stories over and over, that we could tell them easily, I wonder if we recognise his voice today? Do we know how to listen to him, to really listen for him as he speaks deep into our lives through the Holy Spirit? Do we have a relationship with Jesus in which we feel secure, protected and personally known?

 

Ask yourself that question again; do I have a relationship with Jesus in which I feel secure, protected and personally known?

 

For that is God’s plan for you, you are one of the reasons that Jesus endured that cross, and it is from that secure place of being personally known that you can become a part of his revelation to the world, for sheep who know their Shepherds voice dwell in a place of safety.

In Jesus' day, real sheep were in constant danger of being snatched away by thieves and wild animals.

So the assurance that the metaphorical sheep of Jesus' followers - us - will not be snatched away is powerful.

The implication that there are "snatchers" should not be overlooked. We face many real internal and external threats to our relationship with God. But NOT from God.

I think the plain message of Jesus is that this assurance is extended to all of creation with no one and nothing left out. We may get life wrong, others may harm us, accidents and disease may take our life, but nothing will snatch us out of the caring, restoring, life-giving hand of God.

This is the God who clothes his followers in white robes.

This is the God who will wipe away every tear from our eyes…

This God is so deep and so high that his plan and purpose is too much for us to take in, and yet he knows us intimately, loves us unconditionally, and calls us to follow him….

And in following we can know him, can learn to know his voice, can live in the truth that he is risen, and that truth can and should find its way into every fibre of our being bringing us to life in him.

 

 

 

 

   

eclectic thoughts for a day off..

Well facebook seem to have decided to restore my blog links, I still don't know who decided my blogging was/ is abusive and right now I am not too bothered. What does bother me is the lack of explanation, but I am not going to let it bug me for long, there is far more to life than facebook and if they threw me off my world would not collapse!

So to more important things; Friday is my day off and I celebrated with a bit of a lie in and two lovely cups of tea in bed, as I rarely have time to read just for the sake of it I enjoyed reading some of Eugene Peterson's Eat this Book. It is by no means a new publication but one that was well worth re-visiting, his insistence that we should allow the Scriptures to mold and form our lives is compelling; I believe they give us an essential lens through which to filter all of the information that comes our way, but more than that they invite to become the people we are capable of becoming... Eat this book offers us a wonderful picture of consuming the words and allowing them to seep into every part of our being, to be nourished and challenged, and changed...

Then onto gardening, our vegetable patch is coming on well, and today we planted out runner beans and courgettes into the fourth raised bed, there is still a possibility of frosts so we have some gardening fleece to wrap them up at night with. The fifth bed is still a work in progress, the seedlings that will be planted out here are just beginning life in seed trays on our conservatory windowsill.

I say our of course in the qualified sense that both the house and the garden belong to the Methodist Church, and that I will be moved, although not before we reap at least a couple of seasons worth of produce. Is it worth the bother and the expense? Well yes for fresh vegetables year round it is, and the cost of the wood will be off set by the savings on vegetables; but there is more to it, there is something prayerful about cultivating the land. God's command to the Babylonian exiles comes to mind, and there is a sense in which Methodist Ministers are exiles ( although the Church prefers the term itinerant):

Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

We won't be building a house, nor will we be marrying, but planting a garden here, clearing the land of weeds and stones is work that reflects the prayerful work of any church in a community. Seeking peace and prosperity for a community is all wrapped up in the way we choose to live in it... this is an ongoing theme for me and I will probably continue to reflect upon it...

4 raised beds in place, # 5 is a work in progress

 I have also been thinking about how quickly things change, four of my children twins Jo and Jon and also Chris and older brother Paul will graduate this year. Jo and Jon entered University straight from sixth form, Chris and Paul have more complicated stories, but they have all worked hard and will finish their Bachelors degrees in June. Right now they are all putting the finishing touches to their dissertations. They all have concerns about what comes next, the jobs scene is still uncertain, Paul will probably do a PGCE as he wants to teach and Jon has a place on a Master's course at Lancaster,but  Jo and Chris will be looking for work. They will of course join thousands of other young people who are concerned about what the future holds, the job market for people with degrees is no longer certain....

Finally tomorrow marks the beginning of the sailing season, I won't be going as I am preaching on Sunday and have other work on Saturday, but Tim and Jo are heading for Northampton where they will take part in the National Inland Championships in the Enterprise dinghy class. They will camp overnight... suddenly I am glad I am not going! What I will be doing however is getting out on my bike, I have a 60 mile bike ride coming up in May as this Month's District News Letter reports:

"On Saturday May 22, the three Methodist Ministers in the Snaith and Selby Circuit will be cycling 65 miles around the Circuit, visiting each of the 19 Circuit Churches in a twelve hour stretch. The ride is to coincide with the Circuit Prayer Day and will also be used to raise money, through sponsorship and donations, for the charity Christian Aid.
The Snaith and Selby Methodist Circuit covers a wide, rural area centred on Selby and includes 19 churches. Each year, the Circuit has a Day of Prayer which has involved a different format each time. This year, each church will open for two hours during the day for people to use for a time of prayer. People can come for a few minutes or for the whole two hours.
The ministers decided they would like to be involved in a time of prayer in each church and, in a moment of madness, decided to achieve this aim by cycling around the Circuit to each of the churches. Since Christian Aid Week is the week prior to this event, it was also decided to request sponsorship and donations for Christian Aid.
As can be seen from the timetable, the ministers will (hopefully) be at each church approximately mid way through each church's Prayer Time. Others will also be riding some or part of the way with the ministers and there will be a back-up vehicle.
The three ministers are Rev Linda Day (Superintendent Minister), Rev Geoffrey Shutt and Rev Sally Coleman."

Yes we are mad, and no I might not make it, but I'll give it a try! Let me know if you want to sponsor me. Right now I am on a serious get fit and diet campaign!!!

Wildgoose getting ready to go, she is now fully fitted out.

Blog blocked from facebook

How interesting facebook has received a report that my blog is abusive and have blocked all of the links to it. I wonder what has upset someone so much that they felt they had to report me as abusive. I am always happy to enter into discussions both through my blog and through facebook. I don't believe that anything I have written could be interpreted as abuse, controversial, yes, provocative, possibly but abusive??? Really???

Hey ho, such is life, and I can live with this exclusion, I don't know if it is permanent or temporary, will have to wait and see....