Eternal Echoes

Home Sweet Home Friday Five

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Over at Revgals Songbird says: I've got home on my mind: what it feels like, how we make it, what we carry from the past and how we separate other people's leftovers from objects that really reflect our identity. My family has had one home for the past 13 years, the longest I've ever lived anywhere. As the time when all the children are gone comes closer, I wonder where my next home will be?

So here are five questions about home.

Hmm, this is an interesting one for me, I have lived all over this country and in not a few places around the world, being in a fixed location is unusual for me and so home takes on a different meaning. That said here is my play.

1) Where was your first home?

The first home I remember was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I lived there for about 8 years I was  born in Singapore and we moved to Kuala Lumpur when I was still to young to really remember it. 

2) Do you ever dream about places you used to live?

No. I miss different things about different places, e.g. the Texas heat, being close to the sea in Tollesbury, the beauty of Norfolk. etc. But this is not the stuff of dreams!

3) If you could bring back one person from your past to sit at your dinner table, who would you choose?

Oh that is quite difficult to answer, but I guess right now I'd say my mum, she died 2 years ago and we will miss her at my youngest daughters wedding in November :-(

4) What's your favorite room in your current living space?

The Conservatory, it is bright and warm and looks out on the garden.

The cello is not mine!

5) Is there an object or an item where you live now that represents home? If not, can you think of one from your childhood?

Our rug, it has now lived in 4 different living rooms and is still lovely and bright! 

Love this pic of Chris, Jo and Dave chilling!

For now home is Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire:

 

being connected....

This image is of the High Priestess from the tarot deck Songs for the Journey Home, rather than entering into a long and drawn out debate on the rights and wrongs of using tarot I point you to this post "Why Tarot?" to this post Making Connections, and to this book "Beyond Prediction". If you really want to debate the rights and wrongs of tarot in the comments then I am happy to talk to you about it. For now I invite you to simply lay that aside and engage with the image;

 

It speaks to me of deep peace and a much needed connectedness. She is at one with the earth, surrounded and rooted, and has taken herself to a cave where she meditates and prays. She is protected by the earth, sheltered, and safe, in an almost womb like place, but she is also filled with energy and life. Seated on an earthy throne she is both humble and powerful, she knows who she is, but does not need (or want) to impress others. She is mature, and at peace...

The fire in her belly, chest and forehead, speak of an integrated life, she is both giving and receiving energy. She is not one to speak quickly, preferring silence to empty talk, and it is in this silence that her wisdom grows and deepens.

Quite simply she kows how to be present, to life, to self and to spiritual possibilities...

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stop,

be still,

listen,

through

the silence,

hear the still,

small voice

of wisdom

calling your name…

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come aside,

to know

and to

be known,

breathe deep

of life’s

possibilities

released to you,

through you

within you…

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stop,

be still,

listen,

be still,

listen

…

listen,

be still

*

be still

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I can't do it... (reflections on discipleship)

A number of folk in the Circuit here (including me) have begun the Disciple Course,  this is a huge commitment to daily reading, reflection and prayer, to a course that lasts 32 weeks and to one another. All in all it is a very positive thing...

We are three weeks in now, and last nights discussion centered upon the creation accounts and the need for sabbath. We were also asked how we show through the way we live that we belong to God.

There are of course many answers to that question, there are many things that we can do, good works and attitudes, carefully considering the way we live,being socially and environmentally conscious, being globally conscious, taking time to pray and read, the list could go on and on. We could talk about how we treat issues such as poverty, and violence, how we should respond to the needs that surround us on a daily basis, we could talk about fair-trade issues, problems with animal welfare.... as I said the list goes on....

The list goes on, and I have to admit that I can't do it. I simply don't have it in me to respond to all of these needs and concerns, I don't even have it in me to respond to some of them. For that I need God, I need to understand what is on God's heart and I need to recieve strength, energy, compassion and vision from him. 

I was struck again that humanity was created  to work from a place of rest; the wonderful poem in Genesis 1 reminds us that the day after he created humankind God rested! God rested and took in the wonder of his creation, and he invites us to rest with him. To enjoy being in his company, to revel in our createdness, to be before we ever start to do! I believe that we need to recapture the art of being, not simply the art of relaxing, because quite often relaxing is a form of doing....

We need to be in God's presence, to be rekindled by the breath that gives us lif ,to breathe his air, to recieve renewal for our souls and minds, spirits and bodies. To remember that we were not created to do anything alone, but rather to be in communion with the one who lovingly fashioned us in his image from the dust and called us his own. 

No I can't "do" discipleship on my own, when I begin to contemplate it I am drawn back to a confession, not from Scripture but in "Life After God" written by Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland. In a searingly revealing account of an inner journey his character says:

"Now here is my secret:

I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God- that I am sick and I can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me to give, because I no longer seem capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love."

I need God, I need God because I can't do life alone, and when I try I soon run out of steam and find myself incapable of life. We weren't made to do things for God, God does not want us to do things for him, we were made to live out a life with God, "to live and move and have our being in God." (Acts 17:28).

As one who was always striving to do more, and to be more, this was and continues to be a deep revelation and challenge to me, and I pray that it will continue to be so. When I am "in" Christ, with God I am freed from the need to perform, I don't have to do anything for: 

"..., he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son." (Ephesians 1)

and:

"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us." (Ephesians 3)

So here I am, sick and unable to be a disciple without him, and that is OK, because that is how it should be ....

life...

here is life,

this fragmented glory,

each day,

each moment

a different shade,

and a different prayer

is said,

here, in this life

hope and despair,

sorrow and joy,

rub shoulders,

agonies and ecstasies

change colour,

brighten or deepen

as the seasons turn,

here is life,

life

in all its fullness,

to loose one part

is to loose it all,

for even the darker

strands can

make us whole.

 

With thanks to Anna Blanch for the use of the photo.

Pilgrimage (pondering Psalm 84)

 

the grass springs green 

beneath my feet,

and beckons me on,

 step by step

I follow you,

 seeking your face,

until in you

 I see myself, and

 my tears

fall like rain, for grief, but

transformed here

they bring forth life 

where death had seemed

the only way, 

in wonder I find myself

washed clean, 

and I am carried even through 

the darkest places,

where

the deepest sorrows,

the hardest questions,

the  sharpest confusions,

will not, cannot separate me

from you,

the tears are now your tears,

and forming waves of

inescapable love

they sweep me forward, sweep me on,

until I find myself

standing

at the mouth of another valley

and my journey continues.

 

 

Taking the Bible into School...

I often hear people complain about the lack of Christian input in our schools; over the past week I have been into two Primary Schools, one a Church School the other not.

In the non-Chruch affiliated School, they sang a worship song and prayed, they also knew how many books were in the Bible, knew about the Old and New Testaments, they knew that there was different literature to be found and could even name some. They had a poster on the wall that each class had put something into showing stories and a time line.

In the Church School the children were welcomed to worship, they sang a worship song, lit a candle and prayed. To my astonishment when greeted with "The Lord be with you" they instantly responded "And also with you".They did not know how many books were in the Bible, nor anything about the different literature they might find in it. They did recognise some of the stories in our quick Bible run through (with actions and props). The posters on their walls were about bullying and respect. 

It was interesting to contrast these two schools but I am glad to say that in both schools we were welcomed warmly and the children listened attentively and joined in when asked. We will be going back to both with Open the Book teams. Hopefully we will one day gain the great accolade that our team in Norfolk received "wow, you are better than Eastenders!!!!"

In all things give thanks?

I wonder if he gets commission? 

 

H/T to Richard Hall

Proof readers?

Marley jumped when the printer started!
 

for young friends facing an uncertain future...

how do I pray

for you

when life seems bleak,

when hopes are dashed,

and promise

does not deliver?

how do I pray,

without seeming 

trite

 hollow, empty, or

without understanding?

I cannot tell you

all will be

well,

I cannot promise

a bright sucessful 

future.

But I care,

and I pray that you

will find 

treasures in this darkness,

I care

and I pray that you 

will be richly blessed,

and that one day

you will look

back, and know

the blessing...

Discipleship- true companions...

and are we real?

do we drop our masks,

even in prayer?

or are we conditioned,

to be good,

well,

fine?

can we find

true companions

on the way?

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why do we hide?

why cover our

insecurities

refusing the hand of

another,

fearing the exposure

of being known,

seen,

heard?

aren't we

true companions 

on the way?

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Jesus said

come to me,

all you who are weary,

burdened,

worn out,

walk with me, work with me,

this is the way

of grace,

the way

of true companions

on the way...

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