Eternal Echoes

Who is my neighbour? ( a reflection on the work of the Comfort Zone)

Again and again we hear about how more and more people ar turning to foodbanks for support, each week our little project in Blackpool feeds aproximately 150/ 200people and gives out around 90 food bags. The gathered community have become our friends, and as we hear their stories a new themes are emerging ever more strongly and I know that it is echoed in other parts of the country too. Not only are we seeing more and more people sleeping rough, 12 signed in today, 12 people who came to us, who will be looking for somewhere safe in the town to sleep on a night where the forecast is for torrential rain and high winds! We long to do more but are aware that if we break with insurance and safety guidelines we will be closed down altogether! So we weep every week as we have to turn people out into the cold and the wet!

The other theme that bothers me greatly is a policy implemented by the Local Council that says that unless you have had consistent local connections for 3 years or more then you do not qualify for housing help, or even in some cases emergency food parcels of payments. We are seeing more and more people who quite simply slip through the cracks, the story changes if they manage to find a private landlord, but all that does is open a can of worms of abuse and sometimes appalling housing conditions.

Now I understand the dilema of the Council, though I do not agree with all of their reasoning, because like so many areas of Government spending grants and monies available have been slashed. BUT it seems that as with so many things it is almost always the poor who are being penalised. I heard of one local council ( not Blackpool) decision recentlyt not to offer food parcels or emergency payments to folk who have been sanctioned! How can we even begin to claim we are a civilised country when 5,500 people were admitted to hospital suffering from malnutrition last year, and I am certain many more teeter on the brink of it or are simply going unnoticed and untreated.

As for those who are disenfranchised, those who slip between the cracks consistently I can only share a story of a family who came to us a couple of months ago. They had come fleeing domestic violence, their home for the previous 6 months had been a seaside town in another part of the country. They came to Blackpool through a friendship and an offer of help, but they needed more. Mistakenly they thought that because they were fleeing a violent situation that help would be forthcoming, but the authorities hands were tied, they could not be offered anything more than a ticket "home", but the home that they were fleeing did not count as home because they had not lived there for long enough, and the home they wanted to return to no longer welcomed them with an offer of help because they had been away for too long.

Thankfully with a bit of ingenuity on their part and with some assistance from us they managed to secure a flat which whilst far from ideal gave them some shelter and a starting point, as they weren't eligible for a Council Sponsored Food Parcel we helped them out and they are slowly finding their feet. At the Comfort Zone we choose not to operate within the councils eligibility guidelines ( though we do operate within all health and safety and insurance protocols) because we are aware that too many people are falling between the cracks. When you meet folk  who don't eat on a regular basis, folk who choose consistently between heating and eating you begin to understand the harsh reality that faces so many. We cannot with integrity refuse to see our neighbour in the folk who come to us, we cannot demand that they pull themselves together and sort themselves out, we cannot send them away empty and unloved and so we do what we can.

The Comfort Zone is a project of Blackpool Methodist Circuit, it is supported by the generous giving of the members of the Circuit and many many more who hold us in prayer and send us gifts often in surprising ways. I was once asked by my postman what on earth I was ordering now, the simple response was that the 3 large parcels were sleeping bags from some of our extended community all over the country who see what we do and give. We also receive tin openers, tea-lights, and maybe strangest of all our Chaplain,Lynn receives a regular gift of Potnoodles in the post! We could not keep going without the generosity and prayers of the many folk who help out, or the dedication of our volunteers who consistently go above and beyond anything we could dare ask of them.

Best of all we have many good news stories to tell, the people who come to us are in the main folk who have fallen on hard times and when given encouragement and support, love and friendship offer us so much more in return. We have a number of former "clients" (I dislike that word) who are no volunteers. We are given gifts by those who once received them, they are our neighbours and we are theirs, and I truly believe that this is what the kingdopm of heaven is like, love and respect, value and compassion shared in mutuality!

Here are the statistics gathered by Lynn:

So, we have worked out that last year we have served (roughly!)
Hot free meals - 9000
Food parcels - 6000
Homeless kits (sleeping bags etc!) - 2000
Jumpers and warm clothes - 3000
Flats for people sleeping outside - 25 ( each one a miracle !)
Babies born (one delivered by a volunteer !) - 4.
Hugs - Endless.
Prayers - 10,000 (ish!)
Candles - 5000.
Love and acceptance - unquantifiable !
We have also grown from a "project" into a community and a Church. (  we regularly share in communion)
We have seen some of the community find faith, grow in faith and join Churches.
Volunteers have been on a huge journey with tears, frustrations and joy.
We have had amazing people who have donated so much to us which in turn has kept us open !
People around the world pray with us.
We are truly blessed.

THIS YEAR WE DO IT ALL AGAIN !
Thank you for being part of the community.
With much love from all of us. xxx

Frost and partnerships...

There is a frost here this morning, when I woke the tempreature outside was around -3 degrees C, with the top expected tempreature of 5 degrees. Now I know that this is nothing record breaking or startling but it reminds me that while I am celebrating the fact that my car is frost free in the garage many of my friends, the people I will meet at the Comfort Zone this morning will have been sleeping rough or in damp flats with no heating. Once again I find myself struggling with the little that we can do, we provide warmth,companionship and love, sleeping bags, thermal blankets , hot tea, coffee and a place to thaw out only to send folk back out again.

It would be so easy to become overwhelmed and give up, until I realise that the little that we do is part of a larger network of provision in the town, other churches and organisations are also providing places of warmth and shelter and together we manage to lay on a hot meal every day of the week, places of warmth and places of shelter a life line for many. 

We need to work together more, we all know this, and we need to support one another even though there are differences between us. We al have slightly different rules and slightly different expectations, but the overall desire is to help the many vulnerable folk who come to us. I am sometimes asked by people in our community how I feel about what X or Y are doing, and whether what we do is threatened by a new place opening up. I have to step back a bit from myself sometimes, do we want to run the best drop in in Blackpool or are we content to be part of a network of provision offering our own unique flavour and service into the mix of services available?

We all wish we could do more, we all do what we can, I am thankful for the support we have from people all over the country who provide us with gifts of food and clothing, of things like can openers and blankets, sleeping bags and survival bags.

When we are tempted to either critisise of go into competition with others I am reminded that Jesus calls us each to follow him on our own unique journey, and so as I prepare to go to meet with my friends this morning I will not give up, I will do what I can, and as I go I pray for the folk who come to us, and for our partners in provision who will welcome people later on and throughout the week. We won't give up, and I pray that as we begin to drop barriers and seek to work and talk together that something more beautiful will grow.

They are worthy!

They are worthy, these words echo in my mind, words spoken over me when I was received into Full Connexion as a Methodist Minister, like many other I can report that the effect that they have is overwhelming and humbling! They are powerful life giving words, and they echo with a deep truth from the heart of God, but I am actually not writing about me or about my ordination, I am writing about some of my friends of whom I am often asked the dehumanising question; "Are they worthy?"

Are they worthy? Just let that question settle in your heart and mind for a moment, how might you feel if someone were to ask that question about you? Let's make it a little more unpallatable, because really underneath that somewhat self righteous sounding question lies the question "are they worth it?" Are they worth my time, my effort, my compassion, my giving?

Surely to ask such a question of another human being is to dehumanise not only them but also ourselves. We so easily create barriers, the tabloid press delight in this, demonising the poor and the vulnerable, as sanctions and benefit cuts create an underclass who we are encouraged to ignore. So I want to ivnite you to meet some of my friends, friends who knowing that I have been signed off have sent me messages of support, texts sending love and encouragement, asking how they might be of help to me. A card saying get well soon, I miss you, and two angels who came to help yesterday by tidying up my garden and putting in some new fence pannels that have been waiting to be put in for months.

Who are my friends? Well we met at the Comfort Zone at North Shore Methodist Church, our drop in for vulnerable and homeless people in the Blackpool area, each of them has a story to tell, and many of them are overcoming issues like alcoholism and gambling addictions. They are overcomers not only of their own social problems which have back stories of their own, just as my brokenness has its own backstory. They are also overcomers of a system that dares to ask if they are worthy, of judgemental attitudes from society and sadly sometimes from within the church. A small group of my friends took a step into Church membership a couple of weeks ago, of course that has not fixed them in the same way that it has not fixed me, but it offers to all of us the chance to walk together on a path of healing, wholeness, love and holiness!

We should never ask whether another human being is worthy, if we do we need to ask the same question of ourselves. Instead we need to place ourselves in a position to hear their stories and to empathise with them no matter what their condition, and maybe have a bot of a better perspective of our own. Maybe our deepest challenge is to receive within our hearts and souls God's proclomation over us that we are good, made in his image and good, not a flase outward goodness but a deep reality that reflects our createdness and calls us to humility.

Are they worthy, are we worthy? The creator of our beings says yes, so much so that he was willing to give his life for us, so much so that he overcame death for us, so much so that he does not leave us alone, but sends the Spirit to whisper into our spirits, " you are worthy, and you are loved." Let those who have ears hear!

The window in the lounge at North Shore, where The Comfort Zone meets.

The effect of sanctions...

Many members of the Comfort Zone Community are affected by Sanctions, week after week we help folk with food, clothing emergency fuel payments and more, what we do is a drop in the ocean. We seek to respond as often as we can, and what we do is appreciated, but sometimes we are reminded of the utter desperation that being sanctioned, being hungry and being cold brings on...

How many of us honestly go to bed hungry, cold and desperate?

How many of us know that the next meal, the next place of warmth, the next welcome will be days away?

I suspect that the answer is not many who are reading this, because you have the luxury of access to the internet! But if you didn't, or if you are reading this from a library or on a friends phone you might, and if you are you will recognise what it feels like to have your hand tied by a system that seems to be out to get you!

Today one of our community is in prison, another is awaiting sentencing; why because one stole £12.00 of food to eat, and the other stole a jacket...

Now I don't know whether the jacket was to be worn or sold on the street, but either way it was about survival; this is the effect of sanctions, people are hungry, people don't know where the money to pay their next energy bill will come from...

This is life in 21st Century Britain...

...and frankly I think it is unjust and inhumane....

...stealing is not right, but perhaps what is being stolen is more than food or clothes, but human dignity!

Image: Journey (mine)

 

 

bread and wine, tears and hugs... ( at the Comfort Zone)

This evening in the midst of demands and requests, in the midst of hugs and tears and unsaid prayers, in the midst of being unable to meet need for simple things like tin openers and sleeping bags. In the frustration of not being able to help, knowing that our little drop in the ocean is never enough, of trying to close our ears to grumbles and keep on keeping on, we paused and prayed, broke bread and shared wine...

It was not a nice thing to do, not an add on to the evening but a central point that drew us to the point of being there. As I "laid" the table I was aware that in some sense it was being laid in the presence of the enemy, I don't say this lightly but want to call out a dehumanising system that says to somebody asking for help; "I am sorry you don't meet our criteria" or "I am sorry you are in the wrong place, go home they will help you there", but the fact is that this so called civilised nation has disenfranchised many people from applying for help anywhere, that the message  and the stark reality is that too many are simply passed from pillar to post they don't and can't belong anywhere. In stark contrast the message at the table is simple; "all are welcome".

As I laid the table of welcome in the presence of overwhelming need and frustration at the system and myself, as I poured the wine into the Chalice I was aware more deeply than ever before of the power of the blood of Christ, and the wine was not only blood but also tears and sweat.

This evening the response to communion was overwhelming, real raw prayers were said, heartfelt prayers were said, and God was with us, in the bread, in the wine and in and through one another. When a homeless man who you haven't been able to give a sleeping bag to hugs you and says "you've done more than you can know" you know this truth, God is with us, when prayers are offered for the "staff"  and thanks is given, and we ask for simple things like towels and underpants, God is with us...

Our only response together, to sing Amazing Grace and to hug one another, for God is with us... and so we carry on, for God is with us...

Blackpool a place of beauty and of pain...

It's not fair, and other stinky attitudes- pondering the radical grace of God ( Sermon blogging Matthew 20: 1-16)

That isn't fair...

He has a larger piece of pie than me....

She was given more presents than me...

They earn more, they have more fun, he has more friends...

I want what they have, I want more, deserve more, need more....

How many times have we heard complaints like that, I can certainly remember making sure that everyone received the same amount of cake, or at least as far as I could make it, budgets were set for birthdays and Christmas and gifts given accordingly, in fact they still are. There is something intrinsically right in fairness, I suspect that, that is why we have a tendency, if we are honest to feel for those who had worked all day in the vineyard, surely they deserved a greater reward, surely the vineyard owner wasn't being fair...

But just stop and ask yourself the question what is fair...

The vineyard owner in Jesus parable had gone out to hire workers at the beginning of the day, those who were gathered were hired, and were happy at that point with the days pay that was being offered to them. They hadn't questioned it, it was a fair days wage, what they would have expected, and what they needed to feed themselves and their families. In short IT WAS FAIR!

It was fair, it only became unfair when expectations were raised as the last workers were also paid a days wage for an hours work, suddenly hopes were raised, greed made an entry, then hopes were dashed and greed turned to envy. It is not fair!

Put yourself in the workers shoes; watching the later workers receive their pay and suddenly the world centres on you, you had been happy with a days pay, but when you saw that they were given a days pay, you knew you deserved more!

The workers grumble, and the vineyard owner in Jesus parable is confronted; just listen to his response; "Are you envious because I am generous?"

What craziness is this? How could those lazy workers be worth a days pay? 

This says Jesus is the great reversal, many of the first shall be last, and the last first...

We listen to what we've been taught so many times, and the penny drops, the way to earn our salvation, our rightful place in the kingdom of heaven is of course to give ourselves away, to put everyone else first, to work hard and to do so much good that in the end we will have a great pile of richess in heaven to enjoy for all eternity....

It will all be fair in the end....

Clunk, the penny bounces as we turn the great reversal back on it's head, and once more we've made the whole story about how much we can get and somehow we've missed the point again.

Let's turn our gaze then from the workers to the vineyard owner...

At the beginning of the day he gathered a group of workers, surely being a good and sensible landowner he would have hired enough men to work his land for the day, and when he gathered them they were content. Yet something drove him back again and again to the town square where those waiting for work waited hopefully, each time he gathered more workers together, bringing them to join the workers in his field.  

He didn't go back just once either, he went back again and again, 4 times in all, each time drawing more in, and at the end of the day all were given a fair days wage. 

All were given a fair days wage, all were treated equally no matter how long they had laboured, in the economy of the vineyard owner all were worth the same...

Here then is the challenge in an unfair world...

Let me take you to another teaching of Jesus; we find him surrounded by  Pharisees and Sadducees asking question after question, what is right what is wrong?... who is in, who is out? At last they come to the question about the greatest commandment, and Jesus response is this:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Who then is my neighbour? Do I really question what they are worth?

Let me tell you a modern day true story; Lynn, our Comfort Zone Chaplain was asked a couple of weeks ago what we needed in the way of ladies clothing to give out; among the items on her list was ladies underwear.

A few days later she received a phone call, the group had thought about her requests but were uncomfortable with the thought of giving out secondhand underwear. Lynn suggested this was not her intent when asking, the response from this very well heeled group was astonishing...

"Oh we won't be buying new!"

In short, they are not worth it!

They are not worth it, we might be worthy of new underwear, yet whilst it does not seem right to give second hand, "we won't be buying new"...

Now listen again to the vineyard owner;

"Are you envious because I sm generous?" Are you angry because in my economy everyone deserves a fair days wage, all need to eat, and all are treated equally? Are you angry because I value these last ones as highly as I value you?

Do you love yourself so little that you are unable to love and rejoice with your neighbour that you all have enough? Do you understand so little of the love that gives of itself to you that you want to grumble about fairness?

In a world that is unjust, the radical grace and fairness of God seems crazy, in a world where we are too often valued by what we have and not for who we are the apparent unfairness of the vineyard owner in Jesus parable is challenging, and even upsetting...

Yet if we could catch hold of the heart of radical grace that goes back and back, drawing in the workers, back even at the end of the day to bring in those waiting hopefully for the meagre wage of an hours work that would be better than nothing, and dare we say it, even to those who might have sauntered into the square at the last hour just in case there was some work to be had...

... and all are counted worthy, and all are given enough, a fair days wage...

For all are gathered in and loved and celebrated... this is grace, and fairness pales in comparrison!

So the question is will we choose to be like the vineyard owner who chooses to value all and to give freely, will we choose to follow Christ who gave himself away pouring out his life on the cross, and his life into our lives when we dare to receive the Spirit who calls us into radical grace, who calls us to see through the eyes of God who knows and loves us? Will we dare to give ourselves away, to store our treasure in heaven not for ourselves, but because that is where true treasure, treasure of the heart, is stored?

Or will we choose to turn in on ourselves, and be wrapped up in ourselves, our wants, our desires? As my wise 104 year old friend points out; those wrapped up in themselves make small parcels...

The choice is ours, will we participate in the generosity and grace of God....

In the words of St Francis; " it is in giving that we receive, and in dying that we're born to eternal life..."

Image Hidden;  (In Christ) mine

 

walking a mile in another's shoes...

Today I have felt angry, sad, helpless and hopeless, I have been given a rare chance to truly spend a few hours in somebody else's shoes and it was heartbreaking. Yesterday I met a young man who has recently been released from prison, he came to Blackpool using his travel warrant, and with a bit of money in his pocket. He had been in prison for 7 years and was very disorientated, his money quickly gone he came to us for help, and I have been trying to help him to get onto the benefits system, to find somewhere to live.

He does have family but they have disowned him, he has no address, no money, no shelter, nothing but the red holdall that contains a spare shirt, a sleeping bag and a few out of date forms and contact numbers. 

He had been to the housing team at Blackpool Council, but they are so overwhelmed that they could do nothing straight away, he went to the two homeless hostels in the town but they were both full. With no address he is unable to claim benefits, with no phone or  computer he has not got an easy way to apply for them, the library who do have computers turned him away because he has no address, so as we have done before we have allowed him to use the church as his home address, then we got onto the phone to call the Job Centre Plus, I made the initial call because he was so overwhelmed. Six different phone numbers, a lot of button pushing and sets of canned instructions telling me it would be easier to apply on -line later we finally got through to a human being. I handed him the phone.

You'd have thought that being able to speak to a real human being that the saga might have been over, but no, I sat with him as he repeated his details not once, not twice but eight different times and still he was not able to access the system. We will tray again this evening as I am taking my laptop to church, hopefully things will be easier on line!

I can see now with fresh eyes why people simply give up and walk away, why people feel hopeless and helpless and rail against the system, after an hour of listening to canned responses, after repeating the same information over and over again, after that sense that you are not a person with a name and needs and feelings but a number, a statistic to be crunched by a faceless bureaucracy!

Now I know that the Job Centre Staff and Local Councils are overwhelmed but I weep for the lack of humanity in the system and I am grateful that we can offer a listening ear, a bit of company and plenty of tea. I am also grateful for ourlovely volunteers many of whom have been in and through the system and are able to give us an understanding of it. I am grateful for the way that they reach out in generosity giving so often from the little that they have. I am grateful also today for the swift response of our local MP Paul Maynard who truly does care about the people he serves.

Having said all of that I am left feeling sad, overwhelmed and not a little helpless and hopeless, I am rarely reduced to tears but today I was, mostly because the young man is so much more than a statistic, he is not a problem to be solved, he is a human being with needs and feelings, and more than anything he needs other human beings to notice that he is a human being, to see his worth and to count him as worthy of love and care. Today I walked a mile in his shoes and I have been humbled by the experience, he was so grateful for the little that we did. 

My prayer is that we will not become so overwhelmed by the need that surrounds us that we are unable to respond, that we won't become hardened by the constant flood of need that we fail to see the humanity in the folk who come to us, that we might like Mother Theresa be able to see Christ, the image and revelation of God in  we share with those we are called to serve. Today this young man drew me from my self and I am grateful.

Heaven touching earth: photo mine

 

compelled by love ( all this for you)

Before I start I will state that while I am a Methodist Minister ( Presbyter) the views in this blog post are my own views and while I hope that they will in some way reflect the views and mission of the Methodist Church, they remain simply my views.

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I am responding to Quentin Lett's Radio 4's Programme "What's the point of...?" broadcast this morning at 9am, and to be broadcast again this evening at 9:30pm. Today he was asking "What's the point of Methodism?"

I am not going to  enter into a long critique of the programme which raised some interesting points about our history and origins, and spoke of both scriptural holiness and social justice in a positive way. I am not even going to touch the possible ensuing conversation about whether we should of shouldn't join with the Church of England, but rather I want to speak of what I felt was missing because it is because of what I felt was missing that I find myself in the Methodist Church today often slipping on my "dog-collar" and wondering " how did that happen...!"

I know the answer to my own often voiced rhetorical question, it happened because of the love and grace of God, it happened because I found in Methodism a way to Christ that I had not found elsewhere, and it is the love and grace that I find rooted in the Arminian theology of Prevenient Grace that has set me free to stand in a place where I can begin to say that I am here because Christs love compells me.

Let me say now that I am a "convert," I do not have a history of Sunday School or a good solid Methodist upbringing or a good solid anything upbringing for that matter, I came to faith by discovering the power of prayer at a difficult time in the life of my then young family. Through prayer I discovered a God who was very real and very present, but my journey into faith was not so easy; I struggled with the sense that I was not acceptable and tried to obey all sorts of rules to make myself acceptable. For some reason I could not accept that God loved me for me.  The more I tried to make myself acceptable the more I invented God as a monster in my own eyes failing to see the true revelation of his love in the person of Jesus. It was only when I began working for the Methodist Church as an outreach worker and was fortunate enough to begin studying at the same time that another theological window, another way of thinking about God, and thinking about how God might think about me opened up.

What if the God that Jesus revealed really identified with the poor, reached out to the oucast, healed the untouchable, and included the unclean, the foreigner and the sinner; anyone who could that could be labled "other" by those trying to create an exclusive community? What if God loved us first and calls forth love from us? What if God is bigger and more inclusive than I could possibly imagine?

As I began to follow and worship this God, not the angry monster God I found that I could begin to love and accept myself, it was the revelation and the still unfolding revelation of this love that drew me into ministry, that drew me beyond my own small confines and boundaries to love " the other", discovering that they are not other at all but that we share a common humanity.

Some of the most powerful words in the Methodist Worship book ( for me) are written in the Baptism Liturgy, those words; "All this for you" are preceded by the declaration of God's revelation in the person of Jesus, including "for you he lived and showed Gods love".  

It is this revelation that set a flame burning within my heart, it is this revelation that stirs my soul, it is here that "God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who  we really are. ( Romans 8:16). Precious, beloved children of God, made in Gods own image. Surely if I am a precious, beloved child of God then so is my neighbour, and more challengingly the one I call "other" for any reason, in fact the other is who I am particularly called to love, for it was to the other that Jesus came! The truth then is that not only can I be drawn beyond my own boundaries, but to declare that there are none, there can be none! As a friend of mine says " there is nothing secular except for sin", and all sin is is that thing that seperates us from God. So with boundaries and barriers gone we can live out our theology, and all are ( now) welcome at the table!

All of this is hugely challenging for the Methodist Church, because as the Radio show revealed Methodism appears to be built on certain standards and values, traditionally calling people to sobriety and a morally upright way of life, to social action and to have a passion for justice, but what it missed is that the source of these lies in the move of God.  John Wesley's own journal contains the telling declaration ;

"I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.."

It was this assurance, this experience that compelled him, this experience, this assurance that compelled many of those who were touched by his preaching and the movement that followed Methodism is primarily born of the Spirit, an experienced encounter with God, and while this is not unique perhaps its expression in concern for the poor and a desire for social justice is a mark of that move and a particular gift. Yes we sing our theology, but there is a reason that the Methodist Hymnody is important, music made the message acessible and memorable and is well known to touch the heart and the spirit in ways that words alone cannot. Yes many Methodists are passionate about Social Justice and politics but these all have their roots in the move of the Spirit that Welsey experienced as his heart was strangley warmed.

Our problem? I want to suggest that it is the phenomena known as " convert and lift"- that is to say that as people took on the moral values and aspirations and possibilities of living differently that we lost our roots, Methodism became middle class and lost the Spirit. Oddly I came from a middle class background and the Spirit found me! That said I know many passionate and committed people called Methodist, people who serve, people who love, people who light up a room with the love of God that flows from them, people who are passionate not only for God but through God for their neighbours both local and global.

Will we die out? Not if we dare to follow the way of Christ and dare to give ourselves away, not if we allow the Spirit to inspire and equip and guide us, not if we fan into flame the gift within us and recognise afresh that we are a movement and not an institution. More than anything  we need a fresh fire to fill our hearts and that fire must be of God not of our own striving, and it must be a fire of grace, a desire to include rather than exclude, to accept the other, to include the other, to identify with the outcast, to become as Christ...

I leave you with a story from last night at our Drop in here in Blackpool " The Comfort Zone", one of our community members bounced in full of energy and love carrying a bunch of flowers, her gift to us for no particular reason, and expression of love and joy, she blessed us all. It was another members birthday, touched by his story we bought him a card and a cake, he was really pleased, but when it came to cutting and sharing his cake he refused, he wanted to take it home and to keep it for himself. At the end of the evening we gathered around the table to share in prayer and communion, and neither were excluded, such is the love and grace of God with us, and that should bring us all to our knees! Love is stronger than death....

All this for you!

Maybe what we need is a rebranding exercise, as the programme mentioned we were also once called Enthusiasts! A discipleship movement shaped for mission! Called to life in Christ, living out a calling to love, to justice, to holiness and compassion. Maybe what we need to rediscover is that flame that so set Wesleys' heart ablaze, the Spirit of God calling us to live out our inner experience in Spirit and in truth.

Let us take up the cross 
till we the crown obtain, 
and gladly reckon all things loss 
so we may Jesus gain.

Image: Canvas 1 of Waves of Grace - mine ( a comission for a church in Blackburn)

 

 

our chains are gone. our hearts set free....

Amazing grace,

the sweet sound 

of voices raised 

lifted this broken

vulnerable crowd,

and crept into the injured 

corners of our hearts

and soothed our souls

as a cleansing flood,

this group of truly wretched

wretches knew how to

sing the real raw words

with wonder and awe,

and God was with us,

 

a mystery beyond our comprehension

yet closer than our

breathing,

and God IS with us

for we left the table

filled with heavenly

joy

we had remembered,

and we were re-membered,

amazing love,

amazing grace...

Broken: Image mine

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How do you describe the indescribable, that is what I was trying to do with the poem above, trying to capture of something of the amazing experience of standing in a circle of those who know something of the heights and deths of what grace is.

We gathered together this evening as one, the folk who come to the Comfort Zone for food and friendship, and those of us who cherish the honour of being called friends. The Comfort Zone met as usual to provide food and clothes to those in need,  and as usual we who give receive more than we give, but when we gather at the table all differentiations are gone, we are one in Christ and the singing and prayers revealed that powerfully.

As we shared the bread and wine the desire to serve one another broke through any so called order and with the wine and bread blessed and the appropriate prayers said the sharing began. Once again we sand Amazing grace, our chains were gone, our hearts set free as heaven touched earth afresh, we left one another with hugs and prayer and and assurance that God truly is with us.

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do we not bleed?

I am writing yet another blog post about the treatment of vulnerable people, every week I meet people who have been affected by cut backs and Government Sanctions, people who are struggling to eat, a man who asks us for candles because he cannot afford electricity and we cannot afford to help everyone with everything. This week a young couple asked if they could have an extra food bag, they were struggling to make ends meet with the effects of Sanctions and because her Disability Living Allowance had been stopped, they had applied to the Local Council for help but were turned down because they had money coming in on Friday, it was Monday! It was Monday and she needs to eat when she takes her medication, so we give out candles, we give out extra food bags, we give out clothes and whatever we can to help people.

We are often acused, by our critics, of being a soft touch, accused of believing lies and being taken in, and perhaps we are now and then, but I would rather be taken for a ride on the odd occasion than turn away people in genuine need, people just like me who bleed if they are cut...

People like J&C who have been living in a tent for the past few months, unable to find housing, unable due to a mix up to claim benefits, and falling through every crack imaginable. Every morning they pack up their "home" and carry it around the streets for fear of it being stolen. Every evening they set up camp again where they can, they are in their 50's, they are not unwilling to work, they have worked, life has dealt them a cruel blow. I call them my friends, and yes they bleed...

People like S who has been mis-diagnosed and even refused treatment at a health centre, told to come when it is less busy. People like M, discharged by an overwhelmed Mental Health Service, unable to cope and now homeless, hungry and confused. People, so many people apparently tossed aside, classed as unimportant, unwanted, undesirable! And yes, they bleed...

This last week I saw the system reach a new low in the same way for a second time, T came to Comfort Zone, he could hardly walk, we heard his story, made him a cup of tea and tried to help him. His leg was badly swollen and was becoming more swollen as the evening progressed, we made the decision to call for an ambulance, details were taken, and when it came to his address he reported as homeless. At that point the conversation with the Emergency Services changed, they wanted more and more details, a date of birth, a proof of ID, the reason we were helping T. We waited for an hour and a half, no ambulance came. Two volunteers took T to hospital, he could not walk, on arrival they ( 2 women) asked for help to get T into the A&E department, none came. The next morning T came to thank us for our help. He had been discharged at 1am, with a set of crutches and some anti inflamatories, he had nowhere to go... and YES HE BLEEDS...

I am absolutely exasparated that people can be treated so appallingly in one of the richest countries in the world. I am appallled that people are written off, consigned to the rubbish tip, disregarded and de-humanised. How can we not look into the eyes of out fellow human beings and see just that a human being. A human being created in Gods image just as we are, a human being with needs and fears, with joys and sorrows, a human being who bleedslike we do, like I do...

I am challenged yet again to consider my own lifestyle, to ask what more I can do, to recognise what common humanity means, and to speak out and keep speaking out. We cannot, we must not write anyone off. Richard Rhor reminds us in his book "Dancing Standing Still" that;

"Jesus does ask of us strong moral decisions, but they mostly have to do with changing ourselves, not trying to change other people."

and

"Who wouldn't like it if all in the world showed a sense of basic social order and concern? And yet Jesus says in effect, "But that's not what I am here to talk about, I am not here so that polite society can continue to be polite."

Jesus does not ask us to be polite, he challenges us to have eyes to see, to see others, and to see ourselves, to see our common value, our common humanity, our common potential, our common worth...

And yes if you prick us we bleed, but we also heal...

 Paintings mine

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