way out west

Lee Abbey Conference

Leaving for darkest Devon in the morning for a Conference on 'Missional Music, Leadership and Media' with CMS... I have no idea whether they have a Wireless (or otherwise) Network so I may not be able to post till the weekend... if not I will be relying on Jem - who I have just got set up to post on WOW - to keep the interest going ;-)

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Mission

Watchers and Holy Ones

Those amongst you who are regular Greenbelters may remember an Art Exhibition last year called 'Watchers and Holy Ones'  well I was up at Shallowford House and they had several copies of the booklet of the same name, which includes meditations on Angels and God.  I'm not sure how you get hold of the booklet (I have E-mailed Jake Lever, the artist, and I'm back at Shallowford in a few weeks, so I'll remember to take some cash next time) but if you can they are fantastic!  Jake's web site here and the promo from Greenbelt...

Ancient medieval frescoes and paintings inspire Cheltenham artist Jake Lever’s mysterious and beautiful images of hands. Explore the complex and subtle world of gesture and texture.  Created by pressing gold leaf and black ink into bone-white paper through an old mangle, these images – the product of two years’ work – have a strange beauty and power.  Fingers of angels point down playfully from the heavens and the leathery skin of the three old Magi tell of the their long and difficult journey. The cut, twisted, and bruised hands of Christ hang downwards.  Made for contemplation, these images are reminiscent of pages from ancient manuscripts, steeped in tradition yet utterly contemporary.

Technorati Tags: Art: Books: Prayer: Spirituality

Back from the brink?

I'm not sure whether I feel pleased or disappointed... but the news is that the Telford Mind*Body*Spirit fair is back on... one of Sian's friends has taken over the organising.  I guess this could be a Abraham/Isaac (Genesis 22) moment... where what was required was to accept the challenge, to be prepared to take the risk/make the sacrifice... then at the last minute God intervenes and says OK I'm going to take the pressure off... like I say, part of me was beginning to relish doing the really radical thing, but perhaps (as the noises off were already indicating) it might have been just too much for some of the institution to deal with?  Understandably!  Anyway... God works in mysterious ways!

Technorati Tags: Emerging Church: Mission: Spirituality

Facade

Facade
Originally uploaded by Mark Berry.

Douai Abbey are having some serious building work done... and thereofre they have a number of Portacabins on site... they have hidden them behind this printed facade... it just made me laugh and reminded me of Mike Ridell's observation...

"White ants will eat their way through the interior of wooden framing in a building… the surface of the timber seems intact, there is no obvious evidence of the ant’s activity… until the entire building collapses. The Christian church in the west, has been “white-anted”."

Spring spirituality

Spring is it seems a key spiritual moment in many expressions of spirituality... obviously fertility, rebirth and new-life play important roles in an agrarian culture... but it also seems to me that one of the features of our current paradigm shifting is that we are reacting against the mechanistic, colonising and dominating attitude we have grown up with in regard to the natural world... perhaps we are seeing it less as a 'convenience store' for all our needs, or as a set of problems needing to be understood and solved for our benefit... and more as something which 'lives' and breathes to it's own rhythms set in place before we were... I stress this is an ongoing paradigm shift... and I pray that we may be more able to feel, respect and love the rhythm of the planet and tune in to the immanent spirituality that echoes through creation.  Anyway... the point of this is that Cheryl has a series of posts that form a meditation/act of worship centred around Seeds.

Technorati Tags: alt.worship: Culture: Prayer: Spirituality: Worship

Risky business?

Been talking this Evening (daren't tell you where though!) with Mark Ireland (see below) about our pilgrimage and the risky ideas it has spawned (e.g. hosting a Mind*Body*Spirit fair)... you know I'm struggling with some of this... but talking with Lou after Mark had gone I was suddenly reminded of a parable/story that Jesus told...

"It's also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money.  After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'  The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'  "The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'  "The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.  'Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'

...just how far out are we prepared to go?  Anne Morisy says...

Journeying out requires the capacity to rise above the anxiety associated with encountering and embracing a potentially overwhelming, outside world.


...maybe this is one of those 'faithful betrayal' moments when we have to be prepared to lay down personal fear/concern for the sake of the world... on the other hand... I understand that it might seem irresponsible to take risks with the spiritually vulnerable... but... is it equally (if not more) irresponsible to play-it-safe with the spiritually supreme?  With God?

Technorati Tags: Emerging Church: Mission: Spirituality

Mark Ireland's new Blog

Mark Ireland - the Lichfield Diocesan Missioner has just started a blog (it's kinda under construction at the mo)... a case of 'if you can beat them join them' he says.  He has written several books on Mission in Contemporary Culture and contributed to 'Evangelism in a Spiritual Age'  Go encourage him :-)

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Mission

Amazing or just sad?

Ruth Gledhill doing a round up of GenCon (The Episcopal Churches Conference... or something) Bloggers links to this post from Apostolicity...

The woman at the head of the line was resting a massive lit Paschal Candle on the floor, behind her were those carrying stones (I discovered later), followed by a group carrying pitchers of water, followed by a bearer of windchimes.

The stones were supposed to represent sins, after being placed in a basin, the water was poured over them to cover them, (covering is not the same as absolving) and then, I suppose, the windchimes were representative of some spirit. But as one Apostle was heard to remark, "There are spirits, and then there are well,... spirits."

It's most amazing!

You have to see this to believe it!

Really!

Now I may have got the wrong end of the stick... I don't know the guys perspective or experiences (there is a nice pic of a Beardy, Preisty type which I assume is he)... but what struck me was the incredible gulfs in Global Christian Culture... reading this description of a Eucharist certainly did not make me amazed, to be honest I'm not sure what was amazing about it... the candle resting on the floor, the stones, the wind-chimes... ??? nothing amazing about any of those... If that amazed the said blogger, do you think his head would implode or explode at Greenbelt ;-)  However, what did amaze (and sadden) me was this bit...

Yesterday, as we were heading to the Special Committee on Communion Matters hearing, we passed the entry to the hall where the ECW (Episcopal Church Women) was having there [sic] Eucharist.

The Church at it's worst, segregated for all the wrong reasons!  Whilst the Committee for 'Communion Matters' the women were forced to  have their own communion elsewhere... I wonder did the Committe retire to the Drawing room after the meeting for cigars, billiards and political conversation?

Technorati Tags: Church

Oasis Leeds

Had a really fun afternoon... chucking a few ideas at the Oasis Leeds Students (Simon Hall's mob)... Softening them up for you Ben!... they were a cool bunch and asked some great questions.  Just wanted to post this to say HI to anyone of the students who swing by the Blog... Welcome - read, digest, comment :-D

Ruth Gledhill's great book giveaway

As if I haven't got enough books... I have been fortunate enough to receive one of Ruth Gledhill, The Times Religion Correspondent's cast offs... David V. Barrett's Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions - A World Survey and Sourcebook.
I guess this will go with two other arrivals this week...  A Tapestry of Faiths - W Corduan and Encountering New Religious Movements  - Hexham, Frost & Morehead

Technorati Tags: Books: Spirituality