way out west

When do you bathe?

The theme for Tuesday's reflection/prayer and fasting is washing... so I decided to do mine in the Bath!  Seriously!  While I was lying there a question struck me... My Son has his bath at night, the purpose being to wash off all the grime and dirt he's picked up during the day... which with boys is a lot!  Whereas I bathe every morning, tbh I don't feel right if I haven't had at least a shower (though I am def. a bath man!), I don't feel like I'm ready for the day ahead (the number of times the postman has knocked with a parcel just as I've got into the bath! <grrr>).  I began to wonder when the change happened?  Probably when I was around 16/17 I guess, perhaps when I stopped coming in from school/play caked in mud!  There was def. a shift somewhere, a shift in the main purpose of the washing; from cleaning off the detritus of the day to preparing me for the day ahead.

I suppose the two purposes are important, we have to take time to get rid of the crap, to confess, to cleanse, to be cleansed... but as well we need to take time to prepare ourselves, to shake off the lethargy of the night and wake ourselves up for the day's business... Today I find myself focussing on the later, the bath as the beginning.  I guess one can see both in the sacrament of baptism, the dying of the old and the awakening to the new... baptism is about dying to the old but it is also, more significantly in some ways, about a new life beginning, being prepared for the things to come.  So Baptism isn't the end of the journey, but the start of a fresh stage of it.  In the Jewish practice washing has 3 senses (the first two of which are intertwined) - 1) to be cleansed/purified 2) being prepared to approach God and 3) as an act of hospitality... it's interesting that Jesus seems to combine them in the washing of the Disciples feet... he welcomes them, he serves them but then he also prepares them to follow him, to do likewise.  How could they imitate him if they where not prepared to be first washed themselves?  I wonder if in Jesus question he asks two questions 1) the one we often think of - if they could not allow him to serve them how could they serve others? and 2) if they where not washed, cleansed and prepared how could they then walk with him/God?  As The Message puts it...

If I don't wash you, you can't be part of what I am doing

So today I see a new beginning, today I bathe to be prepared to be part of what God is doing,  We have literally washed the feet of people this year (out on the streets of Telford in the early hours of the morning at sank•tuary) and now it feels like we need to be washed, not just because of the crap we have picked up on the way but to be prepared to face the new day which lies ahead and that we might walk his way.

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Three loads I carry...

This week I am fasting (during daylight) with my friends from Springfield Fellowship.  This was written this lunchtime as part of my meditation.

Three loads I carry as I walk,
Three packs I balance on my back.
Each one I meticulously packed,
Each I carefully stowed and strapped down hard.
Not one I felt I could leave behind,
Not one could I do without.
Three weights I feel dig in my shoulder,
Each one present and distinct,
Pulling me in different directions,
Making my way harder than it seems,
Causing me to miss my step and trip,
Yet often they feel as one,
So tightly are they bound together,
So long have I carried them.
At times they feel alien jabbing and ripping me,
At times they are part of me.
They are things of great value to me,
Things that make me who I know I am,
Things that give me place and time,
Things that though at time they give me pain,
Are me.

One great sack carries all I hold of worth,
All that I think I love,
All that I hope never to lose.
How could it be possible to leave this bag?
I could no more cut off my arm or leg!
This I bind closest to me,
I wear it next to my back,
This load gives me stability,
It sures me when I feel feeble.
It is my frame, yet still it is heavy.

One carries all my certainty,
That which I have no doubt is ordained.
In each part a word or thought,
A prayer or poem which gives me purpose,
It is what keeps me on.
It holds my map, my itinerary.
How could I abandon all this,
For whom should I walk,
Which way should I go,
How would I know, how could I be sure?

One load binds all three,
It wraps around the other two,
At times holding them,
At times pushing them sharply into my skin.
My fears I carry in this last bag,
My fear of losing the others,
My fear of walking alone,
My fear of being lost.
My fear of being pointless,
Of going nowhere, of being no-one.

But,
All this speaks of me; my loves, my faith, my fears.
My scale of what is valuable,
My sense of what is good and right,
My insecurity.
I am content in each step and yet I count each mile,
I want to pass, to savour each view,
To go the places I could not plan to visit,
I want in each to leave something of me, something good behind.
Somehow, I don’t know how,
I know I must risk leaving parts of me by the road.
I must give up my load,
Lay down my pack.
Not in wild abandon,
But in faithful surrender.

A Prayer from Thomas Merton (with thanks to Jackie Naumman and our family in Bembridge - IOW)

My Lord God I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
(Thoughts in Solitude.  Thomas Merton)

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Greenbelt 09 - The Long Worship Liturgies

This year Safespace joined with Feig, Grace and Dream to create The Long Worship - a day long (10-6) worship experience focused on Time, past/present/future... as part of the day we prepared 4 small hours liturgies, each around 15/20mins long.  They had three elements - 1) the psalms and themes of the Benedictine Small Hours (Terse, Sext, None and Compline) - 2) an element of the Eucharist/Communion (Confession, Peace, Bread & Wine, Sending) - 3) space to read from the evolving liturgy created by the participants ("The Work of the People" or the Wall liturgy - created from 840 words on cards which could be stuck on the wall a la fridge magnet poetry).  You can download the four liturgies below...

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Wellspring's Creed

A creed from our friends in Tomball (nr Houston) Texas

We believe in God – the creator of the universe:
God is full of mercy and grace,
God is just and loves justice,
God is love and is on our side.
God’s hope is to be in relationship with every person,
God’s plan is to restore all of creation to wholeness,
and to see his dream for the world
- his kingdom come.

We believe in Jesus the Christ:
Jesus is the human expression of God,
Jesus is the savior of the world,
Jesus is the living demonstration of God’s dream for the world.
Jesus came to put the world right again,
Jesus came to display the justice of God,
Jesus came to provide real & eternal life
- life as God intended it to be lived.

We believe in the Holy Spirit:
We believe that the Holy Spirit is here now,
The Holy Spirit guides us into truth,
The Holy Spirit empowers our lives
- as we seek God’s kingdom as our first priority.

We believe that God has a purpose for each of us, and so in faith:
We commit to recognize & honor God,
We commit to pursue a relationship with God,
We commit to embody the character of God,
We commit to align our lives with God’s dream for the world
- helping to make the world a better place.

Amen

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Ascension Day

Ascension day... a strange day, when the Disciples come face to face with the glory of Jesus... his true Godliness... and then are left behind, waiting, gazing at the now empty sky!  A mixture of awe and abandonment, majesty and mystery... 

We'll post our full meditation later.

Psalm 24
God claims Earth and everything in it,
God claims World and all who live on it.
He built it on Ocean foundations, laid it out on River girders.

Who can climb Mount God?
Who can scale the holy north-face?
Only the clean-handed, only the pure-hearted;
Men who won't cheat, women who won't seduce.

God is at their side; with God's help they make it.
This, Jacob, is what happens to God-seekers, God-questers.

Wake up, you sleepyhead city! 
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
King-Glory is ready to enter.

Who is this King-Glory?
God, armed and battle-ready.

Wake up, you sleepyhead city!
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
King-Glory is ready to enter.

Who is this King-Glory?
God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
he is King-Glory.

Technorati Tags: Christianity: Rhythm: safespace: Spirituality: Worship

The Green Light - A meditation

The Green Light.

(Song:...”..and I will trust in you alone...”)

Walk with me on a journey.
Explore. Imagine. See

Close your eyes. Breathe in deeply, and out so that you cannot hear your breath.

Imagine a place where you might meet with God.  Perhaps a room. Open the door, go in. He is there seated the table.
He may speak or he may not. That’s all right. Enjoy His presence.

He wants us to walk together, with Him, for a little while.

Imagine the sea.    A town with lights along the promenade.  We walk around the curve of the bay, out, out onto the harbour wall, to the end.  You cannot walk any further.
Behind you is the town.  Distant now.
It is dark. The lights curve, following the bay.  You stand on the edge of the harbour wall.

It is dark.  Sky, sea and mist is one before you.  Look away from the land.  Out to sea.  All is dark, grey, all is one.  You can make out no discernable features.

That unknown nothingness.
That dark mist.
That is everything.
Past. Now.   The future.
That is Him.  That is where He wants you to be.

In the near distance is a clear, bright, green light.  It flashes. You glimpse it.
On. Off. On.   Off.
It makes a shimmering green pathway in the water.  Clear, but constantly moving.
All around us is the world of man.
Bright light. Unmissable.  Dtark and clear.  Hollow.
He wants us to turn to the unknown, mysterious, misty future.
It is a scary place.
You cannot see what lies ahead.
His gren light shines out.
You glimpse it-so strong and clear.
Visible from far away.
Then its gone again.
On.  Off. On.  Off.
There is a shimmering, moving path to follow the light.
Turn towards the bay.
The tide is coming in.  Wave after wave curls onto teh beach.  Light and dark.
Light and dark.  The dark comes from behind you.  God’s peace.  God’s way.
Wave after wave.  It will come onto the the shores of our world.
His presence cannot be held back.
His precence is strong.
He is asking us to turn from the bright, known, empty world of man.
Turn around and follow Him.
Into the gray, unkown mystery that is God.
Follow the green light.
Follow the shimmering path.
He is the light.
Sometimes we glimpse it, but it is always there shining out in all directions.
Sometimes I have to wait for it to shine on me.

We’ll walk back now.  Slowly. 
All shall be well.

The church bells ring out in the distance up on the hill.

(song-...”and I will trust in you alone...”)

AMEN

This meditation was inspired by a meditation by the community of St. Hilda and St Aidan at Spring Harvest, Minehead 2009. The images, thoughts and song came to me as I walked along the shore afterwards.  It was a very powerful experience and the church bells really did ring out on the hill!  Praise be to God.

Carol Bryan 

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Paulo Coehlo on collective worship

well, to be more accurate Coelho (Brazillian poet, writer, inspiration etc) wants to know what you think about collective worship.

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Bored with Worship?

I never know whether it's worth bothering re-posting a link from Jonny Baker - I mean doesn't everyone read his blog anyway?!  But this is interestingt - an article from Musicademy.com... funny how things come around, but it seems even some of those most aligned with "Praise and Worship" culture are realising that something isn't right!  They respond to an interview with Joel Edwards (Evangelical Alliance) where he says...

There is something about the charismatic movement which brought something new and fresh. It came out of something new God was doing.

I am thirsty for something new again. I have to confess to you that mostly on a Sunday morning I am bored! And I wonder if one of the reasons why people are not singing is because they too are bored.

It may be a good thing to discover what you would write down if you spent two months noting what songs are sung on a Sunday morning. I cannot believe that so much of our repertoire has become so narrow. So predictable. That the formation of what we do on a Sunday is so utterly predictable. And I think to myself, how come the God who has formed the constellations and put the stars in place and has a new idea every second, doesn’t have something new for us for a Sunday morning? I wonder whether he might not be vaguely bored too.

They identify 6 problems and possible solutions (below) - this is a great conversation IMHO but it also sticks in the throat a little when you remember some of the criticism aimed those asking these questions 20 years ago... but, hey!

Problem – Predictable, Consumerist
Possible solution – Indigenous Creativity

Problem – Narrow Aims
Possible solution – Rediscover different ‘Movements’ of Worship

Problem – Lost connection with humanity
Possible solution – Multi-sensory

Problem – Inward Looking
Possible solution – Outward Looking

Mark Brewer's comment is encouraging...

As a musician I am more worried about the state of the church than I am about the state of christian music. Unfortunately God is asking his people to wake up and smell the coffee rather than sleepwalking through our maintainance schedules as we currently seem to be doing. Music springs from our culture. Same old springs from same old.Vibrant new expressions of musical worship will spring from vibrant new expressions of church. Relevant songs spring from relevant incarnation. A church that only invites people to join what they are doing rather than going into all the world is a poor image of Christ.

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The Passion Twittered

A New York Church is Tweeting The Passion today - Follow Here

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Passover

Our Passover liturgy.

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