day 3 …. life stories

Today has been a day of hearing stories of people. This morning, the daily office was led by one of the lay readers and she shared her story with me … and it was fascinating and I love hearing stories of people. Later in the morning I wandered to Wetherspoons and caught up with 2 or 3 people, again hearing more of their stories. This afternoon I visited the family of someone who recently died and whose funeral service I will conduct. I had  a fascinating and special time hearing their story and the story of their mum. I genuinely left their home wishing I had met the person in real life.

Today, on reflection, I would not say I have learned anything new or necessarily acquired new skills … but I have learned new things about new people … and that is a real privilege of my work.

Day 2: the vulnerability of realness

The placement continues … and I am using this space to reflect on my experiences I guess … although there is not really a lot to reflect upon from today.

The day started with morning prayer at 930 …. which is great as it is a whole 90 minutes later than the cathedral, and we don’t pause at the red dots which I have never really got! (If that last ‘red dot’ sentence means nothing to you … then thank God that you have been spared but ask an anglican what that’s about!).

Today we got key dates in the diary and then I was able to get to Rochester in the morning and the afternoon to chat with some great people. I believe these people keep me sane and grounded. So although I mentioned above that there is not really a lot to report, I am mightily hit today by the importance I place on people who are willing to be real. We live in a world of superficiality where the illusion of fame seems to be idolised in place of integrity and reality. Even without the fame, people live false lives of correctness, wearing stiff exteriors to give an ‘I am ok’ vibe to those around them, when they are clearly anything but. To be honest, and hence vulnerable,  in our society has come to be seen as a sign of weakness.  I am really honoured that in my life I am surrounded by real people who are honest and full of compassion for others and integrity in the personal lives. They are some of the strongest people I know.

To be real is to be vulnerable, to be honest when things are not going well rather than pretend. To be real also means you want the truth and are willing to deal with it … which means when you ask someone if they are ok, being prepared to accept the pain when they say that they are not and to live with that reality … rather than trying to solve stuff with glib phrases. The vulnerability of realness is a risk, because being vulnerable opens our reality to others around us. That is a pretty dangerous place to put yourself.

I am hit smack in the face on this day of Lent by the vulnerability of people that in turn point me to the vulnerability of Christ. The Christ that put himself at the mercy of others and , ultimately, suffered to consequences. Today I have noticed the vulnerable Christ living all around me in my everyday world. My response today, to God, has been a simple but tearful ‘why?’ Beyond that I find myself speechless.

I give thanks today for the honest vulnerable people who have become important to me … may you be aware of God standing with you in the silence …

day 1

So I have completed the first day of my parish placement. There has been lots to think about which is useful, and today was an experience of planned stuff and the unexpected …. such as needing to do a school eucharist at 10 minutes notice – which was the part of the day which really ‘energised’ me and the part that I enjoyed the most.

I have a number of reflections and thoughts on today:

… the poignancy of using the Ash Wednesday liturgy, ‘remember from dust you came and to dust you will return‘ in the setting of a local hospice really challenged me, nearly to a point of tears … reminding me that God may be found in all situations and all settings

… the internal struggle I felt when entering my fifth communion and ash service of the day while my being was screaming that I have spent too much time in church and not enough time with people outside … conforming my calling as a pioneer I guess

… the real privilege I felt while presiding at a eucharist in a local academy with Year 8 students. I have already pretty much said this was the highlight of the day … it has been a long time since I have had the opportunity to engage with a group of young people and seeing the struggle and inquisitiveness of the faces of these young people was a wonder … reminding me of how much I love working with young people, which I think I may have forgotten!

and the joy of seeing 2 friends at St Stephen’s this evening that I have not seen for some 12 years … confirming within me my simple love of being with people, particularly listening to their stories and learning about them ….

So … the placement is maybe reminding me of things, maybe challenging me on things and maybe even confirming some things  As I look to the future I hope this experience will guide me … I guess only time will tell

giving up the cathedral for Lent

I’m giving up the cathedral for Lent!
I find that the cathedral takes up an enormous amount of my time. I have found myself visiting and wandering through it, on average, around 6 times a day. Quite often I loiter and chat with people instead of simply passing through and and can often be seen sitting with someone in one of the side chapels  and listening to what they have to share. I’ve even taken to blessing crosses and babies when asked my concerned parents and people buying crosses from our gift shop.

It’s clear that the cathedral is taking up a massive amount of my time … far more time than facebook or twitter accounts do. On some days I have even worked out that I have spent more time actually in the cathedral listening to others than I have listening to my own family. I think if it was any other activity then people would be saying this was not ‘helpful’.

So …. I am giving up the cathedral for Lent. The last time I set foot in the building was yesterday, and the next time will be April 16th (which schedules in a post Easter break in Cornwll!)

On a more serious note …. today I start a 6 week parish placement at St. Stephen’s Chatham as a formal part of my training. I’m going to be involved in ‘parish stuff’ rather than cathedral ‘stuff’ and balance that with my ‘pioneering stuff’. So although I will be staying away from the cathedral it will business pretty much as normal with Wetherspoons, Deaf Cat and the gathering. I expect to learn some stuff which will help me in the future … whatever that may look like.

If you are the praying kind … please pray that I have the grace to be open to learning and gain and give all that I can … as I will be honest and say I really wanted to spend my last Easter at the cathedral with my cathedral family … and I admit to feeling a great sense of loss being away from that what would have been my last major festival with those I have grown to love over the last few years.  I am required to be at St. Stephens which, in effect, cuts the period of saying bye and I sense some pain in that. But … that sense of loss and pain can be quite a healthy attitude for me to be starting the Lenten journey with.

So … Lent …. and I’m off to St. Stephens for the 10am Ash Wednesday service.

(Oh yeah …. as an aside … if you thought my giving up the cathedral ‘ditty’ was a dig at those giving up facebook for Lent … well spotted!     I mean … come on … if Facebook and Twitter  have really taken over your lives so much that you feel they are getting in the way and you need to give up for Lent … shouldn’t that be a concern for you for the other 46 weeks in the year … just saying!?)

 

a transforming relationship

I little while ago regular visitors here will remember I got excited and had an excellent time on the CMS Pioneer ‘Missional Entrepreneur’ week. While there I made new friends and caught up with others that I had not seen for a while …. people like Andrea who is doing an amazing job in Kingston with people that the church have written off as ‘lost and dodgy’.

I have often blogged about my limited and occasional mbs stuff at Rochester Cathedral and with dekhomai. Andrea does this on a more permanent basis and is really engaging with spiritual seekers of the area. Andrea has, and still does, sit in that gap where other Christians either question what she does or fail to see the incredible value of her mission. I suspect there are even some that believe she is not a ‘real’ Christian due to the work she is involved in … but Jesus was not recognised either!

Andrea has given a great interview on the CMS Pioneer website where she admits she has no formula in this interview …. but that her mission (and all mission) needs to be about relying on God. It’s a good read so go check it out here.

 

http://pioneer.cms-uk.org/2012/02/20/a-transforming-relationship-with-christ-interview-with-andrea-campanale/?dm_i=G63,PHFU,4QJAAV,21YQJ,1

http://pioneer.cms-uk.org/2012/02/20/a-transforming-relationship-with-christ-interview-with-andrea-campanale/?dm_i=G63,PHFU,4QJAAV,21YQJ,1

the allotment of life

In the Christmas holiday we acquired an allotment from the council. I have been on the waiting list for around 4 / 5 years nd had started to think we would never get to the top of the list … but at the end of the year we did!

Our plot has been neglected a bit and needs a lot of work but we have been slowly working on little bits by clearing rubbish, strimming areas and starting to dig beds for stuff we are going to grow. We have even covered others areas with weed suppressing cloth … aren’t you impressed! The allotment also has a pond on it which Joe is going tombe responsible for which I hope will add to our organic vision for our plot.

This half term week I have spent most mornings working for around 3 hours on the allotment and been loving the space, the quiet and the freedom of working in the outdoors.  It gets quite buy at the weekend, but during the week, it seems, the place is pretty quiet. I have found that the allotment can be a great place of retreat. The regular and repetitive tasks on the allotment such as weeding, digging, sweeping or planting help me as I pray and reflect on what has gone and what may be ahead. It reminded me of my weeks retreat a long time ago with the Northumbria Community when Rob, my guide, set me a bible passage to mull over as I planted potatoes. The repetitive activity of planting really enhanced my thinking and listening to God.

The other week I spoke a homily based on the parable of the sower which was written in my head while working on the allotment. This has traditionally been thought of as a parable speaking of who will be in God’s KIngdom and who will be excluded. I am always uncomfortable with any interpretation which talks of a loving God excluding people. As I worked I rethought the parable and thought of it more as a parable of soils rather than sowers.

I did this as I noticed that all the allotments are identical in size but differ in their proportions of different soils which each allotment having some areas which are very fertile and are being fully cultivated and are fruitful, while some areas are hard and compact and have been paths for years, and will remain paths. Other bits are full of rocks and need ‘sifting’, while yet other bits are quite weedy and thorny and need clearing. I also noticed the plots which always seem to have the owner working on them whenever I visit tend to be the plots which have more fertile ground than others.

In my homily I likened this to our lives and ended
 by saying: ‘If you are like me, (and my allotment!) your life is going to be like a field. Some of is the hardened first soil, some of it is the rocky soil, some of it is the thorny soil, and some of it is good soil. The goal is to till the hardened soil, clear away the rocks, and burn out the thorns so that our entire field becomes good, fertile soil. We are all like allotments with our mixture of life stuff where we don’t want to hear from God and avoid him, mixed with the rocks that trip us up and the thorns we don’t realise are snagging us. But we all have good soil too, those areas of our lives where we allow God to change us.

I wonder whether this parable talks to us more about our personal lives and discipleship than it does about who is ‘in’ and ‘out’ of God’s Kingdom. I wonder if it is more about God challenging us to give over more of our lives to God. As we approach Lent, I wonder if this parable is not so much about who believes the right or wrong things, but about giving up ideas of the importance of ourselves and in that giving up, allowing God to remould us and recreate us into the people we are supposed to be. I just wonder ….