As in previous years, it has become my little custom to design an online Christmas greeting for you and send the money I would have paid on actual cards to my favourite charity, which is again The Children’s Society.
I pray you have a peaceful Christmas
(Photo taken by me of Christmas lights in Regent Street earlier this month)
I believe one of the things some people are missing being able to do is sit in a space of calm, such as a church, where we can find some space to think and light a candle.
At St Barnabas Little Ilford probably around 70% of our visitors through the week come to light a candle and to sit quietly. As we can’t currently have the church open for people to light candles we offer an opportunity for ‘proxy’ candle lighting at 7pm on Wednesday evenings from our Facebook page.
If you would like a candle lit and a name mentioned in the ‘Light a Candle’ prayer event please drop a mail to prayer@stbe12.co.uk (If you wish to send just an initial or a codename to protect identities that is fine, we don’t need any other details to offer a prayer). From 7.00pm I shall light candles and pray – please join me. It’s also ok to offer names in the comments during the event.
May God bless and uphold you at this incredibly challenging time.
My friend Mark Berry is excellent with words.
Like myself he tends not to make New Year Resolutions … not because of not wanting to see change, but more out of an understanding that with God and with urselves change can and does happen every moment if we allow it and want it.
Mark’s blessing really resonated with me when I read it.
I think the words are simply stunning and he’s kindly allowed me to share them:
My prayer is that whenever the need for change happens in your life you will find the courage and the confidence to make it!
May you be surrounded by people who love you for who you are not what you give to them or what you might become.
May you have friends who want to journey with you and who allow you to journey with them.
May you know when to jump in and take risks and go on adventures.
May you know when to be still and to be in the stillness.
May you know what to give up because it drains you and what to pick up because it gives you energy.
I pray that the next four seasons will flow with blessing, learning, grace and love for you and those you love.
Beautiful words.
Happy New Year!
A challenging but incredible thought from Richard Rohr today … If you still have not subscribed to these daily thoughts then you really should do
Over the past year we’ve covered a lot of ground. We’ve looked for God’s image and likeness in many forms and places, perhaps some that surprised you: the natural world, human bodies and sexuality, poetry (from the Psalms to rap), justice, economics, politics (yes, spirituality includes politics), other faith traditions, even suffering and death. [1]
Where do you find it hardest to recognize the divine image? Will you trust that this person or being is indwelled by God—who is Love? Because of wounding or ego’s resistance, they may not be actively saying “yes” to and growing in Love’s likeness. Yet they still have inherent dignity and are infinitely lovable. It takes practice to see what we’re not accustomed to seeing. I find it helpful to connect with the loving Source within myself and then expand that awareness to others. This is a contemplative practice.
Take some time to rest in God’s presence. Allow God’s loving, compassionate gaze to soften your heart. Notice any sensations in your body, if you feel tension or resistance, warmth or release. Send loving attention to each of those places. If you feel pain or sorrow, know that God is intimately present with suffering. You are not broken or damaged. As James Finley often says, “You are not what has happened to you. Only Love has the final word in who you are.”
Draw upon this Love in yourself. Be filled to overflowing with Love. Gradually turn your gaze outward, picturing people you know and strangers you’ve never met, faces around the world. Imagine Love gazing back at you from their eyes. Return their gazes with Love. God—who is Love—is with and in each of you.
As with previous years, rather than spend money on cards that we all throw away I have designed this virtual card and will donate the money I would have spent on cards to The Children’s Society.
At this time of year when vulnerable children and young people need support even more than normal, please consider donating here.
In church this morning the Gospel reading was the meeting of Bartimaeus and Jesus.
After asking ‘Why did Jesus ask, what seems to me an obvious question’ we considered what Bartimaeus had to do before he could even hear the invitation of Jesus.
He ‘sprang’ up and threw off his cloak we learn from the gospel reading.
A little insignificant action maybe?
But … wait …
This cloak was the cloak that kept him safe
This cloak was the cloak that he would spread out for people to place money or food
This cloak was the cloak that would be wrapped around him in the depth of the night
This cloak was the cloak that sheltered him from the wind and the rain
This cloak was the cloak that said ‘I am Bartimaeus the beggar’
This was the cloak that gave him everything; his identity, his security, his whole life.
And yet he threw it off!
Why?
He knows the cloak will keep him safe; but he hopes Jesus can give him so much more
He knows he can exist and stay safe under the cloak; but he hopes taking it off will give him a fresh start.
He understands the risk (it may not be there when he returns); but he hopes there is more to life than this!
So we considered this morning …. what is it that we need to throw off so we can hear the invitation of Jesus?
What might we be hiding under that keeps us safe … complacency, wealth, health, fear … maybe even church activity?
This was a challenge to us this morning and we focussed in on the fact that Jesus invites us all on what we hope is an amazing journey … I guess the question is can we spring up to hear it?
Wondering around my patch of East Ham is still proving to be a delight; although I am wondering when the ‘honeymoon bubble’ will burst and the crap will start to hit. Maybe I’m being a bit pessimistic there, but as someone who is here to bring change I am under no illusion that, as change worries people, I will encounter opposition and concern sooner rather than later. Some of this may be due to misunderstanding, some may be because I need to slow down and some may be justified while others may be totally unjustified ….. I guess the wisdom I’ll be asking for is how I tell the difference.
Currently I am continuing to do a lot of questioning, listening and wondering. I am asking ‘what could church look like here?’ coupled with ‘what does loving service look like here?’ Interactions with people have been both surprising and exciting with ideas coming, sometimes, from the most unlikeliest of places.
I’m excited to see that little fragile rays spoken of earlier are starting to join with other fragile rays and slowly becoming slightly less fragile beams. As I continue to listen to people singly as well as in community it’s quite exciting to hear similar things being said slightly differently. This all feels quite slow, but after looking at my diary it would seem I have only been here 5 and a half weeks …. so it might be things are moving a lot later than I thought they would.
When you move to a new area you need to meet people.
The only way I know how to do this is to be out and about … cafes. pubs, music venues, the street at key times of the day.
Sometimes, though, I don’t feel up to the vulnerability level that getting out there on my own places me in and so I need to collect ‘tools’ to help me.
People sometimes say I’m brave to minister the way I do … I’m not sure that’s the case but it is true that I often go out scared, wondering what I might come across, how I may be reacted to and what will happen. But … that is part of the role so if you can be brave while terrified then … well … that’s ok I guess.
A precursor to all these is to wander around the streets in a prayer walk. I have already lost count of how many times I have prayer walked around the new parish … that sounds pious … it’s not but just merely be focussing in on the fact that I believe nothing happens without prayer and, in these early weeks, part from meeting people all there is to do IS pray!
At my tutorial at CMS with Cathy Ross on Monday we were talking about this and she suggested I try Street Wisdom as some kind of tool to work with. Essentially the concept is tying some exercises to heighten your observation skills on the street before gong on a ‘quest’ (taking a question out and looking for answers on the street).
My description does it no justice so what I suggest is look at the website, download the free audio guide and give it a go. I wanders and saw my patch is a new way, even after just a few weeks of being here. Slowing down and listening, looking, smelling and just noticing was quite an amazing experience. I was surprised by what hit me, and the message I received.
I was walking down one street asking my question (which was ‘what is this community yearning for?’) when I stumbled across this great big sign saying ‘one way’. I don’t really do ‘one way’ things and kind of found is amusing that I had planned, and went, in the opposite direction. I felt an answer developing that was saying there is more than one way, and part of the issue is that, in the past, one way has prevented the right way.
As I continued to wander I came across some garages attached to flats. These garages had
been gated off (I’m guessing by the council) and had been boarded up. They spoke of desolation. I felt they had been ripped away from those that had cared for them. As I looked, I saw a real beauty and potential in them. I was nervous, at first, wandering their on my own (that vulnerability thing again) but as I disappeared from sight of the community i felt the space to be one of great peace and welcome rather than threat and fearsome. I guess that could be different on any other time than 3pm on a sunny day!
As I continued with my quest i got a growing sense that the answer was something along the lines of ‘being cared for’ or simply ‘being loved’. Maybe that seems an obvious answer and maybe we could argue every community is looking for that But … this came from listening to and watching my streets; so its not just about being loved but about being loved in a way that means something … and that will be the next quest …. ‘what does loving look like here?’
Yesterday I was pretty inspired by this man!
Trevor brought some of Luke’s gospel to life for me in an incredibly, if not radical, way.
Two things in particular have stayed with me 24 hours later….
One being that he urged us not to ‘preach’ Luke’s gospel but to ‘perform’ it … to not preach about what it does say, but stick to what does say as we learn, and teach, about the God that runs towards us on the road when we never deserve God to.
Secondly he asked a great question … ‘Was the foot washing woman Jesus’ teacher …. did she give him the idea that he used on that last night with his disciples …. it’s a great thought to be unpacked one day ….
The Shiny Headed Prophet 