the challenge of advent?

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The priority agenda for Jesus,

and for many of us,

is not mortality or anxiety,

but unrighteousness, injustice.

The need is not for consolation or acceptance

but for a new order

in which we may all live together in love.

In Jesus’ time, therefore, as in ours,

the question of revolution,

the judgement of God upon the present order

and the imminent promise of another one,

is the language in which the gospel must speak

 

Yoder is quoted again in todays Advent thought. This quote really resonates with me as I view Christianity as a way of life. Often people talk of needing to be comforted by God or helped by God or blessed by God. All of those things are things God chooses to do … but actually, in todays western church I agree that what we really need, above comfort and all of that is challenge.

As we prepare for the coming of the christ child during Advent we should have a great desire to be challenged by Christ. This is a time of great sacrifice and gamble by God. The challenge for us, I guess, is how do we allow that sacrifice and gamble determine how we live?

At this time of Advent rolling into Christmas, with images around us of cosiness and comfort and love …. I want to see challenge and risk taking and gamble …. life without challenge … well is that even life at all?

on track ….

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Today I caught up with Ian, my mentor, in Scooter Cafe in Waterloo, which is probably one of my favourite places in London to have a coffee. As I walked there from the station I was shocked by the realisation that I have not had coffee since before I was ordained as this was a place where I did a lot of my thinking, essay writing and reading. I found the creative ‘vibe’ here to be something that was easy to tune into … and today was pretty much the same.

I think it is fair to say that I have been struggling over the last few weeks to grasp what is happening around me and the correct way forward. Today, probably more so than at any other time in my life, I saw the immediate importance of having someone you really respect totally outside the situation, who understands what you are about, who can speak wisdom in such a way that things rapidly become obvious.

This morning we spoke about many things and I was able to view things from a different perspective. Most importantly I have come away with a plan in my mind, a plan or idea for us as the gathering  community that I hope will promote our growth, serve our identity and so make it easier for people to understand what we are about.

Today was a good day … and tomorrow morning it just so happens that i see Sister Diana, my spiritual director, in Edenbridge so that should help as well!

The moral of my story …. we all need people, friends, mentors and spiritual directors and inspirational places to keep us on track.

the seeping eternal …

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George MacLeod saw creation as resplendent.

He described the air of the eternal

as ‘seeping through the physical’.

‘What a wonderful world it is’, he said

‘provided you believe in another world.

Not over against this world,

but interlaced with it.

So started my Advent thought yesterday morning. And so started my conscious effort and observation, searching to notice this air of the eternal simply seeping through the physical or, in other words, our normal everyday world.

God in the ordinary, in the everyday, in the unspectacular is something I love to think about and something that I think is very present in the Advent wait and clear and obvious in the nativity scene that we wait to see. God in human form, as a baby, in a normal everyday birth in some stable down some alley to 2 pretty young kids, in some city sounds like a pretty normal everyday scene to me. This is such an ordinary scene most would not have noticed anything going on.

I wonder whether many allow God to pass by unnoticed because they are looking for the spectacular, whereas more often than not, it is the God in the ordinary everyday stuff around us that we can really grasp and connect with.

In the last 2 days I have noticed the eternal seeping into the ordinary everyday in peoples smiles as well as in the laughter or tears of conversation. I have seen the eternal seeping through laughter and tears and through sunrises and sunsets and in wind and rain and in music and …. the list can go on.

This advent I need to remind myself that I live in a wonderful world … because I believe in another world … not over and against this world, but interlaced with it.

a poets walk

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I attended another beautiful funeral this afternoon. I met Brian and Adela about 2 years ago. In that time I have come to know them as a couple massively in love with each other but who have that ample embracing space within their relationship which allowed them to be very interested in the lives of others around them. Brian died on 21st November and I won’t be the only one who will miss his smile and laugh around Rochester.

Today was a day of courage as Adela and Joel, one of Brian’s sons, reflected eloquently what Brian had meant to them. Joel spoke of his dad ‘always seeming to be going somewhere’ and the excitement of that. Adela told us that one of Brians passions was metal detecting and he found interesting artefacts, some held in the British Museum. The Times ran a 2 page interview with him as a result of this passion and Adela remembered that the reporter described Brian as ‘an anarchist with the heart of a poet.’ That is such a beautiful description of a gentlemen that I really wish I had met a lot earlier. Brian is probably one of the gentlest mans I have ever met, with eyes that overflowed with stories to tell.

The service ended with this amazing ancient gaelic blessing:

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

 

May The deep peace of the Creator God be with all who mourn Brian this night and for always.

advent gathering

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I felt incredibly blessed by the gathering last night. This was our last gathering of the year, and the theme was Advent looking towards Christmas. We held it in a different location as we wanted a bit more time and flexibility that allowed us to eat together as part of our worship.

After reminding ourselves of why we gather while lighting candles around an advent wreath we watched a little of The Nativity Story and then Tom led us in a discussion which helped us get to grips with the story as we questioned traditional thought and listened to other ideas.

In our Open Space time, which is always a time we have to allow us to engage with the story at  a personal level, people were creative in making things, listening to things and writing a carol. I enjoyed the carol writing which was a pretty amazing experience which was written by three groups of people taking a verse each with a theme and part of the story after a brainstorming session. I saw things others had created which were impressive and had clearly helped people engage in thinking about advent and the coming of Christ.

After open space we broke to eat and drink together before returning to share communion, after which we sang ‘Ordinary Extraordinary’, our new gathering carol, and then blessed each other with an Advent Blessing before leaving.

The whole experience was excellent and I think in some way we entered a new phase in our lives as a developing and growing fresh expression of church. I’m looking forward to our life together as the gathering in 2012 as we explore more together. But for now …. thanks everyone for making our Advent gathering such a special time.

a special day …

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Today I had the privilege of saying goodbye to John, a very special and unique man. I have only known John for around 2 years but in that time I have got to know and love him. He was very much a larger than life character and a character that was so obviously interested in people.

I remember my first time of seeing John. I was sat alone in the Deaf Cat, knowing very few people. John sat opposite me, told me he didn’t believe in religion and we chatted for a couple of hours. That’s the sort of guy he was …. interested in everyone or anyone.

Today a smile came to many faces as his fleet of classic cars pulled up, tears flowed as we heard some amazing singing voices and remembered moments. Amongst this, however, was a lot of laughter … unusual for a funeral …. but John would have loved it. I believe John did love it.

John will be missed by loads of friends, his family and most of all by Bet … Larger than life characters like John leave behind wonderful memories, but also big gaps … if you are the praying sort please offer a prayer for those left behind,  if you are not then please hold them in your thoughts.

Today was a special day for a very special man ….

ownership

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My Advent reading this morning started with this Eugene Peterson quote:

The simple act of buying a BIble
has subtle side effects we need to counter

It is easy to suppose that since
we bought it,
we own it,
and therefore we can use it

the way we wish.

 

I have been challenged to think more about this today, asking myself do I think of my Bible as, well ‘My Bible!’ If I claim I own it then I am at risk of just using it to support and uphold the stuff that I think is right. ‘

Bodenheim reminds me that:

many things have been justified through the BIble: slavery, a husband’s right to abuse his wife, parents rights to abuse their children, refusal of birth control, refusal of medical treatment for illnesses, the condemnation of homosexuality.

A question I am forced to ask myself is is, ‘do I use the Bible as a weapon or as good news?’ If the way I read and interpret the BIble makes life a misery for others or causes pain or victimises then I believe there is something seriously seriously wrong with that. I see the bible as essentially a love story between God the creator and the whole of creation. If my reading of the Bible is good news for others then something is right! Do I use the bible to oppress and impoverish or to liberate and free people?

If the Bible does not pont us toward God, but instead speaks for God, then the Bible has become our God.

 

 

 

dickens and decks

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so … that was Dickens, when we saw an amazing 19000 people pass through the cathedra! That’s quite a few!!!

The team I worked with were excellent, and at times we had people queuing for hand or foot massages and Jesus Deck readings. The experience was such a humbling privilege as we engaged with many people on various levels from talking about the beading, to joking about Christmas, to praying for some form of healing.

One person I will remember for a while was a distressed person shaking with fear who needed help. We simply prayed for God’s peace and this person became calm almost instantly which shocked her and her family. It was a delight to see.

The weekend has again left me with far more questions and frustrations than answers. I guess the main frustration is how we seem to just scratch the surface with most of those 19000 choosing to walk past the stand, many even refusing to make any form of eye contact. I wonder whether a part of that is a fear of not wanting to engage with something of the ‘unknown’.  My question, which I guess is closely connected, is why God seems to connect with some people and not others.

Other questions which came up which I’d like to investigate sometime revolve around the whole idea of what people think they are doing in their actions. One of the team, Nathan, was reflecting on people lighting candles and asking what, in their mind, are they doing or trying to do? It’s an interesting thought as we heard people use language like ‘pray properly’ and ‘make a wish’   and ‘thats for uncle Albert’. The action of lighting a candle is certainly helpful, and thousands were lit this weekend, but it is interesting maybe to consider what is actually happening here for various people.

Anyway … the weekend is over, the Dekhomai stand is packed away, we continue with Advent and welome Christ into our lives again …

 

Dickens Dekhomai

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This weekend is the Dickens Festival again in Rochester when thousands of people descend upon Rochetser from all over the country, and even the world, to ‘celebrate’ Dickens and his works.

WE expect around 8000 people to pass through the cathedral today and amongst our normal services and carol services we also attempt to engage with people again this year through our Dekhomai (greek translation: ‘the welcoming place’) as part of our Benedictine tradition of hospitality.

Today we will be be offering Jesus Deck readings, Prayer discussions, prayer for healing, hand and foot massages, the making of prayer beds, blessings as well as simply a place to chat. In other parts of the cathedral there are opportunities to light candles for people you may wish to remember.

So … if you are in the cathedral today … be one of the 8000 and pop in. Please say hello – even if it looks like we are busy it would still be great to say hi. If you can’t make it over the weekend, please hold those working in the cathedral in your prayers and especially those on the Dekhomai stand who seek to be a blessing and a help to those who come to us.

justice to video games to travellers …

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The title pretty much sums yup the variety of topics that we covered at our last pub theo session. At times the discussion got heated and at times I felt a need to play a devils advocate kind of role to fuel the flames …. the discussion was live, fun, noisy and challenging.

I was very conscious of people around eavesdropping on conversations and wonder if one day one of those people will venture into the group. I still reckon people want to engage with questions. WE all naturally question, I believe it is a human attribute, and yet there are few places today where people can go to debate anything.

pub theo is a place to debate anything and everything. It’s right that at times it should become lively as we disagree with each other but still get on together. If you missed this one then you will have a little wait before the next pub theo, which will break for Christmas meaning the next time together will be in The Golden Lion on Monday 30th January. As there is a 2 month gap we agreed to try and read Rob Bell’s Love Wins and chat about some of the stuff in that …. so a topic like heaven and hell, who is in and out, is hell a literal place … and stuff like that!

Maybe see you on 30th Jan!