Tag Archives: faith

Warrior Jesus

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source: https://stablediffusionweb.com/image/18295280-warrior-jesus-in-battlefield-with-angels

In today’s Celtic Lent reading we hear abut Jesus as a victorious hero more than as a loving saviour.

The Celtic Christians loved their hero sagas of where the great warriors were honoured as well as remembered. They sous sing about their heroes and their great feats. Their heroes lived with an everyday sacrificial struggle, giving up their lives to save someone or a group of people.

At the cross this hero status was placed on Jesus. Christ is their conquering hero, defeating satan so that we can live a full life.

Throughout today I have reflected on this ‘different’ approach to the works of the cross. I have wondered what difference a conquering hero makes over a loving saviour and how that difference, if there is one, could lay out in my daily journey with God.

How do I react to this image of Jesus the warrior?
How do you react to this image?

creation

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Today’s Celtic Lent thought has us focussing on creation.
Yesterday we were reminded that the Celtic Christians took a non-duality approach to life. Today we remember that they believed that all of creation is being reconciled back to God through the work of Jesus and not just humanity.

When I discovered this a few years ago it became clear top me that my rhythm of life had to have a creation/environment element to it if it was going to journey with a God who was in love with the whole of creation, and not just people. For me, my rhythm of life has an aspiration to recycle as much as possible and to deliberately avoid products consisting of non recyclable materials. It’s not alleys easy and sometimes you have to search a little longer than you might like. But I personally feel it is important to make the effort.

Just before committing to this element of my rhythm I met a couple who ha been in church ministry for years who on the whole avoided buying anything new and recycled as much as possible. They got their clothes from charity shops and any appliances or vehicles were always purchased second hand. I really admired their commitment to their homegrown rule. It challenged me massively as well but (shallow I know), I like to buy new clothes and hats so that wasn’t a step I could take. I do, however, feel I should be able to!

So … how do we view the earth?
Is the earth special and sacred to you?
Would you change how you ‘walked’ if you remembered you were always standing on sacred ground?

Be thou

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In today’s reading we looked at the wonderful Celtic hymn of ‘Be Thou My Vision’. David Cole introduced us to different lyrics from earlier translations which are all based in that foundation of Celtic non-duality in their approach to faith. I have come to love this concept of their being no sacred and secular. God created the world, God inhabits the world and God will recreate the world, so how can the world be anything other than sacred. God is here … the ground we walk on is God’s. Wherever we are, we stand on holy ground …. that is an amazing thought to take into your day!

In today’s contemplation section we were asked to think about the ‘be thou’ statements in the hymn that explain who God is to you and asked to write some for ourselves. This is my attempt below ….

Be thou my Feelings when Ive sunk to the bottom
Be thou my breathing when I can’t catch my breath
Be thou my meditation as I open to you
Be thou my speech to enrich those I meet
Be thou my silence so I can hear what I need to hear
Be thou my passions as I aim for self control
Be thou my Justice when I feel life is unfair
Be thou my hope as I look to new opportunities
Be thou my calm when people around me are shouting

St Patrick’s Prayer

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Today’s reading has been looking at St Patrick’s breastplate prayer. As part of my rhythm I have come to use this prayer in its fullness on a weekly basis. On a daily basis, before going out, I use the end part of the prayer which reminds me of who I am and who I walk with:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Sometimes it has been a hard prayer to pray due to my context.
Sometimes I really just don’t want to pray.
Sometimes I’m just too angry with God to pray.
Sometimes I feel too disconnected to pray.
Sometimes I love these words of prayer.

But, without fail, these words lift me daily. Saying these words daily has become a good habit. A practice that constantly reminds me that, no matter what is happening to me or how I’m feeling, that I am not alone. Not only am I not alone, but I am totally surrounded, totally inhabited and totally immersed in God.

stories

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This week Celtic Lent is going to be looking at some stories, accounts and writings that relate to ourLent journey. Stories have alway been key to Christian community. Gathering and sharing and remembering can be inspirational as we attempt to navigate our lives around the stuff we encounter.

So …. which stories, characters or creative wrings have inspired you? Here’s a few that have stayed with me over the years, some have been historical characters, some people I’ve met, and some I’ve read in novels, heard in songs or seen in films. All of them have encouraged me and been enlightening as I was searching for some light at the end of tunnel.

Saint Brendon. His story inspires me as he stepped into the unknown. With some mates he jumped into a boat to take the gospel to other lands which he wasn’t even sure existed. On top of this the common understanding at the time was that the earth was flat, so Brendon was literally willing to sail off of the end of the earth in obedience to God!

For similar reasons, Abraham inspires me. He was asked to move by God. He did so even though he had no idea where he was going.

Ken and Connie cousins were two amazing saints that looked after me, loved me, and took me to St Mary’s church in Weymouth. They became aware that my home life was not great and so they lovingly took me under their wing. They sponsored me at my confirmation and stayed in touch until they died. I remember them both as totally devoted to Christ and this showed in the love they had for others around them. They inspired so many and their greatest delight was always to see others start their journey with God.

I remember I was struggling with a mass problem and this clip from Patch Adams floored me and had me streaming tears in the cinema. This short clip really has changed how I approach life and I totally believe that God spoke to me through this scene.

That’s a few of my key stories …. would some of you like to share yours?

discipline v disciple

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I’m writing this quite late on Saturday night after an amazing time with friends/family in a (new to me) restaurant. Throughout the day I have reflected on today’s reading which talks about the difference, or not, of the words discipline and discipleship.

In our culture the word discipline is usually thought of as something quite negative. Discipleship is seen as some long term endeavour whilst discipline is seen more as a set of rules and regulations. The Celtic Christians did not recognise any distinction. Instead they saw discipline as practices that helped you on your journey as a disciple. Rather than rules to restrict they were seen more as areas to express and to learn and, a real part of there relationship with God.

I have grown to quite like this ‘both/and’ approach from the early Celtic Christians. Where else, I wonder, is a both/and attitude both powerful and enabling?

the trellis

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After this mornings reading I have spent my working day thinking over the whole idea of a rule or rhythm of life being like a trellis. A trellis is used by a gardener to help a plant to grow. Every example of the same plant looks totally different on the trellis as the plant decides which way to grow. Although they have the same genus each one develops differently according to its context: soil, air, environment. The plant develops accordingly in line with what is around the plant.

Taking that principle we can think of rules of life as being a trellis that allows us to grow in our own way and not a structure that wants to limit us. Without the trellis we would lay on the floor, grow laterally and look a bit of a mess. This means we can follow the rule (Trellis) and express it in our own individual way. They way I do silence or prayer may look totally different to how you do silence and prayer ,,, but we are both following the rule and using silence and prayer.

This following of a rule in my own context has been key to my growth over the last few years. For me personally it’s been a tough decade and I am convinced that my faith would have suffered or been cast aside (or even totally lost!) if I was not already in the practice of following my rule of life. When things could have seriously gone wrong fr my life, the strength of my faith has held me …. actually more than that, it has allowed me to excel again in a new context. Like a phoenix, I have risen from the burnt out ashes and can live again …. but only because of the supporting structure of my rule of life.

time

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In today’s reading we hear how regular prayer in integral to all monastic rules of life. Every monastery has a bell tower which is rung to remind and call people to communal prayer.
I have adopted this process using my watch which silently alerts me at set times during the day to simply stop, consider where I am encountering God in my task, and to pray. I find that this practice gives me an opportunity to take a fresh look at the day again and again as I journey through it.
Today’s reading challenges us on how we use our time and how we might be able to organise our time to make space for prayer. For me this works best when I am out walking or running. It’s an added bonus if I’m walking or running by the sea. For others it might be while sitting in a train or changing tube stations. For others it might be at coffee or smoke break times. It doesn’t matter how, but adding those little times with God in some regular pattern does influence how we see the day.
What works for you? or …. What do you think you could start with?

Influencers

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Today’s reading from Celtic Lent illustrates how the different monastic communities and rules have influenced each other over the centuries. It’s thought monasticism was imported from Egypt to Ireland which influenced the British which then reinfluenced the Irish and so on.

Today I am going to be asking myself and mulling over what and who has influenced me and forged the way I live out my faith today. I can think of many people who have had a positive impact as well as, sadly, some who have done more harm than good. I am choosing , however, today to contemplate on those positive people and practices, to give thanks to God for them and to ask how these good influencers can continue to inspire and encourage me as I move forward in my life and journey with God.

Who and what has influenced you?

Rule of Life

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In today’s Celtic Lent reading we are introduced to the concept of a rule of life.
I have followed my personal rhythm of life for many years and, if needed, I update it annually after a period of reflection.

David Cole references Pelagius who states:

In a single day we make so many decisions we cannot possibly weigh up the good and evil consequences of each decision. We are liable to make foolish and wrong decisions. …. we need a rule …a simple set of principles we live our life by. This won’t be foolproof but our decisions will more often be right than wrong.

Elements of my rhythm repeat daily, weekly, monthly and annually. For example, daily I aim to spend time in prayer and meditation, weekly I aim to run 3 times, monthly I volunteer for a local project and annually I go on retreat.

I have taken those ideas and principles from monastic communities and made them work for me. Hopefully this week we will get to look a different rules and rhythms and see which we might gain benefit from in our personal journeys with God.