On the hill at Ein Karem in the Holy Land stands a simple statue, of two pregnant women greeting one another. It is in a way shocking, you don't often see statues like that, but it depicts a moment of simple joy between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. In Hambleden church last night, in candlelight, I offered a reflection which began with the joy of St Luke's Gospel, where, in the midst of chaos, everyone appears to be singing. Mary with the Magnificat, Simeon with the Nunc Dimitis, Zechariah, and the Angels. In the middle of much political unrest, in the middle of unforeseen circumstances, in the middle of minority persecution, they sang hymns of praise.
They sang because, like at the beginning of time, God's Creative Spirit brings joy from the chaos, gives life to barren places, gives hope in our hearts. We need to sing and we need to teach our children and grandchildren also, to sing, because God's Spirit changes things today.
Personally I felt vulnerable last evening. The public launch on Thursday meant that everything about me suddenly came into the spot light for everyone and anyone to interpret or reinterpret to suit. I needed much help to sing.
Which is why I am glad it was Advent Sunday. Advent Sunday reminds us that it was God's coming in vulnerability that we prepare for, and he asks for our vulnerability too. Like Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah and many others who have gone before discovered, without our own self exceptance that we are who we are and come to him with all sorts of experiences, some chosen or some not, we cannot begin to allow Gods Spirit to work in us a song, a song for others.
As we pray this Advent, admist the world's chaos, of climate change, of war and terrorism, of inequality, of dual standards, of confusion over what we really think about our bodies (pregnant or not), we do so knowing that the Spirit of God hovers over the chaos, and is within it, seeking to bring peace, hope and joy to a song.
Tuesday, 1 December 2015
Sunday, 22 November 2015
Ordination Sermon
It was a privilege to preach at Christ Church, Cathedral Oxford for the Diocesan Ordinations. I used the poems of R S Thomas as part of the retreat, along with the theme of journey, using the Ridgeway as an illustration. He is a fantastic poet and gives us all something to reflect upon.
So, come, you who have much faith and you who have little, you who have been here often
I
begin with a poem, written by R S Thomas
Prayers
like gravel
flung at the sky’s
window,
hoping to attract
the loved one’s
attention.
But without
visible plaits to let
down
for the believer
to climb up,
to
what purpose open
that far casement?
I would
have
refrained long since
but that peering once
through
my locked fingers
I
thought that I detected
the movement of a curtain.
R
S Thomas, who died in 2000, was a priest and a poet, described as lacking
charity and patience, and known for his Crabbiness, his poetry however captures
some of the realities around about life and faith, about pondering some of the
deeper things of life, as we do in a service such as this one.
I
wonder whether you have had a Romeo or Juliet moment? Balancing gravel in your hand, throwing it up
at a window, wondering if it will be heard? Maybe it actually happened for you,
the window really and literally opened and someone responded to your voice. Or,
maybe sometime in your life, you have called out, perhaps in prayer, just wondering
if anyone is there at all.
The
poem is an illustration of faith in most of our lives today, some of us
detecting the slight
movement
of a curtain, be it a hunch, a
mysterious coincidence or a curious inquisitiveness to push at the door, or
throw that stone up at the window, just to see what might happen.
Today,
that curtain has moved that bit more noticeably for all of us as we observe
faith in action. As these candidates (names) respond
to God’s call on their lives by being ordained.
25 being ordained in services here today, and of many hundreds being
ordained across the country over the last few weeks.
Calling
is both a very personal and a very public thing. Recognised within and without, it brings our
past together with our present and catapults us into a future. It is mystifying and definite, perplexing
yet simple;
Our
readings today, take that theme, beginning in the Old Testament book of
Samuel. Where
we
hear that God had been almost silent, maybe going back to R S Thomas’ poem, the
curtain had not moved for a long time and the prayers had stopped. Samuel was the much longed and prayed for
son of Hannah, who according to custom, at around the age of three had been
presented to be cared for by the priest Eli, being given to God for a lifetime
of service. As a child he ministered at
the Temple. Today we have heard how Eli,
the experienced Priest was growin old, his eyesight had begun to dim so that he
could not see, Samuel, his young apprentice was with him in the temple, it was
the end of the day, the tabernacle lamps were burning according to custom and the
lamp of God had not yet gone out.
I
don’t know whether you have seen those survival programmes, but one of the
first lessons to learn is how to create a spark, a spark means hope and life,
blown in the right way it can be
kindled
into a flame, and so it is with
God. God may have been silent but the lamp
had not yet gone out.
The
call for Samuel began. ‘Samuel’,
‘Samuel’ God whispered, so real, so audible that he thought it was Eli calling
him. ‘Here, I am’ he said running to his master. But checking it out, he realised he was wrong.
‘The third time Eli, encouraged Samuel to respond to God. Not his earthly master but his heavenly one. ‘Samuel, Samuel’ God was calling and this time
Samuel answered ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening.’ From then on Samuel
was himself engaged, fully signed up, in
the work of God. Bringing transformation
wherever he went and becoming a significant person in the story of God’s
people.
The
movement of the curtain, the lamp still burning, the gentle whisper of our
name. Signs of God’s presence in a world pre-occupied by so much other
demanding our attention. And from Samuel
onwards, God continues calling, throughout his Word in times of peace, and in
times of unrest, men and women, young and old, to leave, to go, to do, to be. And throughout the New Testament Jesus does
the same – follow me, come to me, be transformed
then go and be my disciples.
About
once a year, I take a week out of my day to day role to spent time as a
Bishop’s Adviser, all those being ordained today will know what that
means! We are the ones who recommend, or
not, as the case may be, individuals to proceed to training for
ordination. I consider it a real
privilege to sit down with each individual and hear their stories. My faith is
increased significantly, as each story echo’s something of the call of Jesus to
those early disciples.
Stories
of those who grow up determined to enjoy the good life, then God arrives and
turns lives upside down. Stories of those who have full lives, yet when each
day is over, lay awake
feeling
achingly alone. Where is the joy? Where
is the peace ? where is the love?
Stories
of people, for whom on hearing Christ’s call find his words get under their
skin, sharpening a discontent, a hunger of something better awakened by Jesus,
which refuses to go
away.
Stories
of familiar voices inside saying ‘Don’t do it. Don’t give up everything you’ve
worked for. Yet another voice whispering
‘This is everything you have craved for. Move, follow, be a disciple.’
Stories
of no regret, of receiving in return something more precious and enriching than
anything the world could offer. Spiritual riches, the wealth of divine love, so
great that it needs sharing.
Stories
of how eating at the table of the Master, with nothing spread there but the
most ordinary gifts of bread and wine, is sharing in a feast which makes royal
banquets seem like nothing.
Stories
of transformation and family and friends here today I am sure you will
recognise some of those stories, as you have stood alongside names of candidates, those you love,
and seen God’s call to service become more and more compelling. Many here will have stories of your own. Changed hearts and lives. As a church we may have many plans and programmes,
however the greatest impact will be made in the sharing of what God has done in
our lives.
Throughout
history that still small voice of God, or that sudden command, or that jolt out
of
the
blue continues to draw people into a life of purpose and adventure with
God. Some do not leave much behind,
others have to make huge sacrifices; but whatever the cost that call is
so
powerful it takes an individual hunger for meaning and places it within a
community of service to bring about transformation.
When Jesus sent his followers out he made sure
they knew what was to be done. It was not a hide-n-seek game. It was not to see
if they had grasped the unwritten rules. Jesus made his intentions clear.
A business had relocated and was having a grand
re-launch party; And one of the friends of the owner of the new business; Wanted to send him flowers for the occasion
so he phoned a
flower shop and left suitable
instructions. When the owner of the new
business received the flowers; he was surprised by the accompanying card which read: “Rest in
Peace.”
The owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he had told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, The florist replied, “Sir, I’m really sorry for the mistake, But rather than getting angry, you should imagine this: Somewhere, there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers with a note saying,… ‘Congratulations on your new location”.
The owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he had told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, The florist replied, “Sir, I’m really sorry for the mistake, But rather than getting angry, you should imagine this: Somewhere, there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers with a note saying,… ‘Congratulations on your new location”.
Christ’s
instructions were clear. Towards the end of his time on earth, whilst the lamp
of God
had
not gone out, Jesus demonstrated powerfully what that calling looked like, as
Samuel faithfully served, so God himself in Jesus Christ served his
friends. This is the upside down
kingdom,
where the unexpected, that which flies in the face of social norms and customs,
becomes the norm. This was more than R S Thomas’ movement of a curtain, this
was the opening of the window and the letting down the plaits. Christ amongst his people washing their
sweaty, dusty, soiled feet, the tenderness of God in those simple actions,
caring and loving selflessly, personally and unashamedly – the servant
King. Meeting their needs, kneeling
before them, cleaning them up, It was so unexpected, that Peter, like Samuel,
couldn’t quite comprehend. It was almost
too much for him to bear. ‘For I have set you an example, says Jesus, that you
also should do, as I have done for you.’
That
simple call to service, which we have before our eyes today, a call to all of
us, yet contained significantly in the office and work of a deacon. A human response by these ordinands to that
God of love, who still speaks in our hearts, nudges our lives. Who takes who we are and have and does
amazing things, using our service to bring transformation to
the
world. A life of risk, underwritten by
secure and abundant love.
I
have spent the last four days with these great people about to be ordained
deacon. Already
their
lives are about following and serving, and from today they will do that as
clergy – ministering, guiding, praying, modelling. None of these individuals know the complete
picture of what is before them, and on their retreat they have been given some
insights to help
them
on their journey, all they know that it is a journey of service walking
alongside those whom God places by their side and inviting them too into God’s
kingdom. A challenging call, for which they will need all your support and
encouragement.
As
we read our newspapers today, and think about our world, we return to that
imagine in the
Poem
with which I began, many of us are probably pelting the gravel at the window in
prayer
and
faith, longing for God to open it once more and for the plaits to be lowered
down to us. Today we can see God at work, that movement of the curtain in the
call of God upon the lives of ordinary people.
We can hear stories from long ago echoing in stories that are real,
today,
testifying
to the fact that God’s work of transformation goes on, that reassurance that the
lamp of God has not gone out.
For
you being ordained today, never forget your story and what has led you to this
moment, step out in faith in the full knowledge of God’s call on your life,
aware of all those who have gone before you, take your place alongside others,
and begin the work that God has called you to.
Yesterday I gave each of you a bag with 5 stones inside to act as
markers on your way, today you can also connect them to R S Thomas’ prayers
like gravel flung at the sky’s window, reminding you to pray and demonstrate
faith for others as you serve.
However,
this ordination service is something in which we are all involved and the
challenge of faith is that God is calling all of us, by name, from where we are
now to something far far deeper and vastly more meaningful, think about what
that might be, who should hear your story?
Who should be part of it? And
those here today, who maybe questioning, maybe bemused, maybe sceptical, maybe even
a bit inquisitive about all that is going on, I invite you to give God a
chance. To take a small step of
faith.
Later
in this service we will all be invited to receive Bread and Wine. That feast, I mentioned
earlier
that for believers makes royal banquets taste like nothing. There is a wonderful invitation to Communion
from the prayers of the Iona Community, a Christian community in
Scotland,
something for ordinands and guests alike with which I end:
‘This is the table not of the Church but of the Lord. It is to be made ready for those who love
him, and who
want to love him more.
So, come, you who have much faith and you who have little, you who have been here often
and you who have not been for a very long time, you who have
tried to follow and you who
have failed. Come, not
because it is I who invite you: it is our Lord. It is his will that those
who want him should
meet him here.’
The lamp of God has not gone out. Today let us all step out
in faith and service, be part of
the greatest story ever told and in doing so bring
transformation to our world.
Lent 2015
#washday was one of the themes of Lent 2015. As I passed a number of villages during that time I decided to play my part in the clean up.
Tuesday, 15 July 2014
Service as Usual
I thought I would write this the morning after the historical vote at Synod to enabled bishops (both male and female) in the Church of England.
I am reminded this morning of the relief I felt one time walking out of the classroom aged 5 when I and a number of others had been asked to stand up in class and explain to the rest of the children why we were leaving to go to another school. The fact was that school was closer to home and the decision, of course, had not been made by us. We were being asked to defend someone else's process.
The sense of relief yesterday (yes, rather than huge rejoicing) experienced by a number of us ordained women was palpable, for us it had been personal and the decision meant that we would no longer have to defend our gender, our willingness to use our gifts or our calling by the church. Since the Rochester Report in 2004, those women who have found themselves in key positions in the C of E, be that of incumbent, or Area Dean or Archdeacon, have been called upon to explain, speak up, argue for and defend the calling of women as priests and bishops. It has been costly. The process, totally out of our hands and overseen by the House of Bishops has taken us on a roller coaster ride and it wasn't until yesterday that I realised how hard that had been.
Giving our gifts to God and God's church more than twenty years ago has not only been about being the 'first' this and the 'first' that but caught up personally in the Churches disagreement about how and to whom should we minister. For the first time now (with the rescinding of the Act of Synod and the acceptance of 5 principles) can we sit in a room with our brothers and sisters truly recognised by the Church of England as being valid priests by virtue of our gender.
Yesterday it literally felt that the pressure had been lifted and we were freed to all be who God called us to be. No longer would there be an onus on us to defend our calling in synod debates, or rounds of PCC or deanery discussions, pitched against those who don't feel we have the right to be who we happen to have become and I rejoice.
If I had been called to speak yesterday I would have spoken about process and understanding. The Rochester report gave us an understanding of what others believed, and the debates since with those who share a different view, have given expression to this. It has helped me understand other loyal anglicans. However the process has taken us into a way of debate which has polarised us into groups - labelled liberal, conservative and catholic and set us against one another. The process has made it hard to interact with more than agreeing or disagreeing with motions set before us. It was not until the jolt that was November 2012 that the Bishops realised how much notice the world was taking, and the process changed. There has since been engagement and dialogue. I sat down with someone from another constituency to share and she exclaimed positively ' I have never met anyone like you before'!
It was sobering yesterday that as soon as we passed the motion, after a short break it was business as usual. Up and down the country too it was business as usual. From conservative evangelical churches to Anglo-Catholic Churches and everything in between, Christians and priests were going about their lives just being who God wants us to be. It is my prayer now that we get on with being Church together and find creative ways to do that. That lessons can be learnt about process and the pastoral implications of it.
I have always thought that if you do not join a 'party' group that General Synod can be a very lonely place. I will not be the only one today who is experiencing their own inner reflections on what it means to be a person called by God to serve the Church at this time in our history. It is good that it is almost time to go home. And as we do so, many of us rejoicingly, I pray too that as we walk this new future together, we do so with lots of grace and mindful always of those who find themselves through no fault of their own, caught up in our own decision making.
I am reminded this morning of the relief I felt one time walking out of the classroom aged 5 when I and a number of others had been asked to stand up in class and explain to the rest of the children why we were leaving to go to another school. The fact was that school was closer to home and the decision, of course, had not been made by us. We were being asked to defend someone else's process.
The sense of relief yesterday (yes, rather than huge rejoicing) experienced by a number of us ordained women was palpable, for us it had been personal and the decision meant that we would no longer have to defend our gender, our willingness to use our gifts or our calling by the church. Since the Rochester Report in 2004, those women who have found themselves in key positions in the C of E, be that of incumbent, or Area Dean or Archdeacon, have been called upon to explain, speak up, argue for and defend the calling of women as priests and bishops. It has been costly. The process, totally out of our hands and overseen by the House of Bishops has taken us on a roller coaster ride and it wasn't until yesterday that I realised how hard that had been.
Giving our gifts to God and God's church more than twenty years ago has not only been about being the 'first' this and the 'first' that but caught up personally in the Churches disagreement about how and to whom should we minister. For the first time now (with the rescinding of the Act of Synod and the acceptance of 5 principles) can we sit in a room with our brothers and sisters truly recognised by the Church of England as being valid priests by virtue of our gender.
Yesterday it literally felt that the pressure had been lifted and we were freed to all be who God called us to be. No longer would there be an onus on us to defend our calling in synod debates, or rounds of PCC or deanery discussions, pitched against those who don't feel we have the right to be who we happen to have become and I rejoice.
If I had been called to speak yesterday I would have spoken about process and understanding. The Rochester report gave us an understanding of what others believed, and the debates since with those who share a different view, have given expression to this. It has helped me understand other loyal anglicans. However the process has taken us into a way of debate which has polarised us into groups - labelled liberal, conservative and catholic and set us against one another. The process has made it hard to interact with more than agreeing or disagreeing with motions set before us. It was not until the jolt that was November 2012 that the Bishops realised how much notice the world was taking, and the process changed. There has since been engagement and dialogue. I sat down with someone from another constituency to share and she exclaimed positively ' I have never met anyone like you before'!
It was sobering yesterday that as soon as we passed the motion, after a short break it was business as usual. Up and down the country too it was business as usual. From conservative evangelical churches to Anglo-Catholic Churches and everything in between, Christians and priests were going about their lives just being who God wants us to be. It is my prayer now that we get on with being Church together and find creative ways to do that. That lessons can be learnt about process and the pastoral implications of it.
I have always thought that if you do not join a 'party' group that General Synod can be a very lonely place. I will not be the only one today who is experiencing their own inner reflections on what it means to be a person called by God to serve the Church at this time in our history. It is good that it is almost time to go home. And as we do so, many of us rejoicingly, I pray too that as we walk this new future together, we do so with lots of grace and mindful always of those who find themselves through no fault of their own, caught up in our own decision making.
Sunday, 13 April 2014
Maude Royden and Leading Women
Reflection for the 3rd Cohort of the 'Leading Women' Course
One of the most memorable days I have spent was in the
Women’s Library, handling some lever arch files which contained press cuttings,
letters and documents making up the archive of Maude Royden. Here I was handling, almost holy things, in
the form of flimsy and delicate writings one of the leading women of the past.
That moment was profoundly moving for me as I read letters of encouragement Maude had received from her mother, as Maude herself would have read them. Letters that revealed the vulnerability and humanity of a woman trying to be who God called her to be. At that time Maude had been banned from preaching in the Church of England, and the Evening Standard had published letters giving all opinions, many not kind, on the current controversy in London as to whether she could give the 3 hour address in a church on Good Friday. In the end she did – but not in church, rather the Church Hall and so many people came to hear her they could not get in!
Maude herself writes ‘ Learn to hold loosely to all that is
not eternal.’
Despite the feelings around her and the current state of her
church – in 1919 the church had confirmed the rights of women as voting members
on Church Councils, but was still hotly debating the issue of speaking in
churches, Maude’s dependency upon God was vital. She realised that from an eternal
perspective, like probably one of her own heroines Mother Julian, all would be
well.
However, Maude also saw the importance of her own ministry
and the steps she was taking to further women’s cause. ‘Here is the great
discover that awaits us’, she wrote ,’ life is all a piece we are not someday
going to be, we are already’
Fast forward almost a hundred years, and who amongst us has
not got stressed or hung up about issues relating to the Church in our own day. Yet that too is set in an eternal context, as
we play our particular part in the journey of salvation history, a journey of
liberation and joy.
Our small step as leading women is also significant, as we
take our places now within churches and cathedrals, bishop’s staff teams and
boards and committees; as we freely preach of God’s love on Good Friday. It may be challenging, or even painful but
together is all a piece which is as much about us being who we are called to be
now as in the future.
At the beginning of our particular journey together it is
helpful to reflect upon those who have gone before, to acknowledge our place
and see its value as God sees it. I am
not sure what Maude would say to each of us tonight, but God’s word says ‘ I remind
you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you. For God has not given us a spirit of
timidity, but of power and love and discipline’.
There never has been a motto for this Leading Women course
– but that seems to me like quite a good one as we venture together.
Fast forward another 100 years and I wonder who might be
going through our archives? those
fragments of us, which reveal our own vulnerability, determination and
humanity. Whoever it may be, may it be our corporate and individual hope and
prayer, that the ministry of women today will continue to be seen in the light
of eternity and our leadership and lives held up as very real examples to all
who follow of holy things.
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Annunciation Sermon
There’s something about Mary.
One of my favourite places in the Holy Land is Ein Karem, in Hebrew meaning literally ‘Springs of the vineyard’. It is an ancient village, in the hill country, where according to Christian tradition John the Baptism was born. This neighbourhood with a population of around 2000 now attracts 3 million visitors a year, yet the site on top of one of the hills is extra-ordinarily peaceful.
And in and around the churches there are some deeply moving and evocative sculptures and paintings of two women, Mary and Elizabeth – both pregnant, greeting one another and sharing with one another. I would have loved to have heard their conversations together, wouldn’t you? Where would they begin? The calling, the choices, the reality, the vocations advice, the future?
I am sure Mary was jolly relieved to have escaped to that hill country, away from the gossip at home, and to have the company of her elder cousin for advice and comfort. To talk through the message that she had been entrusted with, a message that turned her life upside down. God certainly interrupted this young girl’s life.
Plans had been made, she was to marry Joseph and was no doubt thinking of her future with him when comes the angel Gabriel with that message. That God loves her, and has found favour with her, and when she reacts with fear, she’s told not to be afraid, but simply to listen. God is going to do something wonderful through her. She is going to have a son, he will be the promised king, the saviour, the Messiah.
Today we remember Mary’s ‘yes’ to God and I wonder if you can remember yours? Let’s take a moment to do that. Ein Karem, for me is a place where Mary’s ‘yes’ was affirmed and where I, when visiting, could affirm mine. Sometimes we need those moments, to think back to that time when we first said our ‘yes’, for it is often that first ‘yes’ to God, that carries us through all the difficult times, the struggling times, the times when God appears silent and the times when it all seems like too much.
I am sure Mary throughout her life kept coming back again and again to that first ‘yes’. Most probably, if she was like many of us, she sometimes wondered why she had said ‘yes’ in the first place, but I am sure it was that which kept her going as she watched Christ journey to the cross and experienced the power of the resurrection.
Mary would have been familiar with her history, she would have been told stories of her nations and her people’s past – and the expectation that, someday God would send someone to bring the kingdom to fruition. And now she was caught up in that story herself. Gabriel’s message brought the common response ‘How?’, But the angel persisted – the power of God will be at work.
I think that we have done a great disservice to Mary in some parts of the church and Christian history. Mary has been embellished, made rather god-like and far removed from real life. That’s not the Mary I read of in the pages of the gospels, I see here a real down to earth, humble young woman with no sense of any importance other than she was chosen by God. How else can we ever try to make sense of the incarnation, of God becoming flesh and blood, real life, human ?
‘How?’, ‘Who me?’, ‘Why me?’ have been natural responses for many of us in our vocational journey, as we have sensed our own inadequacy for the task that God sets before us. It is a reaction often heard by a DDO, or those listening to candidates at a Selection Conference, however Mary, helps us see that our ‘How?’ increases a sense of faith and dependence upon God, who answers our questions and calms our fears. I worry when we begin to lose the sense of wonder that it all comes down to God in the end; when we begin to rely on our own strength, or the power of our personality or the experiences we have had to get us through.
As ministers, we should not forget that our vulnerability can often be our strength.
Gabriel’s message spoke to Mary about favour and blessing. Two words the Church of England doesn’t like to use very much, but two words I am sure we in our humanness would love to hear. I wonder how many of us have looked at what is going on all around us, the circumstances of our lives and ministry and declare ourselves to be blessed or not? I am sure, if you are like me, you see blessing most often somewhere else!
One of my favourite stories comes from Antony de Milo, and is that of a stone cutter, who is granted a wish; of course he wishes he was someone else, and when he becomes that person, he wishes he was somewhere else, and when he moves he wishes he were more powerful, and when he becomes more powerful, he wishes he was more rich, and when he becomes rich, he wishes he had more freedom. Finally when he wishes for more freedom he finds himself once again that stone cutter, who had no cares in the world than to sing all day and enjoy his work.
How often have you envied that growing church ? that larger rectory? That great music group? Those keen lay leaders? The church that pays its share in full and generous expenses? All of us, I suspect, want to know ourselves as being favoured and blessed by God as Mary was. However, I am not sure Mary always felt special. When she walked through town with her unwed pregnant belly the subject of stares and judgment, when Joseph planned to quietly leave her to avoid the scandal, when she gave birth on the ground amongst the animals of the manger, when soon after she and Joseph took Jesus and fled for their lives to Egypt. Did she feel favoured watching her son, the one to whom she gave life and her own flesh, be arrested, beaten, and killed?
God’s favour and blessing do not necessarily mean life and ministry is easy, or that we always get our wish, or that we live happily ever after. It is not God’s reward for right behaviour or right believing. It is rather a state, a condition, a way of being. Mary understands that her favouring and blessing by God are not dependent upon or determined by the circumstances of life. Her example teaches us to look and live more deeply; to look beyond the circumstance of life and see God within us.
Mary trusted God more than her life’s situation. She felt the movement of God within her, the kick of new life, and the growth of something holy. The favouring and blessing of God wasn’t around her. It was within her. It is who she is. That means trusting that God sees far more than we often see for ourselves. It means us looking deeper than the changing circumstances of our lives and trusting that even when we do not see it or understand it God is deep within us, working secretly, creating new life where we thought there could be none. It is about saying Ok, I don’t understand what’s going on and I know that my life isn’t going to end up looking like one I would choose out of a catalogue but I trust that God is at work in all of it.
This week I would encourage you to take some time to go deeper. That is not easy in the reality of day to day ministry; It is not easy to do in the round of worship, so often that we are leading ourselves. So having left that all behind can I encourage you all to use these few days to bring things back into perspective, to trust God’s favour and blessing within you, and sense that you are in God’s right place, even if it does not always feel like it.
There was a choice, but it was Mary’s ‘yes’ that released in her a tremendous joy, as she realised in a way that she perhaps never had before, that God was real; that his promises in the past would come true. Mary’s soul magnified the Lord and gave her joy, peace, hope and love. And joy because Mary realised that not just the promises of God are being fulfilled, but that it is happening through her. A humble, young, struggling ordinary woman. Hannah’s prayer of the Old Testament suddenly made sense because God did not choose the mighty and powerful, he did not pick those in authority, with great wealth or influence. It was a joy that overflowed, and probably gave Mary courage for the rest of her life.
When I look around sometimes at the state we are in as a Church the last thing I feel is joy. Even when, as was revealed in a survey last week, clergy are in the most fulfilling job! And I suppose it is because what I most want for the church is unbridled joy, that I find things around us, or decisions taken that bring unhappiness or anxiety or fear to many, so depressing. Somehow, as a church, we have a way of making ourselves unhappy – whether it be the 20 things we are not doing before breakfast, or our own prejudice or self-centredness. In a nutshell I do not see much joy around.
But on a good day, I hold onto that dream that if we really discover our worth in God, our pleasure in diversity, our creativity in our Creator, our faith in generosity, our joy in simply living then all will still be ok. There will be enough; the church will not fall down; everyone is welcome and there will be no divine retribution.
I think we each owe it to the God who loves us and calls us by name, to try to live in that joyful liberty. And I believe that is the only way many of us are going to make it to retirement and beyond, and to allow new life to blow into our churches and our church. To discover, like Mary, who we are and who’s we are and to live that life of freedom.
Mary pondered and treasured. Pondering and treasuring ask us to wait, to be quiet and listen, to be still and receptive, to be open and vulnerable to God’s life in our own. This is not passivity or giving up. It is actively participating in our own salvation. Mary opened herself up to true joy, declaring who she was and who God was. As we gather here this week the Annunciation to Mary is nothing less than God’s invitation for us to participate in God’s calling, affirmation, blessing, and freeing of our lives.
Yes, there’s something about Mary. There’s also something about us.
One of my favourite places in the Holy Land is Ein Karem, in Hebrew meaning literally ‘Springs of the vineyard’. It is an ancient village, in the hill country, where according to Christian tradition John the Baptism was born. This neighbourhood with a population of around 2000 now attracts 3 million visitors a year, yet the site on top of one of the hills is extra-ordinarily peaceful.
And in and around the churches there are some deeply moving and evocative sculptures and paintings of two women, Mary and Elizabeth – both pregnant, greeting one another and sharing with one another. I would have loved to have heard their conversations together, wouldn’t you? Where would they begin? The calling, the choices, the reality, the vocations advice, the future?
I am sure Mary was jolly relieved to have escaped to that hill country, away from the gossip at home, and to have the company of her elder cousin for advice and comfort. To talk through the message that she had been entrusted with, a message that turned her life upside down. God certainly interrupted this young girl’s life.
Plans had been made, she was to marry Joseph and was no doubt thinking of her future with him when comes the angel Gabriel with that message. That God loves her, and has found favour with her, and when she reacts with fear, she’s told not to be afraid, but simply to listen. God is going to do something wonderful through her. She is going to have a son, he will be the promised king, the saviour, the Messiah.
Today we remember Mary’s ‘yes’ to God and I wonder if you can remember yours? Let’s take a moment to do that. Ein Karem, for me is a place where Mary’s ‘yes’ was affirmed and where I, when visiting, could affirm mine. Sometimes we need those moments, to think back to that time when we first said our ‘yes’, for it is often that first ‘yes’ to God, that carries us through all the difficult times, the struggling times, the times when God appears silent and the times when it all seems like too much.
I am sure Mary throughout her life kept coming back again and again to that first ‘yes’. Most probably, if she was like many of us, she sometimes wondered why she had said ‘yes’ in the first place, but I am sure it was that which kept her going as she watched Christ journey to the cross and experienced the power of the resurrection.
Mary would have been familiar with her history, she would have been told stories of her nations and her people’s past – and the expectation that, someday God would send someone to bring the kingdom to fruition. And now she was caught up in that story herself. Gabriel’s message brought the common response ‘How?’, But the angel persisted – the power of God will be at work.
I think that we have done a great disservice to Mary in some parts of the church and Christian history. Mary has been embellished, made rather god-like and far removed from real life. That’s not the Mary I read of in the pages of the gospels, I see here a real down to earth, humble young woman with no sense of any importance other than she was chosen by God. How else can we ever try to make sense of the incarnation, of God becoming flesh and blood, real life, human ?
‘How?’, ‘Who me?’, ‘Why me?’ have been natural responses for many of us in our vocational journey, as we have sensed our own inadequacy for the task that God sets before us. It is a reaction often heard by a DDO, or those listening to candidates at a Selection Conference, however Mary, helps us see that our ‘How?’ increases a sense of faith and dependence upon God, who answers our questions and calms our fears. I worry when we begin to lose the sense of wonder that it all comes down to God in the end; when we begin to rely on our own strength, or the power of our personality or the experiences we have had to get us through.
As ministers, we should not forget that our vulnerability can often be our strength.
Gabriel’s message spoke to Mary about favour and blessing. Two words the Church of England doesn’t like to use very much, but two words I am sure we in our humanness would love to hear. I wonder how many of us have looked at what is going on all around us, the circumstances of our lives and ministry and declare ourselves to be blessed or not? I am sure, if you are like me, you see blessing most often somewhere else!
One of my favourite stories comes from Antony de Milo, and is that of a stone cutter, who is granted a wish; of course he wishes he was someone else, and when he becomes that person, he wishes he was somewhere else, and when he moves he wishes he were more powerful, and when he becomes more powerful, he wishes he was more rich, and when he becomes rich, he wishes he had more freedom. Finally when he wishes for more freedom he finds himself once again that stone cutter, who had no cares in the world than to sing all day and enjoy his work.
How often have you envied that growing church ? that larger rectory? That great music group? Those keen lay leaders? The church that pays its share in full and generous expenses? All of us, I suspect, want to know ourselves as being favoured and blessed by God as Mary was. However, I am not sure Mary always felt special. When she walked through town with her unwed pregnant belly the subject of stares and judgment, when Joseph planned to quietly leave her to avoid the scandal, when she gave birth on the ground amongst the animals of the manger, when soon after she and Joseph took Jesus and fled for their lives to Egypt. Did she feel favoured watching her son, the one to whom she gave life and her own flesh, be arrested, beaten, and killed?
God’s favour and blessing do not necessarily mean life and ministry is easy, or that we always get our wish, or that we live happily ever after. It is not God’s reward for right behaviour or right believing. It is rather a state, a condition, a way of being. Mary understands that her favouring and blessing by God are not dependent upon or determined by the circumstances of life. Her example teaches us to look and live more deeply; to look beyond the circumstance of life and see God within us.
Mary trusted God more than her life’s situation. She felt the movement of God within her, the kick of new life, and the growth of something holy. The favouring and blessing of God wasn’t around her. It was within her. It is who she is. That means trusting that God sees far more than we often see for ourselves. It means us looking deeper than the changing circumstances of our lives and trusting that even when we do not see it or understand it God is deep within us, working secretly, creating new life where we thought there could be none. It is about saying Ok, I don’t understand what’s going on and I know that my life isn’t going to end up looking like one I would choose out of a catalogue but I trust that God is at work in all of it.
This week I would encourage you to take some time to go deeper. That is not easy in the reality of day to day ministry; It is not easy to do in the round of worship, so often that we are leading ourselves. So having left that all behind can I encourage you all to use these few days to bring things back into perspective, to trust God’s favour and blessing within you, and sense that you are in God’s right place, even if it does not always feel like it.
There was a choice, but it was Mary’s ‘yes’ that released in her a tremendous joy, as she realised in a way that she perhaps never had before, that God was real; that his promises in the past would come true. Mary’s soul magnified the Lord and gave her joy, peace, hope and love. And joy because Mary realised that not just the promises of God are being fulfilled, but that it is happening through her. A humble, young, struggling ordinary woman. Hannah’s prayer of the Old Testament suddenly made sense because God did not choose the mighty and powerful, he did not pick those in authority, with great wealth or influence. It was a joy that overflowed, and probably gave Mary courage for the rest of her life.
When I look around sometimes at the state we are in as a Church the last thing I feel is joy. Even when, as was revealed in a survey last week, clergy are in the most fulfilling job! And I suppose it is because what I most want for the church is unbridled joy, that I find things around us, or decisions taken that bring unhappiness or anxiety or fear to many, so depressing. Somehow, as a church, we have a way of making ourselves unhappy – whether it be the 20 things we are not doing before breakfast, or our own prejudice or self-centredness. In a nutshell I do not see much joy around.
But on a good day, I hold onto that dream that if we really discover our worth in God, our pleasure in diversity, our creativity in our Creator, our faith in generosity, our joy in simply living then all will still be ok. There will be enough; the church will not fall down; everyone is welcome and there will be no divine retribution.
I think we each owe it to the God who loves us and calls us by name, to try to live in that joyful liberty. And I believe that is the only way many of us are going to make it to retirement and beyond, and to allow new life to blow into our churches and our church. To discover, like Mary, who we are and who’s we are and to live that life of freedom.
Mary pondered and treasured. Pondering and treasuring ask us to wait, to be quiet and listen, to be still and receptive, to be open and vulnerable to God’s life in our own. This is not passivity or giving up. It is actively participating in our own salvation. Mary opened herself up to true joy, declaring who she was and who God was. As we gather here this week the Annunciation to Mary is nothing less than God’s invitation for us to participate in God’s calling, affirmation, blessing, and freeing of our lives.
Yes, there’s something about Mary. There’s also something about us.
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Diocesan Conference Poetry Workshop
This conference workshop gave us time
To ponder poetry and then write a quick rhyme.
Gathered for sharing and caring and bearing
Each other, by tearing, repairing and daring.
Still, without a smile, the speaker stood,
Ravishing our minds with Wells of God.
Shining of the seal of love in Solomonic strains
of the absent present, and the Spirit's reins.
Before, I thought I understood it
Baptism seemed so simple
Washing, drowning, rising, drying
Happy parents, baby crying
Sam wells complicated 'simple'
Made profoundly unifying mystery of it
Now I know that past is lost
and future's lost as fear of both
denies me present tense at all,
But I'm forgiven by divine cost
and riven Curtain, resurrection, both
give back my hope, my life my all.
St Martin in the Fields gave us a
precious gift, we heard
a complex mystery unfold
in Dripping grace - simplicity
Creation cracked to let the light shine in
Beauty needs its flaw, salvation needs its sin
Don't let your thoughts go to sleep in your head
Your life's in your mind and without it - you're dead.
Let enough breeze whisper in through your ears
To blow round your brains and unleash your ideas.
Let enough moisture leak out through your eyes
To weep the compassion that falls from the skies.
My faith is so often comes and goes
and has the feel of silken hose:
It's good to know that God hangs in
Despite my waywardness and sin.
Imagination - a transformational thing
makes new transitions of the churches bling
Imagination de- construction
Guaranteed to cause a ruction.
Imagination running wild
At last to Holy Spirit reconciled.
Wet feet, trail from restless sea,
drip imprints of eternity,
all paved, and planted, like a kiss
A human breath, and God's caress.
I came here tired and thinking I was done
Tough shell but just cardboard inside, no cement
But memories reordered and reassessed condition
I go home full of re-enchantment.
Together onwards we journey, aware of our needs
Of a God who challenges, moves,inspires and feeds.
Many thanks to all the participants.
To ponder poetry and then write a quick rhyme.
Gathered for sharing and caring and bearing
Each other, by tearing, repairing and daring.
Still, without a smile, the speaker stood,
Ravishing our minds with Wells of God.
Shining of the seal of love in Solomonic strains
of the absent present, and the Spirit's reins.
Before, I thought I understood it
Baptism seemed so simple
Washing, drowning, rising, drying
Happy parents, baby crying
Sam wells complicated 'simple'
Made profoundly unifying mystery of it
Now I know that past is lost
and future's lost as fear of both
denies me present tense at all,
But I'm forgiven by divine cost
and riven Curtain, resurrection, both
give back my hope, my life my all.
St Martin in the Fields gave us a
precious gift, we heard
a complex mystery unfold
in Dripping grace - simplicity
Creation cracked to let the light shine in
Beauty needs its flaw, salvation needs its sin
Don't let your thoughts go to sleep in your head
Your life's in your mind and without it - you're dead.
Let enough breeze whisper in through your ears
To blow round your brains and unleash your ideas.
Let enough moisture leak out through your eyes
To weep the compassion that falls from the skies.
My faith is so often comes and goes
and has the feel of silken hose:
It's good to know that God hangs in
Despite my waywardness and sin.
Imagination - a transformational thing
makes new transitions of the churches bling
Imagination de- construction
Guaranteed to cause a ruction.
Imagination running wild
At last to Holy Spirit reconciled.
Wet feet, trail from restless sea,
drip imprints of eternity,
all paved, and planted, like a kiss
A human breath, and God's caress.
I came here tired and thinking I was done
Tough shell but just cardboard inside, no cement
But memories reordered and reassessed condition
I go home full of re-enchantment.
Together onwards we journey, aware of our needs
Of a God who challenges, moves,inspires and feeds.
Many thanks to all the participants.
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
What if.....Day 24
I began this Advent blog of wondering and questioning because of reading a book by Barbara Brown Taylor. The blog has been an ante dote to the rather arrogant certainty around us today in some Christian circles. The certainty that judges against any other opinion than the one being expressed. For me, I would rather live with the questions, because they lead me closer to an understanding of a God we cannot fathom and whose ways are as mysterious as that birth in Bethlehem. I leave the last word to Barbara - from her book 'The Preaching Life'.
'.....chances are that the way true believers believe is the way most of us believe: valiantly on some days and pitifully on others, with faith enough to move mountains on some occasions and not enough to get us out of bed on others. Since we believe in what we cannot know for sure, our belief tends to have a certain lightness to it, an openness to ambiguity and a willingness not to be sure about everything. Our belief is less like certainty than like trust or hope. We are betting our lives on something we cannot prove, and it is hard to be very smug about that. Most of the time the best we can do is to live 'as of' it were all true and when we do, it becomes truer somehow.
Our belief tends to show up in our actions more than in our words. Sometimes even we have to look at what we do to understand what we believe. We are not, at heart, believers in an institution or an ideology but in a relationship that changes from day to day and year to year. Just because we believe does not mean that we are not afraid of what might happen to us; it just means that we believe we know who will be with us when it does. Some days we are as firm in our faith as apostles and some days we are like lost sheep, which means that we belong to the flock, not because we are certain of God but because God is certain of us, and no one is able to snatch us out of God's hands.'
May the eagerness of the shepherds
The joy of the angels
The perseverance of the wise men
And the peace of the Christchild
Be yours this Christmastime
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
'.....chances are that the way true believers believe is the way most of us believe: valiantly on some days and pitifully on others, with faith enough to move mountains on some occasions and not enough to get us out of bed on others. Since we believe in what we cannot know for sure, our belief tends to have a certain lightness to it, an openness to ambiguity and a willingness not to be sure about everything. Our belief is less like certainty than like trust or hope. We are betting our lives on something we cannot prove, and it is hard to be very smug about that. Most of the time the best we can do is to live 'as of' it were all true and when we do, it becomes truer somehow.
Our belief tends to show up in our actions more than in our words. Sometimes even we have to look at what we do to understand what we believe. We are not, at heart, believers in an institution or an ideology but in a relationship that changes from day to day and year to year. Just because we believe does not mean that we are not afraid of what might happen to us; it just means that we believe we know who will be with us when it does. Some days we are as firm in our faith as apostles and some days we are like lost sheep, which means that we belong to the flock, not because we are certain of God but because God is certain of us, and no one is able to snatch us out of God's hands.'
May the eagerness of the shepherds
The joy of the angels
The perseverance of the wise men
And the peace of the Christchild
Be yours this Christmastime
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Monday, 23 December 2013
What if.....? Day 23
Pre-carols Communion yesterday morning. Interesting congregation, the committed who would be coming three times in one day (church wardens, organist and key laity), those going away who could make the morning but were going somewhere else after lunch, those who always come in the morning and were not bothered at all about the carol services and those for whom church was their lifeline.
It is this last group which made me reflect yesterday. I wrote a few days ago about creating community, and for at least seven people attending yesterday, all living alone, the local church was their community. It was here they met their friends, shared their problems, gained some joy in their week.
I chatted to a group of three old ladies about their Christmas - the first told me that her daughter had recently been diagnosed with cancer and had only a limited time to live. With the in-laws staying at Christmas they had no room for her. She had visited a couple of days ago - a journey of around 30 miles but without a car - 3 buses and a train each way - 3 hours travel. Christmas Day would be spent at home. The second lady told me that her son had recently had to downsize to live in a flat - again no room for anyone else at Christmas, she too was going to stay home alone. The third was going to her neice's this year - she did not do anything last year, for Christmas was a sad time. Her husband, son and brother had all died the year before one after another just before Christmas.
Loss, loneliness and the struggles of family life were all present in that short conversation. It made me think, not only how for those three people (or those around them) Christmas would not be how our media and culture would like to portray it, but also if this was 3 out of 20 adults, how many others are there up and down our country. It made me realise how how important for these three the message of God's love was, which I had feebily preached only half an hour earlier.
The Christian message of Hope, in the baby born in Bethlehem and who is Emmanuel - God with us, is ever more important today, for in a way all the wrapping, the glamorous present orgie, the bright coloured Christmas jumpers and the flashing fairy lights, just masks much of the darkness around. Yesterday I was not in prosperous Buckinghamshire - with its glazed ham, mulled wine and canapés. This was a place where the effects of hardship, struggle and isolation were felt on a daily basis. Much forgotten in some places. It is encouraging that some of our larger churches are getting involved with food banks and credit unions, for it brings the gospel into focus.
I would like to say there is a welcome in every church for those seeking God's love and fellowship. That is God's way, and for those who do not venture there - prayers nonetheless. Let's all look outwards these next three days and see how, even in a small, way, we can bring some light into the darkness around.
What if..... we each gave away something to day ?
It is this last group which made me reflect yesterday. I wrote a few days ago about creating community, and for at least seven people attending yesterday, all living alone, the local church was their community. It was here they met their friends, shared their problems, gained some joy in their week.
I chatted to a group of three old ladies about their Christmas - the first told me that her daughter had recently been diagnosed with cancer and had only a limited time to live. With the in-laws staying at Christmas they had no room for her. She had visited a couple of days ago - a journey of around 30 miles but without a car - 3 buses and a train each way - 3 hours travel. Christmas Day would be spent at home. The second lady told me that her son had recently had to downsize to live in a flat - again no room for anyone else at Christmas, she too was going to stay home alone. The third was going to her neice's this year - she did not do anything last year, for Christmas was a sad time. Her husband, son and brother had all died the year before one after another just before Christmas.
Loss, loneliness and the struggles of family life were all present in that short conversation. It made me think, not only how for those three people (or those around them) Christmas would not be how our media and culture would like to portray it, but also if this was 3 out of 20 adults, how many others are there up and down our country. It made me realise how how important for these three the message of God's love was, which I had feebily preached only half an hour earlier.
The Christian message of Hope, in the baby born in Bethlehem and who is Emmanuel - God with us, is ever more important today, for in a way all the wrapping, the glamorous present orgie, the bright coloured Christmas jumpers and the flashing fairy lights, just masks much of the darkness around. Yesterday I was not in prosperous Buckinghamshire - with its glazed ham, mulled wine and canapés. This was a place where the effects of hardship, struggle and isolation were felt on a daily basis. Much forgotten in some places. It is encouraging that some of our larger churches are getting involved with food banks and credit unions, for it brings the gospel into focus.
I would like to say there is a welcome in every church for those seeking God's love and fellowship. That is God's way, and for those who do not venture there - prayers nonetheless. Let's all look outwards these next three days and see how, even in a small, way, we can bring some light into the darkness around.
What if..... we each gave away something to day ?
Sunday, 22 December 2013
What if....? Day 22
With all the preparations which propel us forward towards Christmas Day - both hospitality related (decorations, food, presents) and work related (sermons and visual aids and carol services) - and thenbeing caught up in the celebrations after, it is interesting to read reviews in some of the magazines and papers which look back at the year.
2013 has been an interesting year - with news happening every moment of every day it is hard to analyse things. There has been much to regret, the squeeze on welfare payments has left many caught between a rock and a hard place; where employment is not even providing enough, where many businesses have not been able to succeed, where dependence on help - be it cheap supermarket prices, food banks or payday loans - has become the norm for many. This is a challenge for all of us in work to see whether we can do more, whether it is to give, support or protest.
We appear to live in an increasingly violent culture - on the global stage wars continue to rage, on the local, murder by someone know to the victim seems to happen frequently, and then there are the legal battles that get played out in court or on our newscreens. How do we counter such trends?
But on the positive side - and it is easy to see the glass half empty - we have had the warmest summer for years, people were a bit more chilled as they enjoyed the sunshine, we have enjoyed the royal birth, and ratings appear to be up for both the new Pope and the new Archbishop of Canterbury.
Some of these recollections have happened already as annual Cheistmas letters appear through the letterbox.
As Advent draws us into Christmas, these last few days may give us a time to reflect, albeit briefly on the year we have had - and taking the advent themes, to voice regret over our own shortcomings, as well as give thanks for all the good that there has been. That will set us in good stead to really enjoy 25th as we celebrate God coming amongst us and God continuing to be with us, whatever our circumstances.
What if..... we had the opportunity to rerun our year?
2013 has been an interesting year - with news happening every moment of every day it is hard to analyse things. There has been much to regret, the squeeze on welfare payments has left many caught between a rock and a hard place; where employment is not even providing enough, where many businesses have not been able to succeed, where dependence on help - be it cheap supermarket prices, food banks or payday loans - has become the norm for many. This is a challenge for all of us in work to see whether we can do more, whether it is to give, support or protest.
We appear to live in an increasingly violent culture - on the global stage wars continue to rage, on the local, murder by someone know to the victim seems to happen frequently, and then there are the legal battles that get played out in court or on our newscreens. How do we counter such trends?
But on the positive side - and it is easy to see the glass half empty - we have had the warmest summer for years, people were a bit more chilled as they enjoyed the sunshine, we have enjoyed the royal birth, and ratings appear to be up for both the new Pope and the new Archbishop of Canterbury.
Some of these recollections have happened already as annual Cheistmas letters appear through the letterbox.
As Advent draws us into Christmas, these last few days may give us a time to reflect, albeit briefly on the year we have had - and taking the advent themes, to voice regret over our own shortcomings, as well as give thanks for all the good that there has been. That will set us in good stead to really enjoy 25th as we celebrate God coming amongst us and God continuing to be with us, whatever our circumstances.
What if..... we had the opportunity to rerun our year?
Saturday, 21 December 2013
What if....? Day 21
The thing I most miss from parish ministry is the sense of being part of a community. It is particularly a loss during the seasons of Lent and Advent, when there is a feeling, as a parish priest, of walking alongside a community during a season of preparation - and then at Easter and Christmas celebrating with that same group of people the joy of arrival.
We all need community, however the more we move to different parts of the country, or into a different sphere of leadership, that community gets more and more dispersed. It then becomes more of an effort to gather people, to keep in touch and to have any meaningful relationship with them. Hence the use of Facebook for people to stay in contact and share the journey.
I often ask the question - where and who is my community, and it am often asked it. The different congregation each Sunday is something, especially now I know people,; the sisters at Burnham Abbey are part of my extended community, as are the people I work with more regularly or live among.
Last nights attempt at building community gathered a number of people for mulled wine and mince pies at The Rectory. In someway it was a disparate group of people, their only apparent connection was that they knew me. However as they got chatting and shared stories and experiences there were numerous connections happening. Clergy who did not know one another, those who lived in close proximity, those who only met occasionally and formally, those recently retired or had never met their spouses colleagues before. It was a chance for busy clergy to attend something, rather than make it happen, for locals to meet people a bit further afield and for those who worked alone to meet others.
Whether we have a ready made one or not, all community building takes time and effort. Investment in people and in bringing them together, for true community is not a self-serving thing, it is connecting others, creating the bigger picture and broadening the vision. It is not being part of the sum that counts, but the sum of all the parts, whoever and wherever those parts may be.
What if...we all spent some time community building this Christmas?
We all need community, however the more we move to different parts of the country, or into a different sphere of leadership, that community gets more and more dispersed. It then becomes more of an effort to gather people, to keep in touch and to have any meaningful relationship with them. Hence the use of Facebook for people to stay in contact and share the journey.
I often ask the question - where and who is my community, and it am often asked it. The different congregation each Sunday is something, especially now I know people,; the sisters at Burnham Abbey are part of my extended community, as are the people I work with more regularly or live among.
Last nights attempt at building community gathered a number of people for mulled wine and mince pies at The Rectory. In someway it was a disparate group of people, their only apparent connection was that they knew me. However as they got chatting and shared stories and experiences there were numerous connections happening. Clergy who did not know one another, those who lived in close proximity, those who only met occasionally and formally, those recently retired or had never met their spouses colleagues before. It was a chance for busy clergy to attend something, rather than make it happen, for locals to meet people a bit further afield and for those who worked alone to meet others.
Whether we have a ready made one or not, all community building takes time and effort. Investment in people and in bringing them together, for true community is not a self-serving thing, it is connecting others, creating the bigger picture and broadening the vision. It is not being part of the sum that counts, but the sum of all the parts, whoever and wherever those parts may be.
What if...we all spent some time community building this Christmas?
Friday, 20 December 2013
What if...? Day 20
Suddenly I am caught up in a writing frenzy as I realise that 5 services are just around the corner. It is always a challenge adding a new slant on the Christmas story, and somehow messages from the past do not quite fit.
A return visit to Bethlehem this year has helped, this time in February - when reflection on Christmas is not quite in tune with the year. To think of Bethlehem out of context helps gain a better perspective on the ordinariness of the event, and it's extra ordinary impact. The need to get the baby out of the manager and I to our lives and world.
With Syria and Egypt, Afghanistan and Iraq still very much in the news during 2013 and our own domestic scene of cost cutting, increasing reliance on food banks and a royal baby - the Holy land has been off the radar for a bit. However the plight of the Palestinian Christians goes on, that small remnant amongst Jews and Muslims, trying to live as peaceably as possible with their neighbours.
I will never forget hearing gun fire, as I sat in the courtyard of a church on the site of Jacob's well, in the West Bank, hearing the confession of one of our tour party. It brought home to me both the fragility and vulnerability of the world in which we live and the life we each occupy. The fact that Christ came into a similar upside down world, and taught us about turning it the right way up. That's what has been going on for the last 2000 years and still goes on.
As I rewrite my messages, there is still a need to realign the priorities and set a new course. From hatred to love, from anger to reconciliation, from repression to confession and from doubt to faith. It's a complex world and there is no slick message. The preacher in our own tentative steps towards enlightenment is as vulnerable as the tentative seeker coming to hear.
What if.......we admitted we do not have all the answers?
A return visit to Bethlehem this year has helped, this time in February - when reflection on Christmas is not quite in tune with the year. To think of Bethlehem out of context helps gain a better perspective on the ordinariness of the event, and it's extra ordinary impact. The need to get the baby out of the manager and I to our lives and world.
With Syria and Egypt, Afghanistan and Iraq still very much in the news during 2013 and our own domestic scene of cost cutting, increasing reliance on food banks and a royal baby - the Holy land has been off the radar for a bit. However the plight of the Palestinian Christians goes on, that small remnant amongst Jews and Muslims, trying to live as peaceably as possible with their neighbours.
I will never forget hearing gun fire, as I sat in the courtyard of a church on the site of Jacob's well, in the West Bank, hearing the confession of one of our tour party. It brought home to me both the fragility and vulnerability of the world in which we live and the life we each occupy. The fact that Christ came into a similar upside down world, and taught us about turning it the right way up. That's what has been going on for the last 2000 years and still goes on.
As I rewrite my messages, there is still a need to realign the priorities and set a new course. From hatred to love, from anger to reconciliation, from repression to confession and from doubt to faith. It's a complex world and there is no slick message. The preacher in our own tentative steps towards enlightenment is as vulnerable as the tentative seeker coming to hear.
What if.......we admitted we do not have all the answers?
Thursday, 19 December 2013
What if...? Day 19
Beautiful Holy Communion yesterday with the sisters at Burnham Abbey. A quiet oasis in the midst of a busy time and a busy season. The chance to stop, and pray and share in Holy things.
I think one of the most important aspects of the work of the Anglican Church in Bucks is the praying presence of two communities. The Sisters of Burnham Abbey at one end and the Well at Willen, in Milton Keynes at the other. It seems significant that symbolically all we do, up and down the archdeaconry is sandwiched together by prayer. The fact that not many people know that is even more striking. Silently, regularly, rhymically the needs of the church and the world are brought before God. That is so reassuring to me as I drive from one end to the other throughout the year.
Yesterday's reading at Holy Communion was the Birth of Jesus narrative from Mathew's gospel. We were reminded that Christ was Emmanuel, God with us. This one day event, now can be an everyday event if we acknowledge Christ in our lives. That is made even more real to me as I connect occasionally with the praying presence that is Burnham Abbey, recognising its eternal significance for all that we do.
What if.. we all stopped for a moment today and put what concerns us into perspective?
I think one of the most important aspects of the work of the Anglican Church in Bucks is the praying presence of two communities. The Sisters of Burnham Abbey at one end and the Well at Willen, in Milton Keynes at the other. It seems significant that symbolically all we do, up and down the archdeaconry is sandwiched together by prayer. The fact that not many people know that is even more striking. Silently, regularly, rhymically the needs of the church and the world are brought before God. That is so reassuring to me as I drive from one end to the other throughout the year.
Yesterday's reading at Holy Communion was the Birth of Jesus narrative from Mathew's gospel. We were reminded that Christ was Emmanuel, God with us. This one day event, now can be an everyday event if we acknowledge Christ in our lives. That is made even more real to me as I connect occasionally with the praying presence that is Burnham Abbey, recognising its eternal significance for all that we do.
What if.. we all stopped for a moment today and put what concerns us into perspective?
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
What if......Day 18
A Chrismassie evening last night with those training to be Licenced Lay ministers and Priests in the archdeaconry, hosted by our Director of Ordinands. It was very encouraging to see the variety in the room of age, gender and Christian tradition. A group of people enthusiastic to serve God and God's Church.
Usually the group that the archdeacon has least to do with prior to ordination, it was also good to see last night people known to me as those who have been active in their local churches for many years. As individuals are encouraged to use their gifts ministries develop. The often used word when people describe their call to licenced ministry is 'surprise'. That God uses ordinary people in the service of the world is hardly rocket science (who else can he use) but the fact that it is you and me somehow makes it even more unbelievable.
Participation in God's work has no barriers, just a willing heart is required. Only by having men and women who say 'yes' can that important work be done - and what is that work? Making disciples of all the nations, yes, but also feeding the hungry, visiting the lonely, clothing the naked, befriending the stranger. In fact making the world a better place. The fact that God continues to call people tells me that the work is far from complete and the mission of the Church will continue as it has done for two thousand years.
What if......we all did something for the Kingdom today?
Usually the group that the archdeacon has least to do with prior to ordination, it was also good to see last night people known to me as those who have been active in their local churches for many years. As individuals are encouraged to use their gifts ministries develop. The often used word when people describe their call to licenced ministry is 'surprise'. That God uses ordinary people in the service of the world is hardly rocket science (who else can he use) but the fact that it is you and me somehow makes it even more unbelievable.
Participation in God's work has no barriers, just a willing heart is required. Only by having men and women who say 'yes' can that important work be done - and what is that work? Making disciples of all the nations, yes, but also feeding the hungry, visiting the lonely, clothing the naked, befriending the stranger. In fact making the world a better place. The fact that God continues to call people tells me that the work is far from complete and the mission of the Church will continue as it has done for two thousand years.
What if......we all did something for the Kingdom today?
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
What if....? Day 17
It's strange how some things can play on your mind. I have had a bit of a sleepless night worrying about a decision I had to make yesterday. I had not received the information I needed prior to a meeting, and so have refused to go ahead with the meeting. Quite understandable, I hear some of you say, but the actual being up front, and assertive, and delaying a meeting until the new year was very much against my nature. Could I fit in doing the preparation before hand ? No. But I do feel as thought I have let people down by cancelling a meeting!
I suppose it's where we all draw the line at being reasonable. I had asked for information for the last month and it had not been forthcoming. Less than two days before a meeting was unreasonable. If I was delaying a meeting that would be unreasonable, but we have time on our side, so that is reasonable.
Maybe I am far too conscientious, always giving the benefit of the doubt, to others and going along with it. Yet by standing out I am the one who feels bad! Maybe too the guilt is coupled with the fact that I have had a get days off recently? Know harm in that anyway, but again I feel bad.
These are some of the dilemmas those in ministry feel quite often. The Christian way of putting others first gets us into all sorts of knots. We do not want to let people down, want to be always there, always responsive, always thought well of. Most of us want to work hard, get good results, and help things along. We want to work for good, even if it costs us.
And all of this is often at the expense of our friends and families, our work/life balance and our own health. Clergy stress is high.
Today at bishop's staff we are addressing some of these issues as we discuss how we can better care for our clergy and how we can be an example to them. Maybe, just maybe my own assertion that it is reasonable to cancel a meeting and the related feelings around it, with help us all encourage one another that reasonableness around a work/life balance is everyone's right and responsibility.
What if..... we all ceased to feel guilty about things that are unreasonable anyway?
I suppose it's where we all draw the line at being reasonable. I had asked for information for the last month and it had not been forthcoming. Less than two days before a meeting was unreasonable. If I was delaying a meeting that would be unreasonable, but we have time on our side, so that is reasonable.
Maybe I am far too conscientious, always giving the benefit of the doubt, to others and going along with it. Yet by standing out I am the one who feels bad! Maybe too the guilt is coupled with the fact that I have had a get days off recently? Know harm in that anyway, but again I feel bad.
These are some of the dilemmas those in ministry feel quite often. The Christian way of putting others first gets us into all sorts of knots. We do not want to let people down, want to be always there, always responsive, always thought well of. Most of us want to work hard, get good results, and help things along. We want to work for good, even if it costs us.
And all of this is often at the expense of our friends and families, our work/life balance and our own health. Clergy stress is high.
Today at bishop's staff we are addressing some of these issues as we discuss how we can better care for our clergy and how we can be an example to them. Maybe, just maybe my own assertion that it is reasonable to cancel a meeting and the related feelings around it, with help us all encourage one another that reasonableness around a work/life balance is everyone's right and responsibility.
What if..... we all ceased to feel guilty about things that are unreasonable anyway?
Monday, 16 December 2013
What if.....day 16
Came third yesterday in a Christmas quiz! Two friends and I - the three french hens - took part in a fun quiz. Interesting questions, only one religious one out of 50, and the spelling of nearby teams of the word myrrh, was quite interesting. Anyway, we did not know the number of reindeer - nor their names, or the year the Beatles had a Christmas number one with 'I wanna hold your hand' but managed quite a few of the rest.
The small blot on the evening, came from a disagreement on the next table, which had been reserved for a particular team, but was occupied by another family oblivious of the quiz taking place. Suddenly this escalated into a verbal exchange between the men, which threatened at one stage to spill over onto our table as feelings got a little over heated. It was not great - and showed how much of a short fuse some people have, and how differences can quickly get out of control. Everything became an issue rather than one person simply apologising and walking away. It was not something, any of the three french hens experience very often.
Christmas for many is not a time for peace and harmony, but for stress and violence. Internal pressures get exposed and, for those not used to turning the other cheek, competition and pride lead to aggression and anger. It made us think of how in the heat of a moment lives can be change forever (as in the recent disagreement in a supermarket car park between pensioners), and how some people live with verbally aggressive people. So at a time of Christmas joy, it was perhaps salutary to happen upon the other side of Christmas cheer and remember those caught up, often accidentally, in the discontent of those who desperately need some graciousness and peace.
What if........we shrugged and walked away each time we were wronged?
The small blot on the evening, came from a disagreement on the next table, which had been reserved for a particular team, but was occupied by another family oblivious of the quiz taking place. Suddenly this escalated into a verbal exchange between the men, which threatened at one stage to spill over onto our table as feelings got a little over heated. It was not great - and showed how much of a short fuse some people have, and how differences can quickly get out of control. Everything became an issue rather than one person simply apologising and walking away. It was not something, any of the three french hens experience very often.
Christmas for many is not a time for peace and harmony, but for stress and violence. Internal pressures get exposed and, for those not used to turning the other cheek, competition and pride lead to aggression and anger. It made us think of how in the heat of a moment lives can be change forever (as in the recent disagreement in a supermarket car park between pensioners), and how some people live with verbally aggressive people. So at a time of Christmas joy, it was perhaps salutary to happen upon the other side of Christmas cheer and remember those caught up, often accidentally, in the discontent of those who desperately need some graciousness and peace.
What if........we shrugged and walked away each time we were wronged?
Sunday, 15 December 2013
What if.....Day 15
I am currently struck by the sophistication of Christmas decorations. Everything possible to decorate a home inside and out, and huge moving models in shopping centres and elsewhere. From polar bears to santa's, icebergs to singing reindeer. Then occasionally it's possible to spot a nativity scene. Simple and unadorned. The Christmas wrapping has certainly eclipsed the Christmas meaning in many places.
There is quite a need for a retelling of the story year by year so it is passed on to our children's children. To pay as much attention to the stable as the reindeer. I am afraid the retailers won't do it for us. There is so much magic and relevance in the Christmas story, and that annual visit of the local family to a church carol service gives us that opportunity. Then the church comes into its own, once the presents are bought and wrapped, the expectation rises and the children cannot wait for Christmas morning.
Advent may have become the season for shopping, but Christmas Eve certainly belongs to the church, and we would be foolish to do anything more sophisticated than read that eternal story as has been told for 2000 years.
What if......we each told the Christmas story to one other person this year ?
There is quite a need for a retelling of the story year by year so it is passed on to our children's children. To pay as much attention to the stable as the reindeer. I am afraid the retailers won't do it for us. There is so much magic and relevance in the Christmas story, and that annual visit of the local family to a church carol service gives us that opportunity. Then the church comes into its own, once the presents are bought and wrapped, the expectation rises and the children cannot wait for Christmas morning.
Advent may have become the season for shopping, but Christmas Eve certainly belongs to the church, and we would be foolish to do anything more sophisticated than read that eternal story as has been told for 2000 years.
What if......we each told the Christmas story to one other person this year ?
Saturday, 14 December 2013
What if...? Day 14
There is always interest whenever league tables are published. No matter what they reveal there is no doubt people are curious to see how the thing most familiar to them faired, be it a local town, person, team or in yesterday's case school. Comparing tables is not easy, there is so much you do not know from the three statistics presented, and they give a very stilted image of school life in all it's fullness.
Yet from the tables local schools, known to me stood out. These were not the elite category, or the ones you had to gain entry to or pay huge fees, but your ordinary village or town school. It was good to see particularly some of the schools in my archdeaconry listed in places where there is good partnership between church and local school, and where both struggle with limited resources in the communities they serve. From Waddesden in Bucks to Colnbrook in Slough, much hard work has gone on to gain the results listed in yesterday's paper.
Of course the humanist society made some comments again about faith schools and their entry requirements, but the truth is that many of these schools are THE local school and have open doors for everyone who lives locally to attend, from all faiths and none. I do not agree with league tables, but there is a chance here for such schools, who have often struggled against the odds and worked hard to gain such results, to take lots of pride in their achievements.
What if.... We all chose to celebrate hard work rather than discredit it?
Yet from the tables local schools, known to me stood out. These were not the elite category, or the ones you had to gain entry to or pay huge fees, but your ordinary village or town school. It was good to see particularly some of the schools in my archdeaconry listed in places where there is good partnership between church and local school, and where both struggle with limited resources in the communities they serve. From Waddesden in Bucks to Colnbrook in Slough, much hard work has gone on to gain the results listed in yesterday's paper.
Of course the humanist society made some comments again about faith schools and their entry requirements, but the truth is that many of these schools are THE local school and have open doors for everyone who lives locally to attend, from all faiths and none. I do not agree with league tables, but there is a chance here for such schools, who have often struggled against the odds and worked hard to gain such results, to take lots of pride in their achievements.
What if.... We all chose to celebrate hard work rather than discredit it?
Friday, 13 December 2013
What if.....Day 13
Over the past few weeks, I have been keeping a watching eye on Masterchef - The Professionals, and thoroughly enjoyed the final last night. It has been interesting to see a good chef becoming a great chef. How does that happen? I suppose during the series the chefs have learnt new skills, have been mentored by some great chefs themselves and been put in some pretty pressured situations. But, the main thing is that they appear to have become more confident in their own abilities to be creative, to play around with flavours and produce finally, almost a flawless 3 course meal.
The final included a piece about the 3 finalists own background, all had a different story to tell, but it became clear that it had not been education or university that led them to fulfil their passion, but a love of cooking and food. When so many of us enjoy going out for a good meal it is helpful to be reminded that vocational training is of as much benefit to our society as academics, with a constant drive for educational standards and top grades, where would we be without bricklayers and hairdressers, beauty therapists and cooks?
I am looking forward in the new year to eating in the restaurent attached to our local college. Maybe the next Masterchef champion will be cooking lunch?
What if......we paid more attention to passion than qualifications?
The final included a piece about the 3 finalists own background, all had a different story to tell, but it became clear that it had not been education or university that led them to fulfil their passion, but a love of cooking and food. When so many of us enjoy going out for a good meal it is helpful to be reminded that vocational training is of as much benefit to our society as academics, with a constant drive for educational standards and top grades, where would we be without bricklayers and hairdressers, beauty therapists and cooks?
I am looking forward in the new year to eating in the restaurent attached to our local college. Maybe the next Masterchef champion will be cooking lunch?
What if......we paid more attention to passion than qualifications?
Thursday, 12 December 2013
What if...Day 12
Driving around the diocese it is possible to experience considerable variances in weather. Yesterday driving first to Donnington and back, and then to Eton it was fog all the way, but returning home Slough deanery was 6 degrees colder than Aylesbury. Snow is the interesting one, when you are almost snowed in on the edge of the Chilterns it is hard to be believed when the sun is shining Milton Keynes or Slough.
Commuting short distances you hardly view floods or ice with any cause for concern, but not knowing what one will discover 30 or 40 miles from home, makes it necessary to put all manner of items in the car boot - just in case.
Driving to a short listing meeting in fog was not great, you get comfort in small things - the familiar sat nav, the lights of pubs and garages on the way, the lights on the car in front. Much like life really, when all is blurred and muddled, it is the familiar and mundane which gives that basic security.
I wish I could be a bit more laid back when it comes to travelling around - doing 12,000 miles a year I should be used to it, but each journey is made with a prayer and there is great relief when I am told I have reached my destination. But again the same thing goes for life, if it were not such an adventure then we would have no need of faith.
What if.....we embraced the adventure rather than feared the road ahead?
Commuting short distances you hardly view floods or ice with any cause for concern, but not knowing what one will discover 30 or 40 miles from home, makes it necessary to put all manner of items in the car boot - just in case.
Driving to a short listing meeting in fog was not great, you get comfort in small things - the familiar sat nav, the lights of pubs and garages on the way, the lights on the car in front. Much like life really, when all is blurred and muddled, it is the familiar and mundane which gives that basic security.
I wish I could be a bit more laid back when it comes to travelling around - doing 12,000 miles a year I should be used to it, but each journey is made with a prayer and there is great relief when I am told I have reached my destination. But again the same thing goes for life, if it were not such an adventure then we would have no need of faith.
What if.....we embraced the adventure rather than feared the road ahead?
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