The sun still shines for you, and the moon rises
The ground is firm beneath your feet and the sky is high above you
The trees stand tall and the rain still falls
May your spirit rise and stretch
May your spirit stand firm
May your spirit be grounded and drink deeply from all that is yet constant
#light #mārama
Today’s word is Teacher, Kaiwhakaako, the title given to Jesus in the gospels. I think I spend more time unlearning than learning these days this great poem by Padraig O Tuama speaks to this, you can hear him read some of it here.
And I said to him
Are there answers to all of this?
And he said
The answer is in a story
and the story is being told.
And I said
But there is so much pain
And she answered plainly
Pain will happen.
Then I said
Will I ever find meaning?
And they said
You will find meaning
Where you give meaning.
The answer is in story
And the story isn’t finished.
The question is not where but now
there question’s never finished
or exhausted
and the answers in the asking
not the answer
the answer’s in the breathing of the question
in the love of holding onto
what was never whispered never seen
but what we dreamed of in the morning
then forgot while venus hid
the answer’s in the living not the knowing
the answer’s in the telling of the story
in half forgotten memory
and all unfinished stories
the answer’s in the showing time of senses
the answer’s in the question
in the learning
in the fading page of writing
in the letter sent to lovers
in the paying for the other
the answer is the generous
is the truthing
the absolutely truthful anger
and forgiving is the giving of what you don’t deserve
it’s what I’ll serve because you’re hungry
even though you may not know it
the answer’s in the living and the dying
in the trying for redemption on an empty hill of crosses
it’s the shoring up of hope and the gathering of losses
it’s the looking for companions in the hills and in the glens
it’s the waking up and walking up and starting up again
the answer’s in the living
and the trying.
And I said to the wise man,
what is the answer to all this
And he said the answer’s in the story
and the story’s just unfolding.
from hymns to swear by, released March 17, 2010all rights reserved
A modified version of this poem can be found in ‘Readings from the Book of Exile’ (Canterbury Press, 2013)
Before I get into sleep with you
I want to have been
into wakefulness, too.
Janet Frame
Dunedin #NZWOMANPOETS
This Lent with Easter Sunday falling on April Fools day Godspace are running a series on For love of the world God did foolish things… it’s bringing out/together all sorts of foolish ideas that are worth checking out. Below are a couple of links to contributions I’ve made to that blog on that theme.
This piece is a story of the time I stuck up bad poetry all of the woods like Orlando from As You Like It…. you can read more here
This piece is an invitation to follow the example to do foolish things for love too… you can read more here
May you encounter something Holy and foolish this Lent.
Taurikura, Talitha
have peace
On the weekend of 24-25 September Whitley College hosted a conference called Constitutions and Treaties: Law, Justice, Spirituality – these are notes from session 9 of 9. We acknowledge that this gathering, listening and learning occurred of the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations and offer our respects to their elders past and present, and all visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visitors present.
Line through Papua New Guinea, literally nations were “dividing the world between them”.
Roger Williams, Baptist theologian, a dissenting voice to the Doctrine of Discovery model – wanted to respect Native Americans, house church on Rhode Island for 6 years. Had to go to England at one point – needed a patent or would be annexed.
The Treaty of Westphalia was the end of the 30 Year war. No right to divide the world in two. Move from Empires to a rise of nation states.
What does “local” mean/look like to people who know who they are/where they’re from.
Lutherans practiced a vernacular theology – learned the language of those they lived with whereas as other denominations refused to learn the language (and used theological grounds for that) you have to learn/imposing my theology…
We are running a fortnightly bible study following our community dinner looking at the exegesis (interpretation) of the bible passages that underpin each of our community values. You can read the list of Values here so you know what’s coming up next.
These values can be relevant whatever context you live and work in just make the Word you own.
Value 3: Being amongst the people
We value sharing life with our neighbours, as a real expression of the kingdom amongst the marginalised. Our everyday involvement and identification means our mission is not so much what we do, but who we are.
Biblical basis: John 1:14, Philippians 2:1-11
Let’s read the value together… what words/phrases stand out?
Read the bible. What words/ideas stand out?
What can we learn from the bible about living the Value: Being amongst the people?
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.
Philippians 2: 1-13
If you have indeed experienced the encouragement of being united to Christ, and the support that genuine love offers, and the deep bonds of a shared life formed in the Spirit; if indeed you have any compassion and concern for me, then make my dreams come true: get your heads tuned to the one wavelength so that you will share a common love, a common dedication to the one cause, and a common mindset. Don’t let yourself be driven by self-centred ambitions or empty egotism, but keep your feet firmly on the ground and promote others ahead of yourself. To each one of you, I would say, don’t focus on doing what is in your own best interests, but on what is in the best interests of others. Model your attitude on the attitude of the Messiah, Jesus.
Although Jesus was the same as God in every way, he did not think of his God-like privileges as something to milked for all they were worth.
Instead, he laid it all aside and, with no more privileges than a slave, was born as a human being.
Having become a human being, he was the model of humility. He didn’t demand his own way but let God set the agenda; even when it included his own death, and a gruesome public death at that.
Because of all this, God has raised him to the status of number one and honoured him more highly than anyone else in the universe.
So now, just the mention of the name ‘Jesus’
should bring everyone to their knees; everyone who has ever lived or ever will. Everyone, everywhere will honour God by openly acknowledging that Jesus the Messiah is Lord of all!
Therefore, my dear friends, there is work to do. You have always stuck to the agenda that was set for you, so keep it up, not only when I am around but even more when I am gone. Continue to work at living the life for which you are being saved, and do so with such an awareness of how high the stakes are, that it fills you with awe and makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. For this is awesome stuff: it is God who is at work within you, making it possible for you to set your mind on what God wants and to work for those things which are ultimately pleasing to God.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Reflection time… followed by sharing time.
Where do you see the kingdom of God at work in everyday and every day ways? …what are some things we do for the best interests of others?
Let’s write one story/word on one footprint – (turn some over to make pairs) – let’s lay them out and read each other’s… know these are the bonds our shared life are grounded in.
Camping for Easter in the Brisbane Ranges and I have brought along Cheryl Lawrie’s beautiful Pocket Liturgies for reflection…
i.
We have decided not to die.
We have decided not to believe the voices of cynicism
the prophets of doom
the harbingers of despair
the proclaimers of fear
who speak loudly and only of death that’s inevitable.
we have decided not to die.
we have chosen to believe in life.
and now we must learn to live.
ii.
We have decided not to die.
and now we must learn to live.
to really live
to stretch and wonder and test and dare
to imagine the unthinkable
to defy the gravity of fear and despair
to find the faith that believes there is another story
of life, grace and redemption
and to live as though it is the only story.
we will listen for where God’s heartbeat is giving life to the world
and we will search,
wildly, unceasingly
until we find where our own heartbeat echoes in it.
and though it may mean letting go of all we know,
we will.
for we have decided not to die.
we have decided now to live.
[p.80, Hold This Space Pocket Liturgies by Cheryl Lawrie]
God, let me life a life called into living.
To see, to hear, to be awake
Let me believe in life and believe in You.
“to stretch and wonder and test and dare
to imagine the unthinkable
to defy the gravity of fear and despair
to find the faith that believes there is another story
of life, grace and redemption
and to live as though it is the only story.”
Show me how to live God
how to live the life You
call me into
live a life by another story
as though it is the only story
when I lean and learn
into the story and the story
is still unfolding
that story is Yours
I am Yours
let me live
Take off that cloak of fear,
the divine strength you seek is here,
and you know you are dying to live.
You know you are dying to live.
We seek to live a more contemplative life so that we will not have to wait until we are dying to learn to live.
Teach us the grace of listening.
Reveal to us the art of dying.
Show us the face of God.
p.25, Seven Sacred Pauses – Macrina Wiederkehr
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