Tag Archive: transformation
I want to dream
I want to dream together
I want to dream together and for your vision plus my vision
to surpass anything either could imagine on our own
I want to use my gifts to serve your vision, and
for you to do the same for me
I want the dream to be organic and to change
as you and I change
I want the dream to look different in different kinds of light
– sunlight, moonlight…
and seasons
– spring, autumn…
I want to talk about the dream as we walk along, catch the bus, share a meal together
I want to know the intimacy of shared thoughts with you
common and sacred at the same time
I want a dream that in its dreaming makes me smile in my sleep and
hold hope for a whole world through the day
I want a dream that needs a roll of butchers paper, five colours of post it notes and
four coloured marker pens to explain and still doesn’t really capture its soul
I want to dream together with you
I want to dream together
I want to dream
A quote from A Two-Part Invention by Madeleine L’Engle
…most growth has come during times of trial. Trial by fire. Fire as an image of purification is found all through literature. Dante speaks of the fire of roses. George MacDonald’s Curdie has to plunge his hands deep into the burning fire of roses. In Scripture we read, “Our God is a consuming fire”. God is “like a refiner’s fire”. Moses saw God in a burning bush, a bush which was burned and was not consumed, as we are to be burned by this holy fire and yet not consumed. We are to be refined in the fire like silver. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked through the flames. The Spirit descended and descends in tongues of fire.
Satan has tried to take fire over as his image, teasing, tormenting us with the idea of the flames of hell. Dante understood the wrongness of this in having the most terrible circle of hell be cold.
Coldness of the last circle of hell; coldness of heart; lack of compassion; treating people as objects; pride, setting ourselves apart from the “others” – all these are cold.
It is a terrible choice: the purifying fire of the Creator or the deathly cold fire of Satan.
Soon after I became a Christian I was given a copy of “The Fight” by John White – basically a primer on Christian living for the newly converted, I can’t remember much about it except that I recall earnestly working my way through some questions at the end of each chapter and tucking these answers inside. My point, almost 15 years on, it that with a title like this I can’t say I wasn’t warned and yet I believe I’d like to register a complaint… does discipleship have to be this hard? It does. It is the crucible that burns away the impurities and transforms or the seed that dies for a plant to grow and produce fruit.
“Will you lay down your life for me?”
You have to choose a path less travelled, and keep choosing it, again and again. ‘Disciple’ and ‘discipline’ are based on the same root word “to learn”. All manner of things will be well, not necessarily the ones you had planned, and you will be blessed abundantly. You will give more than you knew you had, find more that you knew to look for. But, fair warning, it will be hard work, it is a lifelong struggle against the tide of dominant culture and ‘empire’.
We take turns running prayers at the start of admin meeting and Blythe is projecting
a video on the wall of bread being made: ingredients mixed, kneading, left to rise… In Matthew 13:33 Jesus says “the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
Without notice the yeast begins to permeate the dough and the dough begins to rise, Jesus said “follow me” without saying where he was going but promising transformation. A God of broken people and broken places, he asks us to leave what we know and go into wilderness desert. Far we have come, far we must go. We believe in a God of rebuilt places and rebuilt people.
This is where the concept of liminal space was first introduced to me:
We have left point A but have not arrived at point B yet. The liminal space is the in between-ness of being neither here nor there. These transitional phases – they are not necessarily a comfortable place to be, it is hard to know what to be sure of, but we can have a default to view change as negative and it is not always so. God led the Israelites into the desert for 40 years, many of them complained and sought to return to the relative comfort of slavery (regular meals!) under the Egyptians. “In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.” (Ex 16:4) Perhaps we can begin to see these liminal spaces as an opportunity for growth and learning, with the assurance that God is with us as a broken person in a broken place.
Far we must go – but we need not go alone.
As the yeast transforms the bread, so knowing God yields subtle transformation in our lives. Be present to the transformation that is happening around you…
How would completing the sentence, “the kingdom of heaven is like…” or “the economy of God is like…” look like in your context?
Earlier this year Samara wrote some for us, here are some that she came up with:
The Economy of God is like…
…a residents’ group who lived in the heart of the city. One day a woman buzzed level 8 demanding assistance. One of the residents invited her in and spent the day helping her contact Hanover, giving her access to the phones and accompanying her to apply for crisis housing. Finally when the resident was tired and fed up after a day of being bossed around, she invited the woman over to her place for dinner.
The Economy of God is like…
…a street and hospitality group whose regular retreat campsite was destroyed by bushfire. Some people who had experienced loss and homelessness wanted to help out, so a BBQ and cake stall was organised. When the time came to set up the stall on Collins St, the food was all prepared but the people who’d suggested the event were not available. Instead of cancelling, some others stepped in and ran the stall. They sold many sausages and cupcakes, and they raised twice as much money as they had expected. And there were two plates full of cakes left over to enjoy the next day!
The Economy of God is like…
…a youth and schools team who ran a seminar for a feisty bunch of Year 9s who thought the homeless had it easy. When they started complaining that homeless people should have their Centrelink payments cut and go and get a job, the presenter who’d experienced homelessness explained how his 14 year old kids would end up visiting him on the street…and some of the Year 9s changed their minds!
The Economy of God is like…
…a fundraising team who went to a training day on finances. When they got there they discovered that they were the youngest in the room by 15 years and that all the baby boomers in the room were terrified of the Global Financial Crisis. The fundraising team spoke soothingly to them and invited them to lunch at Credo.
The Economy of God is like…
…an open meal in a basement where they invested in litres of coloured paint but no dishwasher.
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