After a time, the desert seemed so big, and he, so small.
A panic rose in him. It clutched him like a hand at his throat
Who am I?
What am I?
What terrible road lies before me?
Father- my body is weak
I am a drop of water
On a rock
Under the hot desert sun
Soon I will be gone.
But still he walked- still he followed…
That voice.
It is snowing here!
So my plans to go and work in the garden have been thwarted, and I am drinking tea and listening to podcasts. It’s a hard life.
But I came across something that I think is really important- a discussion at the London Centre of Spirituality about New Monasticism and Fresh Expressions of Church.
Bishop Graham Cray goes as far to describe New Monsasticism as a ‘New Wave of the Spirit.’ If he is right, then these small experimental groupings have a deeper relevance for the whole of church.
The discussion has a clear resonance for me, and my small community- Aoradh. Like most small groups, we ebb and flow, then ebb again. The energy we find as a group is easily drained by external and internal forces, and the need to seek renewal within practice becomes very real and urgent.
Strong themes that emerged from this podcast are perhaps those which most reflect our own situation-
Thanks to Moot for making this available, as I feel the need to rediscover a passion for what I do- to set my face in the Wind of the Spirit again…
As he walked he began to leave something of himself behind. He felt the skin of civilisation being burned away by the sun…
Driven away by the wild animals of the wilderness.
But with the rhythm of every step there came this incredible music… singing to him
It’s your time…. And mine.
I think this man is a genius.
From the darkness to a seed of light
From a garden to a sheet of ice
I feel you move in every sunrise
In the trembling of the leaves
This is how I know you’re near me
From the ashes of a broken home
I sent a message to the great unknown
And through the music on the radio
You came to set me free
This is how I know you’re near me
This is how I know our trials are not in vain
This is how I know we’ll rise and love again
This is how I know
From a moment to a sea of days
From an ocean to a single wave
Out of nothing came the miracle
That loved us into being
This is how I know it will be
He did not look back to the comforts of home, but walked on…
into the desert – the place of suffering and desolation, where each rock hid its own danger
every stone could strike at the heel
he walked onwards
alone.
While the village still slept, he set his face to the low morning light and followed this beautiful voice
calling him
leading him
drawing him
into wilderness.
David posted this clip in response to my previous post, and I loved it.
It echo’s my own thoughts about the dominance of positive thinking here.
It will all come round again if you wait a while. There is nothing new under the sun.
David Cameron (Michaela says she always finds herself shuddering when his name is mentioned) has this idea- and it goes something like this-
Lets stop all these public services, and suggest that people just get on with it for themselves.
The middle classes will come through.
An army of people dressed in sensible shoes will organise committees to clear slums, dig sewers, set up homes for the incurables and feed Tiny Tim till his little tum is fit to bust.
Cameron seems to have taken advice from Samuel Smiles.
And meanwhile, all around us, community groups who might give structure and organisation to all this community activity are all going to the wall as they lose their funding.
It is not as though I could ever be accused of being against community activity, or believe that the Big State can ever be the answer to all the issues that society throws up. But when a ‘big idea’ is used as a mask to do the same old confidence trick- cuts to services, and power and wealth to the already powerful and wealthy- then I start to feel the need to rant.
Now, rant over- have a laugh at this little clip…
In a room scented by the smell of sawn timber, a man hears a voice in his inner ear calling him
it is time-
your time, and mine
enough of the mending and making and shaping of wood
time to put aside the tools
the sharp nails…
can wait.
Images by Si Smith
… is the English language root of the word Lent.
40 days
40 days of rain to flood the earth in Genesis
40 years for Israel to wander the desert
40 days of hunger for Moses as he waited for the law of God on Sinai
40 days for Jesus to wander and fast in the desert as preparation for 4 years
And for us- tomorrow we feast on pancakes, as our own 40 days begin- then our Lenten journey towards Easter begins, when Christians traditionally make preparation for remembering and celebrating the death and life of Jesus through prayer, repentance, serving others or self denial/fasting.
To mark the Lent journey on this blog, I am going to use a daily excerpt from ’40’- a collection of images by Si Smith and my words- available from Proost as a book, download or movie.
We in Aoradh have used it several times as a worship installation, but never as a daily Lent meditation.
I do not usually fast during Lent- observance of such things were not a big part of the Evangelical tradition I grew out of- too ‘Catholic’ probably. But this our family have discussed finding something to forgo as part of our celebration of Lent.
Emily suggested meat (we are vegetarian)
William suggested fruit and veg, as this would leave chocolate and chips- and so all the 10 year old food groups are covered.
I am not sure that they quite get it…
