Come with me my loved ones
Come into this Kingdom of mine
Shake free your feet
From concrete shoes
And dance
With me
Let me speak some tender words my loved one
For my heart is laid
Wide open
Ventricle and clavicle
Could easily be
Broken
Hear my distant voice
Dancing in the mountains
My music in these flowers
And flowing in the fountains
Come away with me my love
In this hillside let us…
Dally
Apple of my
Shining eye
Lily of my valley.
I like words. Some words I like a lot.
I love the way that some words draw you into themselves. They give a little, but suggest so much more.
Some words contain whole sermons. One of them is this one;
lim·i·nal adjective
Etymology: Latin limin- limen threshold.
1 : of or relating to a sensory threshold
2 : barely perceptible
3 : of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition : in-between: Transitional.
As Christians, we come into an understanding of our position caught between this temporal world and the next. We are people whose allegiance is to a New Kingdom- the one Jesus spoke about again and again. A Kingdom that is both here and now, but also promised and yet to come.
We are called to be ‘in’ this world, but not ‘of’ it.
It is this present-future tension that we Christians live in. We exist in a space that is pregnant with the presence of Christ, and filled with hope for what is to come.
You could say that we Christians occupy a time and place that is liminal.
We live in the presence of the imminence…
Liminal spaces are always interesting. They are places of transition and change. They are characterised by possibilities of other realities, as yet unknown. In such places, we may be aware of the certainty of change, and to remain there requires a surrender to mystery.
They are also places that demand the exercise of faith. Without this decision to step out of the known, into the unknown, then we confine our experience to one dimension, whilst existing in the felt presence of the other. Perhaps this is sufficient for some, because liminal places also may be places of danger.
Borders, airports, stations – human constructs of transition – are all too familiar to us. We seem to linger at these places often in a state of heightened unconsciousness. We close down our senses, isolate them from reality in the air conditioned, plate-glass processing space of the terminal buildings. Distracted by duty free shopping, we step off into the unknown…
Is it possible that we begin to live our lives like this? Distracted and deadened, blindly following others down corridors, weighed down by baggage and cheap perfume…
The New Kingdom Jesus calls us to participate within stands before us, mysterious and largely unknown. But we have some clues about what might be useful there- what might be considered of value.
But ultimately this place of imminence that calls us demands a step into wonderful, but scary mystery.
Blessed are those whose days lie
Black with death.
Blessed are those whose guilt
Rises like a claw to the throat
Who could have done
Who should have done
So much
More
And blessed are those whose anger is bright wet
Like a sucking wound
Blessed are they in their rage
Blessed are they in their betrayal
Blessed in their
Abandonment
And blessed is the blaming
Blessed is the shaming
Blessed is the crying
These blessed children trying
To bring their loved ones
Back
How blessed
Are they
For it is
To this place
My Kingdom comes.
Light reaches
Through this passing storm
Rising memories
Of the myth
Of sun
Rising hope
In the days
To come
The Garvellachs, May 2008
SaltOfTheEarth1.jpg (JPEG Image, 720×540 pixels)
Matthew 5:13-16
13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
What does this mean?
For years, I kind of thought it was all about personal morality. And I suppose, it is.
I also thought that it was about evangelism. And I suppose, it is.
But I heard something today that brought me to a broader meaning. A Chinese minister speaking on radio 4 this morning said something like this.
We are called to be salt of the earth, and light to the world. This is not the same thing as making the whole earth salt, or setting the world on fire. Rather we are called to bring out the flavours of all the mixed ingredients that we come into contact with, and shine light to illuminate things of all shapes and sizes.
Not the same thing as salting the whole earth or setting the world on fire.
Could it be that the deepest meaning of what Jesus meant by these words is those of us who live according to the rules of the Kingdom of God- we are to seek beauty and grace, and truth and justice and shine light on it? And by salting it, we are to bring out the flavours of grace and hope wherever we find them?
Because, in doing this, the Kingdom is advanced.
Even if I pack the Albert Hall with the power of my salvation message
Or my books require their own Amazonian warehouse
If the God Channel carries my healings back to back
And I make theology the sport of masses
Should I become the spider
In the World Wide Web
And Google all for Jesus
…but I have no love
Then I am like a dropped biscuit tin
In an empty kitchen
I am a like a bad busker in a windy street
Competing
With a massed brass band.
And even if I can predict the future price of a billion stocks and shares
Or know the coming weather
If my wisdom knows not the limit of Oxbridge
Nor lacks the ears of those with power
If I know all the words of God for this our time
And shout them loud
…but I have no love
I am nothing.
I am like a stain on the shirt
Of a crack addict
I am like a dandelion
Growing in the gutter
Of a derelict building
If I should I sell my penthouse flat and
Give my widescreen TV to Oxfam
And if I walk into a war zone
Waving flags of peace
Or become the world’s best known eco-warrior
And single handedly heal the Ozone hole
And even if all this should cost my final breath
…but I have no love
Then I am empty
Like the pockets of a gambler
Or the stomach
Of a starving child
Like a road laid
To nowhere
Like a life lived
For nothing
8.8.08
Blessed are the meek…
Blessed are those whose hearts are open
But whose pockets are empty
Blessed are the small people
Blessed are they in their
Powerlessness
Blessed is
Their lack of influence
And blessed are those who have
No guile
No artistry
No significance
Blessed are those who come with nothing
Because I would give them
Everything
I say it clearly
In common language-
Blessed are they
Because they shall
Own the earth
And through them
I am establishing
My Kingdom
From ‘The Beatitudes’, the rest can be found complete- here
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are the tender ones
Who carry my mercy
In their very souls
Blessed are those who tremble
For the ones whose hearts
Have holes
For on them will always travel
Survivors
Blessed are they-
My life rafts
And blessed are you as the burdens
Become too much to bear
And the broken people
Break you
Blessed are you when you are all poured out
And now lie empty
For here
Am I
Blessed are you
Child of my heart
For through you
My blessings multiply
And My Kingdom
Is incandescent.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…
Blessed are those whose spirit
Rises to meet mine
And who are never satisfied with
Easy compromise
Blessed are they who lay down their rights
To look for my righteousness
Blessed are they who quest
Beyond dogma
Into me
Blessed are they as they as they escape
The confines of what is known
To search for more
Blessed are those who are vulnerable
And whose necks are stretched
To my sword
For it will fall
Kindly
And blessed are those dirty streets
Where rests
My manna
Blessed are they
For there I am planting
My Kingdom
To continue the Aussie theme began in my last post- we are just about to begin a study called Exilio in our house group. Thanks to Johnny Laird(http://johnnylaird.blogspot.com/) for the info about this wonderful (but very demanding) resource.
This is a resource produced by Aussie globe trotter Michael Frost and others. It is based on Frost’s book ‘Exiles’, and a study on the book of acts, and the whole point is to help us think about living Missional lives. Its available on this link http://www.forge.org.au/index.php/20070322143/FORGE/Forge-Australia-Info/Forge-Resources.html
This word missional seems to be on the up. Some folk in our group were a bit irritated by it. I suppose it is an attempt to recapture the centrality of mission in the life of Christians.
But for a much better definition- check out Tall Skinny Kiwi (Andrew Jones);
http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/06/missional-synch.html
this fragile tent 
