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…
I recieved this lovely e-mail the other day-
Dear Chris,
This is the second year I have used 40 through Lent and I am loving it again but in a completley new way.
Isn’t it amazing how God can speak to you differently even when the words are familiar?
I bought my copy at Lee Abbey a year after I had first seen it; it had called to me right from the start!
Find me O my father
Make me.
Take me back to you
My throat is cracked
But thirst is more
For you
My stomach craves
A food that feeds only this;
My soul.
So I walk
Desperate
Close to falling
Stumbling
To you
Giving it up for lent?
Last night we celebrated the start of the lent season by getting together in The Crown in Dunoon. There were a few of us from Aoradh, along with some friends and others who had read about the event in the paper.
Brian from The Crown put on some pancakes, and we performed ’40’- Si Smith’s images, along with script, sound and music. We used this first last year in Kilmun village hall, also on shrove Tuesday, and it has since been part of a lent resources pack produced by the Church Mission Society. We also used a shortened version at Greenbelt festival last year. Powerful stuff.
Lent has had little significance in my Christian background, but like many others, I find myself increasingly drawn towards the rhythms given to the year by Christian festivals.
I am not sure if I will mark lent in giving up something specific. Last year, as a family we used an information pack produced by Christian Aid- they have done something else this year here. Need to discuss tonight with the kids!
Photo’s from last night below! (Click to enlarge.)
I thought it was worth posting some bits and pieces of information about some stuff in the pipeline… If you want to know more, then drop me a line…
Emerging Scotland stuff-
(For earlier posts relating to this group- see here and here.)
The next event planned is an open house weekend in Dunoon. For facebookers, the details are here.
Here’s the low down;
The next of the years meetings will be at Chris and Michaela’s house in Dunoon.
They live in a big old house with great views over the Clyde, lots of corners to chat/be quiet/pray/debate, and open fire, good company and a warm welcome… Posh it ain’t, but it is at it’s best when full of people.
Hopefully this will be a chance to meet up with new and old friends, share some ideas and to find out some specific stuff about what has been happening in Dunoon.
We will also use some of this time for prayer and retreat- setting up some prayer and worship stuff.
Depending on how things go, we might watch a film about new church stuff in Canada, do some music- who knows?
You are invited to come for as long as you like- an afternoon, a day or stay over for the weekend- we have quite a bit of space, and other members of Aoradh have more…
Personally, we believe that time spent sharing and making community is beautiful, and we hope you will not rush away.
Perhaps as we celebrate the Kingdom, we also build it.
Later in the year, we plan to have a family camping weekend, and other meets in an area near you! Further information to follow.
If you want to go on the e-mail circulation list, then let me know.
Aoradh events-
Wilderness weekend. We are heading to Scarba, Saturday the 2nd May till Monday the 4th- for a weekend on a desert island, exploring and pondering. This is one of a few trips planned- details here.
Local stuff in Dunoon. Our next evening at the Crown court cafe bar is Shrove Tuesday(Feb the 24th), when we will reprise ’40’- a Lent presentation around Jesus’ 40 days in the desert.
This is based around 40 images by Si Smith, and a script by me- which you can get hold of from Proost, if you want to use it, feel free to get in touch- we have soundscapes etc that we can let you have…
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.
this fragile tent 