Go gently

 Go gently

Let us enter the new year with curiosity

Curiosity that insists that we listen attentively

to hear another’s story

for each story matters

and uniquely contributes to the whole

Let us enter the new year with compassion

Compassion that enables us to care for self and others

embracing our shared humanity with compassion

that brings insight and affords space to care

Let us enter the new year with courage

Courage that enables us to be honest in our vulnerability

acknowledging the weariness and fear that often lurks

beneath our facade of strength

Curiousity, Compassion, Courage

Companions that will accompany us gently

into a new year

(Liz Crumlish December 2022)

Into the darkness

 

Isaiah 9:2

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness—

on them light has shined.

The Christ child comes to us

in the dark

For God is no stranger to darkness

And the light that shines

is the light of knowing

that there is one

who knows that darkness

from the inside out

One who does not fear the darkness

or leave us to it

but who comes to us

and stays with us

Stays with us in our loss and grieving

Stays with us in our fear and anger

Stays with us in our impotence and confusion

Stays with us whether our darkness is visible

or carefully masked from others

The Christ child comes to us

and stays with us 

in the dark

Advent happens

 

When our usual preparations for Christmas

fail to lighten our spirits

God is still with us

When we find ourselves going through the motions

hiding well the hollowness within

God is still with us

Should the tree remain in storage

and the crib scene languish in its bubble wrap packing

God is still with us

The advent of God

does not rest on our preparedness

but on God’s gift of love and grace 

So - for those who are exhausted faking it

God is born for you.

For those who continue to put on a brave face

God is born for you.

God is born into the reality

of loss and grief

of anxiety and despair

God’s tears join ours in our yearning for those we love

And when we find ourselves on our knees

God squats down beside us

acknowledging our pain, 

embracing our weariness

enfolding us in love.

This Christmas, as every Christmas

We are invited to approach the manger as we are

in our frailty

and disappointment

in our questioning

and disillusionment

in our tiredness

and disorientation

We are invited to sit with the baby God

who inhabits vulnerability 

as a way of being

as a way of being real

as a way of being cradled in the love of God

as a way of knowing

God is born for you.

(Liz Crumlish December 2022)

Lessons from leaves

 

Remember November

The leaves are still changing

Still letting go

And the ground is carpeted

with a riotous palette of colour

The leaves that contribute

to the colourful canopy above

cast no blame or shame

on those that have fallen

And the leaves that litter walkways

and swirl across paths

congregating in corners

do not look back

or regret their letting go.

Their work continues

in nourishing seeds that lie hidden

in ground that slumbers

Their work continues

in bringing joy to toddlers 

who delight in the crunchiness

they create underfoot

Their work continues

in the vast store of sustenance

that the squirrels heap up

to see them through the winter.

And we are invited to inhabit

awe and wonder

in this tangible evidence

of the rhythm of creation

in which all matter

and everything counts

and nothing is wasted

And we could do worse

than embody

the practices of the earth

as she shows us

carefully and colourfully

with extravagance and exuberance

how to embrace life

in every season.

(Liz Crumlish November 2022)

Angels and dragons

 

Revelation 12:7-9; 13-17

And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

The Dragon Fights Again on Earth

So when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. Then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.

It does not surprise 

me that the dragon, when thwarted, 

goes after a woman and her children

Nor is it surprising 

that the woman garners her resources

to fight off the evil

that threatens all that she loves

Call it mystical

Call it magical

Still it is a story as old as time

and as fresh as the new day

that women become collateral

and that they are often underestimated

for their strength and resourcefulness

for their powers of subversion 

in the face of evil

Fierce women are born out of adversity

Fierce and fabulous for Jesus

Fair warning

 

Matthew 10:16

“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

You did not lure us in Jesus

with eloquent words

and empty promises

You warned us

Time and again - This won’t be easy

You told us how many times - and more

that we’d need to dredge the depths of forgiveness

for ourselves and others

You called us

To be wise as serpents

and gentle as doves

That wisdom has been hard won

For so often it is interpreted as submission

As turning the other cheek

and giving our fleece as well as our hoodie

There comes a time

when wisdom involves

calling a spade a shovel

and saying Enough. No more.

And that gentle as doves?

Means being gentle with ourselves

when the cost of resistance grinds us down yet again

as we speak truth to power

refusing to have our hurt explained away

and our resilience questioned

Or our narrative dismissed as idle tales

Wisdom and gentleness do go together

Just not always as imagined.

Fresh wounds

 

Luke 23:34

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”And they cast lots to divide his clothing.

Lord, if only we didn’t know what we are doing today.

Acting out of ignorance would be bad enough…

But acting in full knowledge of the grace we withhold 

and the hurt we inflict

is surely unforgivable

You who invited all

welcomed all

embraced all

You who shared bread and wine

with one who would betray you

with one who would deny you

with folk who simply “didn’t get you”

Sharing with all

Withholding from none

Offering your body

your blood

your all

Who are we to make distinction?

On days like this

Do your feet hurt

and your palms throb

and does the wound in your side

make itself known in protest

that your suffering was in vain.

Just like those today

who have borne the wounds

of their fight for inclusion

whose scars are ripped open

time and again 

as we find more ways to wound

For still we haven’t grasped

that love is love is love

And that all means all.

Still we imagine that we are in control

of a love and grace beyond our understanding

and of a sacrament offered freely to all

Father forgive.

Both/And: Martha and Mary

  

From the book: Stories of the Well: Recovering Her Story (Liz Crumlish 2022)

Luke 10:38-42

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Which is the better part?

For years interpretation has sought 

to divide Martha and Mary

determining that only one of them

can be commended by our Lord

that only one way

is important in the kingdom.

Yet truth be told

we know all too well

that we need those who welcome others

doing all the things necessary

to provide hospitality

as well as those 

who will take time to listen,

affording intimacy.

And in both women

we see the norms of the day

confounded yet again

turned on their head

by women refusing to conform.

Martha, welcoming Jesus boldly

as a head of a household might.

And Mary, sitting at the Rabbi’s feet

as a disciple might.

Both, in their own way contributing 

to the table fellowship they shared.

And, we can imagine Jesus

taking the fruits of Martha’s labour:

bread still warm from the oven

its aroma filling the room

and sweet, heady wine,

kept for just such an occasion

and, wrapped in the adoring gaze of Mary,

transforming those gifts

in the knowledge

that the portent of death

was not missed in this home

For here were two women

who simply got it

and, together, made room for the One

in whom everything made sense

Two women who demonstrated that love

does not consist in either/or

but in both/and.

Martha and Mary

who recognised

that the kingdom was near.

(Liz Crumlish 2022)

Non-binary God

Before the world began

God enjoyed the chaos

And in the midst of that chaos 

God played around 

with light and dark

and earth and water

and sky and moon and stars

Loving the world into being

Breathing life into creatures

Bringing all together in a wonderful cacophony

of light and sound and music and silence

God moved through this spectrum

blending palettes, creating harmony

in an amazing spectrum

that reflects God’s very being

And still God

creator, redeemer and sustainer

smudges out the lines we draw

queers our binaries

breathes new life in the spirit

and invites us

to be Co-creators

in the glorious technicolour

that is the foundation of the earth

breathed into life by God 

who is light and life and love.

A Trinity defying definition

celebrating difference

realised in love.

(Liz Crumlish Trinity Sunday 2022)

Rainbow Spirit

 John 16:4

But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

Jesus’ discourse - 

Feels a bit like he was cramming it all in

Making sure the unsaid is said

Filling in the blanks

Future-proofing the message

Last minute nerves?

Good try, Jesus, good try.

So much of faith has to be lived, not imagined.

How often do some things

only make sense in retrospect?

In the midst of the turmoil the spirit provokes

it’s hard to find the centre,

the still point of perspective

So, rather than resist

and risk losing out on the experience,

how about we surrender caution,

go along for the ride,

experience the turbulence

and trust the buoyancy of the Spirit

to bear us up and keep us afloat?

When our feet touch the ground

there will be plenty of time for sense-making

and space to reflect on the learning 

perhaps even time for navel gazing

about the meaning of faith.

In the meantime…

Let’s surrender

to the unpredictable Spirit of God

who blows where she will

conjuring up all kinds of happenings

that don’t exist even in our dreams

or wildest imaginings

And lose ourselves in the swirling rainbow hues

that emerge in the midst of the rain

Sometimes only a fleeting glimpse-

that signals God at work

in the life of the world today.

The meeting

 

Luke 1:39-45

Mary Visits Elizabeth

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Two women

Fierce

Fabulous 

Wonderful

Strong

Carrying within them

Renewal for all the world

Between them

Birthing redemption for all people

Two women

Bearing power in all humility

Each recognising in the other

that in their wombs they nurtured

the hopes of generations

and the promise of God.

Have we got this? Ascension 2022

 

Luke 24:50-52

The Ascension of Jesus

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;

Do you still think it was a good idea?

To pass the baton on to us?

Not sure, Lord, that that was one of your better plans

Sure - You did all you could

Preaching, teaching, showing us the way

You couldn’t have made it any clearer 

Or put it any simpler - Love one another

And, You promised

To be always with us

And sent us your Spirit

So how can we get it so wrong?

How can we surround ourselves

with guns and war

with poverty and injustice

with hatred and indifference?

What possessed you to imagine

that we’d be up to the task?

How long, O Lord?

May our creeds and confessions

And all our holy mumble jumble

be torn asunder

Forcing us out of our sanctuaries

and onto the streets

where humanity is broken 

May we make it simple

and keep it simple

By loving one another.

Unless I see…

 John 20:24-25

Jesus and Thomas

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Where were you Thomas?

Were you the one elected to pick up supplies?

Or did you slip out, unobserved, 

to try and catch the word on the street

to gauge whether it was safe to come out?

Or did you just need to get out of there for a while

Away from the noise

And the recriminations

The what-ifs and the should-haves

Away from the aural processors

To be alone with your grief and loss and regret

Alone with your dashed hopes

and self recrimination

You were right to doubt the story that greeted you on your return

You were right to assert your need 

to see your risen Lord

to touch his wounded flesh

After all that had happened 

you needed to see for yourself

There was no space in your grief for hope

You couldn’t afford to be that hurt again

No more living on second hand stories

No more metaphor and mystery

This was a time, if ever there was

for raw, messy, vulnerable reality

Nothing less would do.

I’m glad you doubted, Thomas

Glad, too, that you got your moment

to touch that wounded flesh

and to meet your risen Lord 

To see and believe 

To be able to proclaim

MY Lord and MY God.

May I be as honest in my doubting

As clear about my need

And know transformation in the wounds of Christ today.

(Liz Crumlish 2022)

St Brigid and beer

Well of Eternal Youth, Dun I, Iona

As I dip my hand in the well of eternal youth

and splash the cooling water on my face

my prayer is not for youthfulness

but for wisdom

for peace

and for laughter

For the spirit of Brigid

who, legend has it,

blessed this well

That same Brigid

who turned water into beer

who prayed for an end to suffering 

Who cared for children

who welcomed women

I pray for her humour that disarmed

so much of the patriarchy around her

I pray for some of her indefatigable spirit

that brings newness every day

and is filled with compassion

and tenderness 

for all of creation

And, this I know - there is always room for more beer

Preparing for Retreat

Luke 24:13-15

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them

I’m on Iona, taking a few days to prepare for a retreat I’m leading at Bishops House next week. On Saturday, 23 women clergy, from UK, Ireland, USA and Canada will gather to share our stories and discern anew our calling to serve in all the many ways that we live out our vocations.

As my Facebook timeline fills

with stories of journeys

of stopping places

of encounters - planned and unplanned

My prayer time fills

with thoughts of those enroute

Those filled with anticipation

Those filled with wonder

Those unsure what to expect

Those who have left room

in all their careful packing

for the unexpected

Those who journey in hope

Those whose step is weary

Those who tread lightly

Those who welcome it all, whatever it may be

Seeing the risen Christ

matching his step with ours

Planting one foot in front of the other

Or skipping alongside joyfully

Carefully waiting when we lag behind

Placing his wounded hand on our shoulder

the touch of vulnerability that releases our authenticity

In all the unknowns and possibilities

In all the curiosity, this I know

The Emmaus Christ remains with us

Coorying in beside us as we share our stories

Helping us make sense of all that has happened

Making himself known as we break bread together

And sending us on our way to continue to proclaim

The Lord is Risen

He is Risen indeed

Alleluia

Liz Crumlish April 2022