Invitation to dance

 

John 3:8

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Spirit of God

Intriguing

Elusive

Capricious

Eternally present

Before the birth of time

Not an afterthought 

Not the latest iteration

But an integral part

of the eternal dance of the Trinity.

Creator

Redeemer 

Sustainer

She was there moving over the water

at the birth of time

she was there in the hopes and fears of a people

who longed for a Messiah

She was there in the garden

when the warmth of resurrection

rekindled love

All three woven together

moving in synchronicity

Sometimes to the mellow strains

of a slow waltz

Sometimes to the whirling upbeat

of a ceilidh dance

At times she takes the lead

selecting the beat

changing up the rhythm

And then she sets the stage for another

to be front and centre

For the dance cannot be accomplished

without all three parts participating 

in the divine choreography

And new parts are always being written

so that we, too, might participate 

even in our clod hoppers

by taking our place on the floor

and simply beginning to move

to that persistent beat

that draws us into the Divine dance

Witnesses

 Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Witnesses

You will be my witnesses

Not my gatekeepers

Or my lawmakers

Not my judges

Or my jury

Not my creed writers

or doctrine creators

Witnesses

Entrusted with good news

for all the world

Perhaps that was too vague an ask

too wide a remit

And so the tales of one

who walked on water

and cooked fish on the beach

The testimony of clearing the temple

and honouring a widow’s offering

The stories of blessing children

and being anointed by women

have been cleaned up and toned down

Like applying brasso to sanctuary vases

we’ve tried to apply a sheen 

instead of allowing the sheer earthiness

of everyday encounter 

of outrageousness

of audaciousness

and of righteous indignation and anger

to tell its own tale.

And, if we’ve toned Jesus down

we’re certainly not going to allow the spirit free rein.

She is even less predictable.

Even more prone to wreaking havoc

to turning solemn convention and propriety on its head.

So we’ve wrapped her up tightly in doctrine and in creed

in form and convention

lest  she encourage sedition.

Let’s loose the wrapping

Remove the shrouds

Stand well back

and allow the Spirit

to effect her miracles of love

in all the world today.

Witnesses

Out of sight

 Luke 24:50-51

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.

40 days since resurrection

40 days since you encountered Mary in the garden

and told her - Do not hold on to me

40 days since you walked the road to Emmaus

and explained the Scriptures to grieving disciples

40 days since you snuck in to a locked room in the  evening 

and breathed peace into that space that was filled with regret

40 days in which you hung out with your friends

often at the beach

practising forgiveness

showing love

continuing to teach

restore 

and commission

Love one another

Feed my sheep

Go into all the world

I can’t help but wonder

if that 40 days

brought any more comprehension

or made letting go any easier

Or, whether, like a second pandemic lockdown

your followers were traumatised all over again

plunged into bewilderment

and despair

that all the “knowing it’s for the best”

still failed to diminish.

It’s hard to play the long game

when spirits are already worn out

tired of riding the roller coaster

of hope and disappointment 

It’s easier to dally on the beach

to stick with what we know

than follow you where you call

trusting that we will be enough

that you will be enough

for whatever comes next.

A new take on Discernment

 

I tend to think of discernment as demanding

And it is

It is also invitational 

Drawing us into a space

of wonder and creative imagination

A space that is not a void

but filled with potential

A space that is large enough

to allow us to dwell

Contemplatively

for as long as it takes 

A space hollowed out

to contain our fear

as well as our anticipation 

and to host our wildness

along with our reason

A space conducive to dreaming and plotting

and envisioning and conceiving

A space uncluttered by barriers

that encourages innovation

Discernment demands...

that we gather courage

to respond 

to the invitation that it offers.

Noli me tangere (Do not hold on to me)

 John 20:16-17

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

It’s the most natural thing in the world

to want to hold on...

To hold on 

to whatever is in front of us

because who knows

what the future will bring

To hold on

to what we know

because we fear the unknown

To hold on

to what feels good

and to what brings challenge

because alternatives 

cause us to be anxious.

Jesus’ encounter with Mary

reminds us

that only by letting go

will we experience

whatever God offers next.

Only by letting go

will we be enabled

to follow

where Christ has gone

and experience

a new way of being

that comes from letting go.
God, enable me
to be present in every moment
To take my cues from you
To discern what is mine to do
and to let go of those things
that do not further your kingdom
And, in the releasing
or relinquishing
may I know 
growth not loss
peace and not yearning
and the sheer joy of assurance
that I continue to do your will
becoming exactly 
who you created me to be
For that is enough
I am enough

Noli me tangere

Witnesses to Resurrection today

 

Mark 16:8

So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

This

This is the account

that speaks most piercingly today

Not the tender moment in the garden

Or the women’s “idle tales”

But the flight

and the silence 

Our usual

“The Lord is Risen

He is Risen indeed

Alleluia!”

Still rings true

Of course it does

But the terror 

and amazement

are the emotions that linger

in this year of pandemic

when, it seems, for us

there may be a kind of emerging

into a changed future

For who are we -

the ones called

to witness and proclaim

resurrection today?

When so much has been lost

and lives have been forever changed?

When it seems insensitive

to speak of new discoveries 

of joy in things found

in our forced isolation 

Who are we called to be?

As we face the uncertainty

of life beyond pandemic?

In the midst

of grief and trauma

of austerity and oppression

of loneliness

or lingering illness

of growing awareness

of systemic global injustice

to which we have contributed

How are we being called

to bring resurrection light?

With trumpet fanfares

or subdued whispers

of love in action?

I believe

that living in Resurrection today

demands more of us

than ever before

It’s easier to loudly proclaim our faith

than it is to quietly live

with the anxiety

and the uncertainty

of emergence

to which we are called today

When we can no longer rely 

on all that we’ve known

when there’s no going back

to the tried and tested

but are called

to follow the Risen Christ

into a new dawn

of dismantling empires

and institutions

designed to control and oppress

and into a new era

of release for the captives

freedom for the oppressed

healing and wholeness

for all of creation

Emerging with the risen Christ

with wounds still fresh

to transform the world in love

.witnesses to resurrection 

for these days.

Holy Saturday Living

 

Waiting for resurrection

in the midst of uncertainty and despair

For once not knowing

how the story might end

Waiting it out on Holy Saturday - 

normally a minor inconvenience

that stops us getting straight onto the Alleluias

takes on a different hue

when the loss and fear is ours

when the stench of death lingers

when the silence of the tomb looms large

and hopelessness threatens

all that we know

invading the present

no longer confined 

to the experience of others

in a bygone age

but a reality that besets us today

as we linger by the tomb

forced to stay with the liminality 

desperate for signs

of resurrection.

When we cannot set the clock back

or be confident about the future

how are we called to be

in this moment?

To live in the confines of Holy Saturday today

demands not so much courage as the honesty

to admit that none of us knows

how this story will end

And to be prepared to look and to listen

for signs of resurrection

not in the places of noise and power

but in the forgotten and the vulnerable

in those who have suffered

yet who know that love

continues to make a difference.

Waiting for resurrection 

with those on the edges

living in that liminal space

with those who show us 

who God calls us to be

 as Holy Saturday people

in this hour.