by Diane Woodrow,
The month of February has been designated “Black History Month”. As my daughter said it is interesting that Black history only gets 1/13th of the whole year. Yup with February being the shortest month of the year, Black history doesn’t even get a 12th of the year! Interesting thought.
I’ve decided I am going to dedicate an hour each afternoon when we get back from walking the dog and before I have to make tea to reading David Olusoga’s Black and British: A Forgotten History. I have only just got through the Introduction and already there is so much to make me think.
In the Intro, David talks about his time as a child when he first came to the UK. Yes, the abuse he and his family received was horrendous, but the bit that made me sit up and take note was when he talks about a girl in his class at primary school bringing in her favourite toy and how it made him feel. That toy was a golliwog. [For those who don’t know this was a black male looking toy with black tight curly hair wearing red trousers]. I remember when this campaign began and I must be honest and say that I did not understand what the big deal was. To me, it was a doll and I did think people were being a bit over the top wanting to ban it. But then I read what David said he felt. This is what David says:
“One of the worst moments of my unhappy schooling was when … we were allowed to bring in our favourite toys. The girl who innocently brought her gollywog into our classroom plunged me into a day of humiliation and pain that I still find hard to recall decades later”
Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga pxvi
Wow! What it made me think was that I am in no position to decide whether something is offensive or not. I am not in a place where I have ever been abused because of my skin colour. Yes, being a woman, I have had discrimination because of my sex, but never about the colour of my skin. How on earth can I decide whether something is offensive or not when it doesn’t affect me? I can’t. But, too often, white, middle class, comfortably-off people, make decisions on what is offensive for Black, Asian and other ethnic minority groups. How do I know what it feels like to look at a caricature doll and know how someone else feels?
Paul, in one of his letters to the Corinthians, says basically, if something offends someone, don’t do it. He takes an example of the time, but it can be said of anything. If that offends that person and I want to treat that person as an equally respected human being, then I get rid of the offending thing no matter what I think. It is about loving and respecting the other person.
It would be lovely if Black History month didn’t have to happen and that we all spent the whole year learning about each other. Looking out for each other. Respecting each other. Doing what benefits each other. And to do this, we need to truly listen and truly hear what the other person is saying and not put our preconceived ideas in place.
Perhaps next month could be called “Really Truly Listen” Month?
Original post featured on Aspirational Adventures.
by Barbie Perks
There are times when the life journey we are on looks a bit like this photo I took last week in the Ruaha National Park. We had been dealt some bad news prior to Christmas, and were taking some time to come to terms with it, and this break into the national park was helping us to relax and begin the journey to acceptance.
When we came to this spot in a road which had grown increasingly rough, I caught my breath when our driver took the right hand path because the left hand path looked the better one! The section near that bush ahead was quite daunting to look at, but we managed it fine, even if the vehicle did lean dangerously close to that huge ditch!
I found myself thinking about this – it was one of those God-given moments that challenge me and inspire me at the same time.
- In the physical moment of time, I was trusting the driver who had proved himself an excellent driver on these challenging, rain-damaged roads through the park that day. I didn’t even grab at the hand rail as I realised the amount of trust I had in him.
- In the spiritual moment of time, God was asking me if I was trusting him to drive/guide us through the daunting time that was ahead of us. God has led us time and time again through moments that seemed unbearably bleak and dark, I can trust him to lead us through this place again!!
- In the emotional moment of time, it was such a blessing to realise how much God cared about me, that he would speak this message to a wounded soul and provide comfort.
Words from Deuteronomy have been cropping up these past days:
Deuteronomy 2:7 “The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert…he has been with you, and you have not lacked anything”
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified…for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you”
Deuteronomy 1:32,33 “….trust the Lord your God who goes ahead of you on your journey…to search out places for you…and to show you the way you should go…” (my positive interpretation!)
Psalm 126:5-6 “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”
Psalm 139, especially v23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts….and lead me in the way everlasting.”
For those who are reading this, may I leave you with a project?
Would you become mindful of the roads you travel physically the next few days? Look around you and observe what God may be saying to you as you travel through your day, through your week. Who do you see, that you could pray for? Are there any signs of new life amidst the chaos you might find yourself in? Let the road speak to you and may you encounter the Lord your God in a new and inspiring way.
May the Lord our God being healing to the trauma we have experienced at the hands of others, as we seek his guidance above all.
Available now in our store! Check out our New Lenten Bundle which includes the downloads of A Journey Into Wholeness book, Lent/Easter Prayer Cards, and 40 Daily Ideas Guide for Lent!
by Sue Duby
We walk. A lot. Over 4,000 miles since landing in Northwest Arkansas. Chuck clocks every step. Our hunt for new trails is rivaled only by our search for great coffee shops!
Our morning walks never get old. We’ve got the routine down. Grab the coat, gloves and hat (at least in the winter!). Bend for a quick tie of those well-worn tennis shoes. Wait for Chuck’s coaching chant, “Let’s do this!”. Head off in a tandem rhythm of purpose and determination. Often landing on the cart path of a nearby golf course.
We know each bend in the creek, the lone crane who often greets us with his one-legged stance, the turtles who dive deep when we pass by their pond, flower beds bursting with color and our favorite maintenance worker who always smiles with affection when we wave. Most days, we’re alone. We chat, we stay quiet, we laugh, we ponder. Often cruising along in “our zone”, hardly aware of our surroundings.
We know it all so well. All great delight. . . except for the wet shoe saga. At one point, the cart path crosses a spillway of cascading creek water. We’ve learned tip-toeing techniques that usually allow for a sprint across without a soaking. However, any recent rainfall guarantees a cold, squishy finish to our journey.
One day last Spring, we found ourselves sighing, a few steps from the spillway, ready to soak our shoes yet again. For no apparent reason, we both happened to glance to the right and notice another walker. Strolling across nearby grass, stepping on to a small footbridge and crossing the creek to the other side. We turned to each other and jointly exclaimed, “What??!!! All this time… for over 2 years… why did we NEVER see that bridge?!!!”
photo by Sue Duby
We quickly followed. Across the grass, across the bridge, pausing on the other side of the creek, looking at our dry shoes and smiling together. Since that wake-up moment, we’ve carved a well-worn path to that bridge, with dry shoes every time!
The bridge wasn’t “new” in the sense of being freshly created. It’s been there for years, well worn by foot traffic. But it was “new” to us. Somehow, our eyes never saw it until that crazy day of awakening! One definition of “new” is just that… “already existing but seen, experienced, or acquired recently or now for the first time”.
Such a mystery. To have something there all the time and not see it. To struggle through a journey with obstacles and never realize there’s another way in clear view. To be stuck with a mind fretfully “looping”, without trusting a solution will make itself known by resting and waiting on Him. To be weighed by decisions needing to be made, forgetting He has a best path forward. To know that when we find ourselves feeling “stuck” in our ways, He’s faithful to continue to show us “better ways”. Often when we least expect. And always in His best timing.
May 2021 be a year of fresh vision. Of eyes that see what we missed before. Of His hand illuminating great surprises along the way. Of delight in discovering His “best paths” in each day. Of trusting that He is the God of the “new”… in all ways, in all things, forever.
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”I Corinthians 2:9 (ESV)
Prayers for the Season of Lent and Easter are now available as a download for only $6.99!
by Christine Sine,
Has it ever occurred to you how artificial the face we present to the public is, especially now when we are working at home? No pressure to dress up. The only time I put on make up and jewelry these days is when I am getting ready for a Zoom call or a video recording. The “me” you see isn’t the real me. There is so much messiness behind the scenes – a pile of tottering boxes that support my iPhone with my scrolling tele-prompted script, a precarious stack of cushions on my chair because my tripod won’t get my camera low enough to record effectively, and a couple of old lights scavenged out of the garage to illuminate my face.
The everyday me
The public figure me
That messiness plays an important part in my life though. It has taught me to improvise and be creative with what is lying around. It has encouraged me to learn new skills and to break out of the rigid boundaries of the past into new adventures. It has also taught me to rely on others who have the skills I lack and it has grounded me in a more resilient, more sustainable way of life.
There does come a point however when the messiness of pioneering gives way to a more ordered structure – the framework that says “I am here to stay”. Godspace is growing. Online events are proliferating and we love doing them. Perhaps now is the time to get rid of my stack of tottering boxes and buy a ring light. Maybe a new chair that isn’t 100 years old, that doesn’t squeak and is easily adjusted up and down. And shades to cover my office windows so that I don’t have to hunt for a new place to sit for an afternoon webinar without the sun streaming in and blinding the audience.
I don’t have to embrace this growth, I realize. I can pretend that one day I will be able to go back to doing things exactly the way they were. I can make do with my tottering pile of boxes until they fall and bury me in the middle of a webinar. Yesterday’s ways are OK for tomorrow I rationalize but deep down I know it is not ture and I don’t want to miss out on where God is nudging me to go.
What are the lessons for my spiritual life, I wonder?
Messiness is often the prelude to a new way of life and a new normal that God wants to establish in us. We improvise for a while drawing on the left overs of the past. We embrace new realms of creativity and lean heavily on our spiritual directors and soul friends for support and encouragement. But in the process, we grow and that growth takes us beyond the tottering boxes to new ways of practicing our faith.
I think that the messiness of the way that many of us have operated over the last year reflects that. Our spiritual life has gone through a phase of messiness where we feel that our public face has been precariously held together by a tottering stack of beliefs from the past, anxieties, fears and uncertainties. But in the midst, we have changed and grown. Now we need to replace these, especially the fears and anxieties with something more stable, for us to not just survive but to continue growing.
Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t think we need to throw out everything from the past. Without the foundations it gave us we would not have become the resilient and creative people we already are. However I do think this is a great time to re-evaluate the way we want to practice our faith into the future both as individuals and as churches.
I encourage you to take time to prayerfully look around at the practices you have engaged in over the last year. In what ways are they different from your pre-COVID practices? Which of these practices have most effectively sustained, nourished and grown your faith? How do you continue to incorporate these in your life?
Now, look back to pre-COVID days. What practices have you let go of over the last year that you realize are not necessary to sustain you into the future? How do you reshape your life without these practices? What practices have you been forced to let go of that have left you feeling bereft and malnourished? How can you start rebuilding those into your life?
We still live in challenging times, but they are also exciting times of opportunity and continued growth. I hope that in the messiness that still surrounds us that you will reinvent your life with a strong foundation for the future.
Available now in our store! Check out our New Lenten Bundle which includes the downloads of A Journey Into Wholeness book, Lent/Easter Prayer Cards, and 40 Daily Ideas Guide for Lent!
Here is the contemplative service from St Andrews for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany
A contemplative service with music in the style-of-Taize for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756 with additional notes below.
“Even in Sorrow” – composed by Kester Limner in March 2020 for the people of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Seattle, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
“Bring Your Peace” – words and music by Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
“In God Alone My Soul (Mon Ame se Repose)” and “Kyrie for February 7, 2021” are songs from the Taize Community. Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé. Kyrie intercessions written by Kester Limner.
“By the Mark” is written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.
by Diane Woodrow, photo above: Bewts-y-coed, Conwy April 2018 taken by Diane Woodrow
I have been chewing over this blog for a few days now and each time I go beyond a paragraph it becomes either a rant or way too personal but last night, as I led down to sleep, it all fell into place.
I believe too often we heal the surface but do not clean out what is causing the wound. I think of friends who have gone to the doctor’s or even to hospitals and have got medicines, had operations, taken antibiotics etc, Yet if one googles the NHS diagnosis will say “caused by stress or anxiety”. But very rarely does anyone take time to find out what is causing the stress or the anxiety, or if they do then it is again treated superficially rather than getting to the heart of it. But that is because getting to the heart of something is hard work and painful.
The piece that brought this blog to a place I felt I could share with others was when I read the introduction to David Olusoga’s “Black and British: A Forgotten History”. He recounts of how when he was a young teen, himself, his mother, two sisters, a younger brother and his grandmother, were driven from their home by repeated nightly attacks where the perpetrator would throw bricks through their windows and of how over time all they had was boarded up plywood where the windows should have been. He recounts the terror they felt along with the sleepless nights and the well meaning, but misguided advise of a teacher. Eventually the family were moved to temporary accommodation but when he crept back into the estate he saw a swastika and the words “NF Won Here” daubed across the plywood windows. How do we delve into that pain, that fear, that helplessness, that terror of David’s family and too many other families like his? Changes of law are surface things. There needs to be real listening and real hearing and real learning.
As I pondered this I got to wondering why would someone want to abuse a family like this? What fears and anxieties were they harbour? Are we willing to talk to the perpetrator as well as the victim? But also there is another group in this tale – those who kept quiet and said nothing. Those who lived in the same street, the same neighbourhood, went to the same school, and who would have been friendly to the family and yet did not step in and help. Is it like the school playground where, once one person is being bullied, the rest can relax because it isn’t them? How do we look at the wounding within all these groups without getting judgemental?
Well the obvious answer is Jesus and that I would not deny. But I do wonder how often we are holding similar fears, similar needs to be top dog, to turn the other way, to keep our heads down and just do our stuff within the deep psyche of our churches? I think of the story of the Good Samaritan where good and godly men walked on by, not because they were bad but because they were afraid or relieved that it wasn’t them. Again these are wounds that need to be healed but often get overlooked. We do like the simplicity of good guys/bad guys even though each of us is more complex than that if we real look within ourselves.
I’ve a friend who said her family are praying about the lawlessness of this country and the churches need to have more of Jesus in them but as they have really engaged with praying they have realised that they need to deal with their lawlessness within themselves and their deep need of more Jesus. Too often we point the finger outwards and don’t look at ourselves.
So we know God wants to heal us, as Christine Sine reminded us in her blog on Monday, but do we want to lay ourselves bare and let God heal us? Do we want to let go of the boundaries we have build around ourselves to keep us safe that we have built so long ago that we don’t know they are there? I believe every time we can turn aside when someone is suffering, or make sure we keep our own group safe then we have ignored the walls that we have build. But can we really be ready to stand up for the victim when they are being bullied and abused? Can we also be willing to love the perpetrator and find out why they do as they do? We can if we are willing to pray more, to heal our own deep wounds and stop being afraid of what might become of us.
Things like the basics we are doing at the moment to deal with Covid-19 – wear masks, don’t gather in groups, keep 2m distance, sanitize – are great starting points, as are regular health checkups, eating well, exercise, etc, – are all great. As are changes to the law regarding racial, gender and other issues where there has been discrimination. But these are only a first step. We need to change our hearts. That is something we can only do if we spend time really looking at our wounds and really wanting to clean them out.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
As Psalm 51:10-12 says – it’s got to start with me not them!
Original post taken from Aspirational Adventures.
Prayers for the Season of Lent and Easter are now available as a download for only $6.99!
by Lilly Lewin,
Since many of us are not meeting in person this year, how do we do Shrove Tuesday online? At thinplaceNASHVILLE, we are having pancakes together on the Sunday before Shrove Tuesday and then again on the day with our Tuesday night group. We are each going to make our own pancakes prior to gathering and eat dinner together online via Zoom. You could do this as a breakfast/brunch gathering too. Just let people know ahead of time what your plans are. And if you don’t have a church that is doing this, get some friends or family members together via Zoom and host your own Shrove Tuesday Pancake Gathering. And since I’m a freerange Christian, I say that you have freedom do have your pancake gathering any time between now and the first week of Lent which begins this year on February 17th.
Once upon a time, Shrove Tuesday was the day to clean out all the sugar, fat, etc from the pantry and get ready for the Lenten fast to begin on Ash Wednesday. Thus, pancakes were made from some of those ingredients.
Since pancakes aren’t very good cold, I would eat first and then do the prayer practice together.
get your ingredients together
If you are leading the online worship gathering this year, gather various pancake making ingredients and have them on a table so they can be seen by other participants. If you are doing this gathering at home or in a small group, have a centerpiece created with various pancake making ingredients and supplies. This creates the visual you can use to pray with together.
RECEIVE THE LOVE . Use this imaginative prayer before you eat.
Imagine the pancakes cooking on the griddle. Perfect pancakes, light and airy, browned just right.
Picture them stacked on a plate, rich butter on the top. Perhaps with blueberries or strawberries added in, or on the top. Perhaps filled with chocolate chips and topped with whipped cream! The butter melts. The syrup flows. Your pancakes might be plain but they are still a gift from Jesus. Imagine these abundant pancakes as a gift from Jesus to YOU!
Allow this image to represent the Richness and Abundance of God’s Love for you. The Richness and Abundance of Jesus’s Love for each of us today and always! Let’s taste and receive this Love today and each day between now and Easter. And all God’s People said, AMEN!
The Richness and Abundance of Jesus’s Love for us today and always! Let’s taste and receive this Love today and each day between now and Easter. AMEN
AFTER EATING YOUR PANCAKES begin the devotion/worship time. To transition from the food to the worship you might light a candle, saying IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.
ASK: What are the ingredients you need as you prepare for your journey with Jesus this Lent? Ask Jesus to show you tonight as you look at the ingredients….
pancakes
At thinplaceNASHVILLE, we talk about using the forty days of Lent to fall more in love with Jesus.
ASK:
What ingredients do you need to add to your life in order to fall more in love with Jesus between now and Easter?
Have participants consider all the different ingredients that go into pancakes… flour, salt, milk, eggs, baking powder, oil or butter…
Flour… add more faith, trust, prayer, reading, creativity, walks with Jesus, time alone, silence, what else?
What new ingredients does Jesus want to add? or do you need to subtract an ingredient or use less of something?
Less worry, less news, less social media for examples.
Do you need to change out artificial for real ingredients? Or be more organic?
You can have participants have a piece of paper to write down the ingredients they need to add or subtract. They could even have a recipe card to do this on that you design and send out, or a coloring sheet with ingredients drawn on it to color in.
When we gather in-person or online, the key is participation. Let people know what they need to have ready and at thinplace we call these “props to pray with”… For this gathering people will make their pancakes ahead of time. And then have several items to pray with. Small dish of Sugar, DRYER LINT, A large spoon.
Have participants pick up their spoon and hold it. How is God mixing you together this Lent? What is being stirred up in you as you prepare for Lent, as you prepare to journey with Jesus this year between now and Easter. What new recipe is Jesus inviting you to create with him? How can you fall more in love with Jesus during Lent this year? Ask Jesus to show you.
Give people time to pray between each question. Pause. Don’t rush. Let the Holy Spirit teach.
The word SHROVE comes from SHRIVE… to be forgiven for one’s sins. Let’s read/listen to JOEL 2:12-17
Have 3 people read the passage. We usually read it from three different versions including the Message and the NIV. (lectio divina)
SHARING: Give people the opportunity to share if they’d like to share. What did you notice? What word or phrase did God highlight for you? You can also invite people to share about their ingredients… what they’d like to add or subtract this Lenten season.
Take out your DRYER LINT (CONFESSION)…. Sin acts like lint, clogs up the system and causes problems between us and God. We need to clean our dryer lint trap before drying a load of clothes. We need to get rid of the LINT, the junk that is clogging up our lives. HOLD YOUR DRYER LINT…. Consider all the LINT that is clogging up your life right now. All the things clogging up your life and getting between you and Jesus? What is the LINT that needs removing as you begin the season of LENT? (allow people time to consider this and pray). Ask Jesus to show you and talk to him about these things.
Jesus, thank you for cleaning up the LINT of sin in our lives. Thank you for forgiving us and making us clean each day and every time we ask. AMEN.
AS YOU END YOUR TIME TOGETHER:
HOLD YOUR SPOON AGAIN. What ways can you stir up good things in the lives of those around you? How can you bring the sweetness of God’s love to your friends, neighbors, coworkers? How can we be salt and light to those around us even in a pandemic? Make a plan. Consider what flavors we want to bring into our World this week and in the weeks ahead. TASTE THE SUGAR. Receive the Richness and Abundance of Jesus’s Love for you today and always! Let’s taste and receive this Love today and each day between now and Easter. And all God’s People said, AMEN!
STIR UP GOOD THINGS
If you are looking for a way to pray through Lent, check out our downloadable prayer kit: 40 Days toward Love. You can use it on your own, or with your family, or buy it and send the PDF to your whole church.
40Days toward Love
You can find other resources for Lent and Easter too at freerangeworship.com and The Community of Iona has a downloadable Shrove Tuesday Service… that uses ingredients too.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
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