This question of Christine Sine’s challenged me after a walk around the park with my morning dog walking crew where we discussed all things from the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to climate change to Amazon deliveries and watched the Little Egrets making out on the pond.
This is our new world – of distant wars and long mild wet winters, of excitement at the return of birds to our area and the latest series on Amazon Prime. All of it is a new world. It isn’t being a grumpy old woman to say that “things weren’t like this in my day”. Yes there were distant wars and even here in the UK we had the Falkland wars and the civil war in Ireland, and the winters weren’t all snow to play in and summers of gentle golden days. I protested about nuclear weapons and looked for a more sustainable way of life even then. But the difference in this new world is that all of the things that are going on are fed into our pockets via our phones each day. Big Brother watching you is not a sci-fi wonder but we’ve all had adverts appear on our various social media feeds after we’ve had a conversation about those things. Our data is being gathered in a way it never was before.
We now see our politicians in all their guises. Although mainly the news outlets like to show us the worst of them, show us their faults and not their strengths. Though this was known before this new world of ours makes it instant and hard to miss.
So what are God’s characteristics in this new world? Not just this world of emerging spring but this world of emerging surveillance technology and instant information; when if I’m not sure of something I just google it. Where is God in all of this?
For most of us we will see God in the Egrets mating and the sunrise, as well as in the random groupings of friendships on the park and elsewhere. But I believe God is also in the emerging technologies and even in the constant media streams. But we need to step back, as we would have had to do with God in previous ages, and breath the Spirit of God in.
God has been easy to find or a rapid quick fix for our lives. God has always only ever ask for our hearts and not our deeds.
I’m reading a lot of Henri Nouwen at the moment and all he talks about is letting God into our hearts and also letting ourselves into our hearts. Nouwen has been dead since 1996 so was talking from what we might say was a slower age. But there always have been things to distract us from God, whether that be technology or whatever. There has never been a golden age when God was easy to find. Even when Jesus walked the earth not everyone took the time out to hang out with the incarnate God. Even Adam and Eve did their own thing rather than what they knew God wanted. God only hung out with them in the cool of the day. The rest of the day they were left to themselves. Though I do believe God was all the time but just hung out with t hem in the cool of the day. I think even when the serpent tempted them God was there if they had turned to God. But that’s for another blog 🙂
So for me in this age of new world/new season I think God’s characteristics haven’t change. God is unchangeable, always with us, always waiting for us to look to them. God wants us to know and love ourselves so we can open up and let God love and look after us fully.
So as my friends pontificate on issues micro and macro I see God in them, in their concerns and their humour, in the joy we have of being together, in the fear that are expressed and the longings that slip out. I do see God in the opening blossom and the shafts of sunlight and the mating egrets but I do see so much of God in my dog walking crew.
Spirituality of Gardening – A virtual retreat
On May 11 from 9:30-12:30 pm PT (check my timezone) We will discuss connections between community, spirituality and gardening. Explore the wonderful ways that God and God’s story are revealed through the rhythms of planting, growing and harvesting as well as the beauty of nature. This webinar is for anyone who admires the beauty of God’s good creation, likes to walk in nature, sit by the ocean or just relax and listen to the birds in the trees. It is based on Christine Sine’s popular book, To Garden with God and each participant will receive a digital copy of this book.
NOTE: The length of this retreat has been changed – 2 hours just wasn’t long enough to enter into the joy of God’s great creation.
It’s still Eastertide…Next week (May 9th) we will celebrate the Ascension of Jesus and his promise to come of the empowering Holy Spirit. It’s still Easter so we are invited to look at another story of resurrection about an early morning picnic!
One of my very favorite chapters in the Bible is John 21. for me it shows us just how much we are loved by Jesus. Even when we get frustrated. Even when we’ve betrayed our faith and our friend. Even when we don’t know what we are supposed to do next so we just go back to the old and familiar. Jesus knows just where to find us and isn’t afraid of our folly…like jumping into lakes with our clothes on! Instead, after fishing all night and catching nothing, Jesus provides a catch of abundance and the nets don’t break!
READ:
JOHN 21 FIRST NATIONS
A while later, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) showed himself again to his followers by Lake of Circle of Nations (Sea of Galilee), also called Sea of Rolling Water (Sea of Tiberias). 2Stands on the Rock (Peter) along with other followers of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had gathered there. With him were Looks Like His Brother (Thomas), Creator Gives (Nathanael) from Village of Reeds (Cana) in Circle of Nations (Galilee), the two sons of Gift of Creator (Zebedee), and two other followers.
3Stands on the Rock (Peter) said to them, “I am going fishing.” They all agreed and said, “Take us with you.” So they took a canoe out onto the lake. Under the light of the moon and stars they worked hard all night. Again and again they threw out their nets and drew them back in—empty. 4Just as the first light of day was dawning, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came and stood on the shore. But they did not know it was he. 5“Friends,” he called out to them, “have you netted any fish?” “No!” they answered. 6“Throw out your nets to the right of your canoe,” he shouted to them. “You will find some fish there.” They did as he said, and the net was filled with so many fish they could not pull it into the canoe. 7He Shows Goodwill (John), the much-loved follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), said to Stands on the Rock (Peter), “It is our Wisdomkeeper!” Stands on the Rock (Peter) had taken off his outer garment to fish. He put it back on and jumped into the water. 8The shore was not far, so the others made their way in, dragging the net full of fish behind the canoe. They came to the shore and stepped out of the canoe. 9They saw a warm fire with fish cooking over the coals and some frybread to eat.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com10Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked up from cooking and said, “Bring me some of the fish you caught.” 11Stands on the Rock (Peter) climbed into the canoe and pulled the net to shore. The fish were large, and they counted them—one hundred and fifty-three in all! But even with so many fish the net did not tear. 12Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said, “Let us eat.” They all sat down to eat, but no one dared ask, “Who are you?” They knew it must be their Wisdomkeeper. 13He took the frybread and gave some to each of them, along with a piece of fish. 14This was the third time he had shown himself to them after coming back to life from the dead. STANDS ON THE ROCK RESTORED 15When they had finished eating, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) took Stands on the Rock (Peter) and sat down with him by the lake. He spoke to him, using the name his family gave him, “One Who Hears (Simon), son of Gift of Kindness (John), do you love me more than the others love me?” “Yes, Wisdomkeeper,” he answered, “you know I am your friend.” “Then feed my lambs,” he said. They sat looking out over the water and listening to the sound of the waves coming in to the shore. 16Then a second time Creator Sets Free (Jesus) asked, “One Who Hears (Simon), son of Gift of Kindness (John), do you love me?” “Yes, Wisdomkeeper,” he answered him again, “you know how deeply I care for you.” “Then watch over my sheep,” he said. The sound of the water birds could be heard in the distance, and the sun felt warm as it rose higher in the sky. 17Creator Sets Free (Jesus) asked him a third time, “One Who Hears (Simon), Son of Gift of Kindness (John), do you love me as a friend?” Stands on the Rock (Peter) felt his heart sink because he asked the third time, “Do you love me as a friend?” “Wisdomkeeper!” he said, “you know all things, you must know how deeply I care for you. I am your friend!” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to him again, “Feed my sheep.” 18Creator Sets Free (Jesus) then said to him, “I tell you from my heart, when you were a young man, you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and take you to a place you do not want to go.” 19He was telling him the kind of death he would die, to bring honor to Creator. Then he said to Stands on the Rock (Peter), “Come, walk the road with me.” This was the same invitation he had given years earlier to Stands on the Rock (Peter) in Circle of Nations (Galilee) after the canoes had been filled with fish.
We listened and reflected on this passage at thinplace on Tuesday night. We listened to the passage in three translations and spent 15 minutes in silence reflecting on what God’s word was for each of us. During the sharing, my husband Rob noticed that there isn’t any shame in this encounter with Jesus. He has breakfast ready and he just wants to show love to his friends. Even to Peter! Jesus wants Peter to know that he really sees him for who he is. Jesus wants Peter to know that he sees him and loves him despite his betrayal. Another of the thinplace crew, Teri, noticed that Jesus uses Peter’s full name…Simon son of John rather than Peter…Like Peter…Jesus knows who we are and where we come from…He cares about the details! Both where we’ve come from and where we are now!
Interesting that Jesus doesn’t tell Peter to pray more or work harder. Jesus doesn’t say memorize more Torah, or sing more worship songs. He doesn’t say…I’m really mad at you Peter! I can’t believe what you did Peter! Nope! Jesus asks him questions and invites him to feed his sheep. And the command in verse 19 is FOLLOW! He tells Peter to follow him. Jesus’s command to Peter is “ Come, walk the road with me.” How would that change Churchland if we really walked the road with Jesus?
Companionship and purpose ! Remember Peter? Follow and do the things Jesus does!
I love that we are invited to Follow. We are invited to walk the road WITH Jesus! This means we are not living this life alone! Jesus is on the road with us! And we don’t need to be afraid when we screw up and make mistakes or when we go back to old things. Jesus makes a fire, and invites us to join him again at a picnic table to receive his friendship and his love.
PLAN A PICNIC
Plan a picnic. You can do this with friends or family or on your own.
A picnic breakfast around or near some water would be perfect.
But you can just take a blanket outside to a grassy spot and it will be just fine.
Or if you have a fire pit or place for an outside fire, plan your picnic with Jesus there.
READ and/or LISTEN to the story in John 21.
What do you notice? What does the Holy Spirit speak to you about from this passage?
Sit with Jesus…just be present with him.
Listen to the sounds
Notice the scents
Pay attention to the beauty of creation, even simple things are sacred and beautiful.
Let Jesus speak to you of his great love for you.
I don’t think Jesus was in a hurry at this picnic. So don’t be in a hurry.
I don’t think he was like “I’ve finished with Peter, now let’s get on with the clean up guys!”
Maybe they sat around that fire and told stories about their time together.
Maybe they remembered all the other times Jesus showed up around fish and bread! Providing abundance! And took time to be thankful.
Perhaps they asked a lot questions…I know I would!
Think about how Jesus has provided for you in recent days. Take time to notice and be thankful.
How do you need Jesus to provide for you right now? Talk to him about this.
Sitting across the picnic table with Jesus, what questions do you have for him? Take time to ask Jesus and spend time listening to his answers.
Breathe
Be Still
Notice
Receive his love for you just as you are, right where you are!
You are Invited…on a picnic…to join Jesus at this outdoor table! To be fed and to be restored! Happy Easter.
Jesus provides
Keep an empty plate or a bowl or basket out on your counter or coffee table this week to remind you of how Jesus provides for you IN ABUNDANCE! Remember that he already had fish. He already had breakfast prepared so he knows what you need!
LISTEN TO MORE: NT WRIGHT ON this passage (about 7 min)
MAIN PHOTO: By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
by Carol Dixon
The season of Eastertide (Easter Sunday to Pentecost) seems to be slipping by quickly this year. I have felt an inner compulsion to re-read the accounts of some of the characters who met with the resurrected Jesus and walk with them for a while. I love the way the Easter season continues further into Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and there are so many wonderful Easter accounts in the Gospels for us to contemplate over the weeks between Easter and Ascension Day/Pentecost we are sometimes spoilt for choice.
Last year on Godspacelight I posted some of my imaginative Easter Meditations from the point of view of different characters in the story (Easter Reflections – Godspacelight).
This year I’d like to share some pithy pointers to the stories written by Revd. David Jenkins, Moderator of Northern Synod of the United Reformed Church 1987-2001 and my former boss – I was Moderator’s secretary for 20 years and spent 14 interesting years typing up some of David’s books as well as the more mundane secretarial tasks of typing letters and preparing reports. He has given me permission to reproduce his ponderings and is very happy for his reflections to be used for personal devotions and in worship.
David invites his readers to ponder on each word or phrase and think about the points in the stories that speak particularly to us personally and what they might be saying to us today in the church.
Mary and the gardener John 20.11-16
Harry Clarke, Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene Chapel of the Sacred Heart,
Dingle Co. Kerry, Ireland Wiki media Commons
Dawn. Garden tomb open. Jesus gone.
Mary of Magdala in tears. Love tested.
Spirit destroyed. Horrific weekend.
Who to talk to? Suddenly. A stranger.
Or is the gardener? Short conversation.
Mary: “I’ve lost my dearest friend!
Where have you put him?”
Stranger: “Mary!” Mary: “Rabboni”
Life returns. Spirit renewed.
Easter miracle.
Prayer: Jesus, when grief is raw,
reach out to us;
when endings crowd our days,
create a new dawn for us.
Only you can turn the world’s fears
and tears into opportunities
for love and hope.
Image from teachingthem.com
Goin’ fishin’ John 21.1-6
Disciples all at sea. Shock. Trauma. Guilt-filled. Jesus gone. Three years down the drain. What next? Peter, James, John, Galilean used-to-be-fishermen. So what now?
“At least we were good at that!” Peter: “Goin’ fishin” Back to the big lake. But no luck. No fish. Stranger on the shore. “Try the other side!” (The cheek of it!) But he is spot on. Huge catch. “Good grief! It’s him!”.
Prayer: God of every lost disciple and pilgrim soul,
keep surprising us when we are all at sea.
Reach out and let your presence resurrect us.
In calm or storm, at dawn or dusk,
let us hear your “Shalom” on the breeze.
image public domain
Breakfast time John 21.9-12
Fresh fish. Breakfast by the lake. Talk about unexpected. Jesus present after all. No getting away. No good clinging to the past. Easter surprises point to the future. Every meal, communion. Fish. Bread. Guilt wiped away in a simple meal. Still fishing to do. A whole world out there. Eager for good news.
Prayer: Welcoming God, please keep calling us to eat and drink with you,
so that every meal becomes sacrament
and every human being a precious guest.
Call us into fellowship and friendship
until we find Easter strength for each new day.
Hiking Luke 24. 13-19
Hikers on the road. Two very sad figures. Not famous disciples.
Cleopas and A.N Other.
Minds, spirits crushed
by the tragedy of recent days.
Jesus crucified. Horrible.
Then another walker joins them, going their pace. Now there are three.
Silence. The stranger says little.
He soaks up their grief,
anger and despair.
It seems he has not read the papers.
They walk. Their unburdening
seems to give them peace. He helps them reflect and, as they walk,
the mist lifts, things become clearer. Amazingly, the stranger helps them
to understand Easter.
Prayer: Mysterious God,
you come to us as one unknown.
You come not with judgment
but with compassion,
not hurrying us but gently
leading us to clarity.
Come alongside us, we pray,
as earth-pilgrims-in-need,
to lift, carry, transform.
image from Emmaus Road Ministries
B & B at Emmaus Luke 24. 28-32
Time to find accommodation. Two pilgrims plus one. The stranger will now go his own way. Or will he? No, they persuade him to join them. Five star hospitality. Must put it on Trip advisor. They share their evening meal. Then, Wow! The stranger, breaks open the loaf, and it dawns on them who he is. It’s him! In all their journeying, unburdening, and shared blisters, they had been in the presence of the Jesus man! Easter joy is incognito. Deep. Hidden. Amazing.
Prayer: Hidden God, heal broken hearts by broken bread.
Help us to draw Easter strength for our own time.
When endings are all we can think of,
let your loving hospitality open our lives
To receive your Easter gifts of peace, joy and love.
* * * * * * * * * *
I took up David’s challenge to think of key points in one of the Easter stories myself and came up with the following:
Thomas John 24-29
Declaration – die with him. Disaster – death, of his Master. Doubt and Disbelief, – unless I see for myself. Depression turned to delight – Display of Wounds. Deeply moved. Devotion DECLARATION MY LORD AND MY GOD! Blessed are those who believe without seeing.
Prayer: Loving Lord, often like Thomas we doubt your power
to rise above the death-like situations in our lives and in our world.
When we recall the ecological and human-made disasters, sudden deaths,
murders, painful experiences, and serious illness of people around us;
When we think of the wars, bombings, famines, and other disasters
which wreak havoc around us, we want to run away and hide.
Help us to have the courage to reach out and touch your scars,
borne for the world, and for us, so that we may be healed,
renewed, and see your risen life in the broken people and places
of our world and acclaim you again as our Lord and our God. Amen.
Now it’s your turn to ponder on your favourite Gospel passage for Easter. Over to you…
Kruiskerk, Dordrecht, The Netherlands
by Bill Borror
You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer….
John 15:14-15
For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.
Teresa of Avila
Fear not the coming of your God; fear not his friendship. He will not (reduce) you when he comes; rather he will enlarge you. So that you might know that he will enlarge you he not only promised to come, saying, ‘I will dwell with them,’ but he also promised to enlarge you, adding, ‘and I will walk with them.’ You see then, if you love, how much room he gives you. Fear is a suffering that oppresses us. But look at the immensity of love. ‘God’s love has been poured into our hearts’ (Romans 5.5).
Augustine of Hippo Sermons, 23.
I must admit that it has taken me the better part of three decades to reembrace the language of “friendship with Jesus.” It is not that I have minimized God’s love for us or ignored what it means for us to grow in love with Christ, but I was reacting to the popular and shallow theology of my evangelical upbringing. The “personal Jesus” that was often promoted was a particular emotive experience that seemed to be not only divorced from historical Christianity, but quite accommodating to whatever cultural and political milieu in which it was situated. As J. B. Philips once observed, that God is too small.
But the answer is not in making God too circuitous or so watered-down that the presented deity literally is not worth getting up on Sunday morning to go and worship. Having spent my entire adult career in mainline protestant churches, I have observed a different kind of flight from historical Christianity, that in many ways is a form of functional atheism. Karl Barth observed, “One cannot speak of God simply by speaking of man in a loud voice.” This God is too thin.
The God revealed in Jesus Christ is both the creator of the cosmos and the lover of the created. Jesus is both the truth incarnate and the maker of breakfast for his disciples. He is both the Resurrection and the Crucified. He is God and Lord and a friend that will never leave us or forsake us. Jesus was the friend of Augustine of Hippo, the shaper of Western Christianity and Jesus was the friend of my grandmother Hattie of Shirley’s Lane WV, the person who first told me about and reflected the God that is Love.
Genuine friendships are built on trust, mutual affection, shared perspectives, and conversations. Friendship with God is not only rooted in a relationship with Jesus, but it is having our “hearts expanded” so that we may love as Jesus loved. This love means caring for the people of God whether we agree with them or not. And it entails embracing the scars of the world, regardless of what that may ultimately cost us.
Neither reform nor deconstruction is going to transform the current state of the church.
William Temple observed, “True worship is when a person, through their person, attains intimacy and friendship with God.” And friendship with God will make our connections with one another look a little more like what Jesus promised when he said the world we know we belong to him by the way we love one other (John 13:35).
photo by Cornelia Steinwender on Unsplash
A Journey Into God’s Resurrection-created World
Download
Celebrate the Easter Season with this free download! Though originally published in 2009, the hope that comes from Resurrection Sunday and continues into Pentecost is always needed! We have made some small additions for a COVID-19 reality, but feel that many of the suggestions can be adapted. Christine invites us to Journey Into God’s Resurrection-created World as a way to celebrate this season. The joy that comes when we recognize what Jesus has done for us is infectious and this book outlines creative ways to invest in the lives of those around us, including those we normally disregard.
I am looking out on a very grey and cold morning here in Seattle. There is fresh snow on the Olympic mountains, a surprising contrast to the lilac bush now in full bloom outside my window. Spring is always an uncertain season with winter reluctant to give up its hold on us, while the first glimmers of summer struggle to emerge. It is a season that is always filled with growth and promise, with joy and expectation however, which I am very aware of as I look ahead to the next few weeks.
I am getting ready for The Spirituality of Gardening webinar and am excited to share some of my insights with you. This is not just for gardeners but for anyone who draws close to God in nature whether it be while sitting beside a waterfall, on a beach or wandering through a forest. This is for anyone who wants draw closer to the God who comes to us in the creation story as the planter of gardens and the nurturer of all that is good and beautiful. This webinar is for anyone who wants to discover the enriching awe and wonder of interacting with God’s good creation. I am very much looking forward to the fun interactions and the mutual learning this will provide for us. I hope you will join us on May 11th for this valuable seminar.
My head is still ringing with the sound of wonderful music, poetry and wisdom from the Inhabit conference Tom and I attended over the weekend. Between sessions I raced outside to enjoy the beauty of the Dumas Bay Retreat Centre where the conference was held this year. Watching the sun set over the water was an added delight. I appreciated the cries for lament and justice, for equity, reparation and restitution, and have returned home with renewed zeal for the daunting task that still faces us to bring justice, mercy and God’s love to our world. My one disappointment was that virtually no sessions talked about the climate crisis and our need to face together our destruction of this good earth and the extinction of many of the creatures we share it with.
It is my belief that our concerns for our sisters and brothers who face inequity, poverty, violence and abuse around the world should be grounded in our concern for the planet on which we live. As I commented in yesterday’s Meditation Monday: God’s Dream Unfolding “For me, God’s dream is expansive and whole. It’s a dream for all of creation – plants, animals, people – living in shalom together with God.” This post, like future Meditation Mondays, is available in audio form too for paid subscribers to my Substack. Several people told me how much they enjoy listening to the posts rather than reading them, especially as my emotions and feels come through more clearly. Please consider joining those who support my ministry in this way.
As you can see I am really getting into this podcast business. A year ago it never occurred to me that I would launch not just one but two podcasts. On Wednesday we launched the 6th episode of Liturgical Rebels, a fun interview with my good friend, frequent partner in crime and creative worship leader Lilly Lewin. Our next episode will be a very passionate interview with author and activist Shane Claiborne. This week, together with Forrest Inslee, I will interview Brian McLaren about his new book Life After Doom, and next week will chat to Tony Jones about his book The God of Wild Places. I am also getting ready to interview my yarn bombing friend Naomi Lawrence, and iconographer Kelly Latimore, and have several others in the pipeline. I feel the podcast is gathering steam. We just had the 1000th download and wherever I share about it I find people are very excited about my emphasis on helping people to think outside the box about what it means to worship God, what is a spiritual practice and how do we draw close to the Creator of our universe.
Godspacelight is thriving too. On Saturday, Emily Huff, in her post for International Dance Day shared that wonderful song, Lord of the Dance. She comments: “This song is a beautiful invitation to us as we listen to God saying, “Come dance with me” to us through this day that God has given to us. What might it be like to stand on God’s feet just like a little girl might stand on her father’s feet in learning how to dance? What might it look like to let God take the lead as we twirl and swing together around the dance floor and as everything else fades away as we dance?”
Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday Discovering the Garden of Love talks about the boxes we all tend to live in – failure, fear and not enough then reflects on love – not as a box but as a garden. Such a beautiful concept.
On Thursday we reposted an inspiring post Shift #5 An Ecological Mission, by James Amadon from the Circlewood blog, The Ecological Disciple. I love his assertion that “The current ecclesial crisis is an opportunity to reassess, among other things, the Church’s understanding and practice of mission. And this work is well underway”. Lots to reflect on here.
Are we too busy for beauty,
Too distracted to practice wonder?
Do we have the courage,
To live in the freedom of awe
Absorbing the rhythm
Of our God soaked world.
Our bodies carry the essence of God
Within and without,
Alone and in community,.
Eternity pulses within us, around us
All through all creation.
Many blessings
Spirituality of Gardening – A virtual retreat
On May 11 from 9:30-12:30 pm PT (check my timezone) We will discuss connections between community, spirituality and gardening. Explore the wonderful ways that God and God’s story are revealed through the rhythms of planting, growing and harvesting as well as the beauty of nature. This webinar is for anyone who admires the beauty of God’s good creation, likes to walk in nature, sit by the ocean or just relax and listen to the birds in the trees. It is based on Christine Sine’s popular book, To Garden with God and each participant will receive a digital copy of this book.
As an Amazon Associate I receive a small amount for purchases made through appropriate links. Thank you for supporting Godspace in this way.
by Christine Sine
Tom and I just returned from the Inhabit Conference. This is a yearly event for us that draws together a diverse group of people from across North America. I love the rich interplay that our black, hispanic, indigenous and white heritages bring to the mix of music, poetry, liturgy and wisdom we share.
I had the privilege of helping to craft and share, together with a group from many cultures and generations, our introductory liturgy which focused on God’s good dream of renewal, restoration and shalom for all of creation. I want to share some of this with you. In our broken and fragmented world it is hard sometimes to believe in this dream “which extends far beyond our own; for God’s dream imagines and sets into being more beauty, more joy, more just, more peace, and more connection than we can imagine.”
Scripture is full of the promise of God’s unfolding dream, of shalom, of the Beloved Community which Jesus teaches us to become part of as we seek to love each other and enter into the glory and beauty of God’s eternal world. My ears still ring with the beauty of the music, the liturgies and the impassioned presentations that called us to love each other, and seek for reconciliation and reparation with each other and with our Creator. I felt we really came together in a posture of love, learning and wonderful fellowship. We pray our thoughts, prayers, tears, hearts and energy rise like incense as a pleasing aroma before God.
Brenda Salter McNeil
I loved the various images of God’s dream that each person spoke out and that later we saw lived out in the neighbourhood stories that were shared.
Our teenage presenters Greta and Kinsey spoke of God’s dream tasting like raspberries from a next door neighbour and the sharing of teddy bears with those who are having a bad day. For them it also sounds like neighbours singing and dancing on the street together, like in a musical, and it feels like teachers helping kids that are hurting, physically and mentally. It looks like welcome and kindness for our neighbours who fled Ukraine and Gaza.
For me, God’s dream is expansive and whole. It’s a dream for all of creation – plants, animals, people – living in shalom together with God.
I see a shalom community as a place where everyone is happy, full of laughter and song and delight. There. Will be no pollution of air or soil. Everyone will have a place to live that is comfortable and well looked after. There will be jobs for everyone that provide a living wage. The neighbourhood will be alive with gardens of flowers and vegetables, trees and birds and wildlife. Kids will be able to play in the streets without fear and there will be plenty of playgrounds and parks for them as well. There will be no street gangs, or gun shootings or discrimination that keep people in fear for their lives. Everyone will treat everyone else justly, with respect no mater their creed, culture or sexual orientation There will be health care and education for all and everyone will live to a ripe old age without disease or infirmity.
As we open our eyes to this dream and allow its hope and promise to fill our hearts, we must also open our eyes and ears to the pain, suffering oppression and injustice that fills our world and disrupts the fulfillment of this dream. We think particularly of the people in Ukraine, Gaza, the Sudan and so many other places were violence still reigns. We remember the forgotten ones like the Uyghurs, predominantly Muslim people in China who face genocide and relocation to internment camps
Creator God, whose name is love, bring equity where poverty and greed now reign. Bring nourishment where hunger and thirst abound, bring friendship where loneliness pulls at our hearts, bring liberation and peace where war destroys…. And let it begin with us.
We catch glimpses of your dream unfolding in our neighborhoods when we hear of those who seek to transform a park and playground that was closed because of violence, shootings and equipment unsafe for children to use. We rejoiced when we heard that it will reopen as a restored, rebuilt and safe environment for adults and children alike.
We rejoice too when we hear of the church parking lot, once concrete, now a thriving and much appreciated community garden in the midst of one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in America. We rejoice with those who help keep local family businesses alive and plan neighbourhood parties and festivities. Our hearts swell when we hear of advocates for indigenous people whose land was confiscated and of those who make strawberry jam and share in the strawberry festival held on land taken from Japanese farmers interred during World War II to help keep alive this rich heritage bring reparation. We are touched by those who work to provide housing for the homeless and low income families.
As people shared I was reminded of other glimpses I have caught of God’s dream over the years. I was in Germany just after the Berlin Wall fell and watched people dance on the now crumbling and broken wall. I acquired a small piece of the wall as a reminder of that victory, contributed to by the many who prayed throughout its life that it would be destroyed. I walked the streets of Poland too as the statues of Stalin were pulled down and talked to people hungry for the hope of freedom it symbolized. I remembered the refugee camps I worked in in the mid 80s with Khymer refugees on the Thai/Cambodian border and the tears that flowed as I read the email sent 12 years later telling me the camps were now closed and the last refugee had returned to their homeland.
Thank you God for your dream and for the glimpses we catch of its fulfillment.
As we end let me share my favourite Biblical image of God’s new world bursting into our. It has sustained and encouraged me through refugee camps, stories of atrocity, hatred and devastation. One day God’s dream will come in its fullness.
“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.
“No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
Only the cursed will die that young!
In those days people will live in the houses they build
and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
and confiscate their vineyards.
For my people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
They will not work in vain,
and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
For they are people blessed by the Lord,
and their children, too, will be blessed.
I will answer them before they even call to me.
While they are still talking about their needs,
I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat hay like a cow.
But the snakes will eat dust.
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
(Isaiah 65: 17-25)
Amen Creator God – may your dream come in all its fullness.
by Emily Huff
For International Dance Day, I offer this song “Lord of the Dance” that I remember from my high school youth group days. It was written in 1963 by Sydney Carter painting a picture of Jesus’ life and mission as a dance.
I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth:
At Bethlehem I had my birth.
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,
But they would not dance and they wouldn’t follow me;
I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;
They came with me and the dance went on:
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame:
The holy people said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me on high,
And they left me there on a cross to die:
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.
They buried my body and they thought I’d gone;
But I am the dance, and I still go on:
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
They cut me down and I leapt up high;
I am the life that’ll never, never die.
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me:
I am the Lord of the dance, said he.
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
This song is a beautiful invitation to us as we listen to God saying, “Come dance with me” to us through this day that God has given to us. What might it be like to stand on God’s feet just like a little girl might stand on her father’s feet in learning how to dance?
What might it look like to let God take the lead as we twirl and swing together around the dance floor and as everything else fades away as we dance?
What would it look like to dance through life holding people’s stories tenderly knowing that sometimes we all step on each other’s toes? How might we dance more freely if we could only anchor ourselves in the present moment and delight in the person in front of us? (1)
As you turn towards this day and turn towards those who will be in your path, may this prayer put a spring in your step in your dance with God.
Fill us up with edge-of-seat anticipation
to listen to Your Spirit and
to take your hand as you lead us.
Focus our attention
so that we won’t miss out on ways to participate
in bringing the kingdom here on earth.
May our words, choices, and actions
be offered as true expressions of worship. (2)
Give us courage to laugh at the days to come.
Give us hope to imagine and a heart to listen
to one another’s stories and to You.
Help us to see others as You see them
with deep delight
and help us to remember that
we belong to each other.
Take our eyes and allow others
to see Your tender gaze through us.
Through all circumstances, remind us that
we are always held in Your love, (3)
and let that love spill over into the people before us.
Wake us up to the ways we wound our lives,
the lives of others, and the life of this world,
and recalibrate our hearts that we would be well and whole
in our relationships
with one another and with You.
Through our learning and unlearning
and growing and changing
and becoming,
let us run to You again and again and again
with everything in our lives.
Help us to love you from deep within,
with the strength of our arms,
the thoughts of our minds,
and the courage of our hearts. (4)
Take us by the hand and lead us in the dance…
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
1 Credit to Father Gregory Boyle for this beautiful mantra.
2 From Morning Prayer from Every Moment Holy
3 Inspired by readings from Julian of Norwich’s Divine Revelations.
4 Matthew 22:36, First Nations Bible Translation
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“What makes you feel closer to God?” When Christine Sine asked people this question, the answers she received surprised her. It wasn’t pipe organs and pulpits that most often opened people to God’s presence, but simple things in daily life. In Return to Our Senses, Christine Sine shows you how simple experiences – breathing, drinking a glass of water, walking amongst trees, shooting a photo, picking up a stone – can become “thin places” and pregnant moments in your daily life – helping you awaken to God’s presence, savor God’s nearness, and translate your experience of God into prayerful, compassionate action. It was written for those who hunger for a deeper, more life encompassing relationship with God.
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