by Rodney Marsh
I am very fortunate to have a garden. I love to work, play and pray in a garden. The garden’s plants and animals support and sustain me. In particular, I think I am saner than I should be had I been forced to live without my daily immersion in nature. I don’t think I could survive a Melbourne style COVID lockdown in a tower block apartment! My primary spiritual discipline consists of two half hour sessions of meditation each day and I love to sit and be still and silent in our garden for this precious time. I wish to to introduce to you some animals who decided, perhaps because I was quiet and still, that the area in which I was praying was a safe zone – safe enough enough for them to enter. Let me introduce my very favourite garden friend – Eric(a) the Bandicoot.
The four or five species of Australian Bandicoot are all small marsupials – notice the ‘kangaroo’ type rear hopping legs, short tail, and the claw like ‘hands’ (forefeet) for digging. Eric digs for his food – small soil insects and fresh roots. Eric the Bandicoot could be Erica the Bandicoot. If it is Erica, then she has space in her pouch to nurture and nurse three or four young.
An Eric Snout Pouch (looking for food) Eric’s Road Warning(With a glass eye added by a neighbour)
The most inconvenient aspect to having a resident bandicoot is the random holes dug in the lawn and garden. Snout sized holes (pouches) in the lawn or garden beds are a sure sign of bandicoot activity. Local plants usually die when their roots are disturbed, but Eric must be gentle – the plants usually survive.
Cats would have eaten Eric when he was little, but now he is too big for a cat to tackle. And too fierce, I suspect. Eric may appear cute and mild mannered, but he will defend his territory and fight other males who venture into his garden. He does not back down from a fight, and he has long claws and sharp teeth. I have twice seen a bandicoot’s courage when I watched a beak/snout stoush between a crow and a bandicoot. Both times the crow backed down and flew away. Eric is fast too. As soon as I reach for my phone camera he will swiftly hop away. Cars are the biggest modern danger to bandicoots since bandicoots will suddenly rush out of the bush and run into the path of an approaching car, and, it appears, die by car suicide.
Since Eric lives in the garden and occasionally joins me during my time of garden prayer, does he bring a message from God for me? The photo shows Eric knows how to pay attention. He’s looking at me. He is perfectly still and If I should move he will be soon gone. I thought, I too can pay attention, but, compared with Eric, I am an amateur. Anyone who has tried to meditate knows one’s mind is soon off and away, attending to various plans, memories, emotions or impending disasters or pleasures. So perhaps Eric is saying to me “Be still. You are in a safe place. Attend to your prayer word and be, like me. Look and live and you will make some wonderful friends – like me. But forget to attend, wander off and move, and I will be gone. Be still.”
The Bandicoot looked at me
The bandicoot is still, silent
It knows how to just be
Watchful and waiting
Just as his Lord instructed.
“I know better than this bandicoot …
I will gather information, data
Then I will act to my advantage, then
I will do more, have more, be more,” says I.
The bandicoot looks at me with one eye and
He has a one word reply,
“Why? … and …
“If you forget to attend, wander off and move
I will be gone and so will your life.”
So I fix my eyes on the Bandicoot’s eye
I am still, I wait, I attend and then …
I see – when I do less, have less, are less
I am more, I am whole, I am One.
This bandicoot is my friend …
And my teacher.
3
The Liturgical Rebels Podcast empowers followers of Jesus to creatively reconstruct their faith and spiritual practices. Through conversation with groundbreaking practitioners from around the world who think creatively about new approaches to spirituality, we will emphasize the sacredness of all things and uncover ways in which God speaks to us through nature and creativity, through restorative justice and environmental concern, and through the mundane and ordinary acts of daily life. This podcast is for those who don’t want to just deconstruct, but also to reconstruct faith and spiritual practices; those who want to reshape belief and practice to journey closer to God and the wholeness, peace, justice and flourishing God intends not just for us as individuals but for the earth and all its inhabitants.
On Friday we launched my new podcast The Liturgical Rebels. It has been an exciting few days. I am overwhelmed by the number of you who have not only listened to this first episode, but also encouraged me with your words of affirmation and eagerness to listen to the next episode. I am very grateful for Melissa Kelly and Forrest Inslee without whose help it would never have seen the light of day. I love the fascinating people I get to interview and the new opportunities it is opening up for other involvement in God’s work.
As we move towards the second Sunday of Lent however, I realize that adding a big new project like this to my life also means relinquishing some of what I currently give my time and energy to. As I commented in yesterday’s Meditation Monday: Relinquish, Let Go “Lent is about relinquishment. It confronts us with our mortality, our vulnerability, our ambitions. It confronts us with how seriously we will follow Jesus into the future. “ It is a good season to reflect on hard questions like those I posed yesterday “For love of God, for love of the world and for love of myself and my inner wellbeing what am I willing to give up?” They have very serious consequences for my life. I appreciate your prayers as I grapple with this, as part of what I am rethinking is my involvement with godspacelight.com and I hope to be able to hand the resource centre which I know so many of you rely on, over to someone else.
I have also decided to cancel the Lenten Quiet Day on March 2nd. There are many other similar offerings available and I feel it is not the best use of my time. My apologies to those of you this may inconvenience. I will however still facilitate the Spirituality of Gardening webinar on May 11. I am really looking forward to this event, which is not just for gardeners, but for anyone who loves to get out and experience the wonder of God in the natural world. The garden has seemingly endless lessons to teach us about God and what it means to be a person of faith. We read about the miracle of the fish and the loaves in the Bible but experience a miracle every time we harvest God’s bounty. We read about the death and resurrection of Christ in the gospels, but experience it every time we plant a seed in the ground and watch it burst into life.
In her Freerange Friday: The Invitation of Lent Part 2 Lilly Lewin reminds us that a Lent invites us to be present with Jesus in the wilderness. She comments: “My fear often blocks my faith. The bitterness of the world gets under my skin and I become like it, sadly more hateful rather than more loving.” I think this is so true for all of us.
In Embracing Lent: A Spiritual Journey with Scripture Memorization Cards Hilary Horn reminds us of the power of scripture memorization as a practice during this season. As she says, By committing these verses to heart, we open ourselves to a richer and more profound experience of Lent, ultimately drawing nearer to the spiritual renewal that Easter promises.
I hope that you are fully engaged in this journey through Lent, taking time for reflection, introspection and outreach into God’s world. I pray that you too will take seriously the questions I have posed for this season and allow God to liberate you into relinquishment. Let me end with part of the poem from yesterday’s Meditation Monday which was inspired by my reading of Cole Arthur Riley’s Black Liturgies, because I think that this an important focus for all of us at this time.
Stay close to your inner world,
Travel slowly through the hidden corridors
Of your heart.
Listen quietly not for answers,
But for the questions
Hiding beneath the stress,
Of your uncertainty.
Do not be afraid,
Of what you will uncover,
Of what you might relinquish,
If you become honest
With yourself.
Many blessings
Christine Sine
by Christine Sine
Relinquish, let go, give up. These are the words that reverberate in my mind as a begin Lent this year. For love of God, for love of the world, but also for love of self, and my own wellbeing, what am I willing to give up? In this season of life, and in this stage of my faith journey what do I need to give up to continue growing towards the wholeness God desires for me. These, for me, are the serious questions of Lent, but will I take them seriously or will I instead focus on giving up something trivial and unimportant.
Lent is about relinquishment. It confronts us with our mortality, our vulnerability, our ambitions. It confronts us with how seriously we will follow Jesus into the future. I think of this as I reread the story in Luke 4:1-13 of Jesus sent out into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He is tempted by the desire for food and physical satisfaction, by the desire for power and wealth, and by the temptation to worship other gods, than the one he knows to be the creator of the universe and the only one worth bowing down to.
Our own temptations often take on a similar guise. Maybe we don’t spend 40 days in the desert, and maybe the devil doesn’t appear to us as dramatically, but throughout our lives we are tempted to satisfy physical needs not just for food but for clothing, housing and other material goods, often in extravagant ways. We are also tempted to accumulate wealth and power for ourselves and not for sharing with those in need around us. We are tempted too, to worship in ways that don’t put our creator God at the centre. Bound up in this is a temptation to create our own kingdoms of influence and have others worship us.
I think sometimes we only become aware of how much we have succumbed to temptation when we need to give something up. I ponder this as I launch my podcast, the Liturgical Rebels. At the same time I sense God is asking me to give up other aspects of the ministry I have been involved in for the last 20+ years. It’s hard to do that. Hard to let go, hard to rethink how we spend our time when we still enjoy what we do. I wonder if Jesus found it hard to let go of being a carpenter and the security of a steady income, and a stable life without the threats of violence and death.
At this point in time I still feel I am out in the wilderness considering what this new stage of life could look like. I love interviewing people and listening to their stories. I love encouraging people to consider fresh and nourishing ways to draw close to God but it takes time and something must go. I covet your prayers as I use this season of Lent to reshape my thinking for the future.
Let go
Says the whisper
In my mind.
Let go
Of what has had
It’s season of life
And productivity
And is now ready to rest.
Let go.
Let the nourishment
Of the old,
Provide life for the new.
Let go,
Stay close to your inner world,
Travel slowly through the hidden corridors
Of your heart.
Listen quietly not for answers,
But for the questions
Hiding beneath the stress,
Of your uncertainty.
Do not be afraid,
Of what you will uncover,
Of what you might relinquish,
If you become honest
With yourself.
Let go,
Listen.
It is a sacred art,
uncovering holy moments,
Divine encounters
That draw us
Into intimacy with God.
(c) Christine Sine.
On Friday we launched the Liturgical Rebels podcast with an inaugural episode in which Christine Sine and Forrest Inslee talk about what it means to be a liturgical rebel and why you should consider becoming one.
This podcast is for those who feel restricted to spiritual practices that often seem outdated and of little relevance in today’s world. It is for those who are discouraged to express their own creative talents and develop spiritual practices that are uniquely them, The Liturgical Rebels podcast is for people who want to reimagine and reconstruct their faith and spiritual practices.
The Liturgical Rebels Podcast empowers followers of Jesus to creatively reconstruct their faith and spiritual practices. Through conversation with groundbreaking practitioners from around the world who think creatively about new approaches to spirituality, we will emphasize the sacredness of all things and uncover ways in which God speaks to us through nature and creativity, through restorative justice and environmental concern, and through the mundane and ordinary acts of daily life. This podcast is for those who don’t want to just deconstruct, but also to reconstruct faith and spiritual practices; those who want to reshape belief and practice to journey closer to God and the wholeness, peace, justice and flourishing God intends not just for us as individuals but for the earth and all its inhabitants.
Episode 1 link
In this inaugural episode Christine Sine and Forrest Inslee discuss what it means to be a liturgical rebel and why it matters. They discuss how we enhance our faith by connecting to God revealed in nature, in creativity, and in the everyday acts of life. They encourage us to explore our own pathways to discover spiritual expressions that resonate in our souls, strengthen our faith and nourish our spirits. You can find out more about Forrest Inslee at Earthkeepers Podcast and Circlewood.
How are you feeling as this Lenten season begins? I’m baby stepping into Lent…going slowly into the season of reflection and continuing to ponder Jesus in the Wilderness and the Invitations of Lent.
be here now
Lent invites us to be PRESENT with Jesus.
Lent invites us into the WILDERNESS. Into places of desolation and discernment.
Lent invites us to be present with Jesus in the Wilderness.
To be present with others who are in the Wilderness
To be present to our own suffering and the suffering of others, being present to those who are alone and feeling abandoned, those who are forsaken, lost, hopeless, angry or depressed.
TAKE SOME TIME TO PRAY for people who are suffering and places where suffering is happening in our world.
How are you being invited to be PRESENT with Jesus during this Lenten Season? What do you need to be more present?
MARK 1:9-15 FIRST NATIONS VERSION
It was in those days that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came from his home in Seed Planter Village (Nazareth) in the territory of Circle of Nations (Galilee), to have Gift of Goodwill (John) perform for him the purification ceremony.
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was a mature man of about thirty winters. The time had come for him to show himself to all the people and begin his great work. He waded out into the river to have Gift of Goodwill (John) perform the ceremony.
10As soon as Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came up from the water, he saw the sky open. The Spirit of Creator came down like a dove and rested on him. 11Then a voice from the sky spoke like distant thunder, “This is my much-loved Son who makes my heart glad!”
HIS VISION QUEST
12Right then and there the Spirit drove Creator Sets Free (Jesus) into the desert wilderness. 13For forty days and nights he remained there, surrounded by wild animals and being tested by Accuser (Satan)—the ancient trickster snake. Spirit-messengers also came to give him strength and comfort.
14Then later, after Gift of Goodwill (John) was arrested, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) traveled to the territory of Circle of Nations (Galilee) to tell the good story.
15“The time has now come!” he said to the people. “Creator’s good road is right in front of you. It is time to return to the right ways of thinking and doing! Put your trust in this good story I am bringing to you.”
What do you notice that you haven’t notices before?
What is the Holy Spirit Highligting for you form this passage?
USE THE ART TO HELP YOU CONTEMPLATE the Invitation of Lent and the Wilderness:
The Main Painting is “Man of Sorrows” by William Dyce
A Scottish Artist who painted Jesus in the Wilderness as a Scottish in the Scottish Highlands. What would your wilderness look like? and What does your Jesus look like?
Christ in the Wilderness by Kelly Latimore
Imagine sitting in the Wilderness with Jesus. Sitting around a fire. What would you want to talk about? Know about? Learn? How does it feel to know that Jesus is with you in the Wilderness? That you are not alone?
Christ in the Wilderness Ivan Kramskoy
The Wilderness is a place of temptation. How are are you and I being tempted? What things cause us to follow ways of the Enemy rather that the Way of Jesus? For me, it’s my phone (too much social media), my work, my ambition, my judgement of others, my inaction and my negative reactions all get in the way of LOVE. My fear often blocks my faith. The bitterness of the world gets under my skin and I become like it, sadly more hateful rather than more loving.
This Lent I need Jesus to heal me!
Learn more about this painting:
Christ in the Desert/ Wilderness 1872 painting by Russian artist Ivan Kramskoi,
Lent begin with the Ashes of Ash Wednesday…to remind us of our mortality and our need for Jesus and his love, healing, and resurrection power! READ THE POEM and consider just what the CREATOR of the Universe can do with DUST! Can do with you and your life, can do with you even in your wilderness this Lent!
BLESSING THE DUST
All those days
You felt like dust, like dirt,
As if all you had to do was turn your face
Toward the wind And be scattered to the four corners.
Or swept away
By the smallest breath
As insubstantial—
Did you not know what the Holy One
Can do with dust?
This day we freely say, we are scorched.
This hour, We are marked by what has made it
Through the burning.
This is the moment ask for the blessing that lives within
The ancient ashes,
That makes its home inside the soil of this sacred earth.
So let s be marked not for sorrow.
And let us be marked, not for shame.
Let us be marked not for false humility
or for thinking we are less that we are.
But for claiming
What God can do
Within Dust,
Within Dirt,
Wishing the stuff
of which the world’s made
And the stars that blaze in our bones
and the galaxies that spiral
inside the smudge we bear.
JAN RICHARDSON from “Circle of Grace: A book of Blessings for the Seasons”
Listen to these SONGS and CREATE your own Lenten Playlist to help you be present with Jesus this Lent
“As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus’ thirst … He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.”
– St. Teresa of Calcutta
Let Jesus LOVE YOU this Lent!
Virtual Retreat with Christine Sine on March 2nd 10 am – 12 pm (PST)
What do you long for as you look towards Easter?
How can we create Beauty from the ashes of the past?
How do we enter into God’s Lenten story that prepares us for the death and resurrection of Easter?
The Lenten season is meant to be a time for reflection, retreat and refocusing in preparation for our celebration of Easter. Yet most of us find it hard to take time out of our busy schedules for this much needed reorientation time.
Christine Sine will host a morning of scripture reading and quiet reflection that will be for many of us a much needed oasis of quiet in the midst of our chaotic lives.
Join us March 2nd 10 am-12 pm PST (check my timezone) or watch the recording later.
You can still sign up for all three virtual winter/spring retreats at a considerable discount. You will receive the recording of the first retreat and access to the next two retreats with Christine on March 2nd and May 11th.
Lent serves as an opportunity for believers to draw closer to God, examining their lives and seeking a deeper connection with their faith. Amidst the various practices embraced during this time, the use of scripture memorization cards emerges as a valuable tool for spiritual enrichment. Scripture cards like these ones (https://creatoriq.cc/3SKBggN)
As we embark on this Lenten journey, let us embrace the significance of this season and consider incorporating scripture memorization cards into our daily practices. By committing these verses to heart, we open ourselves to a richer and more profound experience of Lent, ultimately drawing nearer to the spiritual renewal that Easter promises.
Resources to enrich your lenten celebration. Includes downloads of: A Journey Into Wholeness, Lent/Easter Prayer Cards, and 40 Daily Ideas Guide for Lent.
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