This morning I had the privilege of being a part of a Farms, Food and Faith networking meeting held at Seattle University in conjunction with Seattle Tilth and members of faith communities and congregations interested in growing, harvesting and distributing food.
This is the second such meeting we have held. The first meeting was at Seattle Tilth, already familiar to me because of the amazing array of resources they provide. That meeting connected me to a number of organizations like Lettuce Links, in the area some of which I mentioned in this post.
Today’s meeting was another rich experience of learning. I was awed by the scope of Seattle University’s edible landscape program. As early as 1994 they were recognized for their pollution preventing grounds practices. They now have a number of gardens well worth a visit. Their edible plants range from an entire Orchard to an occasional blueberry plant in the landscape that provides a snack for any person that walks by.
Another initiative I learned about is the Edible Churchyard Program at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. I know it is a little far away for most Seattlites to visit but those in the New York area might like to look it up. It is training hundreds of seminarians to incorporate food justice and growing into their future work as community and faith leaders while also converting parts of the campus into models for urban growing.
Another interesting program is Growing Groceries Mentorship Program which trains volunteers to help make existing community garden projects sustainable.
We recognize that churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship often have underutilized resources. Churches often have land that sits idle except at Easter when the easter egg hunt is on. Other places of worship have kitchens that only get utilized for coffee hour after services. Congregations have volunteers some of whom may be passionate cupboard gardeners. All have spiritual resources and even financial resources that could be used to help us grow more of our own food and share it with neighbours, food banks, the homeless and other ministries.
This is an exciting opportunity that I hope will encourage the few of us who are already passionate about growing our own food to ignite the smoldering embers in others within our congregations.
I know that Seattle is not alone is developing such initiatives and I would love to hear from others who have been involved in similar ventures.
In the next few weeks we expect to move this blog to a new site. Maybe it won’t look quite like this but we are moving. Definitely time to get rid of those ads I have no control over and to expand our capacity to add video, apps and who knows what else.
The name of the blog remains the same – unless you think it should change and have a creative idea for a new name, but we do need to choose a new url. Not surprising godspace.net; .com ; .us and all other possibilities are all taken – in some cases not being used but grabbed by someone who hopes we will come and buy it from them. Anyhow that is another issue. So what should our new url be?
We have thought of:
godspace-light.com (or net or who knows what)
godspace-MSA.com to link it to our existing MSA site of which this is a part.
Do you have other suggestions? And do you think the name of the site should change? If so let us know your suggestions.
Micha Jazz of the Contemplative network and St Cuthbert’s Oratory wrote this response to my post yesterday The Big Question We Never Ask. I didn’t want it to get lost in the comments and decided to repost it here. Micha is a long committed associate of MSA. We have journeyed together through many joyful and challenging experiences, learning from each other and helping to shape each other’s faith.
Micha and Jayne Jazz
I find that what you speak of is in fact a learning that emerges through life alone. I dislike the way my youthful enthusiasm and excitement in finding Christ carried with it the ‘oughts’ and ‘shoulds’ that were the unseen, though larger part, of the iceberg of evangelical Christianity that provided my portal into Narnia.
Whilst I was initially amazingly successful within that evangelical, charismatic construct initially, I very slowly came to realise that in fact it was consuming me – my time, my energy, my resource and my imagination. The opportunity to step out and back that the unanticipated sickness of my lovely wife, Katey, provided, in fact enabled me to begin to search for the God who might lay behind the superficial survival faith I had embraced and also preached and taught to many others as both evangelist and church pastor.
Suffice to say the journey was challenging, not least because God was interested in my wasting time with him whilst I was constructed through education, cultural context and Christian church experience within England, to work out my faith, yet without either fear or trembling. I was over familiar in my approach to God, without realising God was in fact a stranger to me – whilst unbeknown to me, II was fully known by God and that was enough as far as God was concerned. Step one, learning to rest content solely in being a sinner loved by God.
So what a journey began, one that required years of unlearning and personal deconstruction, mostly in the private space, all against the painful background of accompanying Katey in her walk with progressive multiple sclerosis until her death in 2008. In this time, usually fighting, often angry and always making judgments, I also discovered what it means to be still and to know my creator.
This story continues – utilising the liturgy of the hours daily as a core rhythm of waiting on God – whilst learning to paddle in the shallows of the contemplative life. I now long to learn to swim and recgnise that God carries me out of my depth – always and only to be found in the depths of his love. For me to live is indeed Christ yet I cannot yet say my heart does not hanker after conformation to the world I knew and have significantly left rather than transformation to live in God’s world, God’s way enjoying the God-filled life.
The journey continues – the story unfolds – the narrative is crafted.
Over the last few weeks I have spent a lot of time asking myself What would my life look like if I gave myself totally to God? This is probably the scariest question I have ever asked, because the short answer is – very different from what it looks like now.
Perhaps I have been reading too much about monks lately. I am really challenged not just by the rhythm of life the desert Fathers and Mothers, Celtic monks and Trappist monks today live by, but by the passion and discipline with which they adhered to their commitment. And I crave the deep intimacy so many of them seem to experience.
This is in fact the question that one of the Trappist monks in August Turak’s book Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks asks. It was the question that led him to become a monk. There is something terribly wrong with spirituality today, he says:
It is as though the materialism that has a death grip on this culture has taken our spirituality as well. Most of what’s called spiritual is actually humanistic if you think about it. People don’t want the adventure of God on his own terms or for his own sake. They want a better world, a happier life, better relationships and all the trimmings that go along with it….. We’re urged to seek God because this human good will come of it. People don’t realize “because” implies that the end is the human good and Truth (God) merely the means” (19)
So this morning again I ask myself What would it look like to seek God only for Godself, to shape my life around the craving for intimacy with God? And how willing amy I to shape my life around that quest?
So here is where I am at.
First I know that prayer and deepening my relationship to God should take priority over everything else. Sometimes I feel I do well at this and other times work and the busy distractions of my mind overtake me. I need to establish a rhythm of prayer through the day and develop the discipline to stick with it. If I truly placed God at the centre I would make sure that I am never too busy to pray and never be too tired to listen.
Second I know that relationships – to God and to others should take priority over work. Our intern Amanda grappled with this over the summer. In her blog post on her time with us she comments: after a time of checking in and working we would come together to have lunch. I loved that there wasn’t any thought to delay lunch or to work through lunch, but rather, it was a priority to take this time to come together and replenish. Her words are an important reminder to me of this priority. I work to live, not live to work.
Third I need to take time for myself, to make space for the exercises that replenish my spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing. Eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise and plenty of sleep are all important priorities. Jesus’ admonish in Matthew 11: 28-30 is a constant reminder to me of the balanced and I think relaxed rhythm God intends for us.
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
When I get stressed out and overextended I frequently need to remind myself of this. Committing myself fully to God means recognizing my need to organize my time and my habits so that I am constantly receptive to God’s voice.
Fourth I need to take time for God’s creation. Gardening is part of the rhythm of my life. I also love to walk in the midst of God’s creation, and in the mornings I sometimes sit just soaking in the beauty of the mountains I can see out my office window. But when I get too busy this time gets swept aside.
Fifth, the use of my resources would be totally in God’s control. I would give generously, joyously and enthusiastically whenever God prompted me. I would be more concerned for the needs of others than for my own wants and demands.
Most of us spend our lives striving for success rather than striving for God. Our passion for significance in the eyes of the world often far outstrips our passion for closeness to God. We consume spiritual tools in the same way we consume food, clothes and electronic gadgets.
So what would it look like for you to give yourself totally to God? I challenge you to take some time this week to reflect on this question. Let me know how God prompts you to change the rhythm of your life, the use of your resources
Many of the prayers this week have focused on Syria, 9/11 and the call to peace. Reflect and enjoy.
A prayer for this weekend as USA considers military strikes into Syria. Let our voice be heard by God and by a watching world.
Posted by Micha Jazz – The Contemplative Network
You may also like to check out my previous post this week:
Memorial 9/11 Prayer and Pope Francis’ Call to Peace
Other prayers add to our collection of morning and evening prayers (coming soon in downloadable form). I am more and more convinced that we need to begin and end each day with prayer as well as pausing through the day to recentre and refocus on God
God, infinite, eternal, every present One,
As the night descends ,
I give this day into your hands.
Creator, who made me in your image,
I commend it to you,
All I have done to create beauty and life.
Redeemer whose loving action bought my freedom,
I commend to you,
All I have done to bring freedom, justice and wholeness.
Sustainer who taught me kingdom ways,
I commend to you,
All I have done to share love, compassion and generosity.
God of the universe, Lord of the earth,
I give this day into your hands,
Take its joys and sorrows,
Take its laughter and tears,
Take its strengths and weaknesses,
In the darkness of night,
Revive, renew, restore,
Amen.
Christine Sine https://godspacelight.com/
Lord Jesus Christ,
I commit this day to you.
Each breath I have taken,
Each deed I have done,
Each person I have met,
I place them in your hands.
Lord what I have breathed in of you,
May it lodge in my heart and mind.
Lord what I have breathed in that is not of you,
May I exhale its toxicity away from body.
In sleep may I find rest,
Breathing out the anxieties that have stressed me,
Breathing in your calming presence.
Lord Jesus Christ ,
I commit this day to you,
All it has held belongs to you.
Amen
Christine Sine https://godspacelight.com/
Following prayers uploaded by Micha Jazz
Jesus, Savior, pilot me
Over life’s tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treacherous shoal.
Chart and compass come from Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.” Thomas Merton
Next week we will celebrate the 12th anniversary since the destruction of the twin towers in New York. Many people who lost loved ones continue to grieve. All of us remember and bring our prayers and tears to the day. A couple of years ago I wrote this prayer which I adapt each year as I reflect not only on this incident of terrorism but on all the violence and terrorist acts that continue in our world.
God so much violence, so much pain, so much heartache.
May our memories of this day remind us of the horrors of war.
As we grieve with those who still mourn,
And share memories with those who cannot forget,
May we be stirred by your love and compassion for all.
As we remember those who bravely responded,
And gave their lives to save others,
May we draw strength from their selfless sacrifice.
As we stand with strangers who became neighbours that day,
Sharing and caring for people they did not know,
We give thanks for their generosity and hospitality.
May it remind us of the call to be good Samaritans,
Reaching out across race and culture to other victims of violence.
So many in our world have lost loved ones to terrorism and war,
May their plight fill us with a longing for peace.
Let us seek for understanding and reconciling,
And not turn from your kingdom ways.
Above all God may we remember your faithfulness,
And learn to trust in your unfailing love.
Amen
Last year I wrote a post entitled Remembering 9/11 – May It Call Us to Peace and Not to War. That thought is uppermost in my mind as I think about our memorial time next week. The situation in Syria seems to call us to war, but should it instead call us to seek peace and reconciliation?
Pope Francis has spoken out against war in Syria – last week he tweeted War never again! Never again war! written to the Russian president, and called people everywhere to a vigil for Saturday September 7th. This part of his speech adapted from the Vatican website translation by Phil Fox Rose in his excellent post Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake. makes a particularly good reflection for the day.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hello! Today, dear brothers and sisters, I wish to make add my voice to the cry which rises up with increasing anguish from every part of the world, from every people, from the heart of each person, from the one great family which is humanity: it is the cry for peace! It is a cry which declares with force: we want a peaceful world, we want to be men and women of peace, and we want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, for peace to break out! War, never again! Never again war! Peace is a precious gift, which must be promoted and protected.
There are so many conflicts in this world which cause me great suffering and worry, but in these days my heart is deeply wounded in particular by what is happening in Syria and anguished by the dramatic developments which are looming…
There is a judgment of God and of history upon our actions which is inescapable! Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake. War begets war, violence begets violence.
With all my strength, I ask each party in this conflict to listen to the voice of their own conscience, not to close themselves in solely on their own interests, but rather to look at each other as brothers and decisively and courageously follow the path of encounter and negotiation, and so, overcome blind conflict. With similar vigour I exhort the international community to make every effort to promote clear proposals for peace in that country without further delay, a peace based on dialogue and negotiation, for the good of the entire Syrian people…
All men and women of good will are bound by the task of pursuing peace. I make a forceful and urgent call to the entire Catholic Church, and also to every Christian of other confessions, as well as to followers of every religion and to those brothers and sisters who do not believe: peace is a good which overcomes every barrier, because it belongs all of humanity!
I repeat forcefully: neither a culture of confrontation nor a culture of conflict builds harmony within and between peoples, but rather a culture of encounter and of dialogue; this is the only way to peace.
May the plea for peace rise up and touch the heart of everyone so that they may lay down their weapons and let themselves be led by the desire for peace.
To this end, brothers and sisters, I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on September 7, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all people of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative.
On September 7, in Saint Peter’s Square here, from 7:00 p.m. until midnight, we will gather in prayer and in a spirit of penance, invoking God’s great gift of peace upon the beloved nation of Syria and upon each situation of conflict and violence around the world. Humanity needs to see these gestures of peace and to hear words of hope and peace! I ask all the local churches, in addition to fasting, that they gather to pray for this intention.
I am working on a set of morning and evening prayers for reflection and meditation. Some like this one are based on Celtic prayers and their connection of prayer to every part of life. Kindling the fire was a very important part of the day that invited the fire of the Spirit into their lives.
I am working on a series of morning and evening prayers which I thought you might enjoy.
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