Photos and Writing by Carol Dixon
Featured photo: Cuthbert’s Isle, Lindisfarne
Opening Prayer (David Adam Tides & Seasons)
Thanks be to the Father, I arise today,
He gives me light, he guides my way.
Thanks be to the Savour, I arise today,
He gives me love, he hears me pray.
Thanks be to the Spirit, I arise today,
He gives me life, with me to stay.
Song: Cuthbert’s Isle (Tune: Whittingham Fair -trad)
1. Behold the beauty of our God,
in vast expanse of sea and sky,
in bobbing seal and cuddy duck,
in tern and puffin’s raucous cry.
2. We sense the imprint in the sand
Aidan and Cuthbert’s feet once trod,
upon their daily pilgrimage
to draw them closer still to God.
3. We catch the whisper of their prayers
in gusts of wind on rippling dunes,
and lapping waves on Cuthbert’s Isle
dance to creation’s joyful tunes.
4. We learn to praise the living God
in service and in solitude,
and draw aside from teeming throng
to work and pray for greater good.
5. The Spirit wings across the air
to touch us with God’s kiss of peace,
and so renewed in heart and mind
our love for all will never cease.
6. All glory be to Christ our strength,
safe haven of the Father’s love,
and praise to God the three in one,
from saints below and saints above.
© Carol Dixon
Carol’s comment: I sang this in Alnwick Castle Guest Hall for the pilgrims travelling from Canterbury to Iona commemorating the 800th anniversary of St Augustine and St Columba in 1997. A wonderful occasion and a great privilege.
Thoughts on St. Cuthbert (from David Adam’s Walking the edges)
In Cuthbert we see someone who has “tuned the five stringed harp”, the human senses, until they vibrate with what is going on around him. When people are insensitive to the mysteries and wonders of life, to the wonderful world or to people, they are not open to the glories of God, which are about them. The more open we become to God, the more open we are to his creation: the more open we are to creation, the more open we become to God.
Cuthbert saw through the false divisions we make between heaven and earth, God and ourselves, other people and ourselves. Cuthbert was aware of a unity of creation that we have become insensitive to, though the modern world is learning once again that nothing stands alone, all things are in unity with other parts of God’s Universe. Heaven is woven into our world, and is here and now. A world viewed with this insight gives us a vision of a world that is ablaze with the glory of God.
We need to reawaken our senses so that they will react to the depth and wonders of the world about us. Too often we have taken a closed-circuit attitude that will not let anything enter that is strange or challenging. We seek to be in control and in so doing limit our vision, our senses and our experiences. The world we live in has many levels and is multidimensional and yet we often opt for a narrow view with a tightly controlled environment.
Prayer
Lord, open my eyes to the wonder of the world
and your presence within it.
Lord open my ears to the calls of creation
and to your voice, quiet and near.
Lord open my heart to the love of others
and to your love, close and real.
Lord open each sense and make me aware
of the wonder and beauty always there.
©David Adam
A time of reflection
In our imaginations let’s go on a pilgrimage around the island, and at each ‘station’ for prayer-
Beginning at St. Cuthbert’s Church
A prayer from St Cuthbert’s
Be still…
From the expansiveness of the skies – to the feathers of the sparrow
from the rhythm of the waves – to the falling of the leaves
from the undulating horizon – to the journey of the sands
the Spirit calls us to observe – the constancy of change
the intricacies of creation, the complexities of life
to be -at one with ourselves
with all that is around us – and with the Divine
to inhabit spaces – where clamour is calmed
questions paused, souls are fed
to become
at home – with change
with rebirth, and with hope
©️ Rachel Poolman, URC minister St Cuthbert’s, Holy Island
Statue of Cuthbert….
Collect for St Cuthbert’s Day
Almighty God,
who called your servant Cuthbert from following the flock
to follow your Son and to be a shepherd of your people:
in your mercy, grant that we, following his example,
may bring those who are lost home to your fold;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
St Mary’s Church from the Heugh
A prayer from St Mary’s
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known,
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
That we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name,
Trough Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Heugh…..
As we contemplate your Cross
And think of the sacrifices of islanders
Who gave their lives for others
In the name of peace,
We offer you our prayers, Lord God
For peace in our world today. © Carol Dixon
The Harbour…..
A safe harbour prayer
Lord of earth, ocean and sky, you rule the mighty deep,
your loving hands reach the uttermost part of the sea,
even in rough waters your hand will lead me,
your strong hand will uphold me.
You are my compass, my lighthouse,
my safe haven in the storm,
your grace surpasses the mightiest wave,
protects me in raging winds and treacherous billows!
May your peace keep me whole – spirit, soul and body,
until you come and take me home.
May your Spirit guide me, into your save harbour,
My Redeemer and Lord. Amen. [adptd From The Lutheran Book Of Prayer (1951)]
St Aidan’s Church…..
A voyagers prayer
As St Aidan approached this Holy Isle in a small boat,
travelling in faith and hope, with a vision of discovering
new ways to share your name, Lord Jesus,
and bring your word of hope and love to those in darkness,
may we be open to new opportunities to travel forth in faith
and reach out to those who live in darkness in our world today. © Carol Dixon
Ending at Statue of Aidan….
St. Aidan’s prayer
Leave me alone with God as much as may be.
As the tide draws the waters close upon the shore,
Make me an island, set apart, alone with you,God, holy to you.
Then with the turning of the tide
Prepare me to carry your presence
to the busy world beyond, the world that rushes in on me,
till the waters come again and fold me back to you.
Song: Cuthbert (Tune: Sussex Carol )
St Cuthbert, humble shepherd saint
and hermit on the inner Farne,
who lived a simple life of faith,
praised God, and kept his folk from harm.
On Holy Island he worked and prayed
that all might come to God and be saved.
He blessed the cuddy ducks and seals,
and priests and pilgrims called him friend.
The poor and needy sought him out,
for help and hope, their lives to mend,
learned to set time apart to pray,
care for others and follow Christ’s way.
(Optional last verse)
Still in St Cuthbert’s Church today,
Folk dedicate their lives again,
And strangers come to feel at home
So all are welcomed in Christ’s name.
Praise God for saints who served of old!
May we who serve today be as bold!
© Carol Dixon 2014
Based on St Cuthbert’s Holy Island Mission Statement
We follow the example of St Cuthbert by offering: A place to be apart with God, A simple hospitable welcome, A place of prayer & renewal, A place where strangers feel at home.
Blessing:
May God who guided St Cuthbert throughout his life
Be with us today and always. Amen.
Preparing for the Garden Walk of Holy Week
In the last few days of his life, Jesus moved from garden to garden from suffering to resurrection.
Join Christine Sine for a Lent retreat that reflects on this journey and prepares for the challenging week that follows Palm Sunday.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship
by Christine Sine
A few weeks ago, the Guardian published the following article: Tear Down these Walls or Get Used to A World of Fear, Separation and Division which made me feel that our challenge to break down walls during Lent was indeed a timely topic. Evidently “the EU/Schengen area is now surrounded or crisscrossed by 19 border or separation fences totalling 2,048km in length, up from 315km in 2014. Similar trends are discernible worldwide.” Walls that split nations in half, or that surround nations to keep out refugees and displaced people are more common than ever. In fact Wikipedia lists 59 such walls throughout the world, most of them designed to curb the movement of refugees and illegal immigrants. .
Walls are not new. The Roman Empire built several including Hadrian’s wall in Britain, designed to keep the warlike Scots out of Roman occupied territory and the Great Wall of China built to keep out the nomadic tribes of Mongolia. What is concerning however is that most of today’s walls have been built in the last 20 years. We live in a very sobering world of division and isolation. As the article in the Guardian says:
These barriers are supposed to fend off military and terrorist threats. But what they mostly do is create obstacles to peace. Often they increase frictions. At best, they freeze enmity in place.
Walls, whether they be physical, emotional or spiritual often create barriers to peace. They highlight that people who are different from us be it because of race, ethnicity, gender orientation or beliefs are not welcome and maybe more importantly their views and ideas are not welcome and are seen to have lesser value than our own. In many cases that are not regarded as having any value at all.
A few weeks ago, in the lead up to Lent, I wrote a post What If We Gave Up Walls for Lent, in which I talked about some of what I see as the keys to creating peace rather than animosity. First we need to really listen to what others are saying. So often we are more interested in voicing our own opinions than in listening, and what others say hardly registers in our consciousness.
If there is one practice that should be established and reinforced during Lent, it is that of listening. Listening with our ears and our hearts. Listening with a willingness to be changed by what we hear and with a desire to see life differently than we have in the past.
What if I rethink who I am not in terms of what Christ has done for me, but in terms of what Christ wants to do through me for others?
What if I read life:
through the lens of laughter and fun?
through the filter of joy and peace?
through the framework of gratitude and thankfulness?
I am starting to think beyond Lent and even beyond Easter, and as I think about breaking down walls in the coming season there are other questions that lodge in my mind.
As the seasons change what do I need to let go of in order to fully enter the richness of this new season?
As I look at our world, what language do I need to change to become a better steward and carer for those who look and think differently from me ?
As I think about my faith what perceptions and understandings need to change in order embrace that which I normally exclude?
And with all these questions revolving in my mind it is not surprising that my initial thoughts have turned to poetry, that fertile ground of exploration and expression for me.
Read life differently,
Read with the desire to break down walls.
Read with love and not with hate,
with compassion and not with judgment,
with generosity and not with scarcity.
See your cup,
not half full,
not half empty,
but overflowing with goodness and light and life.
Read life differently.
Look for the wonder of uniqueness,
not the exclusion of sameness.
Embrace don’t reject,
Forgive don’t condemn,
Seek the Son of God.
Work diligently to know
he who is the way, the truth, the life.
Follow his footsteps
into the way that leads to eternal life
Amen
(c) Christine Sine
Preparing for the Garden Walk of Holy Week
In the last few days of his life, Jesus moved from garden to garden from suffering to resurrection.
Join Christine Sine for a Lent retreat that reflects on this journey and prepares for the challenging week that follows Palm Sunday.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taizé. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers. It’s good to be back posting these beautiful contemplative services again.
Thank you for praying with us!
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756.
“Aber Du Weisst” (Taizé song)
“Što Oko Ne Vidje” (What No Eye has Seen) – Taizé song
“Your Word, O Lord, is a Light” (C’est toi ma lampe)
By the Taizé community, copyright 2010, all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756
“Be Thou My Vision” — Folk arrangement
Traditional Irish hymn, public domain. Arrangement by Andrew Myers and Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
Kyrie written and performed by Kester Limner.
Service readings:
“To see ourselves as we truly are—a wisp of love itself—is perhaps our deepest fear. But it is also our greatest grace. If we are to be the new human, we must begin by embracing love, which always seeks to incarnate itself. Love is enfleshed everywhere. Everywhere the Holy One is shouting and whispering, ‘Let me love you.’ And all that is asked of us is to receive. In reality, that is our life’s work. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less.” -Judy Cannato, Field of Compassion
“Help Us to See” prayer by Andrew King, copyright 2017.
Writing by Karen Wilk and visual art by Karen Tamminga-Paton
Love Covers
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of wrongs.” 1 Peter 4:8
My daughters and I had a conversation about this verse last summer. It needs some midrashing. Surely it does not mean that love just covers up wrongdoing- injustice, abuse, prejudice, discrimination, inequality! They were dissatisfied with the way it could be interpreted. So what does it mean? How does love break down walls and forgive without dismissing, denying or diminishing the magnitude of wrongs done and being done in the world, both near and far? Good questions for Lent. Good questions for pondering Karen Tamminga-Paton’s painting, titled Love Covers. Study it and ponder the poetry…
Love covers
Like a cozy sweater
Comfortably snug
Like a soft blanket
And a warm hug.
Love covers
When we need to see
When it’s time to learn
Or unlearn what used to be
Some say, “I don’t see colour”
I say I want to see more
And know more, honestly
That love might cover
With tender-heartedness
Listening ears, and open-handedness.
For there is no separation
in a hug, we embrace
On par, mutual grace,
A shared, and safe space…
So that in covering, love reveals
Our common humanity
Creator’s inclusivity
The beauty of diverse community
The wonder of colour in unity
The sweetness of multiple harmonies…
BUT how can love cover a multitude of wrongs?
Racist violent brutalities
Bombings with words and weapons,
fatalities
So many systemic biased realities
How can love cover
Our ignorance, and impudence
Such widespread avoidance and discordance?
I have no answer, yet I know:
Love endures, and love with kindness grows,
Love carries, cures, and cares
Love gives, forgives and all things bears
Love, Eternal and Divine,
And we, the heirs
Don’t we know?
Love, love
is at the end of every road
Carrying the heavy,
dirty,
load
Covering all the flaws and vice
In life restoring sacrifice
In willing, woeful suffering–
Un-cover-ing
That we might behold:
Love’s warm embrace unfold
And with gentleness take hold
And change our every day
Compassion on display
Precious poignant tug
Simple, not-so-simple hug
Come, come what may–
Love, hear us when we pray,
Love cover all
Love have Your way.
Find more of Karen Tamminga-Paton’s art on her website here.
Preparing for the Garden Walk of Holy Week
In the last few days of his life, Jesus moved from garden to garden from suffering to resurrection.
Join Christine Sine for a Lent retreat that reflects on this journey and prepares for the challenging week that follows Palm Sunday.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship
It’s only a week away and it is time to sign up. March 25th I will conduct my annual Lenten retreat Preparing for the Garden Walk of Holy Week. This one has a little different focus than usual and I am very excited about it.
It is another journey into changed perspectives and the breaking down of walls. This retreat is not about gardening. It is about walking with Jesus through all the seasons of creation as he walks from Palm Sunday to Easter resurrection.
To be reconciled to God we must be reconciled to the whole created world and this we catch a glimpse of in Jesus’ walk through Holy Week. Did you know that Palm Sunday resounds with echoes of Sukkot and the celebration of harvest? Shouts of “Hosanna” sound a prayer for Earth’s productivity that echoes again in the birthing of the Christian liturgy of bread and wine inaugurated on Maundy Thursday at the last supper. From there Jesus moves into the garden of Gethsemane, and onward to Golgotha where the potency of Christ’s life, now released in death, reverberates through the earth itself with shakes, the splitting of rocks and even the revival of the dead who rise in witness. Finally we move to the garden of resurrection where Mary “thinks he is the gardener”, that tiny verse of cosmic importance because Jesus is indeed the gardener of the new creation.
Jesus walk through Holy Week is a walk through creation, and the last few days is a journey from a garden of sorrow, through suffering to a garden of resurrection life. Adam and Eve move from a garden paradise to a garden of suffering. Jesus moves from a garden of suffering to the garden of new creation. Recognizing these strong connections between the life ,suffering and death of Christ, and the beautiful creation God gifted us with has become an essential part of my walk during Lent and Easter.
It is an aspect of the Gospel story at all all of us need to embrace and Lent is a perfect season in which to do so.
I hope you will join me on this journey and draw closer to Christ and creation in the process.
River Aln at dawn © George Taylor
by Carol Dixon
Opening words: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercy never comes to an end. It pours out upon us, fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise, God’s love never fails. (Lam 3:22 GNB)
Hymn: Every new morning (Words & Music: Carol Dixon)
Every new morning God gives us freely
hearts that are thankful, strength for the task,
people who love us, joy in our service,
all we have need of if we but ask.
God will be with us in all our thinking,
in all our speaking, in all we do;
and as we praise him by all our actions,
God will be with us, seeing us through.
God in the morning, God in the noontide,
God in the evening, throughout the day;
God is within us, and all around us,
behind, before us all of the way.
© Carol Dixon 1998
Opening prayer: St Ninian’s catechism (from Cry of the Deer by David Adam)
Within each piece of creation, within each person,
our hidden God waits, to cause us to laugh, and surprise us with his glory.
Within each moment of time, within each moment and hour,
our hidden God approaches us to call our name and give us his joy.
Within each human heart, within our innermost being,
our hidden God touches us to awaken us to his love and his presence.
Everything is within him, the human being, and the heart;
God calls us to open our eyes and our hearts to him in our worship and in our lives.
Awaken us to your glory, God, we pray, today and every day
To enjoy the joys of your creation, and reflect your love. Amen.
Reflection
The month of March is full of celebrations of Saints’ days, especially the Celtic saints – beginning with St. David on March 1st through to St. Cuthbert on 20th March and on 17 March it is St Patrick’s day. Patrick was born in 414 AD and his father was a decurion believed to be serving at Banna (Birdoswald) on the Roman Wall. His grandfather was the priest of the church there and as a child he was brought up as a Christian though he ignored his faith and was a wild lad as a young teenager. In his autobiography (known as his Confessions) Patrick said he first truly discovered God was with him when he was a slave in Ireland as he tended his master’s sheep.
David Adam in his book Cry of the Deer writes:
When Patrick was only 16 he was captured by a raiding party from Ireland and sold as a slave to a petty king in Armargh. In an instant his future was gone, the securities of his position and any plans for his life had disappeared. Somehow he managed to meet up with fellow Christians, possibly slaves captured like himself. It would have been easy to despair but instead this is the time when Patrick’s faith and his personal relationship with God blossomed. As he later wrote: “I often prayed in the daytime as well as at night – in the forest, on the mountains, and before daylight I was roused to prayer – in snow, in frost and rain – and I felt no harm could come to me for the Holy Spirit seethed within me”.
After 6 years Patrick managed to escape and returned home. But Ireland had already captured him in other ways and, as St. Paul heard the call to preach the gospel in Europe, (Acts 16: 6). Patrick dreamed he heard his friends calling to him ‘We pray thee, come and walk among us’, and in spite of the danger of being put to death as a runaway slave, Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary where he shared his love of God with friend and enemy alike.
St. Patrick
Photo by Sergio Mena Ferreira on Unsplash
The Celtic Christians, like Patrick, saw God in all of creation, and said their prayers on awakening, at noon, in the evening, and before they went to sleep. They involved God in all they did from building the fire each morning to ‘smooring’ it (dampening it down) at night. They involved God in every task – there are prayers for milking the cow, making a meal, creating a plough or even for forging a sword. They recognized God as divine creator who cared for and delighted in the universe he created.
Think about something you have made. Something that is precious to you. Something you love. Gradually over the years it has become battered and a bit broken and it has lost its original purpose. Do you cast it aside & throw it away? Or do you do something to put it right so that you can cherish it even more? I love watching the Repair Shop on TV where people bring precious objects that have seen better days for the team to restore them to their former glory. The difference between before and after is amazing as so much love and care is put into restoring each one and the joy on people’s faces as they see their cherished possession restored is very touching.
David Adam reminds us that God is the great restorer – he looked on the world he had made, the world he declared good and beautiful at its Creation and saw that over the years people had spoiled it, even broken it but instead of abandoning it or destroying it he sent his Son to repair it and bring it back to its former glory in him. As Christians we are blest to have our very own Repair Shop to come to for mending – through prayer, through worship, through fellowship together with Jesus, our redeemer who takes all the brokenness and makes all new again. Like those Repair Shop craftsmen working behind the scenes, as recipients we may not be able to see how he does it but we can see the end result and rejoice.
Prayers (You may like to light a tea light)
Photo by CHIRAG K on Unsplash
In a time of quietness now let’s allow God to repair and restore all the brokenness in our lives and in our world as we bring our prayers to him for ourselves, our world, or someone we know to be in need as we listen to a beautiful song by Pete Scott, sung by Sheila Hamil:
I offer you today, Lord
The Lord’s Prayer
Closing words:
There are so many wonderful hymns based on prayers of Celtic Christians – from Be thou my vision to Lord of all hopefulness and the magnificently powerful Kaim prayer for protection ‘I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity’ which is attributed to St Patrick. One of my favourites is a version of St Patricks Breastplate by James Quinn set to to the Scottish tune Bunessan.
Hymn: This day God gives me (Tune Morning has broken)
Blessing: from the Western Isles from David Adams Cry of the Deer. Called The eye of God.
May the Father who created you with eye benign behold you
The son who dearly purchased you with eye divine enfold you
The Spirit who lives within you with eye refining hold you
In friendliness the Holy three behold you on your bended knee
And the blessing of the Trinity be yours each day, eternally. Amen
Closing music: An Irish blessing: May the road rise to meet you. (Celtic Thunder)
Preparing for the Garden Walk of Holy Week
In the last few days of his life, Jesus moved from garden to garden from suffering to resurrection.
Join Christine Sine for a Lent retreat that reflects on this journey and prepares for the challenging week that follows Palm Sunday.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship
By Jean Andrianoff — Originally posted March 28, 2019 here.
No doubt the most famous wall in the world is the Great Wall of China, a colossal feat of human engineering. In its 2,700-year history, only one invader successfully breached this wall: Genghis Khan of Mongolia.
This literal wall between China and Mongolia mirrors a figurative wall of antagonism between the Chinese and the Mongols, as ancient as the Great Wall itself. When we lived in Mongolia in the mid-1990’s, the hostile feelings remained. Mongolians we spoke with had little use for either of their neighbors—neither Russia on the north nor China to the south. While we found they outspokenly despised the Russians who represented 70 years of Soviet domination of their country; Mongolians’ enmity toward the Chinese was even more intense.
Christianity at the time was young in Mongolia; only a handful of believers were more than ten years old in the faith. When we arrived in Mongolia in early 1993 there were an estimated 200 followers of Christ in the country. Most of these new Christians were young in chronological age as well, young adults comprising the majority of the members of the rapidly emerging church. Eree’s family was one of the few entire families to have embraced the faith. This capable young woman, who worked in our office, invited us to dinner to meet her family. We found her parents to be warm, engaging, and enthusiastic about their new-found faith. They had been among the first believers when Mongolia had opened to Christian witness. One of the things they told us that evening gave me an entirely new perspective on Paul’s words to the Ephesian Christians:
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:14-18, NIV)
Eree’s mother told us of an encounter they had with a group of Chinese Christians, and how gratifying it felt to fellowship with these people who seemed more like brothers and sisters than ancient rivals. To her, this experience gave truth to Paul’s words and verified the power of the Gospel to break down ancient prejudices.
Never again have I read this passage without thinking of Eree and her family and how the great wall of hostility between historical enemies was shattered by the costly reconciliation of Christ. Yes, the passage was originally intended for Jews and Gentiles. Like the literal wall separating the Chinese and Mongolians, a literal wall in the temple courts separated Gentiles and Jews, so that Gentiles were excluded from the inner courts where sacrifices for sin were performed. But with the death of Christ, the figurative wall of separation this represented was abolished, with both sides now having equal access to the Father.
While I understand this concept, I have not lived in a context where I have experienced the Jewish/Gentile division. However, seeing the Chinese/Mongolian wall of prejudice swept away among new believers in Christ has given me a fresh perspective on the power of God to break down walls that separate even the most ancient enemies. No matter how great the wall we face, God’s power is more than adequate to break it down.
Preparing for the Garden Walk of Holy Week
In the last few days of his life, Jesus moved from garden to garden from suffering to resurrection.
Join Christine Sine for a Lent retreat that reflects on this journey and prepares for the challenging week that follows Palm Sunday.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship
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