Green Patches

Epiphany Four - Wandering Shepherd

..and as we wind our way towards the Fourth Sunday in Epiphany, Chief Shepherd left his post at the stable for a few hours this evening. But don't worry; the outing was planned and he's now back safely in the creche.  More to come later.

Christus Mansionem Benedicat - Return of Wiseman 3

Yes, Wiseman 3 has returned!  It turns out he never went AWOL in the first place. Mr GP found him the other day - in the Nativity scene, sheltering behind a gigantic magpie (made from a kit given to me for Christmas by Ms GP). So much for my policy of inclusivity (and the state of my eyesight). The little chap has been reunited with his friends on the windowsill amidst much general rejoicing and merrymaking. I broke open a late Christmas pressie of toffees to celebrate  and in an absent-minded moment bit down on one way too hard and broke a filling. I'm now trying hard not to wonder whether the cost of a new one works out any dearer than the original cost of the Wiseman...

Christus Mansionem Benedicat

Alas and alack - I've turned the place upside down; still no sign of Wiseman 3. 

 

 

Never mind. The Greenpatch dwelling has been well and truly blessed. Maybe our prayers and the generous whiff of incense (which an hour after the event is still around -  and  is certainly an improvement on our house's normal Parfum de chien..et chatte), will bring him out of his hiding place.

Epiphany: The Three Kings

 

One of my favourites, to make up for the tone of my past post. Sung here by The Academy of St Martin in The Fields, soloist  - Gerald Finley.

One of our wise men is missing!

Horrors! I dropped into our creche earlier  - to move the magi to the alcove window ready for the Epiphany House Blessings tomorrow evening and ...Wise Man Number Three was nowhere to be found. He's gorn, scarpered, gone AWOL, taken the long and winding road back to Persian Lands afar... Oh Where oh Where Can He Be? Was he left abandoned in the nativity shoe box all Christmastime, with only a Provencal lavender bag and a pile of wood shavings for company? Or was he ever there to begin with?

This is worrying. Not the best way to begin the New Year methinks. Thank goodness not all creches are as disorganised as the Greenpatch one: Over on Spiritually Directed, the magi have at last reached the stable.Thanks to the wise words of their landlady, they've escaped the scarey prospect of remaining stuck in a Permanent Advent. Thank you, miniature Magi; I've loved  following your journeyings along the bathroom shelf.  It's helping me process my own sense of Advent discombobulation. If you should come across my missing Wise Man, speak kindly to him and point him back across the Atlantic.

Advent Blog of The Week - Introverted Church/The Modern Mrs Darcy and Mind Journeys

I've a double offering this time round,  to make up for the absence of anything last week: the first A Modern Mrs Darcy features as guest writer on Adam McHugh's Introverted Church with her Christmas snapshot  My second blogger, Franciscan Ted Witham tells us about living with  chronic pain. No extracts here; I'll leave you to read their reflections for yourself.

Why did I choose these particular blogs? Well, I guess you could say they chose me, tying in as they do with this strand of prayer I wrote about at the beginning of Advent  which has come about from my experiences on retreat. More recently, I've blogged about a sense of 'spiritual discombobulation', even rather facetiously spoken about feeling out of sync with the whole thing. Which last isn't strictly true when I pause to look at it. 

What's been going on can be better described in terms of an artist choosing colours. Last Advent for me was a swirl of gold, rich jewel-like shades, strong, set against a deep, dark yet ultimately rich darkness. "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it." This year the colours are far more thinly spread, there, but often only faintly etched against an altogether more stark, chill shade of blackness.  The darkness is more fragile, brittle. It seems to chime in with a growing awareness of the world's pain: of a never-ending procession of hurting folk that I keep encountering.  So many people who  are ill or who've lost loved ones at this time of year. In amongst my tertiary circle alone for instance, or in church -  we've had several  sudden, unexpected deaths, and a number of folk  who've lost parents in the last couple of days or weeks.

So to our bloggers - waiting, hoping and, aware of the impermanance yet preciousness of this world. Pointing to what it's  ultimately all about; a stark contrast to the ever-increasing razmatazz comercially as the world careers its way towards the final countdown to Christmas.  Thank you for helping  clarify matters for me. 

 

 

 

 

 

Advent - Waiting and hoping

Given my grumblings yesterday, the arrival, not long afterwards, in my feedreader of this Advent sermon by Maggi Dawn was pretty apposite.  God is to be found in the darkness as well as in the light - and :

If we confidently depend upon the knowledge that God's gifts, unlike Santa's, are not delivered to deadlines, then we can live within the seasons knowing that the gifts they represent will come to us eventually - not necessarily on time, and probably when we least expect them.

 - for the rest of the reflection, go here. 

Thanks for the reminder. It speaks very much into where I've been and from time to time  continue to be on my own journey. 

The artwork above comes from my recent retreat at St Beunos, from a grey, grey period halfway through the week when I was struggling with this  sense of 'spiritual  discombobulation.' 

[p.s And for once, the Linkwithin widget's choice of post is entirely appropriate!]

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday...

Now, I"ve not caved in under the pressure of the pre-Christmas razmatazz.  It's simply that I just had one of those pround 'thunks,' (as one does) as I came out from under a heavy duty card writing session just now with burgeoning RSI and that ambivalent sense of weariness and (mild) guilt: (Why can't I be better organised and write them sufficiently early enough that I've time to give some proper news instead of the falsely cheery "Must write/email in the New Year?!"). 

Much as I love the dulcet tones of Wizzard (Hey, I"m a teenager of the Seventies, after all), the thought of it being Christmas Everyday is, to be frank, my idea of hell. However, in an odd way, the Hairy One has a point, (albeit maybe not exactly the point he'd intended to make). If we were to try and live each day as if it were Christmas, that is, with our focus away from all the tinsel, turkey and stuffing and focussed outwards on true peace and love of neighbour, we'd not be forced into cranking it all up artificially - and cramming it into the space of a month or less.

Advent Blog of The Week - The Mercy Blog and Weeble's Wonderings

 

Advent Prayer

 

Lord, still us this today and in this Advent Season – keep us wide awake in these days of waiting. Take from us our anxieties and our preoccupations, our distractions and our despair. Let us be empty in this time before, awaiting your coming with empty hands, and open hearts…

 

Lord, prepare us for your coming. Fill us with the hope of your judgement, and a longing for your justice. Let our hope and our prayer be always for this broken creation of which we are part. Have mercy on all who suffer, human or animal. Help us to bring the good news of your coming, the comfort of hope, the joy of this new kind of waiting…

 

Amen

 - with thanks to Mike F of The Mercy Blog

One evening last week, I was  in  our contemplative prayer group at church, when, towards the end of the session, I was suddenly, as I've described it to myself 'hi-jacked' by a memory  of an item which I'd read in the paper earlier in the day: a particularly horrible example of  pure, gratuitous violence towards a poor, helpless animal, the which defies all belief and about which I simply can't bring myself to give any more details here.  There followed  a  fraught few minutes whilst I  tried alternately to a) push the distraction aside, or b) give  it to God, which last unfortunately and again without giving any details (shudders) seemed unavoidably to involve 're-living it.'  All clever theological explanations seemed pretty irrelevant  just then, and to be honest, pretty feeble, too. We're back to that evergreen topic of theodicy 'How could you, God?'

I've since re-commbobulated myself, so to speak...just, and can see, I think, that this struggle was likely the latest in a series of 'answers,' to a prayer I made leading on from what I brought out of retreat. Why I should be surprised, I don't know. I do think prayer should come with a health warning, though.  Do Not Be Surprised If You Get What You Ask For. 

So the petitions in the prayer "Have mercy on all who suffer, human or animal..." resonates with me as we begin Advent.

 

 

Over on A Weeble's Wonderings Avila reflects on the ever-present struggle with life-work balance and the need to know when and to press those 'recharge' buttons. I chose it for personal reasons; thanks be to God their situation is not my own although some of the issues mentioned do touch several loved ones close to home. It was the final paragraph that spoke to  me however. The 'Who Am I? What Am I?' question and my tendency to define myself solely in relation to the role (I perceive) other people see me in and to whether I shape up to that perception,  has been around now as long as I can remember. We Are Improving slowly....which is good...yet still very much a Work In Progress...

I started with the title 'Who am I? What am I?' - when we can no longer answer these about ourselves, rather than just in relation to other people or roles, then it is a sign we need to find respite, and to find ourselves again.

 - A Weeble's Wonderings - Who Am I? What Am I?

 

  

 

 

Ignatian Advent Resources

And here are an assortment of resources to use with an Ignatian flavour.  I followed  their online 'retreat' a couple of years ago; ( for those of us who'd prefer not to be glued to our computers over Advent, it's possible to print off the readings beforehand) and found it a challenging yet ultimately worthwhile way to journey through Advent, Christmas and beyond. 

Franciscan Advent Resources - Peace Made Flesh

From the Franciscan Friars of The Holy Name -  this was published  in 2008; I gave it a mention last Advent , but could easily be used again each year.

Blog of The Week - Franciscan Associates and The Water Walker's Apprentice

image: freeimages.co.uk

 

Favourites in my googlereader this week: Franciscan Associates and Steve Tilley both write on Welcoming The Stranger. 

Dorothy Parker, the author who was famous for her dark wit, used to answer her telephone with this greeting:  “What fresh hell is this?”  

What do you think when someone knocks on your door?  Is it closer to “What fresh hell is this?” or is it closer to, “Thanks be to God?”

 - Martin B Copenhaver Who's That Knocking at My Door? in Francisan Associates.

 

You can find Steve's Show em yer warts over on The Water Walker's Apprentice.

In case my two prayer partners - due here in just over an hour's time should chance upon this blog, my response is always  the second one. As for warts, after nearly four years, they're used to being a) ambushed by the dog b) stared down by the cat c) tripping over aforementioned dog's bone in the hallway d) having to remove pet hairs from their person and e) being nearly knocked out by my over enthusiastic use of pot-pourri essential oils and scented candles. This last isn't  as much an indicator of my journey further Up The Candle; as an honest, if misguided attempt to disguise the fact that the cat has carefully timed her evening toilet visit to coincide with the arrival of visitors. 

Never mind. My view is  that there's nothing a Nice Cup Of Tea can't put right. 

 

 

 

 

A Hairy Moment

No, don't worry -  I'm not nominating myself for Blog of The Week; I'm not that desperate! I'm simply sharing a couple of hairy moments from the last week or so, courtesy of The Wibsite. 

Blog of The Week - Franciscan Ponderings and LutheranChik

image: freedigitalphotos.net:xedos4

 

 

Two contenders this week for bloggers who've made me stop and think. 'Community'  is a bit of a buzz word nowadays.   What exactly  is it? How do we define it? Why do we need it? Is it the answer to all ills? Was there ever a 'golden age' when everybody was enveloped in a caring, sharing, loving community like the  folk in the above picture, neighbours dropped in and out of each others' houses to borrow a cup of sugar and we all watched  out for the children? And now, in the age of the so called nuclear family, where is 'home' and how do we 'do' community in a new way?

That churches have and should take the lead in this seems to be a given. Franciscan Ponderings reflects on what we can offer here. This is the ideal, yet as LutheranChik in Losing My Religion; And What Does Community Mean? and, I'd suspect, many many of us have discovered at some point, even or more especially they all too often fall short of this ideal.  You can preach it, teach it, but, (excuse the tired cliches here) when the chips are down and the rubber hits the road, all that matters is IMO, do you do it? Does  your church, organisation, group, really reach out to everyone as in the illustration? All of the time?  Are you sure? Or might it sometimes appear more like this? (And before everybody rushes to say 'hypocrite,' yes, I'm as guilty of neglect as anyone.)

image: freedigitalphotos.net:savikeatavee

Or even - and here's the downside of modern technology  - like this?

image: freedigitalphotos.net. renjithkrishnan

 

I'm fortunate  - my present church is pretty good at watching out for folks.   That's not been my experience everywhere, though, sadly.  I don't think it  needs to be an emergency necessarily either. To me, the true test of community churchwise is  - when it all goes pear-shaped or simply  a tinge of grey, 'Who you gonna call?' Or even better - 'Who's gonna call you?' 

And no, there are times when a FB 'like' just doesn't cut it.

 

re-cycled 'Blog of The Week,'

I was tempted to say 'bloggage,' given the  continued attack of writer's block  I mentioned last week.  A quick search on 'retreats,'  shows this is no new thing for me;  it's become a part of the landscape at this time of year for me to emerge from the wilds of the countryside gawping like a stranded guppy. Earlier in the year Opinionated Vicar's  reflections on his IGR at St Beunos prompted me to try to articulate  some thoughts on changes in my own prayer. These changes wove their way almost  effortessly into my own time recently at the same retreat centre and have come out with me as seamlessly. Which isn't to say, of course, that everything was plain sailing. On the contrary,  but underneath the struggles I always had this deep down  sense of 'all will be well.' The nearest I can get to describing my spiritual state is to liken it to a radio: yes, it took some 'tuning in,' and at times I wasn't quite sure which station I was headed for, yet for the first time for as long as I can remember, there was a complete absence of interference, static and crackle.  And a discernible deepening amd moving closer to God which even a hard of hearing Greenpatch was able to pick up on. More than that, I simply can't say. 

Far better to leave you with a picture of the beautiful grounds  surrounding St Beunos; they speak far louder than words.

 

Late but not 'late' Blog of The Week - Rory is Available

Yes, I know that this is Wednesday, not Monday.  Yes, I know that Greenpatches hasn't been vocal over the last few weeks; partly due to ennui, partly because she's been holed up in the wilds of North Wales, contemplating her navel.  To be blunt: I'm speechless. More later maybe...

So, what better way to begin to shift the 'bloggage' by sounding the trumpet for another faithful blogger and long-standing member of the blogroll over on my other blog: the keeper of the witty, wise and wonderful Mr Gnome, Rory Keegan. Rory says:

 

Bravo for brilliant visionaries! 

I’m privileged to work with many such men and women, enabling them to turn dream to reality: finding the format, perfecting the text, sourcing the packaging and liaising with a legion of creative professionals (illustrators, video producers, graphic designers) to deliver projects on time and on budget - in short, the whole kit and caboodle.

I'm Rory Keegan: resourceful, reliable and ready for new opportunities. 

 - Find out more about Rory's work  over on Rory is Available

 

Oh, and while you're there, don't forget to say hello to his equally witty and urbane friend, Mr Gnome

 

 

 

 

 

 

PG - Parental Guidance

You know that old saying - "Never work with animals or children?" After today I'm tempted to coin another one - "or with parents!" When our two were younger, we used to joke that the PG parental guidance ratings on films referred to those where watching with Mum and Dad was liable to cause terminal embarrassment to offspring as well as untold trauma to easily shockable parents. 

Echoes of that came back to me today as we listened to adult offspring and friend's first go at student radio. They have a regular, weekly slot and this was their first broadcast. 

Help - I was more nervous than they were...Far more! 

Mercifully (for me, that is!), I'm quite often otherwise engaged with churchy stuff on a Friday afternoon.  I don't think I could cope with the strain every week...waiting in fascinated terror for what they might come out with next... those endearing parental quirks and foibles being aired for the entire  world (or at least the whole of East Anglia) to hear.  Mixed with a strange sense of pride; (Oh dear, I just know I'm going to turn into one of those embarrassing Mothers who burst into tears and reminisce with rose-tinted specs on about "their little boy.") They were actually pretty good. OK, the music wasn't exactly my thing. Nor would I expect it to be. And some of the chat...well, just as well my hearing's none too good - my shockometer might go into overdrive. 

But yes, I kind of enjoyed it. I'm indeed A Proud Mummy. My Little Boy has grown up! (Sniff). I'll even  forgive you for casting nasturtiums on my texting skills on air.  Well done! 

 

 

 

Paws for Thought

Let's  put it another way - we had no idea what  this 'entailed'.

or

"We will now 'paws' for the blessing." 

 Well, we all have to be silly once in our lives and last Sunday afternoon was just that.  I may  be a 'bona fido' Franciscan tertiary -  but until now I simply couldn't pluck up the courage to drag the resident Greenpatch pooch up the hill for the annual pet blessing service. He's not exactly the best-behaved canine on the block - and my over- fertile imagination kept conjuring up nightmare scenarios of him chasing hamsters, traumatising cats, leaving 'little parcels' on the floor and flattening the vicar.  Resulting in our ignominious banning from the church - or even all the C Of E churches in town. I wonder if they operate a  similar'Churchwatch' system to the local pubs: "Out of one, out of all?!" 

So, why did I decide to finally plumb depths of Anglican liturgy best left unplumbed IMHO? Strength in numbers, I guess. I persuaded a friend to come along with her hairy horror. Double trouble!  

Did we enjoy it? Yes...in a funny kind of way. Our worries about assorted cats, mice and other furries were groundless. This was strictly a dog gig.  To be more accurate - about 20 dogs, of all shapes and sizes. And it went pretty well, considering. No pandemonium incarnate, no puddles... No bloodshed. True at times I was taken back years to when the children were small; sitting there trying to mouth 'For the Beauty of The Earth' and 'Morning has broken'  whilst keeping an inquisitive, wriggly Fido with the attention span of a gnat  from misbehaving, fidgeting, and generally 'showing us up' was a salutary reminder of what life used to be like every time I went to church. At the point when we were asked to hold and pray for our pets, I was bent down busily  trying to remove congealed bits of half-eaten doggie treats from under the pew and untangle the lead from round us both. 

And surprise, surprise. When the time came to take our furry friends up for a blessing, they all behaved pretty well. OK, so GP Dog doesn't exactly smell of ashes of roses - could do with a haircut and was a right fidget, but a doggie treat suspended just in his line of vision worked wonders!

I'm glad we went.  And I'm sure our canine companions enjoyed themselves. Best of all - GP Dog was so worn out from all the walking up and down the hill that he slept like a lamb once we got home.  I think Francis would have approved.

 

 

Blog of The Week - Goodgoat - Spirituality as a garden

What type of garden are you?

Goodgoat spotted this reflection on a church notice board. For reasons which I can't begin to fathom, this four year-old blog post only appeared in my reader last week.  Odd ? Never mind, it's not lost in the waiting. Thanks for this, Goodgoat. Oh, and congratulations...

A Chance to Reflect

No matter what we believe in, we are all spiritual beings. We all have our own unique “spirituality”

• our sense of the divine, of beauty
• of what lies beyond and is unseen

But how can we understand our spirituality?

Think of your spirituality as a garden and ask…what makes a garden? You can’t buy them – garden centres don’t sell them ready-made! You have to grow them…

Three Ways of Making a Rule of Life

With Francistide and review of my TSSF Rule of Life still fresh in my mind,  here's some advice on the process applicable to anybody looking to live life more intentionally and holistically:

 

A rule is a document embodying the values which are central to your life, and the praxis which allows you to live this out with genuine integrity. 

 - Hermit Sr Laurel from notes from stillsong.

Developing a Rule of Life 13 Tips - from soulgardeners

 

and

Balancing Life by The Rule by Debra Farrington

I came across a wonderful piece of advice yesterday -  that  rule of life should not be a list of 'to do (s)' but of 'to be (s).'

Words, words, words...Over on the Franciscan Support Thread on Shipoffools posters are asking - Is it possible to make a rule of life without using them ? It's been suggested for the TSSF Principles in the past. Could you sign it? Paint, sing or dance it? Any other medium? Suggestions please...

For Franciscans I"d have thought creative ways like these would be spot on, given their sprituality and the famous "Preach the gospel. If necessary, use words," saying popularly attributed to our founder.

Granted we might have problems at annual renewal presenting them all at the altar - still I'm sure there are ways and means of getting over that one!