Green Patches

Blog of The Week - The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley

In a week which has seen more than its share of loss and tragedy - some apt reflections from those cyber-coenobites, The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley.

"On an ironic level one could point out that to a British tabloid, the importance of one famous British woman is about the same as 90 Norwegians (especially when there's a "nutter"), which is about the same as unknown thousands of Somalis (especially when they come from a pariah state, and they're all Moslems). One could also add that in one sense artists dying young and Africans starving aren't "news" - we've been taught that this is what they do - whereas the shock comes where Scandinavians start killing each other. This doesn't fit our model of the world.

But you can't add up human beings like counters. You can't estimate the relative value of numbers of people. The worth of one human being is infinite..."

 - For the rest of the post, go here.

Last week's Blog of The Week - The Mercy Blog. 

 

Blog of The Week - The Mercy Blog

...comes earlier than usual this week - time being in short supply over the next few days.  I've chosen a long-standing member of my blogroll, Mike F of The Mercy Blog, Franciscan tertiary and contemplative. His was one of the blogs I stumbled across early on in my own vocational wanderings and I've watched it grow and develop over the years.  At risk of totally embarrassing him, IMHO it's one of the top-league Francisan blogs (and yes, I know classing blogs must definitely run contrary to the Francisan ethos!); however, I'm referring to quality and integrity here. He's been brave enough to  share some of the joys and struggles of his journey honestly, often at great depth, yet with a humble simplicity that's an inspiration to others.  He's also a great encourager.  

Mike, ongoing wishes and prayers for you as your journey takes  a new turn. I hope we'll still be able to read your reflections in future, even if you're not able to blog as frequently as before.

Peace and all good.

 

Last week's Blog of the Week:  Adam McHugh's Introverted Church and Aubry Smith's My Offerings.

To be a pilgrim

Being lauched tonight, even as we speak - or blog: Maggi Dawn's The Accidental Pilgrim.  This looks as if it might be just my kind of book.  Now, where's my wish list?

Time Management

From my other blog: My attempts to follow Chelley's great anti-procrastination techniques.   Yes, I did manage in the end!

And no, I won't tell you the title of the book I was trying to review...

 

 

Blog of The Week - Introverted Church

Two for the price of one this week.  Adam McHugh's Introverted Church blog  is another long-term occupant of my reader; his  book - Introverts in the Church is on my wish-list.  What caught my eye last week was his quoting Aubry Smith's marvellous 'Introvert Summer Camp'  , which tackles two important topics: Introverts and Youth ministry.

Granted my only experience of Youth Camps  when younger was Guide Camp, where (mercifully) I can recall little of the horrors Aubry relates. (I'd have run a mile!).  From the little I can recall, the chief qualities required way back then were a cast-iron stomach and that peculiarly British stoicism needed in order to transcend mud, constantly damp clothes and boredom at not being allowed to do very much. Or at least - not being allowed to do what we wanted to do. (My patrol's illicit midnight hike over into the adjoining field to visit the Scouts was the final nail in the coffin; I was politely directed out of the Guide Association not long afterwards!).  

But as an adult, I'll admit to having a bit of a love-hate relationship with church weekends away, festivals and the like. I've a few horror stories; a few places I'd  not touch with the proverbial barge-pole and others  - like Greenbelt festival, for example, where I've gained so much that I'm prepared to put up and work with stuff that takes me outside of my comfort zones. Not that Greenbelt in any way resembles the horrors hinted at in McHugh's and Smith's posts. A fair bit for me is to do with maturity and self-awareness, balance; the advantage of having the time and wherewithal to prepare beforehand for potentially tricky situations. 

So, yes, I'll be bookmarking this particular post and going back to it over the next few months.

Thanks to both of you.

Last week's Blog of The Week: The Year of Living Frugally.

 

 

 

 

My Top Four July Posts (4): All Creatures Great and Small

And finally - a tribute to the late, great Greenpatch felines: Goth and Viking Cat.

 

 

My Top Four July Posts (3): The Heffalump Psalm

To July 2008 and good old Psalm 27.  Some might argue that the link between poor Piglet's encounter with a 'horrible Heffalump' and the psalmist's affirmation of trust in God is how shall we say...tenuous. I beg to disagree. 

My Top Four July Posts (2): Graduation

This time two years ago we were busy smuggling a  bottle of pink champagne into Central Hall Westminster as Ms GP -  (her of the green paint) -   graduated.

A couple of days ago her brother phoned us with great news - Yes, we  have an English graduate,  possibly soon to be a postgraduate student, in the family. Congratulations, Mstr GP! We'll soon be raking out our best bib and tucker - or in my case, Posh Frock. Though this time, it won't be ncessary to smuggle in the champagne.

 

My Top Four July Posts (1): Get Knotted

From yesteryear. Seeing as we're nearly in the summer silly season, I thought I'd have a trawl through the Greenpatch archives and rake out some favourites from The Month of July. (Shades of Sesame Street; no , that's not Kermit in the photo - Ms GP won't thank you for thinking that!).  So, our first Greenpatch is:

 

From this time last year - Get Knotted. The whole month fell into the 'vocational angst' category, a theme that runs and runs as far as I'm concerned. I was finishing a year long spirituality course and wondering about the next step.   Get Knotted still makes me smile (Who says The Almighty doesn't have a sense of humour?!). I've more knots than a Girl Guide, and a year on, the both of us are still busily engaged on the untangling process; a process which, like the angst, is set to run and run.  

More thankfully - 2009-10 was also The Year of The Medical Test for me - much waiting and worrying about the state of the Greenpatch internal plumbing. These all came clear, thankfully, but the process has been an incentive for me to keep going with the vocational wanderings whenever my confidence has faltered.  There's nothing like gaining a perspective on one's own mortality to make you make the most of the time you have.

 

Next up: Graduation.

'Rule of Life' - Commitment to transformation

"The keeping of a rule is not an end in itself. It is not so that  we can feel more in control or that our lives might be in order. It is not even so we can feel closer to God. Its purpose is transformation: that we make become more Christlike... It is not about a one-off change. It is rather about an ongoing, life-long openess to keep on being changed, with and by the communities which we are committed to."

 - from Alan Hargrave's Living Well: Finding a 'rule of life' to Revitalise and Sustain Us, SPCK Publishing 2010

'Living Well' is one of my current reads.  It's compact, accessible and practical  yet deep. Would that it had been around when I was working out my own rule  with TSSF (Third Order, Society of St Francis). He uses the ancient rule of St Benedict as a structure for his reflections, but the book is designed for anyone who is searching for life-giving transformation and a pattern to their lives.  And 'community' includes : family, partners, work, church, friends; any and all of the groups we live and work with day by day.