Author: Jonnyfun.E

Now retired, and enjoying making music and writing. Living in Gloucester, historically an important port on the river Severn, and situated with The Forest of Dean and the Brecon Beacons to the west, and the beautiful Cotswolds to the east.
A Prayer For This Day · faith · Following Jesus · Prayers

Morning Prayer Through The Week

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I have tried all sorts of ways of giving some structure to my prayer, and in lockdown have found something that is working for me. In the past I’ve found that most of the things I’ve tried have either too many words, or not enough to feel that I’ve done anything.
So – I’ve been collecting prayers – some from other sources, and some home grown, and have this to offer. Each day has a theme, and the same structure for each day, as follows

Opening Prayer.


The psalm of the day
(I’m currently using a book by Walter Brueggemann – Gift and Task – that has suggested psalms and Bible readings for each day – you decide how much and what exactly you put in here, but having a part of a psalm as part of it is, I think, a good discipline)


‘Kyrie’ prayer
The Kyrie prayer is is a short prayer that is important in Christian worship. It is a prayer from the heart about human need. God owes us nothing. Everything he gives comes from his mercy. (Kyrie is the Greek word for Lord)

Collect
A Collect prayer – so called because in public worship the prayer gathers together the silent prayer of the assembled company in one prayer.  It has a particular form as follows:
1 God is addressed
2 Something is said about God’s nature, or God’s work
3 A request is made
4 A reason for the request (usually in relation to what was said about God)
5 An ‘Amen’ or other ending. (what Padraig O Tuama calls ‘a bird of praise’

Scripture reading(s) for the day
See above … however much or little you need.

Prayer of thanksgiving or prayers of concern

Blessing

I also use this form of words before Prayer each day

The night has passed and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind. 
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you. Amen.

So to the 7 days and 7 themes.

Sunday – Resurrection and new life
Monday – Creation
Tuesday – Justice and Peace
Wednesday – The Holy Spirit
Thursday – Following Jesus
Friday – Forgiveness
Saturday – The Communion of Saints – believers past and present.

On Sunday at the monent, I’m using the form of morning prayer from the Northumbria community. Since I use this in its entirety, I won’t include it here, for copyright reasons, but you can find it here.
I have included it, because it’s the one thing in the past that I was able to use every day for a couple of years without getting bored with it.

Church · community · Prayer · Worship

A Great Many People Praying

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I was reading in Luke chapter 1 this morning. It’s about Mary’s cousin Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah, as they longed for a child. (Who would turn out to be John the Baptist).

5 During the time Herod ruled Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, married to Elizabeth. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth truly did what God said was good. They did everything the Lord commanded and were without fault in keeping his law. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth could not have a baby, and both of them were very old.

8 One day Zechariah was serving as a priest before God, because his group was on duty. 9 According to the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 There were a great many people outside praying at the time the incense was offered. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing on the right side of the incense table. 12 When he saw the angel, Zechariah was startled and frightened. 13 But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son, and you will name him John.

The phrase that struck me was this: There were a great many people outside praying

As Zechariah is doing his work of leading God’s people in prayer, “A multitude of people are faithfully gathered at the temple to back Zechariah in prayer. Prayer is the context in which God acts most creatively, the environment in which his promises are announced and his work of salvation begins.”
Eugene Peterson in Praying with the Early Christians

In these days of Covid, I am struggling to work out what being part of a congregation means. We have our small group of Christian friends, and are working at mutual encouragement and support, but the congregational aspect of church life is hard.

I have been to a few of our services in church, and experienced that socially distanced, mask wearing, non singing way of being church together, which is ok up to a point.
I have watched pre-recorded services online, some of which have been very creative, using technology to involve members of a congregation in readings, leading prayers, singing at home etc
I have watched live services online at home, which at least has the benefit of being live.

But the sense of participation in worship, and the sense of being a part of a community in worship has been largely absent. I think this has resulted in me praying much less for our worship, and those who lead, even whilst my disciplines of prayer, reading of scripture and study at home have increased.

I’m challenged today to wrestle with this, to try and see a way to make congregational worship more a part of my life in these days.

Grace and peace.

faith · God · Jesus · Song for Today

The Canticle Of The Turning

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The message of Advent and Christmas is that God is doing something new.

As this song declares – The world is about to turn.

May you know the new thing that God will bring to birth in you.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas

youtube.com/watch

1 My soul cries out with a joyful shout
that the God of my heart is great,
and my spirit sings of the wondrous things
that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight,
and my weakness you did not spurn,
so from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?

Refrain
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn.

2 Though I am small, my God, my all,
you work great things in me,
and your mercy will last from the depths of the past
to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
and to those who would for you yearn,
you will show your might, put the strong to flight,
for the world is about to turn. Refrain

3 From the halls of pow’r to the fortress tow’r,
not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears
ev’ry tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more,
for the food they can never earn;
there are tables spread, ev’ry mouth be fed,
for the world is about to turn. Refrain

4 Though the nations rage from age to age,
we remember who holds us fast:
God’s mercy must deliver us
from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard
is the promise which holds us bound,
till the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
who is turning the world around. 

Church · faith

Which Jesus Floats Your Boat

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Ann Morisy, community theologian and author, talks about imitating Jesus. She is attracted especially by Jesus’ tendency to seek out the unlikely people. Uneducated fishermen; Tax Collectors, most of whom would have collaborated with the Roman authorities; Women, lacking in status and influence. Etc.

She tells of a project to locate a doctor’s surgery in a housing estate where there was no G.P. presence. The unlikely person was the phlebotomist, the one who took blood for testing. He was a reformed drug addict. Who better to find a vein ?!

So I’m asking myself the question … as I look at the life and work of Jesus, is there something that particuarly excites me ? Which Jesus floats my boat ?

Work in progress; I’m still thinking about that.

Grace and peace.

Bible · Church · community · faith · Following Jesus

It Never Struck Me Before

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So. I’ve been listening to an interview with Alexander John Shaia. Fascinating. I had not heard of him before. He’s interviewed here on the Nomad podcast, and also in Rob Bell’s Robcast.
There are a load of things to talk about, but just an aside to start with – he talks about the Passover meal, and the central theme being slavery and freedom. It never occurred to me before that they wouldn’t all have gone with Moses!! Some would have followed him, for sure, but there would have been those who thought that they were better off staying in Egypt. They made that choice.

Now why didn’t I realise that ? I just assumed they all went. But of course some would have found the idea of such a radical move to be too difficult.

So on to where this is going to lead – to four questions that map the road of transformation.
I’m just going to try and summarise what Alexander was saying, but I hope you might go and listen to the interview, because I found it mind blowing.

We need to begin with a Jewish Passover:
According to the Ashkenazi tradition, the order of the Four Questions at the Passover meal is as followed:
Question 1: Why on all other nights do we eat either leavened bread or matza, but on this night only matza?
Question 2: Why on all other nights do we eat different types of vegetables, but on this night only bitter herbs?
Question 3: Why on all other nights do we not dip our food once, but on this night we dip it twice?
Question 4: Why on all nights do we eat either sitting upright or reclining, but on this night we recline?

These questions traditionally bring to mind:
Question 1: Eating matza commemorates how the Jews were in such a hurry to leave Egypt they could not wait for their bread to rise.
Question 2: Eating bitter herbs represents the bitter difficulties of life as a slave in Egypt.
Queston 3: Dipping food was a luxury reserved only for the aristocracy and upperclass in ancient times, so the practice of dipping is meant to reflect freedom.
Question 4: Reclining while dining was also a luxurious behavior historically, which stresses the privilege of freedom.

But Alexander Shaia refers to an older practice in Judaism at the time of Jesus that has four similar, but different questions, that might be paraphrased as:
Question 1: Thinking about the Exodus, when God’s people were set free from salvery in Egypt … Where in your life are you lost in a place of emotional paralysis, a state of being unfree, enslaved ?
Question 2: Thinking about the forty years when God’s people wandered in the wilderness … Where are you in a death experience ?
Queston 3: Thinking about the time when God’s people crossed over Jordan into the promised land … Where do you hear God’s new promise for you ?
Question 4: Thinking about life in that land of promise … What new action is God asking of you, for your life, the life of your community ?

So … in summary, the four questions relate to
1. The path of transformation includes times to consider making a change. How are are you going to respond ? Choice
2. The path of transformation will involve tension, and trials. Suffering
3. The path of transformation will include the offer of newness in some way. Gift
4. The path of transformation will challenge you to think about acts of service you are being called to give. Service

Interestingly, these four aspects of the life of faith were a central part of the practice of the early church in preparing candidates for baptism. Not surpisingly really, the church drew on the heritage of Jewish practice in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Now here’s the thing … the early church also, according to Alexander Shia and others, linked these four aspects of discipleship to the four Gospels.
Matthew – addressed to the Jewish community – Choice.
Who will you choose ? Will you choose this new way in following Jesus ?
Mark – addressed to the Christian community in Rome, suffering persecution under Nero.
Stay strong as you seek to make Jesus the Lord of your life, even in the midst of persecution. Suffering.
John – addressed to the diverse Christian community in Ephesus, which was beginning to revisit old divisions
Even though you come from different backgrounds. Receive the gift of unity. Gift
Luke – addressed to the Christian community in Antioch.
Remember that you are called to serve. Service

So, when you think of the Gospels, think rather of one Gospel. The Gospel that is shown to us in four different ways, to help us understand the fourfold path of transformation.

I found these insights really helpful, and will be praying that I will be aware when I am being asked to make a choice about something –
The challenge of moving on to something new, and leaving other things behind.
The challenge of hanging in there when it gets tough
The challenge of seeing how I am being called to serve.

Grace and peace.

faith

Nuggets From Elizabeth Oldfield (III)

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This is her talking about holding faith on the one hand firmly, but also lightly. (That may sound like nonsense, please read on)

“I have a very small number of very strong convictions. And everything else is above my pay grade. I’m very open to changing my opinion on it. This is my hunch (about whatever is under discussion), but I’m very open to changing my mind on it.

And in terms of my faith, I think … one of my favourite prayers is from Morning Prayer from the Northumbria Community, and a part of it says “To whom shall we go ? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.”

One amazing benefit of having interviewed in quite a lot of depth people from very different metaphysical positions is – there’s not something better out there that I could exchange this for. I’ve never met anyone who made me think that their understanding of God, or not God, or whatever it is, is more beautiful or compelling than the Christian gospel, and so, even though my faith is multi-coloured and changes and is a wrestle, (as I think it is for anyone who is being intelectually honest), in some ways it is strengthened … because this is good stuff. It goes deep, it is satisfying – emotionally, intellectually, relationally. It’s like the old worship song – ‘nothing compares to the promise I have in you.’ – and I still fundamentally believe that.

Elizabeth Oldfield is director of the thinktank Theos

and has a podcast – The Sacred

Church · community · Following Jesus

Nuggets From Elizabeth Oldfield (II)

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Elizabeth Oldfield Part II. About the church and how we deal with those who are different to ourselves.

Some years ago, there was a married couple who had started on their Christian journey quite recently, and church was for them a new experience. They were amazed to be getting to know people in our church who acted without any self interest – just out of love and concern. It seemed that here was the perfect expression of community.

It took a while, but eventually they came to realise that we were fallible human beings, who were sometimes selfish, sometimes awkward or just plain difficult to get along with, but that the church was fundamentally a good place to be. That isn’t everyone’s experience, but Elizabeth Oldfield has a similar take ….

She says this about her experience of church. “After a while I came to realise that the church as an institution has a lot wrong with it; churches in general do not live up to the Christian gospel, or the calling of Jesus in any way, shape or form, but I’m less and less keen on focussing on just that. I feel like the more I spend time with really diverse groups of people who have no experience of church whatsoever, the more I realise what this gift (the church) is – this imperfect, broken, but beautiful gift. I have been in all kinds of (church) communities, and my experience is that they don’t always navigate every kind of difference well, but they do navigate a lot of differences well, and are certainly the local institution which is trying its hardest to navigate difference. There is at least an intention and a desire to notice difference and to model the way that we are supposed to be working with those differences, noticing our failings and modelling the kingdom of God.”

Grace and peace to you, particularly to those of you who have a calling to work for mutual understanding in situations or communities, or families, or organisations etc where there is difference and especially where tension is also present.

Elizabeth Oldfield is director of the thinktank Theos

and has a podcast – The Sacred

community · faith · Following Jesus

Nuggets From Elizabeth Oldfield (I)

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I’ve been listening to another Nomad podcast, this time with director of thinktank Theos, Elizabeth Oldfield. The conversation was all about how we engage with those who are not like us. She had three insights that particularly struck me. This post will be part 1.

The first insight was to do with a passage in Luke’s’s Gospel, where Jesus says:
“But I tell everyone who is listening: Love your enemies. Be kind to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who insult you. 29 If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other cheek as well. If someone takes your coat, don’t stop him from taking your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who asks you for something. If someone takes what is yours, don’t insist on getting it back. If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other cheek as well – what’s that all about ?

Elizabeth Oldfield talks about our most common responses to conflict, which are well understood – fight or flight. So if someone hits you, you can respond by hitting back or running away. But there’s often a third option, which is just to hang in there. This means subverting our gut response, which, depending on our personality, history etc, will be to run or hit back. So for example the conflict might not be about fisticuffs, but to do with a difficult conversation where someone has said something that makes us want to verbally ‘hit back’ or alternatively withdraw from the conversation. Jesus is saying – “Stick with it. This might be a conversation worth having, even if it’s tough.”

I can relate to this. In my experience it’s usually when someone says something critical about something I have said or done. My typical responses are to a) back down and say nothing, or b) justify myself and say why I am in the right. Neither option allows for a genuine conversation to take place.

What I have tried to do in that kind of situation is to say – ‘Tell me more’, or ‘Help me to understand why you feel like that.’ Responding in that open way has often led to a greater understanding on my part why the other person has said that – which may actually have more to do with them, or their circumstances than with what I have said or done. It also may (although this is not the main purpose) give me an opportunity to explain my own point of view.

Grace and peace to everyone who is struggling with how to have difficult conversations.

Elizabeth Oldfield is director of the thinktank Theos

and has a podcast – The Sacred

Bible · community · faith · Following Jesus · Theology

Steadfast Love aka Transformative Solidarity

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Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
Psalm 25 verse 6, New Revised Standard version

I’m using a little book by Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann during Advent – Celebrating Abundance. In today’s reading Walter Brueggemann talks about ‘Solidarity in need, acted with transformative strength.’ It’s his way of understanding the phrase so often repeated in the Old Testament – steadfast love.

He writes – ‘What human persons and human community most need is abiding, committed, passionate transformative solidarity.’

I see this as being very much in harmony with another theologian – Sam Wells – who talks about the greatest challenge facing us today being that of isolation.

Walter again – ‘The path is to love neighbour, to love neighbour face-to-face, to love neighbour in community action, to love neighbour in systemic arrangement, in imaginative policies.’

Let’s do it!

Grace and peace.

faith · Following Jesus · Grace · Running · Theology

Learning To Enjoy My Running

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Regular readers will know that I’ve been trying to get a bit fitter by running the ‘Couch 2 5 k’ programme. When I finally got to running 30 minutes without stopping (which is an achievement for me, believe me), I got a bit obsessed with my times and really wanted to get below the average time for my age group. After a few weeks, I got my time down to around 35 minutes, with a consistent 7 minutes per km – goal achieved!

However … I wasn’t really enjoying the running. It was slog to be honest. I was always listening for the voice that would tell me that I had run another km, and how long it had taken. I was listening to some great music, but the run itself – well …

So for the last week or so, I’ve just set a timer on my phone for 40 minutes, and run until the timer bleeps. I’m listening to some podcasts instead of music, and finding that this is working really well. Not having the app on that tells me distance, and time, and time per km seems to have taken the pressure off so I can just enjoy the run.

And … (theme link coming up here) … I listened to a Nomad podcast with Rob Bell today and heard him say things that seem to be very timely. When I was working (especially when I was a vicar), there was a lot of energy trying to get better at things, to be more successful, to preach so well that the church would be full, to put on spiritual courses that would help people to transform their lives – etc etc. All with good intentions I think, but focused on the result that I was looking for as much as the energy I was putting into the particular project.

The thing is, we just can’t predict how people will respond. We can’t live by how much impact we have on other’s lives. We need to find a place where we can relax into what we’re doing, and just enjoy being ourselves.

It’s no good picturing myself as ‘another, better me’ further down the line. It’s enough to work out who we are. To go deeper into our own lives, To ask questions that will take us into new lands.

Rob Bell – ‘We can easily live our lives skimming over the surface … but in most conversations, we’re only one or two questions away from something really really interesting.’

So – back to running. What the last week is teaching me is that I can get the exercise, and enjoy it, if I’ll only relax – I don’t need the constant effort to get faster. Chill.

Grace and peace