Pondering, Are We?

Lent abstinence:
Setting aside all
Distractions?

I've just finished the book on Haiku that I started earlier this month, hence the poetic form above (and, incidentally, why I didn't bother counting the syllables for this one!). However, it does seem a little bit quiet here! I presume that each of us taking part is a blogger - perhaps we could have our names on the right link to our blogs, which may spark some more discussion, musing and pondering here (ps. it's Wulf, not Wolf!).

Reflection

A great reflection here from Sacred Space.

The Blessing

May you who are restless

Find rest

And in rest, restoration

And the healing

Of your hollow soul

May peace be yours

-

May you who are frozen

Find freedom

And in freedom the faith

To face the fire

And the thawing

Of your ice-gripped heart

May peace be yours

-

May you who are conflicted

Find convergence

And in convergence

Confidence

To be the one new child

Of your old divided self

May peace be yours

-

May you who live in tension

Find tenderness

And in tenderness the tendency

To kindness

And the creativity

Of a caring character

May peace be yours

-

And you who are Godless

May you find God

And in God,

The grace and growth you need

For fruit and fullness

And the love that will last you

Through the long-haul

Of a lived-for-others life

May peace be yours

by Gerard Kelly, posted at

spoken worship - a great blog.

Where we are

Can I be picky? I don't think I'd quite use the same words as Rob, when he wrote "Could Lent be a time which God uses to show us 'where we are at the time'?" (see Lent Accentuates). It could be but then so could any other time.

However, it's good to set aside some time once in a while for self examination and the season of Lent provides an excellent opportunity for that, particularly if you have the privilege of belonging to a community where others are choosing to do the same thing.

The picture that comes to mind is a speed camera. They can be a good reminder to check our speed but, if we're conscientious, safe drivers we shouldn't only stick to the limit when we think there's a danger of being caught. Likewise, trying to walk wisely through the Christian life, Lent serves as a reminder to make a humble and realistic assessment of where we are but we should keep that in mind at all times.

(ps. liked the poem!)

Lent accentuates

Graham makes a very interesting point

Lent doesn't make much difference to the ups and downs of spiritual life - it just perhaps accentuates where you are at the time.

It's a very simple point, but I think has quite a deep significance and maybe, actually, that is one of the points, maybe it is eve 'the' point?

Could Lent be a time which God uses to show us 'where we are at the time'?

In today's fast moving world it is esy to fool ourselves into thinking we are somewhere we are not, healthy when we are ill, flying when we are struggling. Maybe Lent is the time for personal truth and honesty?

Thanks Graham - comments anyone else?

Door Keepers

I've always loved, and been challenged, by this so I thought I would share it for Lent. I find it useful to think about why and what - and this poem helps me in that:

I Stand at the Door

By Sam Shoemaker (from the Oxford Group)


I stand by the door.
I neither go to far in, nor stay to far out.
The door is the most important door in the world -
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There is no use my going way inside and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where the door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it.
So I stand by the door.

The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door - the door to God.
The most important thing that any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands
And put it on the latch - the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man's own touch.

Men die outside the door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter.
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live on the other side of it - live because they have not found it.

Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him.
So I stand by the door.

Go in great saints; go all the way in -
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics.
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in.
Sometimes venture in a little farther,
But my place seems closer to the opening.
So I stand by the door.

There is another reason why I stand there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia
And want to get out. 'Let me out!' they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled.
For the old life, they have seen too much:
One taste of God and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving - preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stand by the door.

I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door.
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply and stay in too long
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there too.

Where? Outside the door -
Thousands of them. Millions of them.
But - more important for me -
One of them, two of them, ten of them.
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.

'I had rather be a door-keeper
So I stand by the door.

Did We Give Up Blogging?

What? Did we all decide to give up blogging for Lent? Under the traditional rules, Sunday is a feast day where you can take a break from the fasting, so that means today might be a really good time for some of the silent members of this group to chip in with an introduction - it's not a community until we start interacting!

Daily Reading

Rituals are good! Their danger is that, when they are worshipped with blind devotion, they can end up obscuring what they are meant to reveal.

One of my daily rituals is logging onto my online newsreader (currently Rojo) and catching up with a diverse diet of feeds. I want time on my computer to lead me on in my relationship with God rather than distract me away, so I've made sure my "blogroll" is seeded with plenty of thought-provoking writers and also daily readings from the One Year Bible Blog.

This morning I caught an interesting Lent related posting from Tony on "Storyteller's World", called Giving It Up for Lent and thought I'd pass that gleaning on.

By the way, one of the ways I try to keep my daily ritual serving it's purpose is to participate in the ongoing conversation, regularly posting to my own blog as well as participating in various discussion forums. What about the rest of you in this shared Lent blog? How can I find out more about who I'm talking with?

Looking Ahead

Helen writes excellently on what Lent is about, or should not be about. She gives a great reminder that 'lent was made for us, not us for lent'.

One thing that Lent maybe for, in my mind, is to prepare our hearts for Easter, to take the 40 days to think on what God has done, to 'come close to God and allow him to come close to us'.

How we do this is a very personal thing as Helen points out.

A while ago I took this pic from inside my car on the way to Norfolk. I have been using it during Lent as it sums up what this season is all about to me. Looking ahead, wondering what is in the distance of, and with, God. Looking ahead to focus and see more of God.

As I look ahead more, the picture becomes foggier. As I experience more of God, I realise I know a lot less than I thought.

Lent: what's the point?

Recently I've been exploring more "Orthodox" church traditions - as a teenager I went to a fairly informal church and made a great effort to shun hymns, ignore tradition, say the most modernised version of the Lord's prayer I could manage, and basically assumed that any church that didn't use music written post-1980 was obviously spiritually dead.

We learned about Lent in school but not really further than as a time for giving up things - I'm not sure I knew what the point was - perhaps just to prove our endurance. Certainly giving up chocolate led me to mainly feel very pleased with myself and utterly deserving of the enormous amounts of chocolate I received on Easter Day - just when did Easter become about chocolate?

Lately, however, I've become curious in various church traditions, wondering where they came from. Having a number of friends from different Christian traditions, and knowing the sincerity of their faith, I've tried to be a little more open to different ways of doing things. Recently I attended a retreat at the Community of the Resurrection in Mirfield, which is a High Anglican monastery; at first I found their worship - psalms in plainsong, repetition of creeds, responses and so on - a little odd and even uncomfortable. Eventually I began to see the humility and even the originality of such an approach; how many Charismatic churches would sing phrases like "The wicked have hemmed me in" in worship? We often neglect the "lamenting" side of the psalms. I also appreciated the humility of the singing when I seem to see a lot of Christian musicians showing off!

There is a danger associated with traditions and rituals - that we begin to see them not as the expression and demonstration of faith, but as faith itself - making our faith about what we do and when we do it - and not about a relationship with God. Lent can easily fall into this trap - we consider ourselves holy because we've given up chocolate or taken up blogging. Surely we don't fast because fasting in itself makes us holy, but because fasting allows us to refocus on God, who alone can make us holy?

So why bother with Lent? Shouldn't we be led by God and not the calendar? (In that case, shouldn't we stop celebrating Christmas and Easter too?)

Even our earthly relationships involve rituals - perhaps we meet on particular days, or do particular things together, we celebrate birthdays, we often eat together or drink together, and we often share peculiar in-jokes that must look as odd to an observer as church often looks to a non-christian. I had a group of friends with whom I used to eat take-aways, and we actually had jokes based around "It's a bit noisy, shall we go upstairs?" and "How about some garlic bread?" Hilarious, I'm sure you'll agree.

Why rituals? Possibly because at times we're frail human beings who need an excuse to get together, and who enjoy the familiarity of "patterns" of behaviour - eating the same food, playing the same games, telling the same jokes - it may be strictly unnecessary, but serves to make us comfortable with one another. Sometimes we need special days, like birthdays and other celebrations, to remind us to celebrate each other and spend time with each other. It'd be a poor son or daughter who only said thank you to their mother on Mother's Day, but it's still a good day to remind ourselves - and more importantly, our mothers - of our gratitude.

There is room for the old and familiar in a relationship with God; if we are growing, we aren't just gaining new things, but building on the old things - hanging onto a tradition may be no bad thing (even some of the least traditional churches meet on Sundays), but obviously it must be in its proper place - it is good to have a season in which to fast, but counter-productive to order people to fast without giving them the slightest idea why they are fasting. I remember the words of Jesus when asked why his followers didn't fast:

Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
(Matthew 9:14-17, NIV)

There are times when fasting is appropriate, and times when it isn't. Paul understood there was freedom from legalism, knowing that certain types of food or breaking the Sabbath could not make someone unclean - but he also realised that it was petty to argue over such things. He says,

One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. Romans 15:5-9

So as a closing remark, do what you want with Lent. To paraphrase Jesus's words on the Sabbath, man was not made for Lent but Lent for man. In this time as with any time, I want to use this time to press closer to God.

Fair Trade and Lent

I noticed today (thanks to the Cartoon Blog) that Fairtrade Fortnight starts on Monday 6 March.

Since we're thinking about Lent, it might be a good time for also renewing our focus on fair trade and commercial justice. When we wander the shops, do we choose alternatives that we know have provided some measure of fair reward for those who created them? If we know there's a fair trade alternative and that section of shelving is empty, are we willing to do without and perhaps even ask when it will be restocked?

Since Lent is a season of fasting, it might be a good season in which to practise being willing to spend a bit more time and money to invest the money of our purchases in ethical trade systems and being willing to do without when that stretches us above our means.

How did it feel?

What are your reflections on that final morning?
When you stirred
When you recognised
Today was the day to abandon your globe

Did you shiver with trepidation?
Were you moved to tears?
Could you have alterered your thoughts and
stayed in the community of your creation?

This morning when I left early
The lingering shadows were searching
and I wondered
on my thoughts
if I knew this was my last

Jesus
you discern the answers
you still caress human reason
you still wince with human passion

Thankyou

Preparing for the Coming Season

Rob's post on seasons is an excellent discussion starter and Helen's story and thoughts move that along nicely.

My contribution for tonight is that, as well as the balance between what is appropriate for the season as against ongoing, in-season, out-season duties, there are also tasks that need to be done during one season in preparation for the next. As a keen gardener, I'm trying to make time to finish off some of the structural jobs, like fixing the fence and preserving some of the wood, which are winter tasks, when everything is laid bare. However, as we move towards spring, I also need to start planning what I'm going to cultivate this year.

I'm not quite sure how that applies to the seasons of our souls. However, maybe Paul's injuction to "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15) has some bearing on it? Just as the longer days are a sign to get my green fingers back to work outside because spring is coming, so the sunshine and storms others experience might be a call to us to prepare for when we face them ourselves by coming alongside them now?

"In Season and Out of Season"

Funny that Rob posted about seasons, because yesterday I was remembering a discussion about 2 Tim 4:2 "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season".

We weren't really sure what it meant but reflected on how sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's hard - sometimes you feel happy and joyful and telling others about God is natural. Sometimes you just feel fed up, let down, and not even sure why you believe it. (Or at least I do, anyway!)

I had a chat with a friend yesterday who was saying how tired he was feeling - I got the impression he was struggling. I went off to eat pancakes, and he went off to Christian Union. When I got in later that night, my housemate approached me with a grin and said, "There's something on your pillow"...

...It was a cheeky note from my friend. "How was he here?" I said, bewildered. He didn't know where I live and as far as I knew my housemate didn't know him.

It turned out she'd had a row with her friend, had been crying and my friend had seen her and asked if she was all right. They'd talked and eventually discovered that they both knew me. As she told me this story, she seemed both amused and rather stunned that my friend had seemingly sprung out of nowhere to help her.

I was stunned too, because I'd have no idea what to do if I saw someone I didn't know crying... In fact, even if I saw my housemate crying I probably wouldn't know what to do. And yet he was struggling and tired but still took the time to help her?

Lent is associated with personal sacrifice - often we think it's about giving up chocolate or smoking or meat. Sometimes I think I'd rather give up chocolate than worry about helping people in need or risk embarrassing myself. But I guess that love isn't always easy :)

Seasons

I have observed through the years that most Christians have little understanding of the word 'season'. Our God is a seasonal God; He comes, He goes. His faithfulness never changes, but His seasons do!

There are seasons when the tree is green, there are seasons when it is dry, and seasons when the thing looks dead.

Does mean we are serving a God who comes and goes by whim? Or could it be, that it is only through seasons that true growth may come?

adapted from Celtic Daily Prayer