Down to Earth Session 19 - JustFaith Ministries · So we LIVE ourselves into a new way of being together. Living MORE . slowly … with fewer compulsions. humbly … demanding less

1

Down to Earth

© JustFaith Ministries, 2014 . www.justfaith.org . 502-429-0865

Sess ion 19

Engaging Heal ing

Part 1MeditationBearings PresentationBearings DialogueBreak

Part 2Prayerful Listening (small & large group)Community BusinessMeditation

75 Minutes20 Minutes20 Minutes20 Minutes15 Minutes

75 Minutes60 Minutes5 Minutes

10 Minutes

Overview of the 21/2 hr Session

© JustFaith Ministries, 2014 • www.justfaith.org.

JustFaith Ministries P.O. Box 221348 Louisville, KY 40252 (502) 429-0865www.justfaith.org

All EngagingSpirituality™ materials are copyrighted by JustFaith™ Ministries, 2014.

1

Down to Earth


These notes are summarized in Pointers for Participants 19. Please read these comments BEFORE the session.

Meeting “Mercy within Mercy”Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. Matthew 9: 13

“By ‘the merciful,’ (Jesus) means those who have an attitude of such compassion toward all people that they want to share gladly all that they have with one another and with the world.” Clarence Jordan

What does it mean to be holy people in a world such as this?How do we heal a world so sorely broken? How do we respond to the divisive forces of despair and violence? How do we reach out to excessive deprivation and obsessive wealth? How do we resist a global society addicted to guns and organized around greed? How do we address a culture motivated by the acquisition of money and the love of power? By choosing to live, deliberately and not accidentally, a simple and shared life!

A holy or blessed life is a life shared. We reweave life’s tattered tapestry by living well, together. So we LIVE ourselves into a new way of being together. Living MORE slowly… with fewer compulsions humbly… demanding less

simply… reducing our needs consciously… taking nothing for granted peaceably… blaming less and begging forgiveness justly… tolerating fewer and fewer degrees of separation together and less apart… finding excuses to be communitycompassionately… reducing the distance between God’s mercy and our response.

Tinged with mercy, the whole world takes on a different hue!The Christian project embraces the expansive mission of a Loving Creator, who is heaven-bent on the restoration of life. We are living a holy life when we incline toward God’s merciful (healing) intention, and let mercy color our vision and prayer, our hopes and relationships.

Mercy (compassion-in-action) is our taproot into the Great Soul. As we invoke, embrace and extend mercy, we approximate (come close to) the Sacred Heart. Merciful people are known as “magnanimous,” which means having access to a great soul that is... deeper than our minds can reach; wider than our hearts can stretch; larger than our bodies can contain. When we get caught up in mercy, all that seemed separate and divided folds into ONE, and our s t r e t c h e d soul precedes (gets ahead of) us. Are we tender enough to be moved to mercy? Are we humble enough to receive forgiveness? Are we tough enough to speak justice tenderly? In this session we investigate tender-tough mercy as a beatitude– a quality of holiness. The role and place that mercy occupies in our lives is a direct reflection of the state of our soul– the space we have given over to God-within-us.

In her Bearings letter, Maryknoll lay-missioner Maria Montello shares wisdom and challenges form her teaching ministry among the Cambodian inhabitants epople of Phnom Penh. The next Bearings Letter was composed by Rev. Peter Millar from Scotland, an author, poet and former warden of the Iona community.

Note to Facilitators

2

Down to Earth


After Session 21,WHAT NEXT?As you approach the last few weeks of this process, some may already be asking—”What next?” You will notice, in the sessions and Bearings, a developing focus on mission and community. Session 20 opens the ongoing discernment of next steps for individuals and for your group. Continue to encourage faithfulness to the whole process: spiritual reading, presence at the margins, daily prayerful patterns and journal-keeping.

You will need: Copy of Bearings by Peter Millar; the symbolic pillar candle; a small cross; the covenant cloth; matches; a music player and reflective music; bible (Luke 18: 10-14); refreshments; a small bowl with salt and another with active dry yeast. Place the symbolic candle on the small table with the bowls of salt and yeast. Participants need their journals and pens. Invite a group member to bring ONE quote from the Journal and ONE from a spiritual reading text to share at the upcoming session.

Co-Facilitator Prayerful PreparationArrive at least 10 minutes before the group. Set the room (circle of chairs, with one additional Bearings seat; small central table; symbolic candle; covenant cloth; cross and other symbols; bible; reflective music; music player). Light the candle. Have reflective music playing. Sit together in silence for 5 minutes.

Silence Silence SilenceOffer a word of blessing to one another, or invoke the Holy Spirit with this prayer:

Merciful Spirit... Take away the sin of the world… Forgiving Spirit… Take away the sin of the world… Compassionate Spirit… Grant us peace…

Centering Meditation (20 minutes)Set the tone with reflective background music. As they enter, invite people to put everything down and sit in a receptive posture. When everyone has settled, turn off the music. Invite people into shared silence with these words: Slowly Inhale deeply… the breath of life…

You are a living, breathing conduit of mercy…As you receive a breath, open yourself to the mercy of God… As you return a breath, give that mercy to the world. Breathing in Breathing out Lord have mercy… …Mercy!Christ have mercy… …Mercy!Lord have mercy… …Mercy!

Pause for three minutes of awareness

Silence Silence Silence

Note to Facilitators cont’d

Session 19 • E n g a g i n g H e a l i n g • 2 ½ h r s •

3

Down to Earth


Offer this reflection in two voices:

Finding Forgiveness In 1989 Maria’s only brother Jerry, a state trooper, was shot dead when he stopped a suspected drunk driver. She was devastated.

Pause

Dennis, the occupant of the car and the killer, received the death penalty.

Pause

Five years later, Maria wrote to Dennis:

Pause

“It is difficult to forgive one who has hurt you so deeply but I believe that, for me, forgiveness is the only way…

Pause

…from my earliest years, I learned the teachings of Jesus- the main one being that our lives must be governed by love and forgiveness.

Pause

Hell has been defined as the absence of love… with hatred instead of love in my heart, my life would be a living hell.

Pause

So, forgiving you is not only for you but also for me– and what would it do to my own soul if I refused to forgive?”

Pause

At his invitation, Maria visited Dennis and they talked for hours. Despite her personal appeal to the Virginia Governor, clemency was denied. On his execution day, Dennis spoke to Maria on the telephone saying:

“This started in tragedy and is ending in tragedy, but I’m glad I got to know YOU.”

Pause

Dennis was executed on June 18, 1998 at 9:00 PM, while Maria kept prayerful vigil outside. Personal testimony of Maria Hines (with permission).

Longer Pause

Invite people into an attentive mode, ready to receive the Gospel. Pick up the bible. Offer this instruction before reading the passage:

As you receive this Gospel, be aware of the images, places, people, feelings that surface in you.

Read Luke 18: 10-14.

Centering Meditation cont’d

4

Down to Earth


Pause before sharing this verse:

Blessed are the merciful for they WILL receive mercy. Matthew 5: 7

CenteringInvite people into Centering Prayer. If needed, reiterate the directions:

• BE attentive to the sound and rhythm of your breathing. • SIT comfortably and close your eyes. • CHOOSE a short sacred word (like Jesus, Mercy, Peace, Love, Listen, Holy…). • LET this word be the symbol of your intention to receive God’s presence and action. • SILENTLY introduce this sacred word to welcome God’s presence and action.• GENTLY return to the sacred word as thoughts arise.

Strike the chime to open 10 minutes of silence.

Silence Silence SilenceAt the end of the prayer period, strike the chime to break the silence. Remain in silence with eyes closed for a moment.

Bearings Presentation (20 minutes) The participant responsible for presenting the Bearings letter introduces Maria Montello, placing her picture on the empty chair. After the reading, the presenter returns the letter to the co-facilitators.

Bearings Dialogue – Open Response Mode (20 minutes)Pause after the reading and final Lectio sharing. Offer this question:

• How did Maria’s testimony speak to you?Open the floor for those who wish to offer ONE heart response to the letter.

Break (15 minutes)Select a reader to present the next Bearings letter (Peter Millar). If possible, match the gender of the author with the presenter. Give the Bearings letter to the reader. Remind him/her NOT to make additional copies of the letter, but to reflect on it and come prepared to lead the Bearings process at the next session.

Prayerful Listening (60 Minutes) Call everyone back to the circle.

Silence Silence SilenceIf you choose, share A L L or A N Y part of this reflection, alternating voices:

Exposing the Heart of Mercy “Imagine the disciples’ surprise when they saw Jesus get up and take off his outer garments in the MIDDLE of the Passover meal…

Pause

Centering Meditation cont’d

5

Down to Earth


As Jesus removes his outer garments, he is stripping himself… of any function or social status…

In the domain of the heart all people are alike. There is no visible hierarchy one could signify by dress.

Pause

People with or without visible handicaps, the poor and the rich, the young and the old, people with AIDS or in good health… they all have the same dignity…

Pause

Each person’s heart is a mystery.

Pause A man in prison may in fact be more loving than his guard or judge, a woman with a handicap more loving than her teacher, or an immigrant more loving than somebody in high office.

Pause

So at the end of our lives we will be judged by how we have loved, and not …by the masks society has imposed on us…

Pause

As Jesus removes his outer garments he is reminding us of what is most important in life: our hearts.” Jean Vanier

Intimate Listening (Pairs) (10 minutes)Invite participants to divide into pairs. If you have an uneven number, form one group of three. Each person takes 5 minutes to respond from the heart to B O T H prompts:

In order to tend to the world in our care, we must become tender.In your life…

1. Who are the tender men, unafraid to show mercy to the world? 2. Who are the strong women, tough enough to serve up justice to the world?

Pause and repeat the prompts. Remind everyone to pause before and after each person speaks, and to practice prayerful listening. As you call people back to the large group, invite the members of the small groups to silently bless each other.

Large Group – Invitational Mode (40 minutes)Open a moment of silence.

Silence Silence SilenceIf you choose, prayerfully share this reflection:

Prayerful Listening (cont’d)

6

Down to Earth


Mothering the World with Mercy “A mothered world is a world… where tenderness is valued, where needs are considered, where life is treasured.

Pause

There is perhaps no deeper sign of a mothered world than the creation of a space where children are safe.

Pause

A mothered world, a world that keeps the vulnerable safe and offers the tenderness needed to care for children, is essential to the future of humanity.

Pause

We live in a world that is not well-mothered.” Joan Mueller

Offer EITHER ONE of these prompts for silent reflection: As we accept God’s mercy, it “tenders” AND emboldens us…

• How have YOU received mercy and forgiveness?• Where is it most difficult to find mercy, and where is mercy most needed?

Repeat the prompt several times. Using the mutual invitation process, nominate someone with this question: (Name) …what is in your heart?

After that person has shared, s/he nominates another person in the circle. (If the invitee is neither ready, nor inclined to share, s/he can decline and nominate another person.) This process continues until everyone has had the opportunity to share. Thank everyone for sharing. Pause before closing with this reflection in two voices:

Doing mercy means… giving alms. Doing mercy means… stepping away from acts of hatred, vengeance and self-protection. Doing mercy means… choosing to be a healing, forgiving, tender, presence.

Pause

But doing mercy is only possible when we are first undone by the mercy we experience as we encounter the Holy One.

Longer Pause “The voice of God is heard in paradise…

‘What was cruel has become merciful.

What is now merciful was never cruel…

Have you had sight of Me, Jonas my child?

Mercy within mercy within mercy…’” Thomas Merton

Prayerful Listening cont’d

7

Down to Earth


Inform everyone of the date and time of the upcoming session (20). Refer people to the Pointers for Participants. A participant shares a quote from the ES Journal and a spiritual reading text. Invite someone to bring two quotes to the next session.

Meditation (10 minutes)

Invite people into a receptive posture (hands resting on their laps, palms upturned) and ask everyone to close their eyes and place both feet squarely on the floor.

Silence Silence SilenceIf time permits, share A N Y of A L L of this meditation:

Mercy Works - Acts of Resistance “YOU know that people need community in order to thrive and have the courage to do God’s work in the world…

DO you know how incredibly faithful and brave your ministries are in the world filled with so little real community and so much violence, oppression, and hate…?

Pause

YOU understand with absolute clarity that tender and compassionate care of one another is essential…

You KNOW something profound about what it means to tend community as a radical act of resistance to the rampant individualism and social isolation in our day.

Pause

And you KNOW something holy about what it means to try to tend to the whole world as a radical act of resistance…

We need Christians like YOU as we begin to make our way through this twenty-first century—

Pause

Christians who will love life, love justice, tend local communities of faith and seek to tend the world as faithful global citizens.

Christian dissent is about tending community, and it is surely about tending the world.” Christine M. Smith

Longer Pause The ONLY way we can tangibly express our loving gratitude to God is through our merciful action on behalf of our neighbor…

Slowly

our neighbor – black AND white our neighbor – surly AND polite

Community Business (5 minutes)

8

Down to Earth


our neighbor – settled AND migrant our neighbor – wealthy AND homeless our neighbor – atheist AND evangelical our neighbor – teenager AND retiree our neighbor – republican AND democrat our neighbor – gay AND straight our neighbor – saint AND sinner our neighbor – Muslim AND Jew our neighbor – pacifist AND militant our neighbor – conservative AND liberal our billion neighbors at the bottom – AND our million neighbors at the top all our impoverished neighboring nations – AND all those in between

Pause It is the “AND” that defines the breadth of our soul! Ask people to reach out and link hands. Continue the reflection:

This is how mercy reaches the ground, through OUR forgiving touch.

Mercy… made visible by our feeding and clothing, our sheltering and visiting, our freeing and tending to the living and the dead.

Pause

Mercy… made credible in our teaching and challenging, our suffering and forgiving wrongs, our comforting and praying with the living and the dying.

Open your heart to the world! Bless this day with mercy, in those places where it is sorely needed…

Longer Pause

Leader Refrain Lamb of God, you take away the Sin of this world… Have mercy on us… Lamb of God, you take away the Sin of this world… Have mercy on us… Lamb of God, you take away the Sin of this world… Grant us peace!

Try this… Make the Lamb of God part of your nightly routine. Ask for mercy from someone life that you have hurt, or wronged. Two Questions for ongoing reflection As this Engaging Spirituality journey comes to a close; • What might the Spirit have in store (for me.... or for us)? • What insights, intuitions or hopes are stirring within you?Take these questions to prayer as we bless one another silently with a sign of God’s peace.

Meditation cont’d

This concludes the session.

9

Down to Earth


When everyone has gone, revisit the session together.

• Begin with a few minutes of silence.• Let a grateful word surface. • Offer a word of affirmation to one another. OR Share your response to A N Y of these:

I felt the Holy Spirit…I was stretched or challenged by...I have learned…

Co-facilitator Afterglow (5 Minutes)

Look ahead to the next session or activity.

1

Pointers for Participants

© JustFaith Ministries, 2014 . www.justfaith.org . 502-429-0865For Engaging Spirituality participants only.

Reflect on these insights BEFORE the session

...And Hearts Divided An ever-present kaleidoscope of cultural images and impulses generates conflicting loyalties vying to be masters of our hearts. Consider the competing lures of success, career, popularity, wealth, convenience, gratification, economic security, control. With so many messages and potential masters to serve, our vision can blur, till nothing seems clear. Meanwhile, those who are broken, lost or suffering are relegated to obscurity. The effect of such divisive-distracting influences is collective vision-impairment. This leaves us tossed and torn by the fickle fads and fearful projections of a consumptive culture. As individuals, as communities, as institutions, our life-energy dissipates, our loving attention wanders, we lose sight of our mission and life focus. Purity of heart must involve integrity, a correspondence between outward action and inward thought, a lack of duplicity, singleness of intention… and the desire to please God above all else…purity of heart is to will one thing, God’s will, with all one’s being and doing. W. D. Davis & D. Allison

We need prayerful presence AND we need compassionate practices to refocus our vision and re-center our lives. We need community to be fully human and whole, to help one another to reset our hearts on God’s just and loving perspective and outreaching mission.

We achieve this re-visioning each time we gather and invoke that benevolent spirit, whose “blessing lens” draws us into the loving gaze of our Maker. So, in the very act of blessing it, the way the world appears and unfolds actually changes, along with the hold it has on us. Ultimately, whether and what we choose to bless determines how we RECEIVE, HOLD and RESPOND to the world within our reach.

Rooted in Scripture Mark 12: 28 - 34. Whole-hearted love

In your life, who or what helps you hold LOVE of GOD and LOVE of NEIGHBOR together?

Between Session 19 & Session 20 Practical Applications Prayer May the face of God shine upon you... Numbers 5:25Widen your reach by blessing a person or a group that lies outside your circle of care and concern [ES Journal p.174]

Spiritual Reading (Two Texts)• Modern Spiritual Masters, Writings on Contemplation and Compassion. Read chapters 7 & 8 - Howard Thurman and Maria Skobstova (pages 90 - 118).• Read ONE short reflection EVERY DAY, fromOur Hearts Still Sing, by Peter Millar.

Journal-Keeping Read and respond to pages 170 - 173.

Spiritual Practice Blessed are the merciful... Become a global agent of mercy. Practice opening your heart to the whole world with special attention to the “sore spots” in need of healing. [ES Journal p. 171]

Outreach Ministry ...for they will receive mercy. Matthew 5: 7How have you experienced God’s promise of abundance in your ministry?

Minds Distracted… Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5: 8

At all times there are multiple influences competing for the attention of our hearts and minds. Every day we ingest a cultural soup of alluring messages that create a world view to shape our responses to life. These invisible assumptions color the way we see, eat, dress, behave, understand, even pray. They also influence how we understand ourselves, our role and our authority in the world. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Isaiah 55: 2

?

Preparing for Session TWENTY

20

STILL in the STORMVisit the Engaging Spirituality blog: http://stillinthestorm.wordpress.com/

1

BEARINGS Letter


Bearings Letter

Rev. Peter MillarTo be read aloud at Session Twenty.

DirectionsTo be read aloud to participants of Engaging Spirituality.This material is copyrighted. Print ONE copy of this document.Do NOT forward or make additional copies.Detach and retain this cover page so the co-facilitator can mail the Thank You Note to this address:

Peter Millar 6/5 Ettrickdale Place, Edinburgh EH3 5JN Scotland, United Kingdom

Invite a participant to read the letter to the group.

The letter is returned to the co-facilitators after the session.

© Copyrighted material. For co-facilitators of Engaging Spirituality ONLY. Do NOT copy, share or forward.

JustFaith Ministries P.O. Box 221348 Louisville, KY 40252 (502) 429-0865www.justfaith.org

All EngagingSpirituality™ materials are copyrighted by JustFaith™ Ministries, 2014.

1

BEARINGS Letter


O that today you would listen to God’s voice, harden not you heart. Psalm 95: 8 Directions for Co-Facilitators and Readers General Remarks Bearings letters are meant to be read aloud, listened to and received as auditory prayer. Do NOT copy or electronically distribute the letter to participants.Each letter is read aloud by a different member of the Engaging Spirituality group. The reader is responsible for: prayerful preparation; introducing the author; reading the letter aloud; inviting people to respond in the Lectio Divina format; crafting a note of thanks to the author.

Before the SessionCo-facilitators print only ONE copy of the Bearings letter.At a prior session (a week before the letter is read), co-facilitators identify a reader from among the participants. The reader takes the Bearings letter home to review it in prayerful preparation.

At the SessionAdd an empty chair to the circle to represent the author of the Bearings letter. Using the attached introduction, the reader introduces the author (in the first person) and then passes the author’s picture around the circle. Before prayerfully reading the letter, the reader places the picture on the empty seat.

Note to Readers: • Use the pauses to moderate the pace of your reading. • Take three slow breaths when you pause. This will give your listeners

time to let the words penetrate. • Follow the directions for the Lectio Divina reflection. • Allow 2-3 minutes for those who wish to share a word, a question or a

brief insight, before resuming the reading. • After the reading and during the ensuing dialogue, note one or two

insights (in your journal) generated by the letter.

After the SessionAt the close of the session, return the picture and letter to the co-facilitators for safekeeping. Do NOT make copies of the letter after the session. Using the attached stationery, the reader writes a brief personal response to the author, including: a word of thanks; the name and location of the group; a few insights from the group’s reflection. Co-facilitators are responsible for mailing the Thank You Note to the author (not to JustFaith Ministries). Respecting the author’s privacy, the co-facilitators do not share the personal mailing address of any author.

2

BEARINGS Letter


Personal Introduction My name is Peter and I am a minister in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. I spent many years serving in South India along with my wife. I am a former warden (spiritual leader) of the Iona (eye•OH•nah) Community, on the island of Iona in the Scottish Hebrides(heh•bred•ees). This ecumenical Christian community, inspired by ancient Celtic monasticism, has taught me about meaningful prayer and engaged Christianity, which takes seriously the injustices, diversity and extraordinary possibilities of our time. I am also a co-founder of the Wellspring Community in Australia. As a poet and author, I have written several books on the Celtic-inspired spirituality of the Iona Community.

Peter Millar(pronounced MILL•ur)

3

BEARINGS Letter


My StruggleDear Engaging Spirituality Friends,

Today is the 13th of February 2008, and I am writing this letter to you from Sydney, Australia– a city of many traditions, faiths and cultures; a city which mirrors our amazingly rich human diversity; a city embedded in the modern world in all of its hopes, confusions and contradictions; a place both secular and sacred.

This has been a a momentous day in Australian history. This morning, in a moving and prophetic speech, the newly-elected Prime Minister, a man who carries in his mind and heart a global vision, said “sorry” (on behalf of the Australian Parliament) to the Aboriginal peoples of this land for the pain and suffering which successive Government policies, over several generations, have inflicted upon them. This national apology hopefully marks a turning point in the story of this nation; a moment of reconciliation; of restoration; of healing; a moment of truth and also of pain, as Australia faces up to its past, in which many people lived in the shadows.

Pause Although my home is in Scotland, I come quite frequently to Australia to work alongside the Wellspring Community, an ecumenical Christian community committed to working for justice and peace, to the re-building of community, and to the renewal of worship, inspired by the Iona Community in Scotland. Many of the members and friends of Wellspring Community are committed to be with folk on the edges of this society. They walk alongside those who have experienced, in their bones, what it means to be voiceless. This includes many of the Aboriginal people who have found their home in this vast land for over 40,000 years. And now, as the Australian Parliament apologies to its indigenous peoples, we celebrate with them a new chapter as it opens for us all.

Pause And thinking about this momentous day in Australian history, brings me to the first of our questions. What do you struggle with most, as you seek to live with integrity in these days? It’s a question which can be answered in many ways.

Pause At a personal level, I struggle with many things as I seek to carry integrity within me. I had a materially comfortable upbringing in Scotland, but my parents separated when I was very young and that has left its scars and its inner wounds. It has also left me with an understanding of human frailty and vulnerability. Later in adult life, I had a very happy marriage for twenty-seven years. Dorothy and I worked all over the world mostly in places where injustice and poverty were daily companions of the people. We had a loving family.

4

BEARINGS Letter


Then in 2001, Dorothy died in my arms from a blood clot, without a moment of illness, and now I know what it is to carry grief deep in the heart. So I struggle with being alone– a situation which I share with millions. Pause And on a wider level, I struggle with the fact that the church as an institution often seems to be more concerned with its own survival than with the great issues of our time. The world burns as we discuss the color of the curtains! And I also struggle with the fact that I have so much in my own life– food, shelter, education and health in a world where millions of my sisters and brothers live on less than a dollar a day. In terms of my theology and spirituality, I also struggle with the fact that God’s people can often be judgmental and intolerant of others who don’t believe in exactly the same way. (Perhaps I am equally intolerant myself!) I find it difficult to agree with the popular convergence of narrow political views and Christian fundamentalism. Pause I also find it hard to understand why many followers of Christ get agitated over questions around human sexuality, important as these are, while showing lack of interest in global injustice, the wounds of our sacred earth, and our total commitment to material prosperity at all costs.

Longer PauseLectio Divina: What WORD, QUESTION or INSIGHT resonated with you?

Pause Invite people to share

Pause

My PracticeYet I also believe that these struggles, uncertainties and contradictions in my own life can be creative, and certainly they inform my spirituality of engagement with the world. For that I am thankful. And that brings me to the second question. What is it that you doregularly that keeps you grounded in the struggle for Gospel authenticity?

Pause In my twenties, when I was a minister in a very poor parish in the East End of Glasgow in Scotland, it became clear to me that I could not do this work without soul-companions. That realization led me to become a member of the Iona Community. Without the spiritual disciplines of the Iona Community I know that I could not have remained grounded in that ongoing struggle for Gospel authenticity. In the Iona Community we have a five-fold Rule:

5

BEARINGS Letter


• Daily prayer and Bible reading• Sharing and accounting for the use of our money• Planning and accounting for the use of our time• Action for Justice and peace in society• Meeting with and accounting to each other

PauseI feel certain that we contemporary Christians need this engagement with “accountability” both to God and to one another. I have never believed that the Christian faith is merely a private affair. Christ’s life and ministry were earthed in his relationship to the local community, and the great commandment to love God always walks in tandem with the commandment to love one another. The ecumenical Iona Community, which now reaches into the lives of many people in the world, has also brought home to me the imperative to combine the commitments to justice and to peace and to the environment, with the life of prayer and a commitment to that work of healing, both for ourselves and for our world. In other words, I am grounded each day (or try to be!) in that place where prayer and contemplation meet, with a deep involvement in ordinary life. I have always loved that truth from the Celtic church which speaks of our relationship to God, to God’s good earth, and to God’s people.

PauseAs I grow older and try to understand more of the world, I am convinced that to do this I cannot walk alone. It’s impossible. My relationship to God and to Christ’s love is personal. My daily walking in the Spirit is by its very nature a personal encounter with the living God. But that walk is also in companionship, in accountability, in trust with others. It is in the fellowship of others on the journey that I can remain open to the world in all of its hopes and pains. We walk together in the Light– and we celebrate that possibility and that truth in our liturgies and shared prayers. PauseBut there is another reality which grounds me in authenticity. For many years I have had the privilege– and it is a privilege– of living in various places in our world which are marked by oppression and human suffering. And it is the hope and faith and joy in the souls of folk who have so little, that kindles a flame in my own heart and keeps me close to God. It is a basic truth of our time that the weary, the oppressed, the disabled and all those we so easily pass by, are revealing to us all something of the heart of God. They reveal to me what it is to be truly human: to be alive in God. To walk on that path of simple, risk-taking authenticity, which accepts that life has both laughter and pain at its heart.

6

BEARINGS Letter



Pause

Invite people to share

Pause

My ChallengeAnd it is in living alongside those who suffer so much, that I am able to answer in some small way the last of our questions. What practical challenge can you offer as we seek to live a holy and faithful life? PauseIn reply to that question I would say– never seek a Christianity that is only concerned with personal comfort and security! It will fail you one day. An easy, comfortable Christianity is only an escape from life as it actually is. Always remember that we are all wounded healers. I love that challenging and beautiful prayer of the late Bishop Helder Camara who worked tirelessly alongside the poor families and communities (materially not spiritually poor) in the diocese of Recife in North Eastern Brazil. You may remember his prophetic words, birthed in a heart of love. Pause “Come Lord, do not smile and say you are already with us. Millions do not know you and to us who do, what is the difference? What is the point of your presence if our lives do not alter? Change our lives, shatter our complacency. Take away the quietness of a clear conscience. Press us uncomfortably, for only thus That other peace is made, Your peace.” PauseAnd I would also suggest that we always see in “the other,” the face of Christ. In the Celtic tradition, all those centuries ago, it was understood that in welcoming the stranger we welcome Christ– a truth brought home to us in our own times by the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta. This truth is, I believe, needed more in our day than ever before. It’s so easy to see “the other” as a threat, or as a terrorist, or as someone to fear and to avoid at all cost. Yet in failing to see God in the other person, however strange, however different, we will just make larger these great divisions which already tear the human family. Technology alone cannot open us to the stranger, we need to experience our deep connectedness as human beings.

Pause

7

BEARINGS Letter


And then we must be risk-takers for God– doing things that need imagination and creativity and laughter. It’s about going that extra mile: turning another corner; being open. And from my own experience, risk-taking can begin right in our own homes, in our own street: crossing the road to hold the hand of a neighbor in grief; speaking to a young guy who looks threatening but is actually weeping in loneliness; working quietly for peace in a world at war. The possibilities for risk-taking are endless.

PauseOne more thought. After my soul-mate Dorothy died in 2001, I wrote a book called “Finding Hope Again: Journeying through Sorrow and Beyond.” After its publication, many people wrote to me, telling me how they too had found hope in dark times. It is so important that we all carry “hope” and not negativity in our hearts and minds in these days. Hope is a gift from God, and without it we perish both individually and as nations. Life is ended if all we can be is cynical and angry. And to carry hope within us is not just to be superficially happy. Hope is a quality of the soul. It belongs to the depths of our humanity in God. It frees us to be who we were created to be. PauseI would like to end with a poem, which I wrote at a time when I was living with folk who struggled each day for water, food and shelter. Pause Don’t hide: don’t run, but rather discover in the midst of fragmentation a new way forward: a different kind of journey marked by its fragility, uncertainty and lack of definition. And on that path to hold these hands that even in their brokenness create a new tomorrow. To dance at the margins,and to see the face of Christ where hurt is real and pain a way of life. To be touched in the eye of the storm, aware that tomorrow may bring gales. Impossible, you say, let me retreat and find my rest. What rest, my friend in these fragmented times? With warm wishes, Peter


Pause Invite people to share

With heartfelt thanks for your wisdom and your witness.

May you remain rooted and grounded in love...

JustFaith Ministries · P.O. Box 221348 · Louisville, KY, 40252 (502) 429-0865 · www.justfaith.orgThank You

Documents

Down to Earth Session 19 - JustFaith Ministries · So we LIVE ourselves into a new way of being together. Living MORE . slowly … with fewer compulsions. humbly … demanding less