Praying Philemon

This morning a member of our congregation delivered a sermon he has been working on for months, on the book of Philemon. The theme was grace. Well expressed. It was such a privilege to support him as liturgist. Here are our prayers:

Call to worship:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Brothers and sisters, may we be like Philemon, known for our love for all the saints and our faith towards the Lord Jesus.

May the sharing of our faith may become effective when we truly perceive all the good that we may do for Christ.

May we receive much joy and encouragement from the love of others

And the hearts of all the saints be refreshed

Praise and confession:

Godde of grace

When we feel useless

You proclaim us useful

When we wrong others

You enable us to set things right

When we are estranged from those who matter

You find friends who can bring us together

When we cannot make restitution

You pay the price

Even when we grieve you and fail to perceive your presence

You welcome us with open arms and call us beloved children

Your grace is unbounded

Filling the very depth of our being

Opening us to see your Spirit

Moving over the waters of our world

And enlivening our sensibilities to the values of your kingdom

We praise you

When we become preoccupied with our shortcomings

Fearful to face those we have wronged

Or when wrongs perpetrated against us or against others

Disproportionately occupy our thoughts and paralyse our hearts

Please keep us mindful of your grace

And strengthen us to pass on in full measure

The truth we hear week by week

Your sins are forgiven

Thanks be to God

Let us pray together the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:

Our Father …

Let us bless each other as we say, in the words of Paul:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Offering:

Through this offering, O Godde, may we Through these gifts that we bring, may we be able to show hospitality to all you send our way, restoring relationships, living lightly on your precious planet, advocating for justice: learning to walk each day in your unforced rhythm of grace.

Prayer for others

Wednesday of this coming week is the 11^th day of the 11^th month, and at 11 a.m. in many countries around the world people will be remembering the end of the Great War. Last weekend in Wagga Wagga I spent time at the war memorial in centre of city and noticed that the inscription was 1914-1919 – realised how much longer the end of the war took to reach our countries down under.

Our prayer for others was adapted from Sally Coleman's Remembrance reflection; her blog Eternal Echoes is always an inspiration. With full acknowledgment I'll reproduce it below:

We come to remember,

our minds

filled with

images

fresh from our TV screens,

of young men and women,

fallen in battle

just yesterday…

.

We come to remember,

how could we forget

for amongst their number

we count friends, siblings

fathers, mothers

even children,

gone from us

.

We come to remember

those who fell many years ago,

whose pictures adorn

our family albums,

and whose faces are familiar,

and yet unknown.

.

We come

because ninety year old scars

aren't easily healed by time,

and seventy year old losses

are still keenly felt today

in towns and cities

across our land

and throughout the world.

.

We come

because poppy strewn fields

bear witness

to unspeakable horrors

that we must never forget.

.

We come,

because our desire is for peace,

and we recognise

that peace often comes

at great cost.

.

We come,

Because those who bear the brunt

Of brutality and violence

Are those you singled out

as showing the truth of your kingdom

children

servants

'the least of these'

.

We come to remember,

to pray, to reflect,

and to seek fresh hope…

that destructive conflicts will end,

and love will triumph,

.

we come to give thanks

that because of you

our hope is not vain…

.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Prince of Peace

Amen

What's new?

Over at RevGalBlogPals this week Songbird writes:
There's a new baby on my street, a double PK whose Mom and Dad are Methodist pastors and church planters. I'm hoping to go over and meet her today. I love new babies, the way they smell and their sweet little fingers and toes. Little K has me thinking about all the new things that please us with their shiny freshness.

Please share with us five things you like *especially* when they are new.

1. Well yes I do have to agree with Songbird about babies. Within the family I like the genealogical continuity as great-nephews and nieces arrive.
   
2. Cakes. Nothing like a cake fresh out of the oven in all its newness. Doesn't seem to last that long in our household before it's time for another new one.
3. Sheets. Not so much new, as newly laundered. Tonight I will snuggle into those fesh sheets and enjoy! The first shower with a newly laundered towel is also a smaill pleasure greatly enjoyed.
   
4. Scriptures. Again not so much new as newly discovered. I'm in a group collectively internalising the Gospel of Mark for a performance in Advent. I find that my four paragraphs come naturally to mind as I sit on the train in the mornings. Living with scriptures in this way unveils new ironies and perspectives I enjoy greatly.
5. Places. Always something interesting to learn about geography or history when in a locality for the first time. Flying in to Wagga Wagga last weekend I was struck, for example, by the tortuous course of the Murrumbidgee river. And once there our hotel was right on the riverbank so I got to walk along it and see markers from the 1974 flood, see replanting work undertaken as part of employment projects for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people of all ages enjoying the recreational opportunities for swimming, kayaking and fishing.
   

Wagga Wagga wanderings

Spending the weekend in Wagga Wagga is a clear demonstration of my lack of geographical nouse. I thought it was almost to Melbourne and therefore would be cold! So I absolutely sweltered in the allegedly 32 degree heat yesterday and gave a lot of financial support to the local taxi service to avoid arriving at appointments dripping with perspiration.

My colleagues in Sydney were perplexed and asked in disbelieving tones why I was going to Wagga Wagga. Well true, and with reference to the previous post, the person I am with is the key reason, and he is preaching here tomorrow. And it is the location of one of our clinical schools for 2011 so an opportunity to visit Calvary and learn more about Mary Potter. But above all it is an interesting place. With a quilt exhibition. And a botanic garden with a free zoo.

Walking back from a riverside wander yesterday afternoon I came across the 'war memorial'. Such a huge list of names, from what is even now a relatively small community, who served "God, King and Country' in the Great War. Interestingly the dates on the memorial were 1914-1919. Curious. Did they acknowledge the aftermath of war as well as the duration? Did they update to include those who made the 'supreme sacrifice' after warfare ceased? Or did a stonemason just make a mistake?

And behind it an ever-burning flame (with an empty Coke bottle floating in the pond) and a wall acknowledging all who served in previous and subsequent military encounters: Anglo-Boer War, WW2, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam etc. And another curious corrections plaque listing additions, alterations and deletions from the main bronze plaques. Deletions puzzled me, were they later identified as traitors or cowards, or again was this just simple human error?

Such memorial inspire conflicting emotions for me. Pacifist feelings mingle with pride and a kind of patriotism, with grief at needless waste, with sadness at the scale of it. Good to take stock and think. Before shopping for summery clothes.

Enduring love

... is a great novel and in part the inspiration for this post. It's been on my mind since, ages ago, I posted on my wall over at the Book of Face that I 'loved being in love'. People I don't know at all (well except on FB but people I have never actually met just joined up with in a group or whatever and they really would have no idea about my relationships or personal life) liked it, and people who know me really well (like nieces, daughters etc) also liked it. There seemed a conspicuous silence from those 'long time' friends I've reconnected with in the world of virtual networking. Now I'm not so narcissistic as to expect everyone to comment on my every post. In fact most of my mundane or even the subjectively extraordinary status updates draw little comment. But I did get to thinking - "I wonder how I would react if I saw this in one of my long-time friends' status box."

It seems a bit of an indictment on my expectations of relationships that I can so easily slip into scepticism. I think if I did read that about someone else my first unbidden reaction would be along the lines of "who with?" (or "with whom?" if I was in a grammatical frame of mind). I would be timid about responding because I would be wondering if a marriage/relationship had ended/ if the person was engaged in a racy affair/ if there was some gossip I hadn't been privy to.

On a regular basis I feel moved when I see signs of that deep kind of love between two people that has grown and deepened over 30/40/50 years. Recently I met a couple who had celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Churches do seem to be a place I see this kind of love - although not the only place - inspiring people who somehow live the phrase 'enduring love'

It was the protagonist couple who most caught my imagination in MacEwan's novel of the same name. How quick the wife was to leap to the conclusion that her now-deceased husband was with another woman in the hours preceding his death. How irritated she was by his altruism, and his persistence, that made no difference to the outcome for the child in the runaway balloon, but which deprived her of his presence. How remorseful when she learned the surprising truth of his meandering country drive that fateful afternoon. How easily I can be like her.

And in case there's any doubt I love being in love with the wonderful man who first mowed my lawn 23 years ago and who has shared my life ever since. Enduring isn't quite the right adjective; it seems to imply hardship or difficulty or something along those lines. I prefer a movie title from a little more recently 'Love Actually'

In my shoes

I love the movie 'In her shoes' so it was a delight to find the Friday Five posted by Jan this week has some connection with that. Jan writes

On Your Feet!
Too often the Friday Fives I offer up seem extremely introspective, so here's something that could be fun. I notice as I finish my sixth decade that my taste in footwear is much different than when I was younger, as comfort wins out over fashion. So look at your feet and think about what you put on them!



1. What is your favorite footwear at this time in your life?
Gorgeous little grey kitten heel shoes that I bought at the Camper sale in Melbourne when I was visiting that city.

2. What was the craziest shoe, boot, or sandal you ever wore?
Well now, also in my sixth decade, I would have to say those platform sandals of the eighties. I had three favourite pairs: Blue, brown with large studs connecting top to sole, and a kind of yellow/orangey pair with flowers on.

3. What kind of shoes did you wear in your childhood? Barefoot as much as possible, or jandals or roman sandals. Gumboots in winter of course, and some shiny black or white patent leather shoes for Sunday. I also remember a brown pair with a darker toe - seemed very sophisticated and grown-up at the time.

4. How do you feel most comfortable? Barefoot, flip-flops, boots, or what?
Definitely barefoot, or with slippers in winter. Jandals in the backyard. For walking my Merrill shoes give the best ever support, even if they're not too 'pretty'. But most of the time, as now, you'll find me shoeless!

5. What kind of socks do you like, if any?
Merino/possum for warmth. Cotton sports for exercise. And a cute pair with koalas on to help me feel at home in this new country.

Bonus: Anything you want to share about feet or footwear.
The gumboot song This link comes with sound effects!

Psalm 22 (for today)

Prayer of praise and confession

There are times Godde when you seem so far away

We cry out in vain and cannot hear your voice

All night we toss and turn and cannot rest

Yet you are holy

In everyday conversations

As well as commemorations and celebrations

We tell and hear stories of Jesus

bringing life in fullness

You are holy

Holy God you are with us

In the minutiae and intimacy of every day

A mother feeding her child

A post-tsunami family

missing members from each generation

Lives intertwined

You do not hide from us Holy God

You hear our cries

We praise you in this congregation

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to you

All the families of the nations shall worship before you

May our song of praise echo through time to future generations

So that a people yet unborn will know

You are Holy

You stand beside us Holy Godde

When we recognise our distance from you

And our need of your forgiveness

We thank you for the words we can trust:

The poor shall eat and be satisfied

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord

Our sins are forgiven

Thanks be to Godde

Our Father ...

A brilliant Friday Five from Jan

Friday Five: Where on the Stairs?

Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn't any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I'm not at the bottom,
I'm not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up,
And isn't down.
it isn't in the nursery,
it isn't in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head:
"It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!"

— A. A. Milne
“Halfway Down,” When We Were Very Young

Thinking of your childhood as a stairway, when did you feel (and how did you feel then)

1. at the bottom?
The bottoms related a lot to my introverted tendency to internalise and concretise the religious messages I heard - so that when I got home from school and my mother was not in the house (of course she was usually out the back in garden or whatever) my immediate gut reaction was that the stories were true and Jesus had come again and I was not good enough and had been left behind. The real bottom was one particular day when a sibling was being subjected to an undeserved punishment and I was torn between lying and saying that I committed the misdemeanour (which I hadn't but it would have spared the pain of someone younger than me) and acting like Jesus who took the punishment (but he never had to lie and say he had done something wrong when he hadn't).

2. at the top?
That total security of being loved and part of a world and universe much bigger than myself that also comes from a conservative evangelical background. Stories of faith were lived out in our immediate and extended family with aunts and parents' cousins coming back from their exotic 'overseas' (see below) missionary endeavours with ivory tusked elephant statues and eloborate carpets, songs in strange tongues and faces that seemed to reflect a joy and passion that was inspiring and contagious.
3. halfway?
Those moments of realising that my parents were not indeed 'all-knowing' Two occasions that come to mind are asking my father how the colour of my dress came out the same colour in the photograph he took and he tried spinning me a line about a little man inside the camera who painted the colours onto the film. And asking why New Zealand was only one place but 'overseas' was lots of places. Again poor Dad bore the brunt of this as he explained that there were a lot of places in New Zealand. I just knew that the difference between Hamilton and Auckland was NOT THE SAME the difference between France and Scotland. But I couldn't work out how to ask my question. It felt kind of frustrating. Looking back I just love my perception that there were two constitutional entities "New Zealand" and "overseas". Links to my bemusement at reading an English children's illustrated dictionary where the definition of 'abroad' (a term we didn't use in the antipodes) showed a man in a suit with a case and the explanatory sentence was something like 'Uncle went abroad'.

4. At this point in your life, where would you place yourself on your own stairway?
This can only be answered by Doug Savage

5. Identify a place for you that "isn't really anywhere" but "somewhere else instead."
The train (or bus) - the daily commute. It's not in the household, it's not in the town; it's not at the desktop, it's not at the sink; it's not with my family, it's not with my students. One of the reasons I resist getting a laptop to start work en route. And why the train is probably where more than 80% of my iPod listening and my knitting occurs. It is somewhere else instead!

List

Interview timetable - done
Interviewers confirmed - delegated (congratulations welcome) and in progress
Contact with unsuccessful applicants asking why - done (except one who is away for a week)
Response to all students requesting transfer - done
This years performance reviews - done or delegated (ditto congratulations above)
Judging PBL dress-up day (don't ask - yes these are graduate entry mature students ... yes they are having a dress-up competition ... yes I have advised them that a display of contraceptive devices is inappropriate in the context of a Catholic University) on track for tomorrow
Card to Maddie - posted
leave work before 7 pm - will do
Well with soul - ALL!

when all is done ...

Catapulted into leadership, it has been a bit dizzying the past few weeks. Rolling out a medical education programme over four new sites where much of the detail remains in the institutional memory of the staff who have left. Mainly a stimulating challenge - there have been moments of desperation. Culminating in a massive migraine on Friday (never felt this bad since a very early one about 40 years ago) - washed out day yesterday and most wonderful day today. For Father's Day the daughter-who-lives-nearby suggested the Bondi-Coogee walk. It was lovely to see the daughter-father bonding, enjoy the amazing sea vistas, mosey on home around the waterfront. Then into the garden, harvesting kumquats, baking cakes and relaxing. Work emails checked so no surprises tomorrow but this has truly been a WEEKEND (not a chance to slip back into the office and try to clear the desk). Tomorrow we will be finalising the interview schedule for the hopeful 2010 applicants, getting the final examination papers for this year underway. And hopefully taking some of the clifftop sense of rhythm and grace into a new week of discovery. It can be easy to feel blessed in the gentle eddy and flow of life; it is such a privilege to feel blessed when seemingly pushed to the edge of personal resourcefulness. Blessed indeed.

The letter W

Today's post is brought to you by the letter W:

As the handsome fellow got up and dressed his sleepy wife rolled over and rested until she woke some time after 9.30 a.m. on a sunny Sunday morning. Her chores were soon completed, including the washing which was soon flapping wildly (well that is an untruth but gently is not a W word) on the line. Their beautiful elder daughter waited for the wonderful couple to eat their lunch. Then the family wended their way along the Warringah freeway to the waterside at North Head. They wandered along the walkway astounded at the view until at the Western end (actually I have no idea which direction it was) they were looking out towards Watson's Bay (this bit is true). Then right in front of them, clearly visible from the clifftop, swimming along in the water, were two WHALES. Real live whales. WHALES! Swimming in the harbour. The people watched as one fisherman continued to stand in his dinghy, eyes following the line he was casting, oblivious to the whales that swam within metres of his boat. A small launch motored around a bend and over the top of one of the whales, cutting the engine as the other whale surfaced alongside. We watched as the whales swam side-by-side out of our line of vision and into the Tasman sea. What a day.

Amnesty Butterflies for Comfort

Amnesty Butterflies for Comfort

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like a pub with no beer ...

A Bible Society without Bibles? We need 11 Bibles for Sunday to present to our 3rd graders. My job: purchase same. Call Church Office and find that the ones we already have are Contemporary English Version (CEV) burgundy hard cover, published by Bible Society. Google Bible Society. Find a national website with no real contact details. Assume mail order only. Then remember this is a federal country. Add NSW to the Google search bar. Praise Be. An address near work appears. And open 'til 8pm on Thursday. Call them to confirm. Ask if they have CEV with Burgundy cover. Say I need 11. Confirm open until 8 pm Thursday.

Today finish selection by 6 pm and enjoy pleasant walk through Hyde Park and down to the right street. Find Bible shop. See the perfect version. Indicate these are just what I'm looking for to present to children in our congregation.
"So you want to place a bulk order?"
" Well only 11, I can presumably just purchase them now"
"You can't do that. We don't keep Bibles in stock"
"Isn't this a Bible shop?"
"Well yes we do have different kinds of Bibles but we don't have many in stock"
"When I called yesterday there seemed no problem with purchasing 11."
"Well the person must not have understood you. We do have 45 out the back but we are keeping them for another customer. We don't sell Bibles in bulk"

I realise I didn't ask specifically if they had 11 in stock, but I did start by saying I needed to purchase 11 copies of the CEV. And said I would be in tonight to purchase them. If they had only said they did not have them, I could have ordered from a more reliable supplier. Just that I naively thought the Bible Society would be the place to purchase Bibles.

Thank goodness for Koorong. Maybe with stock a bit to the right of the kind of thing I prefer to read. And a source of religious kitch for the days I need a book on how to be 'God's Little Princess' (who keeps a handbag full of lipstick and nail polish) or a massive toy car emblazoned with a Biblical injunction to 'race to win'. AND a good supply of Bibles, great customer service, and open on Saturdays. A timely solution!

Walked out

For the second time ever I walked out of church. Quite something for a compliant wanting-to-please type person. Maybe the Friday Five heightened the sense of looking for perfection. It was so weird. (The first time I was in a 2 hour parking space and the service had continued for over an hour and a half)
Away from home for a work-related conference, awake in time for breakfast at hotel and read of Cheryl's brilliant article, asked concierge about churches in the vicinity and was informed of one a couple of blocks away.
Actually as I approached there were two church buildings virtually side-by-side. A glance in the window showed elaborate robes and stuff and I assumed this must be the Catholic version - until I saw the Protestant sign outside.
Inside to a friendly welcome. And shuffled upstairs because there would not be room downstairs. Looking down on a fairly full sanctuary with still a lot of empty seats (they would do well to install a system which actually indicates that there are seats left). Processed in the Bible and some symbol of the Jesus' Seminar (does that have an apostrophe - I don't know). The weirdest part was when the sermon began - all the lights went off except for a spotlight on the speaker. Who had been the only voice in the whole event. And for this reasonably tolerant middle-of-the-road Christian the total emphasis on faith as an illusion which we need because we are weak ... leading on to a list of ways to cope with hard times was just altogether too much ... and along the row in the dark and out the door I went. At number 3.
Lessons:

1. Inclusive language means INCLUSIVE and not pushing one line of thought only.
2. Carefully crafted word-perfect politically correct liturgy cannot replace fire-in-the-belly, conviction, passion, joy and hope.
3. It can never be about me me me (or individualistic hubris)

There were some good words spoken in the event. It's amazing how much of my F5 would get a tick here - theologically coherent, lots of evidence in the announcements of engagement or at least interest beyond Australia, acknowledgement of the first peoples, special care to provide for visitors.
St Paul springs to mind - all this without love clashes and twangs and fails to resonate. Alas!

Perfection

Singing Owl posted a great fun Friday Five this week:
Please pardon me for talking about church in the [Northern] summer when many of you may be on vacation. However, the church we are talking about today is the one you dream of. I've been thinking about this because I miss pastoring and preaching, because I am sending in resumes, and because...well...jut because. So have some fun with this.

Tell us five things that the perfect church would have, be, do...whatever.

We can dream, right?

Tempting to recite the solas but according to Facebook I'm only 80% reformed - they do influence my narrative but here, off the top of my head, are my top five:

1. Theologically coherent. My perfect church has thought carefully about who we are, and what we do, and this is all underpinned by a sound theoretical framework
2. Globally oriented ... part of the church universal and linked inextricably with brothers and sisters internationally. Today she is joined in anguish with the church in Fiji whose members are being arrested and taken into custody one by one.
3. Grounded in place ... with a real and tangible and regular acknowledgment of and place for the first peoples of this land and where the imagery and music and language is of this place (where Christmas songs are hot and dusty)
   
4. Wonderfully diverse ... reflecting the community in which she is placed in all its diversity of age, gender, lifestyle, marital status, ethnicity, creativity. In fact there are no walls between this church and the surrounding community: They are part of each other
   
5. Socially active ... with clear social justice goals and actions happening everyday

And I know it was only five but all this is held together by a leadership team with the requisite gifts

The Mystery of Love

Walking home with iPod on shuffle I experienced a real mixture - from Jack Johnson's Banana Pancakes to the traditional carol 'Christians awake salute the happy morn ... rise to adore the Mystery of Love which hosts of angels chanted from above". Echoes of the Lads 'Beetroot stain' in the morning selection: A quirky devotional from before the days of Napisan OxyAction. I consider this the contemporary Christian song that the 16th Century reformers would identify with - it seems in its own unique way to capture those Reformed essentials of the wholly other God who reaches out in grace; who first loved us; and who is faithful and whose love is beyond measure.

It's a long time since I read Ian McEwan's Enduring Love. I think it is my favourite work from this author. With skill many of the dimensions of love were captured, explored, examined; all the while seemingly handled gently and with respect. My random music choices today have rekindled some of the affect I remember from the novel (the movie didn't evoke the same affective response). And led me to reflect again on what it means to live in love.

In the challenges and the mundane tasks of everyday I hope that I keep within a hair's breadth of an awareness of the great Mystery of Love in whom I live and move and have my being. And within a hair's breadth of attending to relationships with those with whom I know the joy of loving and being loved. Not taking this gift for granted. Living in gratitude. And getting on with what needs to be done. So be it.

Liturgical elements for Pentecost 6

Call to worship (Psalm 24 with a glimpse of the prophet Amos)

Lift up the gates and open the doors that the King of glory may come in

Who is the King of glory?

The one who founded and created the world, this is the King of glory

Lift up the gates and open the doors that the King of glory may come in.

Who is the King of glory?
The one who is strong and mighty, who never passes by the people of God, but shares body and life with them, this is the King of glory.

Lift up the gates and open the doors that the King of glory may come in.

Who is the King of glory?

The one who is with all people in every place, with each person in each space breathing life in all fullness, this is the King of glory.

Prayer of praise – from Thom Shuman PCUSA

Every moment, we have the chance
to breathe in your goodness and grace;
every hour, we have opportunities
to share your love and hope;
every day, we have occasions
to rest in the comfort of your heart.
In you, we discover the fullness of time,
Delight of the Ages.

In every challenge we face,
we can find the strength to persevere;
in every person we meet,
we can find the blessing you have sent;
in every need we encounter,
we can find the help you would have us offer.
In you, we discover the fullness of life,
Companion of our days.

In every conflict of our lives,
there is your healing we can offer;
in every brokenness we experience,
there is that reconciliation we can receive;
in every difficulty which makes us stumble,
there is that dance of hope you would teach us.
In you, we discover the fullness of faith,
Promised Spirit.

God in Community, Holy in One,
in you we discover the fullness we long for

Prayer of confession

We join your dance of joy

Responding to the echo of your heartbeat

Delighting to be your people

Sometimes we get so caught up in the dance

That our focus shifts from you

We can get caught up in pleasing others

and lose sight of what it means to be fully ourselves

We can make rash promises

And get caught up in damaging and destructive patterns of behaviour

just to save face

(Thom again - from this point on)

Forgive us, Gifter of every blessing. Open our hearts and fill us with your mercy. Open our ears that we may hear the songs of grace you would teach us to share with the world. Open our eyes that we may see the hope we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, our inheritance of love and joy.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
Before the earth was shaped, God created the music of grace which sets our hearts, our souls, our feet to dancing with joy in the hope God has given to us.
It is God who has created us, it is God who has redeemed us, it is God who sends us forth to live as brothers and sisters of Christ. We are forgiven.

Thanks be to Godde. Amen.

Prayers of the people

Good Lord, hear our prayer

And let our cry come unto you

We gather as your people, good God of Grace

Who have heard and reflected on a part of your story this morning

Good Lord, hear our prayer

And let our cry come unto you

We pray for those who speak out against wrongdoing

The sometimes prickly characters who make us uncomfortable

Especially when they get too close to truth

And whose lives are in jeopardy

When truth challenges the powerful

Good Lord, hear our prayer

And let our cry come unto you

We pray for children and the adults in their lives

That praise and encouragement may be genuine and life-giving

We pray for adults and children in households and families

That relationships in all their complexities may be affirming and respectful

And family violence eliminated

Good Lord, hear our prayer

And let our cry come unto you

We pray for our nation and State

For our Prime Minister and Premiers, and all Ministers and officials

For our local and community leaders, for every citizen and resident

That we may recognise the significance of what is happening around us

And act to promote reconciliation within our nation and between nations

To preserve and protect our world and our planet

Good Lord, hear our prayer

And let our cry come unto you

We pray for ourselves – a people of God

For Kent and Rick and Lois and Bruce

Ann and Brian

.....

Good Lord, hear our prayer

And let our cry come unto you

In all domains of life, gracious Godde

Stir our hearts that we may seize every opportunity to learn from our brothers and sisters in faith, to stand with them and to carry their stories close to our hearts each day

Grant wisdom and courage to speak and act in the best interests of all, especially of the most vulnerable

Grant courage and strength to those trapped in life patterns and those in prison or treated inhumanely

When the darkness seems overwhelming grant faith that hope can be found in the darkest night

Help us to pray in the words Jesus taught us

Our Father ...

Amen

What is netball?

My Friday Five prompted a few queries about netball, that I should have anticipated given that our daughter was politely told it is called volleyball in the USA. Quite a different sport. Sophia is right that netball is possibly most similar to basketball - but it is a more structured game with a different set of ball-handling skills. I found the video below from the UK = which gives a good picture of the game although it also features NZ being defeated. The game originated in the USA and there is an American association for those interested

Netball Superleague promo video 2007

Exercise

Sophia posted the RevGalBlogPals Friday Five after an 8 mile bike ride down the beach boardwalk near her home, where she "was struck with the number of people out enjoying physical activity. Runners, other cyclists, surfers, swimmers, dogwalkers, little kids on scooters....

"It's easy to lose track of my physical self-care in the midst of flurried preparation for a final on-campus interview Monday for a college teaching position in the Midwest (prayers welcome!) and the family move that would accompany it. But each day that I do make time to walk or ride my bike it is such a stress reliever that it is well worth the time invested!"

So how about you and your beautiful temple of the Holy Spirit?

1. What was your favorite sport or outdoor activity as a child?
Netball in winter. Looking back at the photo I was clearly in the bottom team. But I never had an inkling of that at the time and I don't think my peers did either. We must have had amazing teachers and parents to encourage us and build our confidence.

2. P.E. class--heaven or the other place?
In between really. At High School we had these tunics with box pleated skirts over rompers (all royal blue) that I quite liked. Never much good on the skills side, but I did enjoy the classes.

3. What is your favorite form of exercise now?
Walking - along the riverbank especially or through Hyde Park, but anywhere really. With or without iPod. Preferably in walking shoes but I can manage with heels (more stroll than exercise).

4. Do you like to work out solo or with a partner?
Solo solo solo. It's my time.

5. Inside or outside?
Outside whenever possible

Bonus: Post a poem, scripture passage, quotation, song, etc. regarding the body or exercise.
No inspiration for this one tonight

Happy Birthday JC

500 years ago in France the babe John Calvin was born. How amazed his parents would be to know that in Australia 500 years later a Kiwi woman would get up early to write about it in her blog before heading off to work in a Catholic university (although for them all universities were Catholic I guess)
No time for new research and thinking, so here's a repeat (excerpt) from a previous post ...

Conviction about the mercy and justice of God also characterise our reformers. Their powerful intellects and passion for holy living can sometimes obscure our view of their humanity and experience of love. Calvin was once described as a brain without a personality. Yet these were women and men who integrated heart and intellect. Their experience of God’s love enabled joy through what Calvin called ‘troubles’ and helped them to put aside anxieties and needless worry. Troubles for Calvin were real life events, like the deaths of his three children, his only children, in infancy, and the death of his wife Idelette [de Bure] which affected him greatly. In a letter to a friend he said “Mine is no common grief. I have been bereaved of the best companion of my life.”(Bouwsma p.23).

and a UK site that seems pretty comprehensive and unbiased has heaps more information

don't get angry (a cryptic saga)

he said. "You are the rock. Things have happened in the past but we must let them go and move on. You can do that, help the others to put aside anger and focus on the things that need to be done."
So when, within a few hours, I was sitting in front of the computer screen swearing and getting very very angry, and persisting in this behaviour while recognising that it was unhelpful and wrong I kind of knew that something had to change.
Surprise visit from someone very high up gave a chance to talk about the issues, to clarify how we will do things, who does what and how we communicate with each other. Very professional. Very helpful. Very wise. Again within a few hours a sudden realisation of lighter shoulders and lighter heart. Thank God.
A few spare minutes late in the day to rethink, clarify concerns and be convinced that there are important issues to address. Send off email with some anxiety. And then this morning the gem. There on screen.
St Teresa of Avila: Let nothing disturb you; let nothing frighten you; all things pass; God alone does not change.
Walking with light step, heart knowing something new about healing, about judgement, about GRACE. Thanks be

Wise words

Doing more reading and hanging out on the book of face than blogging lately. In the true spirit of plagiarism - or maybe of sharing resources I would like to post a link to Cheryl's midwinter post This is so wise, so raw, so real. While the anxieties and troubles (it is Calvin's birthday this year - and I do like this expression) of my life are minuscule in global perspective, Cheryl's profound words touched me at a deep level and brought a sense of peace

A great Jewish Presbyterian Australian

Systematically working through a pile of recommendations for appointment, I found a Professional Organisation I hadn't come across before - The John Loewenthal Club. Being the obsessional - I thought I should check it out. After all it would be embarrassing if the Vice Chancellor asked I didn't know.

What an amazing man John Loewenthal was. A surgeon who headed up key health promotion organisations like the National Heart Foundation. A gardener and a military man. Survivor of some of the most difficult battles in World War 2. Internationally acclaimed and farewelled from Rose Bay.

"In the words of Professor Alexander Boyd, he was 'a really good, safe and dependable clinician; a neat and careful operator who [paid] great attention to technique'." What an amazing person. Who collapsed at an event given in his honour and never recovered. After living a very full life. Someone I would have liked to have known I think.

Celebration of light

And in a wonderful counterpoint Christine is hosting a new style of event: the photo party. She writes:

This is a new experiment and sort of a twist on the regular Poetry Parties. Instead of my selecting a theme and image and inviting you to respond with words, I will select a theme and poem and invite you to respond with images.

Since you can’t post images directly in the comments section here, I invite you to add them to the Flickr Group I have created. Please do leave a comment below to let us know you have joined the party and feel free to link back to your own blog and post your image there too. If possible I’d love to have them all in the Flickr group as well (joining Flickr is free)! Share as many as five of your images in response to the theme. Feel free to take your image(s) in any direction and then if you have a blog, please post the invitation and encourage others to come join the party!

On the Solstice – Sunday, June 21st –I will draw a name at random from those who participate and send the winner a copy of Illuminating Mystery: Creativity as Spiritual Practice.

**********

Photo Party Theme: Summer Solstice — Embracing the Light

As sun scatters dark
She asks me to awaken
To the light in me.

-Christine Valters Paintner

The Summer Solstice is this coming Sunday, June 21st.

Those of us in the northern hemisphere are experiencing longer and longer days.

** Let the first Photo Party be a Celebration of Light! **

So here are some 'light' photographs from the past few months