by Christine Sine
Yesterday I spoke at Grace Fellowship Community Church in San Francisco. They are doing a book study on my book The Gift of Wonder and I had the privilege of launching their study, so I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you some of what I spoke about.
Wonder is a beautiful gift from God. It changes our approach to life. Even fleeting experiences of awe focus us away from self-interest to concern for others and orient our actions towards the needs of those around us – so important in today’s world. Tomorrow we will experience an eclipse of the sun. One of my friends is travelling to Texas to enjoy the full experience. I may not see this eclipse but I do remember the last one. People in Seattle gathered in parks, laughed, cried and sang together with strangers. It was an exhilarating experience of awe and wonder.
Maybe that is part of what our scripture reading this morning is all about; Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable, and learn about heaven’s kingdom realm with the wide-eyed wonder of a child, you will never be able to enter in. These words riveted my attention when I was preparing to write The Gift of Wonder.
When I asked my Facebook friends What childlike characteristics they thought make us fit for the kingdom an amazing list emerged: playfulness, awe and wonder, imagination, curiosity, love of nature, gratitude and many more. It was this list that formed the basis for my book.
According to Stuart Brown head of the Institute for Play, nothing lights up the brain like play. He believes it is as important as oxygen for our survival, God’s greatest gift to humankind. Adults need to play as much as kids do. And by play he means unstructured activity without a set purpose in mind. It bonds us together, heals and de-stresses us and tells people we are safe to be around.
Awe and wonder is possibly even more important. A daily dose of awe changes our attitude to the world. It moves us from individualism and materialism to community and the needs of others. It makes us more caring and compassionate people. It also brings healing to those who are traumatized and suffering from PTSD.
Yet we live in a world of play deprivation, awe and wonder depletion, and nature deficit disorder. I wonder if we suffer from God depletion too as a result.
Our world shimmers with the glory of God, but we have lost our ability to appreciate that wonder and therefore to discover the healing power it holds. Day Schildkret – Native American artist who gathers natural objects and crafts them into exotic mandalas which are illustrated in his beautiful book Morning Altars says There is a wealth of beauty and wonder littered all around us, right outside our own front door. We have just forgotten how to see it….
Robert McFarlane in another fascinating book, Landmarks suggests we have not only lost our ability to appreciate wonder but we have also lost the language to express it. In the recent update to the Children’s Oxford Dictionary, some words were taken out and others added. All those removed had to do with nature and all those added had to do with technology. We have stunned the world out of wonder he says. Even the word awesome has lost its meaning. It has become more an expression of appreciation than a gasp of awe that something is breathtakingly incredible.
McFarlane calls for the re-wonderment of the world and as we move forward in our post pandemic reality, facing the injustice of systemic racism and of war and violence this is very much what we need. We don’t just need re-wonderment of the world but re-wonderment of our view of God and a re-wonderment of our impressions of the people we share the planet with too. All of us are made in the image of God and every creature has a spark of divine life within it – now that really is awe inspiring.
Embracing re-wonderment, particularly while writing The Gift of Wonder changed me in ways I never anticipated, filling me with joy and a delight in life I never expected, especially in the midst of the world we live in which seems full of chaos, injustice and trauma.
I am increasingly convinced that rediscovering child-like wonder and the joy of play is essential for our spiritual health. Awe and wonder, imagination and curiosity connect us to the God who is present in every moment and every thing in a way that nothing else can. These qualities do bring healing to body, soul and spirit, moving us from isolation to community and help us find safety in the presence of both God and of others.
Children experience awe a hundred times a day, adults rarely do.
As a result of my research I added a “daily dose of awe” to my spiritual disciplines. During the pandemic, I developed what I call my awe and wonder walks, reconnecting to the wonderment of God to help me focus more deliberately on our truly awe inspiring Creator. These have become an extension of my contemplative time and the mainstay of my spiritual life. They give me peace in the midst of chaos, and strength when I feel overwhelmed. As I walk I very deliberately focus on the awe and wonder of what I see. I need to be very intentional about this. I usually like to focus on one particular aspect of my walk – the freshly emerging spring flowers, the pattern of the sky, the people and dogs I pass and greet on my way. I name the things that fill me with awe, and make joy bubble up within me. At the moment its the daffodils, tulips and myriad of flowering trees. I savour these sights and my response to them and the revelation of God in the midst of these. Then I come home and read scripture focusing on that same response of noticing and naming.
Yesterday it was my plane trip from Seattle that provided my daily dose of awe. I was the one with my window shutter up when everyone was trying to see their screens. I was inspired by the majestic mountains and the meandering rivers. which made me feel “That’s God doodling down there. .
This doesn’t mean I naively see only good things around me, Greg Boyle who works with the homeless in L.A. suggests that we can embrace the marginalized with a sense of awe too. – I am awed by their resilience, perseverance and sense of community. Greg Boyle says “Awe softens us for the thunder glance of God then enables us to glance at others in just the same way. (This is truly what I experience on my morning walks.
As I walk, I am not only caught up in the wonder of God’s beauty but also by the wonder of the depths of God’s pain and of the fact that God is willing to share our pain. This is a God who is not distant and unconcerned. Sometimes I sit in the midst of my pain. I ache and I grieve and wonder at the fact that God grieves with me. I think of those who are trying to bring aid to the people of Gaza, of those fighting in Ukraine and other wars around the globe, of those responding to the earthquake in Taiwan. In these people I feel I see God reaching out and I am awed by the evidence of God’s love in our midst.
Awe begets awe. As we take notice of the awe inspiring aspects of our world, we start to notice awe and wonder wherever we go.
I think that Jesus always maintained his childlike awe and wonder. We see it in his zest for life, enjoyment of meals, embrace of kids – all of which made him despised by the religious leaders.
I suspect he was often surrounded by kids – a little like the parade of young people that always followed me when I wandered through an African village. In my mind, when that little boy came to offer his fish and loaves to Jesus, He didn’t come alone. I imagine him surrounded by a crowd of giggling dancing kids who pushed their friend forward because they all believed Jesus could perform a miracle. And in the background are Jesus disciples worrying about how they could pay for food for this huge crowd or where on earth they could send them to buy their own food. I think that only the kids had the wide-eyed wonder it took to believe that the miracle Jesus could perform would give the whole crowd a glimpse of heaven’s abundance..
That’s why Jesus encouraged his disciples to become like children.
When was the last time you sat in awe of God’s greatness or jumped in excitement and shouted your praises to God believing that God still performs miracles of provision and healing?
So I would encourage you today to look back over the last week or month with the wide-eyed wonder of a child. What, has inspired and awed you – about God, about the world in which we live, about the people you have met and worked with, about the cultures you have interacted with? There is no limit to the aspects of this world that can help us experience awe and wonder and provide us with the tools we need to better engage in the pain and suffering of those around us. We do live in a wonderful world, with a wonderful God. All we need to do is to open our eyes and take notice.
We need a daily dose of awe – and it isn’t just nature that gives us a sense of awe. Here are a few steps you might like to try now, to embrace the gift of wonder:
- Read some children’s books – When I asked a good friend who is an expressive arts therapist how to open myself to awe and wonder she said – read some children’s books and she has been giving new books to me ever since. This also gave me an excuse to revisit my childhood favorites – books that most of you have never heard of “The Magic Pudding; The Adventures of Cuddlepot and Snugglepie and The Bunyip of Berkeley’s Creek. Or ask your kids, grandkids or friends’ kids which ones they enjoy most. Read them together. ‘It is always fun to hear the enthusiastic responses of children to creative words and images. At a recent baby shower I attended the only gifts that were asked for were books from our childhood. It was an absolute delight to hear people share the books that still impact their lives and provide a special glow of memory and to their lives.
- Spend time with kids – we all need kids in our lives. Not only do they help us have fun but they ask difficult questions that encourage us to let go of our pretentious and often unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others. Sometimes their questions lead us to some deep soul searching of our own. One of my friends goes on regular play dates with her nieces and nephews with the determination to do everything they do. As a result she has jumped in puddles, ran through leaves, swung on swings and made angels in the snow. She has rediscovered the joy of play and finds her life more joy filled as a result.
- Reconnect to your senses – kids view the world through all their senses, but we adults often limit ourselves to sight and sound. Even these senses have very confining borders. Go on a nature walk. Rediscover the joy of smells, the wonder of textures, the delight of sunlight through trees. Using our senses opens us to a God of delight and rejoicing who invites us to relax, to sit in contentment and wonder, or allow ourselves to be distracted by the beauty of a butterfly.
What could you do to open yourself to childlike wonder? Would you like to plan a play date, go for an awe and wonder walk or just sit and enjoy the beauty and wonder of God.
by James Amadon
previously published in The Ecological Disciple
I am convinced, more than ever, that the majority of Christian denominations, churches, and individual disciples need major reform, and that ecological disciples can help lead the way. This will entail significant shifts within every aspect of faith, including theology.
We Are All Theologians
The work of theology does not always interest people, even people of faith. Many assume that theology is reserved for those with formal training, like pastors and seminary professors. Theology can also seem a little daunting. It asks and articulates answers to big questions: Who is God? Who are we? How should we live? What is the purpose of life?
But in its most basic form, theology is simply the practice of reflecting on how God and life intersect. Most people do this at least some of the time, and every person of faith does it on a regular basis; when we pray, worship, study, or simply attend to daily life with God in mind, we practice theology. Therefore, we are all theologians! And the practice of theology is inherently practical. Since God intersects with every aspect of life (a theological belief of mine), there is no part of life that theology does not touch.
QUESTION: When and/or where do you reflect most easily or regularly on the intersection of God and life?
Theology is Always Re-forming
Good theology holds in tension what we can know and what we cannot. It is, after all, an attempt to describe the indescribable, to contain the uncontainable, to wrap our minds and hearts around the Great Mystery. It requires a mixture of boldness and humility, a willingness to declare what we believe about God while acknowledging that those beliefs may change. This work is not meant to be done as individuals; theology is a communal endeavor. Our churches, denominations, and broader traditions have ways of understanding the intersection of God and life that have been shaped, debated, passed down, and practiced over time. These beliefs have shaped the lives of countless believers in their individual faith practices, work life, home environment, community engagement, church formation, political outlook, and so on. They have most certainly shaped you.
But our theological traditions are not static; theology is always in flux, because we are reflective creatures who are able to change how we think and live based on new understanding or new situations. There is a Latin phrase that is often used to capture this – Ecclesia semper reformanda: “The Church is always reforming.” Some reforms are good; I consider the shift in most Protestant churches to recognize and welcome women’s gifts for all areas of ministry a positive (and overdue) change. Some reforms are not so good; I consider the Doctrine of Discovery, which gave theological justification for European colonial expansion and exploitation of “new lands,” a profoundly destructive innovation (and am pleased that my particular church family has formally repudiated it).
If you have been a follower of Jesus for a while, chances are your understanding of the intersection of God and life – your theology – has shifted. This is normal and natural – as the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13,
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I grew up, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”
In other words, his faith matured. What is interesting is that Paul did not equate maturity with theological certainty. The very next verse says,
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
QUESTION: How has your theology changed over the years? What has helped you develop a more ecologically conscious faith?
Shattering the Intolerable Carapace
While most reforms are limited to particular times, people, and places, every now and then a moment arrives which calls for widespread, radical reform. These are times when the forces of history and the breath of the Spirit brings us to a moment when we recognize that an entire belief system has gone off the rails, and that we need to completely reimagine our core theology, identity, ethics, and mission. The late religious scholar and writer Phyllis Tickle identified these moments as more or less occurring every five centuries.
“[A]bout every five hundred years the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity, whatever they may be at the time, become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur.”
Tickle believed that we are in one of these moments right now, and I agree. As I have written elsewhere, the Western theological tradition, along with the cultures it has helped shape, has played a key role in leading us to our current moment of ecological and cultural crisis. Two significant theological pillars bear much of the responsibility for this:
- The tendency to overemphasize God’s transcendence and separateness from creation.
- The placement of humanity in a position of dominance and self-serving rule over the earth and other creatures.
The destructive implications of these theological pillars are becoming clearer by the day – here are two big ones:
- The reduction of religion and spirituality to non-physical, “heavenly” ideas. This keeps God “up there” and relegates the created world to temporary background scenery while we pursue “higher” spiritual reality. We are taught that God cannot truly be found in the created world, despite most people’s experience and the irrevocable marriage of Spirit and matter in Jesus! And so we pursue God apart from the world that God creates, redeems, and inhabits.
- The license to exploit and abuse land, water, air, plants, animals, and our fellow human beings. This is a reversal of our God-given vocation of earthkeeping and has become exponentially more damaging through modern scientific and technological power. Instead of helping God creatively weave the world into ever more flourishing webs of life, we are pulling everything apart.
Confronting, critiquing, and reversing the damage that the Western Christian tradition has wrought requires more than just tweaking our beliefs and practices – the very foundations of faith need to be “shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur.” But we must also pick up the shattered pieces and begin forming a new faith that can cultivate the renewal and new growth that we need. All this requires massive shifts in what we believe and how we live out those beliefs. This is my attempt to articulate these shifts and invite you to help build the foundation on which a renewed faith will arise.
The Seven Shifts
Here are brief descriptions of the seven shifts we must make:
- A New Cosmology – We need to shift the way we perceive creation from static backdrop in the human drama to dynamic creation in which we play one of many roles.
- A Bigger Story – We need to shift our understanding of the gospel from human-focused salvation to the renewal of creation.
- A Servant Humanity – We need to shift our role on the earth from independent masters to interdependent servants.
- A Place-Based Discipleship – We need to shift how we follow Jesus from generic placelessness to bioregional particularity.
- A Creational Mission – We need to shift our common calling from saving souls/society to cultivating life in the new creation.
- An Interconnected Church – We need to shift our families of faith from splintered sects to creative collaborators.
- A Different Destination – We need to shift our future hope from an earthless heaven to a heavenly earth.
QUESTION: Which shift interests you the most? Why?
These shifts have already started to happen in individuals, communities, and places all around the globe, but we need more followers of Jesus to explore, embrace and share them. That is why I am writing about each one in The Ecological Disciple. Your questions, ideas, and feedback are welcome. Let me know what resonates, and what I may be missing. Let’s learn together.
With you on the Way,
James
I can be reached at james.amadon@circlewood.online.
photo by June Friesen
Spirituality of Gardening – A virtual retreat with Christine Sine
We who follow Jesus know in our hearts that we are Easter People, people of the resurrection, people who are called to live out a new way of love and justice in our neighborhoods and in the world. We know these things in our hearts, but the stuff of life too often gets in the way of actually living it out.
How have we forgotten that it’s still Easter? This week after the Resurrection have we lost sight of the power of Holy Week? Have we already moved on to the next thing and lost sight of the celebration? Are we still in the Upper Room waiting for what’s next? Or are we more like Thomas, out and about doing the next things and needing more proof?
Too often we forget that Easter is a season of the church year, not just one day! It’s Eastertide!
Eastertide “Traditionally lasting 40 days to commemorate the time the resurrected Jesus remained on earth before his Ascension, in some western churches Eastertide lasts 50 days to conclude on the day of Pentecost or Whitsunday.” Wikipedia
JOHN 20: 19-31 NIV
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Are you having an easy time of believing right now or do you need Jesus to prove himself…to prove he’s real? TALK to God about this..
It’s totally OK with God if you have doubts…God’s not afraid of your doubts or your questions …
What would it take for you to believe right now?
What things help you see, touch, feel and experience Jesus?
The Resurrected Jesus has a new body, a new form that can walk through walls and disappear but He still has his wounds. What does this say about our own woundedness and brokenness?
Jesus breathes on them and fills them with the Holy Spirit. What do you need Jesus to breathe into you this Eastertide?
Are you needing more of the Spirit? Or perhaps something else…like presence, new vision, peace, joy, hope, rest, trust, love, forgiveness, or freedom….Sit still with Jesus and breathe. Imagine him with you breathing in and out with you. Talk to Jesus and tell him how you are feeling this week after Easter. Take a deep breath.. Breathe in that peace. Ask Jesus to breathe into you what you need this season. He might reveal to you something you didn’t even know you needed. BREATHE IN God’s Peace, BREATHE out your fear. BREATHE in God’s peace, BREATHE in the never ending love of Jesus, BREATHE out all self doubt and hate, BREATHE IN the LOVE of Jesus, BREATHE!
TAKE YOUR CUP and Consider what’s next…
The Cup of What is Next?
The disciples now had a new reality, Jesus was no longer dead! For some this was exciting, for others like Thomas they needed proof, or like Peter, this new world made life uncertain. So he goes back to what he did before, fishing! They all wondered what they were they supposed to do now? How do they live? They were being invited into a new life of resurrection, a new life of living out the ways of Jesus. As you drink from your cup today,and in the days ahead, talk to Jesus about any doubts, fears or uncertainties you have about what is next in your life. Ask Jesus to show you his great love in the middle of the questions and the waiting on what is next. Remember that like Peter, Jesus has a call and plan for you and loves you more than you can even imagine! READ John 21: 15-25
How do you want to live out EASTER this year? How do you want to live into resurrection and new life? How can you choose to receive the resurrection in your own life and walk in freedom?
HOW CAN YOU LIVE OUT RESURRECTION THIS WEEK? How do you need to experience more of the Shalom of Jesus? That peace that surpasses understanding and truly fills you with healing and wholeness. BREATHE IN THAT PEACE. BREATHE IN SHALOM. BREATHE with Jesus the Resurrected one! and let Jesus surprise you with his presence and love this week! IT”S STILL EASTER and Jesus knows what is next!
by Lynne Baab
Painting: Qualicum Beach Vancouver Island 2004 by Dave Baab
In post-pandemic times, we are increasingly aware of isolation and loneliness. You may have noticed a lot of press recently about many aspects of friendships. Some articles highlight the profound value of one specific relational skill, empathy. The word “empathy” is not used in the Bible, but the meaning of empathy — the ability to understand and share the feelings of another — resonates strongly with biblical values.
In the Old Testament, God is described as having compassion more than a dozen times, and in the Gospels, Jesus is said to feel compassion six times. Compassion and empathy have similar etymological roots and meanings. Compassion centers on sharing the pain of others, while empathy can enable us to feel another person’s joy as well as sorrow.
This article discusses myths about empathy with the goal of lightening pressure to empathize perfectly. Understanding these myths can help us develop do-able listening skills so we can enter into the lives of people we love. You may want to think about how these myths relate to compassion as well.
Myth No. 1 • Empathy mainly involves emotions.
A definition of empathy from a communication textbook stresses that when we empathize, we make a choice to engage our brains: “Empathy is the cognitive process of identifying with or vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.” [1] We choose to pay attention to other people’s words, tone of voice, body language, and facial expressions to learn what they are feeling and thinking. We imagine ourselves in their place.
These cognitive processes give us information that allows us to experience a part of what others are feeling and thinking—sadness, grief, anger, joy, and any other emotion a person can feel. These emotions can trigger a physical response that accompanies empathy, such as the gut punch of tragedy or the tight throat of anger. Empathy is cognitive, emotional, and sometimes physical, involving our whole bodies.
Myth No. 2 • Empathic listening is always the best listening.
Because empathy involves our whole bodies, using empathy is tiring. It requires intense concentration. People who are committed to empathy may need encouragement in some settings to let go of empathy. Objective listening often works best when dealing with tasks or details.
Imagine that I am at my neighbors’ house learning about their plants and cats so I can take care of them while the neighbors are on vacation. In that setting, I can listen to details about the watering can and cat food. I don’t need to be empathetic about the stresses of their trip planning, although I may desire to do that another time.
A significant skill related to empathy is discernment about when it is important. We can pray for God’s wisdom and perception about how to choose between objective or empathetic listening.
Myth No. 3 • We are either empathetic or we’re not.
Empathy can be learned. Because empathy begins with a cognitive process, we can work on it. The definition I mentioned above continues, “When we empathize, we are attempting to understand and/or experience what another person understands and/or experiences.” [2] We make attempts. We try to watch for cues from the other person. We try to respond with a nod, a word, or a comment that reflects back what we think they’re feeling. We may ask a follow-up question.
Sometimes we do a good job, and other times we don’t. Every good listener I know tries to grow in their ability to empathize. We can ask for God’s help to perceive moments where we have empathized well. We can ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance to learn from our less successful moments. We can pray for empowerment to grow in sharing the feelings of people we care about.
Myth No. 4 • Empathy focuses entirely on the other person.
Our own spinning thoughts are the biggest challenge when empathizing: Perhaps I feel uncomfortable with my friend’s overwhelming sadness and am wondering how I can shift their conversation to something positive. Or I’m thinking that I want to give some advice right now. Or, wow, that anger I’m hearing is scary. Maybe I should change the subject. This “inner noise” we experience when listening can also include things like our own to-do list, concerns about a frustrating relative, or a conflict at work.
The many forms of “inner noise” during conversations are normal. Some of them are a sign of our brain’s creativity. Others are evidence that we need to grow in our comfort with sadness, anger, and other emotions that we often view as negative. To empathize, we need to identify our own thoughts, let them go, and return our attention over and over to the other person. Then we can continue to watch for signs of what they are feeling and experiencing. Listening experts refer to this as “double listening” — focusing both on our conversation partner and our own thoughts and feelings.
Christians who study listening often advocate for another form of double listening — observing to the other person’s words and non-verbal communication while also listening to God for guidance for this specific conversation. For Christians, then, we might talk about triple listening. We pay attention to the other person, our own emotions and thoughts, and the whisper of the Holy Spirit guiding us as we converse.
Myth No. 5 • Empathy is always good for the person we’re talking with.
I recently gave a seminar on empathy at my church. Afterward, a mom of three kids came up to chat. She said she has to work on reducing empathy sometimes because her kids need to experience their own emotions without her engagement in them. She said that sometimes, the hugeness of her own emotions about her kids’ experiences moves the center of the conversation away from the kids to her response. She doesn’t want that, so she tries to discern when empathy is appropriate and when it isn’t.
Her story again illustrates one big challenge related to empathy—discerning when to listen with an objective stance and when to engage in the challenging and rewarding work of listening with empathy. Because God is characterized by compassion, we can ask for guidance about every aspect of empathy.
[1] and [2] Kathleen S. Verderber and Rudolph F. Verderber, Inter-Act: Interpersonal Communication Concepts, Skills and Contexts, 10th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 211.
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Breath Prayer Cards
We are all born knowing how to breathe, but often need to be taught how to breathe properly. Deep abdominal breathing for five minutes several ties a day where we consciously fill our lungs can reduce stress, calm our minds and help us center on the loving presence of God. Each breath that we take is a breathing in of the life of God.
Uniquely designed with a breath word and prayer, each card will help lead you into a powerful meditation. Set of 12 prayers designed by Hilary Horn, text and photographs by Christine Sine.
by Rodney Marsh
A garden is not complete without birds. Birds that live in the garden and birds that visit. Birds bring poise, beauty and song to a garden. The photo shows a honey eater who visited my quiet prayer spot. She came to feed on some nectar from the tubular red flowers. This bird is a New Holland Honey Eater. These small active yellow, black and white birds have built nests and raised their young and made their home in this garden. These birds, will stop and be still for no man. They are always on the move. They are nectar feeding birds aid pollination and eat insects to help control garden pests.
Like some place names in Western Australia, the New Holland Honey Eater (NH honey eater) references that it was the Dutch who, in the early 17th C, were the first known Europeans to visit and name the new found land, ‘New Holland’ (Nieuw-Holland). The Western coast of Australia at the latitudes they visited is barren and forbidding. And dangerous. Many vessels, on their way to the Spice Islands (Indonesia), were wrecked on the numerous reefs and shoals. So the English name for this little bird carries a weight of history. Like the small island off Perth, ‘Rottnest’ (= “Rats’ Nest” in Dutch), referencing the local friendly quokkas (hence ‘rats’, but they are marsupials). More recently Quokkas have become famous as ’the world’s happiest animal’ via Roger Federer’s Instagram selfies.
The NH honey eaters are noisy birds. For their size, their “cheep” is very loud and oft repeated. Most often they are seen feeding as single birds, but on several occasions I have observed flocking behaviour. I happened upon a matted, dense shrub full of noise and chaos. It seems NH honey eaters enjoy an occasional jamboree. The small bush was filled with organised pandemonium. Every little bird was participating in the corroboree: jumping between twigs, flying between the branches, careering through the bush, and all managing (I do not know how) to avoid colliding with their neighbours or branches. And the noise! Every bird was cheeping. It made me think I was at Woodstock! What a joyous riot!
On another occasion a NH honey eater taught me a valuable lesson. I was seated on our verandah and heard an educational conversation between a nestling NH honey eater and its mother. I was unaware that there was a NH honey eater nest in the dense shrub nearby so the call-response dialogue was surprising. I recorded it on my phone. The parent gave four or five “cheep”s and the nestling responded with it’s own primitive version of what the parent had sounded. And so on, for about five minutes and each time the baby bird did her best to imitate her mother. The mother was patiently teaching her baby how to play her part in the world as a NH honey eater. I cannot speak ‘bird’ but I learned from the conversation that only a New Holland Honey Eater can teach a baby NH honey eater how to be a New Holland honey eater and I thought, “Only human attention can teach a baby human how to be human”.
Busy Bird Stops
Busy bird never stops
Flit and zip
Zoom and dart
Now here… there… somewhere!
Busy bird never stops
Except when she takes time for her baby
‘chirp, chirp, chirp’
‘chip, chirp, chrip’
‘chirp, chirp, chirp’
‘chip, chirp, chirp’
‘chirp, chirp, chirp’
‘chirp, chirp, chirp’
‘By Jove! I think she’s got it!’
Busy bird takes time to teach a
Baby bird how to be a bird
Do we busy humans stop.
to teach our babies to be human?
Everyday a child is calling
“Teach me to live
Teach me to be…”
Human
Give one child your total attention. Today.
Everyday a child is pleading
“Teach me to love
Teach me to be…”
Me
Give one child your total attention.Today.
Attention is love
Love is attention
Therefore to love is to attend
And learning love is practicing
to return serve …
For human babies
It is the only way
They can learn to be human
And learn to grow into
Who they are.
For your interest the the link below, Neville Collard, a Noongar man, speaks about the various types of New Holland Honey Eaters on Noongar land and their significance to Noongar people. https://whadjukwalkingtrails.org.au/media/story/new-holland-honey-eater
On May 11 from 10 am to 12 pm PT (check my timezone) We will discuss connections between community, spirituality and gardening. Explore the wonderful ways that God and God’s story are revealed through the rhythms of planting, growing and harvesting as well as the beauty of nature. This webinar is for anyone who admires the beauty of God’s good creation, likes to walk in nature, sit by the ocean or just relax and listen to the birds in the trees. It is based on Christine Sine’s popular book, To Garden with God and each participant will receive a digital copy of this book.
Easter has come and gone. At least it has for many of us. Yet Easter is not just a day, it is the whole season from now until Pentecost. It is not the culmination of the gospel. It is just the beginning. The beginning of God’s new world of justice and peace and abundance. Sound like the world we live in? No it doesn’t. We still have a lot of work to do. However, Easter is the season to show others what kind of world we believe Jesus’ resurrection ushered into our broken world. It is a season to get out and practice hospitality, compassion, love, healing, generosity and care for creation. It is a season to show by our words and actions that we really do believe Jesus is indeed alive and is transforming our world… through us!
In N.T. Wright’s words which I quoted in yesterday’s Meditation Monday: Living Into the Resurrection: Jesus is risen, therefore God’s new world has begun. Jesus is risen, the world have been redeemed. Jesus is risen, his followers have a new job to do to bring the life of heaven to birth in actual, physical earthly reality.” You might also like to check out my Easter guide (available for free download) A Journey Into God’s Resurrection Created World in which I attempt to help us envision this world and how to live into it.
“What kind of God do we want to incarnate to our world? Is it a God of love and compassion who leaves ninety-nine sheep in order to rescue one that has gone astray, or one who constantly accuses those who do not follow God’s ways? Is it a God who gets his hands dirty by entering, in a very personal and human way, into the pain and suffering of our world, or one who inflicts pain and anguish as punishment for our sins? Is it a God who celebrates life with enthusiasm by turning water into wine at a wedding, or one who strips us of our joy by placing heavy burdens on our shoulders? Is it a God who hears our cries and brings justice for the poor and oppressed, or one who stands aloof and indifferent to our pain?”
Karen Wilk also talks about the challenges of practicing resurrection in her poem Practice Resurrection. As she says it is much easier in the spring when everything is new, but not so easy when the ship is stuck in the muck. Ellen Haroutunian also talks about resurrection living in her wonderful article Holy Fools Can Heal the World I love her description of Jesus as the archetypal Holy Fool and how holy foolishness bids us listen to those we know are wrong, As she says “The ability to extend pardon and even love to those who have hurt us is what makes us most like Jesus, the Holy Fool.”
In the last few days of Holy Week in A Jahrzeit During Lent: Bill Borror reminds us of the paradoxes of grief and love, of death and hope. On Maundy Thursday June Friesen reminded us of what this celebration is all about and in her Freerange Friday: Good Friday Cups Lilly Lewin helped us walk through Good Friday as he took the cup of suffering.
Last Wednesday we launched The Liturgical Rebels Episode 4. Block Printing As Spiritual Practice With Kreg Yingst.I think it is the best episode so far. Kreg is a very inspiring artist. Next week I am excited to publish an interview with one of my mentors, the man who gave me permission to become a liturgical rebel – Mark Pierson, a Baptist pastor in Auckland New Zealand.
A big thank you to those of you who have embraced my move to Substack and even become paid subscribers to help me continue my work more effectively. I know this move has confused some of you and probably frustrated others as you would have received more emails than usual this week – some from the usual Mailchimp route and some directly from Substack. In the next few weeks our Mailchimp email list will be closed and all emails will only come from Substack. The Godspacelight blog will continue to operate. The biggest change will be that you will no longer receive daily emails when a Godspace post goes live, unless you subscribe to the blog directly through wordpress.
So what will you receive from Substack? Free subscribers will receive 2 regular posts a week – my Meditation Monday will be sent out to everyone on the Godspacelight mailing list. I will also continue to send out this weekly Godspacelight Newsletter through which you will receive links to other Godspacelight posts, updates on the Liturgical Rebels podcast, and events I am facilitating. Paid subscribers will receive additional posts, ideas about seasonal spiritual practices and poetry/prayers I write.
Don’t forget too, to sign up for the upcoming Spirituality of Gardening Retreat. Note that the time has been changed so that it is now a 3 hour retreat. Two hours was not enough time for me to walk you through some of the lessons of discovering God in the natural world as we practice Lectio Tierra; walk barefoot in the garden, experience the scents of flowers, touch leaves, and gaze up at the sky. This will be a fun filled and instructive session. A wonderful celebration of God’s awe inspiring world. I hope you will join me.
Let us live today,
In Christ’s resurrection light.
Let us live
By God’s law of love,
Extending mercy, compassion and joy.
Let us share the gifts
God has given us,
Practicing generosity, hospitality and love.
Let us live
As Christ would have us live,
Bringing freedom, justice and hope
To our troubled world.
Many Blessings
Photo by Mikhail Nilov on pexels
by Christine Sine
The Easter season has begun and here in Seattle resurrection is in the air. Daffodils and tulips lift their heads to the warming sun. Trees are in bloom, apples, cherries, pears are all abuzz with bees and pollinators. All around me is the promise of abundance for all. It is this season, not Lent and Holy Week, that fills my heart with joy. No festival in the Christian calendar is more dramatic than Easter with its incredible contrast between the pain and agony of Easter Friday and the joy and celebration of resurrection Sunday. Now as we celebrate the joy, is a time to sketch out life as we believe it will be in God’s eternal world and do what we can to live into it.
I don’t believe God’s grand plan is war and violence with an end times cataclysm of death and destruction but rather a renewal of the earth and all its creatures and the restoration of the abundance, mutual concern and love of God’s original creation. The hope of the New Testament is this life-affirming promise of a new heaven and a new earth in which wholeness and abundance come for all creation. This is the hope that the Old Testament prophets looked forward to. It is the promise the apostles proclaimed igniting the early church with such fervor that believers radically reoriented their priorities. Today, too, we are invited to live into this resurrection-created world as we seek to follow a Christ who defeated death and transfigured the world with the Spirit of life and love. It is the resurrected Christ who invites us to join him in making the life of his resurrection-created world flourish in all dimensions of wholeness and shalom.
In his book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, N.T. Wright asserts that Christianity’s most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. After his resurrection, Jesus was a flesh and blood person and Wright contends that we will be too. He further argues that if we truly believe this then it will impact the way we live our lives now. If God intends to renew all of creation and all of life – a process already begun in the resurrection of Jesus – then our responsibility as Christians is to anticipate this renewal by working for hope and healing in today’s world:
So how can we learn to live as wide-awake people, as Easter people?… In particular if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up…. If Calvary means putting to death things in your life that need killing off if you are to flourish as a Christian and as a truly human being, then Easter should mean planting, watering, and training up things in your life (personal and corporate) that ought to be blossoming, filling the garden with color and perfume and in due course bearing fruit.”
The good news of the gospel is that we don’t need to wait to see this new world of God’s wholeness and love come into being. As N.T. Wright asserts, the point that all the gospels make is that “Jesus is risen, therefore God’s new world has begun. Jesus is risen, therefore Israel and the world have been redeemed. Jesus is risen, therefore his followers have a new job to do. And what is that new job? To bring the life of heaven to birth in actual, physical earthly reality.”
The Easter season, this joyous season for celebrating all that is blossoming and flourishing in our lives lasts for 50 days culminating in the celebration of the festival of Pentecost. This is meant to be a season of joy as we celebrate both the resurrection of Christ and the many ways in which the resurrected Christ makes life flourish both in our personal lives and in the world around us.
What will God’s resurrection-created world look like? Obviously none of us can really know. However the prophets give is some wonderful glimpses. I love how Isaiah pictures it in Isaiah 65: 17-25
“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.
20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
Only the cursed will die that young!
21 In those days people will live in the houses they build
and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
22 Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
and confiscate their vineyards.
For my people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
23 They will not work in vain,
and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
For they are people blessed by the Lord,
and their children, too, will be blessed.
24 I will answer them before they even call to me.
While they are still talking about their needs,
I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat hay like a cow.
But the snakes will eat dust.
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
The, as I read the gospel stories of Jesus I have a fairly good idea. Jesus doesn’t just reveal God to us, he also shows us what God’s new world is like. Through his words and actions we catch glimpses of a transformed world in which all barriers of race and class are removed. It transforms hate into love, scarcity into abundance, greed into generosity, violence into peace and oppression into justice and equality. In God’s new world all lines of separation are erased, the hungry are fed, the oppressed set free and we are invited into a new creation of wholeness and healing, of redemption and renewal.
Just as Jesus’ life was inspired by the in-breaking of God’s resurrection world, so were the lives of the early disciples. They left homes and jobs and family. They turned their backs on the values of Roman and Greek culture and embraced God’s new world and its values of love and mutual care because they believed that in the coming of Christ this new world had broken into ours. They believed that their primary allegiance was no longer to the kings and rulers of this world but to Christ. Through baptism they had become citizens of God’s new world. Their vision became this dream of shalom, wholeness and restoration fulfilled in Christ – a vision of all people including the dispossessed, the excluded and the needy drawn under Christ’s lordship into a single family. Their vision became one in which all persons find a place of abundant provision in a new community that is loving, caring and mutually supportive. They saw all humanity as heirs of a single hope and bearers of a single destiny – the restoration, care and management of all God’s creation in a new heaven and a new earth. Their purpose had become the in-breaking of this new world into the lives of those they met and interacted with.
This is the same vision and purpose that has inspired followers of Christ throughout the ages. It motivated the Celtic saint Brigit to feed thousands each day from the monastery at Kildare and led Francis of Assisi to give up his wealth and privilege to work amongst the poor. It inspired John Wesley in the eighteenth century to not only preach to the poor but to become a leader in many social justice issues. It led William Wilberforce to fight against slavery and Elizabeth Fry to visit prisons in nineteenth century England.
Incredibly, Jesus also invites us to join this great clouds of witnesses throughout the ages and join in the exciting drama of seeing the world changed now in partial ways in anticipation of the day when Christ returns and all things are indeed made whole.
Over the weekend, inspired by Scott Erickson’s Stations of the Resurrection I searched the internet for others who have interpreted the season of Easter with images of hope and promise. Evidently The Stations of the Resurrection follows a spiritual journey with Christ that takes one through fourteen of the events of His post-Resurrection life on earth. Though this was not quite what I was looking for, it was a great place to start. Evidently, in the early Church this practice was known as the Via Lucis, or Way of the Resurrection. It invites participants to walk along a path of transforming joy by following in the footsteps of the Risen Christ and his friends.
Here is a little of what I discovered. I suggest you read Isaiah 65:17-25 several times and then spend time reflecting on these images.
Stations of the Cross and Resurrection by Mary Button. This was one of my best finds which I spent lots of time reflecting on yesterday.
Stations of the Resurrection from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary Canada is great place to visit with several links to stations of the Resurrection both for adults and kids.
Ian McKillop’s 20 paintings of the Stations of the Resurrection which will be hung in Leicester Cathedral are very compelling.
This downloadable Stations of the Resurrection from Church Union in the UK is also a great find.
May we all begin this Easter season with the desire to enter into God’s resurrection world and grow into the people God wants us to be.
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