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A Dynamic Unity (II)

Some more thoughts by Alison, blogged by Simon for Quartz. Read part (I) here.

In the first of these reflections Alison described encountering God

“Sitting on a bench looking out at the Solway restores my soul, and through it I sense a spiritual truth and reality. In this place it comes naturally to me as a consolation as a gift and without effort”.
Read part (I) here.

The words of Psalm 19 such as these below express this experience. These moments can be a source of connection and the start of many interesting discussions with people from a wide variety of traditions.

³There is no speech, nor are there words;
    their voice is not heard;
⁴yet their voice^[b] goes out through all the earth
    and their words to the end of the world.
“The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul“
Find the whole Psalm here

However, whilst the first section in the psalm is very agreeable the following section is less clear. It is difficult to find such experiences of consolation in reading descriptions about regulations of cloth of mixed fibres or eating shellfish! In what ways does reading the law books in the bible help us experience the reviving of our souls, or taste as sweet as honey?

⁷The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
    making wise the simple;
⁸the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
    enlightening the eyes;
⁹the fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
    and righteous altogether.
¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
Find the Whole Psalm here

How can this dissonance between the opening of the psalm and this section be resolved?

Perhaps rather than thinking of “The Law” being laid upon people to limit them, or as a punitive code, we can approach it as a way of expressing our response to meeting God in daily life. In the experience of living out commandments such as:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…” and “Love your neighbour as yourself”
Not a direct quote, read more here…

the Law does give joy to the heart. The experience of loving your neighbour can be light for your eyes, in a similar way to the way in which sitting on a bench and #SensingAwareness can. We often talk about feeling at one with nature, oneself, but less often simply experiencing the changed quality in awareness when we feel at one with other people. Once rethink “The Law” and understand it as a means through which people can and do work together to build each other up, then experiences of our awareness of it can be experiences of human being, flourishing.

There will be a third part to this! These are also the themes we are working together towards developing for the contemporary service in St Johns on the 13th of November 2022

Thought of the Day

Psalms

Post author By admin
Post date 01/10/2022
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For those of you who are reading through the Psalms, here is Jeremy Irons reading them for you.

https://jeremyirons.net/2019/04/23/jeremy-irons-reads-the-psalms/

They were recorded for the BBC and are read as poetry, with some music to accompany them.

Arts Community Fresh Expressions

Invisible Church

Speaking truth to power.
An economy based on the well being of people and environment, rather than GDP.
Supporting creative flourishing as a basic human capacity and need.

Are you drawn towards these things? Set aside some time to reflect on them in this talk.

The new testament collection of books is a record of the working out in practice of the idea that when religious institutions are silent or distracted, God is still moving and inspiring. Or perhaps at this time of year, Jesus would say that the harvest is plentiful but those who work at harvesting are too few. *

Why is that in our place and time? I love history and heritage, but compare the ceremonies that accompanied the olympics in London or the commonwealth games in Glasgow with how the church of England presented itself at the Queens funeral. There was evidence of spiritual growth keeping pace with history unfolding, but it was hidden behind King James’s translations and victorian showmanship that Monty Python ineffectually satirised when I was a child.

Do you love God’s earth? While we sing harvest hymns, people are gluing themselves to things as an act of passive resistance protesting against the systematic exploitation of the environment by the privileged few.

Do you have a heart for the lost? Some church elders and vestries are still discussing the moral appropriateness of what consenting, committed, adults call marriage. Meanwhile hate mail is being pushed through LGBT+ letter boxes and community groups are sewing blankets to keep pensioners warm in beds left cold by politicians wedded to profiteering from carbon fuels.

Whilst church congregations are striving to preserve their experience of comfort and normality, artists, social entrepreneurs, and those who live in the fringes, are seeking radical creative solutions.

Our christian tradition spans centuries of change. We have access to the heritage of recording God at work, creating, that reaches back even further into pre history. This should be fertile soil to nourish the roots of creative solutions. What is preventing people from taking root?

Do you recognise the prophesy, healing, and freedom from captivity in my introductory list?

In what ways are you working as the invisible church, and where do you see God’s spirit at work outside the building s and communities we call church?

Do you want the congregation you come from to grow, or to see “The kingdom come” through new language, practices, and in places foreign to you?

What does an invisible harvest look like?

*(Various reasons for the current scarcity of workers in UK fields have been proposed: the consequence of farmers betraying locals by employing cheap international labour, persecution of traveller communities, Brexit blocking European migration for work, locals unwilling to work long hours for low pay, cheap imports of fruit by supermarkets from places with less protection for workers – meanwhile the fruit rots in the fields while people queue at food banks).

Tags #Climate Change, #SensingSpirituality, Fresh Expressions

Forest Church

Sunday Afternoon

Forest Church on Sunday afternoon in September.

The theme that resonated most this month was enjoying each others company.

We have met in the Crichton estate each month for a year now, and although there are always new things arriving and plenty more to find, it is feeling a bit like home.

Our forest church gatherings have never really been wild. However moving outside the building does lead to feelings of being exposed. The weather has shaped where we go, and now that we are moving towards the end of harvest we will need to consider the daylight and weather conditions.

But this Sunday was a warm, mostly dry, day. Here is a short video with a song from Kate.

And a gallery of photos taken from the day.

Arts Creative Worship Forest Church Theology Thought of the Day

Hildegard Von Bingen

German visionary, theologian, composer and naturalist. Remembered on Saturday the 17th of September, walked this earth till 1179AD.

Many people will be aware of the date ‘1066’ and the battle of Hastings. It probably feels like a distant, far off and alien place. But in that year, people were born, they harvested crops, baked bread and went about the general business of being human. Some of everyday life would have been very different. The same sun shone on everyone though, and the forces of tide, time and environment that shape life on earth work on a scale which should encourage mystic respect.

It may have been almost a thousand years since Hildegard walked this earth, but she walked the same earth as us. So some of the imagery described in her visions is very easy to relate to today.

Because the beauty of woman radiated and blazed forth in the primordial root, and in her was formed that chamber in which every creature lies hidden. Why is she so resplendent? For two reasons: on the one hand, because she was created by the finger of God and, on the other, because she was endowed with wondrous beauty. O woman, what a splendid being you are! For you have set your foundation in the sun, and have conquered the world.
(…)
Commentary: Themes and Theology
by Nathaniel M. Campbell

Dr Eldridge is reported as saying “Viriditas means literally ‘green truth’, or greening power, which was one of Hildegard’s key philosophical or cosmological ideas,” … “In simple terms, for humans to be healthy and happy, then the natural world needs to be happy and healthy too.”

She explored this in a festival of music, visual arts and readings in 2019 and the article describes how an initial encounter with the music introduced her to Hildegard and led her to explore the life of the abbess much further.

This time of year is also known by some as ‘Mabon’. As such is it one of eight festivals which mark the changing seasons in the “Sacred Wheel of the Year”. These are rooted in an attempt by people to explore connections with the ancient past, and current reality. Some of these festivals have been well researched, and abound with practices supported by a long tradition of practice. Others are perhaps more inspired by romance and a reaction against the grinding brutality of industrialisation, with less concern for factual historical accuracy.

The quote from Hildegard I have used above was written in response to a query about the properness of her dressing her nuns in flowing white, silk veils, their hair bound only by a golden coronet.

What if at this time of harvest instead of wondering what is “proper” we could really seek out that which is “True”? Instead of letting ourselves become the judges of other peoples behaviour, can we loose grip of ourselves enough to become the light which helps people see?

This time of year holds many festivals which all wear different clothes. Some of us will be meeting for Forest Church at 1pm outside the Crichton chapel on September the 16th. Some of us will also be heading out to Allanton peace sanctuary to meet with others and pray for peace.

Forest Church Fresh Expressions Outerweave

Quartz Forest Church

The Cathedral of Creation

1pm on Sunday the 18th of September

We are meeting up again on the 3rd Sunday in the month as we have been for around a year. During this time we have seen the seasons change and have fulfilled our aim of getting to know the environment of the Crichton.

We are meeting slightly earlier this month so that those who wish can also participate in the Allanton Peace Sanctuary peace sanctuary activities. (but not too early, so those that wish to attend the 11 O’clock service in St Johns can do this too!)

This time of year is one where harvest is in full flow. Our apple trees are full of fruit, and the leaves have already fallen where we have harvested plums. There is a time for everything and it is good to pause and recognise the changes.

The Plan

As is our custom we will meet in Christs name and, whether you consider yourself a close friend or are just curious, all are welcome to share his peace.

The reading of words is Luke 16:1-13

The reading from the environment will involve us walking round the grounds, remembering places and activities we have used over the year. If you haven’t been before please browse the Forest Church posts on the blog to get an idea in advance – or turn up and enjoy the introduction.

As a response we will collect a ‘harvest’ of experiences perhaps expressed in words, sketches, rubbings and pictures on smart phones.

Some of these can feed into visual artwork we hope to install in St Johns church building.

climate change Thought of the Day

Wholeness

Post author By admin
Post date 12/09/2022
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I’m just back from spending most of a weekend in the woods (Barrhill woodland Festival 2022) with the Cluaran part of Wordsmith Crafts. We created a “Land of Legends” where people could listen to epic stories, learn to braid cord friendship bracelets, and test their skills with ancient games. This was part of a wider range of activities all set in a wonderful woodland.

The festival is a gift, a promise waiting to be realised. Most of the events were free to take part in, and all people needed to do was make the effort to walk into the woodland. Those who chose to enter into the promise were able to recieve a rich harvest.

Our activities worked within the woods to help people enter an imaginary realm where time became fluid. The past became present. In the present we could glimpse squirrels in the trees, taste the ripe bramble, and drink in the leafy greens and ruddy browns of the wood. A feast for the physical senses awakening the awareness of the senses we have which make human being more than simple physics.

This song was sent in by Alison. It is part of a growing awareness that something has gone badly wrong in our human relationship with our environment. We have assumed the earth is natural resources to be exploited, or in a more positive sense farmed. We have forgotten that we are dependant on and part of this environment.

Sometimes a gift is given and is a remote exchange of stuff. At other times a gift is the physical component in a deep relationship of mutual exchange and promise. The relationship is the environment within which gifts can be harvested.

Back to the song, can we keep the gift? Not if we smother it in plastic and break it. Much of the time Christians focus on God’s promise to us, and the moral aspects of that. But without an earth to grow in, without bodies for our spirits to live in, or animal souls where our eternal souls incarnate are we only experiencing a reduced version of the gift.

Can we keep the promise, are we able to? Perhaps that starts with re-discovering a relationship lost through developments like urban living, and industrial farming. In our theology by remembering the the significance of the risen Jesus eating fish with friends. In our heritage by rediscovering the green men built into the doors of churches looking out. In the woods, remembering wholeness and bathing in the deep green love that we loose at our peril.

Forest Church Thought of the Day

August Quartz FC

Our reading through words for this week was psalm 19 We also read about Jesus healing a woman on the Sabbath.

This led us on a wandering afternoon.

We were looking for signs of abundance and harvest. We were also trying to be aware of factors which could prevent us from seeing abundance and harvest, similar to the way in which those in the story in Luke were unable to receive the experience of healing with the joy you’d expect.

It takes time for a plant to seal off the connection it has with the fruit it bears, when it does though the fruit is loose to fall to the ground without leaving an open wound. Religion can hold people and groups together when they have a tendency to fly apart, but without a mechanism for growth it can bind us and leave withered fruit left on the tree.

We saw sunflowers, bright red berries on the yew trees, unintended flowers growing from the use of natural fertilisers, conkers! and the signs of leaves beginning to turn.

We have been visiting the Crichton every month for almost a year now. We reflected on how busy the estate is, people running, playing sports, bands rehearsing and more. We wondered how much this is a change of use in the area and how much it is a change in us, allowing us to recognise what is going on.

Here is a short video of our walk – music by Kate

(The sunflower head was already on the ground, detached, in case anyone is wondering).

As usual we were also joined by those who couldn’t physically be there. Here are a couple of photos sent in, taken on the afternoon.

Forest Church Fresh Expressions

Harvest

Post author By admin
Post date 23/08/2022
1 Comment on Harvest

An outdoor service for harvest. Click here to download the pdf description of it.

Would this appeal to you?

I wonder what being outdoors, rather than in a building, would contribute to your experience of the words and actions.

Is there anything you think in necessary, needing added, or especially remarkable?

Forest Church

August Forest Church

We will meet as usual outside the Crichton chapel at 2pm

This month we will look for signs of harvest, seeking to become aware of the law of abundance in the natural environment.

The reading from Scripture for the day is

Luke 13:10-17

¹⁰On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” ¹³Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

¹⁴Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

¹⁵The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

¹⁷When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Luke 13: 10 -17

For an idea of what to expect, last month we read Psalm 23 and found the water in the Japanese garden. Andy brought a simple frame which we used to view the landscape in new ways. landscape through a simple frame. We also used the conceptual frmaes of- water, valley, green pastures, paths of righteousness- to worship with our own angle through the frame.

Here is a collection of photos from the day: