if you like, spirit, come early.
come this week.
feel free to ignore the lectionary
and church calendars
to pre-empt our children’s talks,
our well-designed installations
and the video loops we’ve been working on for months.
trick us.
come now.
be breath for a world that is gasping for air
and forgive us for thinking it can wait.
the synod here is about to begin a strategic planning process. i wrote a couple of reflections as a resource for it, this is one:
We are trying, God,
and we are angry that the world will not listen
when we try to speak of you,
yet deep down
we acknowledge that we no longer have the words
that speak of who you are
and all you have done.
While we know it is no sin to be speechless,
we must confess that we have stopped looking.
Teach us a new language, God -
one of wild imagination and courageous vision -
so we can begin to tell a new story
that will unfold your ageless plot of freedom
liberation
and grace
to a world longing to hear.
A story that will speak of hope with the turning of each page.
A story that you promise has no ending but love.
i didn’t use this at chapel, but i really like it…
we confess that we are searching for more weapons
to arm ourselves
against the harshness of the world.
we search for ammunition to fire at the people who
have hurt us
and those we just don’t like.
we add their wrongdoings
to steadily increasing stockpiles
which cast shadows over our lives
our community
and our world.
forgive us.
may we find enough faith
to dismantle our stockpiles
and disarm our weapons
even before peace is declared…
wordy, it’s hard to write liturgy at the moment. it’s easy to write poetic prose, hard to write prayers. most prayers are focussed towards someone who makes an event happen. take out the someone and prayers change their shape considerably.
and i wouldn’t write prayers, except i’m writing a pre-emptive funeral for a friend at the moment - she wants to sign off on it before she dies [which we don't anticipate will be for a long time yet]. it’s not an easy task, for all the obvious reasons… but also because she loves the liturgical stuff i write, but wouldn’t mind a bit more trinity, the occasional mention of god, etc. etc.
she also doesn’t want it to be a memorial or even a celebration of her life, not to focus on her at all, but to focus on god. best case scenario, in her eyes, is that we don’t mention her name. i’m preparing her for disappointment.
you are the life that persists in making us new
the courage that takes us always one step more
the story into which we read our own
the adventure we need all our faith to begin…
we have just this one fragile life
let your heart break with those
for whom it is already shattered
who are cut everyday
by the shards of hatred
despair
and fear
for whom this is all there is
and all there ever will be.
let your heart break
with those who only know the ache of gnawing hunger
who will die today
empty-stomached
or empty-hearted
let your heart break
with those who face a future
surrounded by concrete walls
or walls as impenetrable as concrete
let your heart break
with those who do not see today’s sunshine
but who live only one long night.
do not fill their darkness
or this space
with platitudes.
let your heart break
and then let your prayer begin…
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