Reflections

 

It has been a busy time

I have just come out of a lengthy meeting

I’m mentally drained and hungry.

I decide to do something restorative

And drive to the local botanic gardens for a late lunch.

Parking was easy.

A short walk and there’s an open café

I order a healthy sandwich and a coffee
and settle at a table overlooking the pond.

 

There are people around me

Young parents with babies in prams

Families

Older folk strolling slowly and purposefully

People in wheelchairs

Workers with lanyards hanging around their necks

 

I’m just near the pond

At first glance it appears dirty..
Greeny/brown with algae floating below the surface.

But then I notice the reflections on the water:

The colours of the trees and the blue sky,

rippling on the surface

 

The birds don’t seem to mind

They come flying in

Wings outstretched for a graceful landing.

More ripples..

 

I can see ducks and coots, little ravens and minah birds

There is a flock of egrets roosting in the sun

safe from all the people
on an island in the middle of the pond

 

Little dragon flies dart around

Sunlight reflects flashes of silver and blue on their wings

 

Bird wings flapping

Crow cawing

People chatting

Wind blowing

 

I give thanks for this moment in my day

A moment to slow down and notice

The beauty of this world

 

 

 

A concrete mixer truck drives by
on one of the footpaths

A jarring image in this sanctuary in the city!

 

 My attention is drawn back to the work waiting for me.

 

 Time to go..

Embracing the Interruption

I read this opening sentence in an email(1) recently:

“As we continue living and working in a ‘world interrupted’...”

That expression ‘a world interrupted’ took me back to when I worked in administration at Uniting College. I had a number of responsibilities including the  reception desk. I remember getting frustrated by the interruptions.. phone calls, visitors, emails, …. It was hard to focus on the list of tasks I had before me. It took a while for me to work out that I needed to embrace the interruptions because they were an important part of my work! By treating every interruption as valued as those other things on my list, I became less resentful and found so much joy in my role.

Today as we try to live out our daily lives, we can get frustrated by interruptions… a phone call during dinner, a knock at the door, an email with a new request, and so on..  Each interruption represents a person, a moment, something which in itself is important and to be valued. Without interruptions our lives would be mundane, boring with no change, no progress. We can resent the interruption or we can give it our full attention and be in that moment for just a while.

What can we learn in the interruptions of life? What do they teach us about our life and ourselves? How might they change us?

And now, we find ourselves experiencing a doozy in interruptions, unprecedented in interruptions… the COVID-19 pandemic. Can we apply the same questions? Can we give it our full attention and be in this moment for a while? What is living in a pandemic teaching us about life and ourselves? How might this change us? Can we embrace this interruption?

I invite you to pray with me:
Loving Patient God, we do not naturally enjoy interruptions and we certainly are not enjoying this pandemic! People are falling ill and some are dying, lives are disrupted, jobs have been lost, people are hungry, isolated and anxious.
Yet, you call us to life overflowing.. What does that look like in a pandemic? Help us to give full attention to this strange new world we find ourselves in and to be fully in this moment of time.
Help us to be aware of your presence in all our moments.
Help us to be open to what we can learn about life and ourselves in this time.  Shine a light on those things we need to see.
Help us to be open to whatever change may come out of those new insights. Help us to look forward with hope to whatever those changes will bring. Amen


(1) (Seriously Optimistic Online News May 2020, St Luke's Innovative Resources)

Star Words

Star Words

This year at Athelstone Uniting Church I have introduced Star Words. 
In the church calendar, this is the season of Epiphany. In remembering that night long ago when God used a star to reveal the newborn Christ to the world to the wise men (magi) and to all of us, I gave each person their own star.
Each star has a different word and was randomly selected out of a basket.
I invited everyone to journey with their star all year long - to see where the word moves them in prayer, pushes or pulls them in faith, and how it opens their hearts to God’s call on their lives. I encouraged them to ponder what significance it might have in their life, and how God might be speaking to them through it. I told them to expect to be challenged and stretched and to expect God to lead them to places they never expected through this word!

This isn't an original idea. A growing number of church communities have been doing it for some time. Read what Kristin Stroble says about Star Words here
Over the last two weeks there has been a buzz around our congregation as people have shared their words with one another. Some have quietly smiled to themselves, some have laughed out loud, some have been a little disturbed, some puzzled. The process was designed to be completely random, yet the words in so many cases have been such a good fit. I can't wait to hear how God will work through these words in our community and beyond.
I received a Star Word too. Mine is Thankfulness. My plan is to blog about my star word here as much or as little as I am able this year.

Star Word Entry 1

Today I had an impromptu lunch with a delightful friend who I haven't seen in way too long. We had a lovely conversation and I left with a deep sense of joy and love and being loved. 

Just now, as I reflected on this, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for all the people and those relationships that I have in my life. 

My husband, family, close friends, new friends, old friends, colleagues, mentors and mentorees.. all are a blessing to me in so many different ways. 

Each one brings a smile to my face as I think of shared memories, laughter and tears.

For this I am so Thankful.

Thinking about God

This week I was challenged to write a paper about God.

The question I had to answer was:

Who is God and what is it like?

I was asked to do this in less than 500 words and to provide an image that would help explain this..

Have you ever been asked that question? Who is God – and what is it like?

It’s a question not to take lightly. A question that needs lots of careful thought.

By answering it we are revealing what we believe, what we understand and potentially what we don’t understand and don’t know.. which is ok..

Here is what I came up with and it is in the form of a poem:

Who is God and what is it like?

A question to ponder.

Carefully

This is about my own perception

at this time

which will change

as I learn (and think and experience) more

A question so hard to answer.

God is so indefinable.

Can’t be neatly packaged in a box.

God is…

not like me

God is…

completely       other

Indescribable.

Intangible.

Way beyond anything

I could imagine or even try to define

Yet

God is …

like me

Or, should I say..

I am like God.  (yes, that’s better..)

.. made in the image of God.

There is something about me

that helps me understand what God is like

There is something about you too

that helps me understand what God is like

We have the capacity and the desire

to love

and create

and be in community

Yet we are each unique

and beautiful

in our own way

There is something about creation

that helps me understand what God is like

Beautiful

Ever changing

Gentle

Awesome

I can only describe God in synonyms…

God is like…

The wind:

Gentle and powerful

Soothing and damaging

A colour:

Can’t quite grasp it

just beyond reach

yet so very close

and real

God is …

beyond time and space - human understandings

Creator of all

Sustainer of all

Yet before all

Uncreated

A creator who is

Self emptying

Sacrificial

Always making space for others

A creator who chose to give up part of their own self 

to create

to make space for

the universe

our world

us

me

A creator who chose to create humans in God’s image

and gave us power

and freedom

the ability to create

and make choices

A creator who chose to give up part of God’s own self

by sending the Son to become human

like us

to live

and love

and suffer

and die

and then..

the wonder.. the joy

to live again

Just because..

Love

Grace

God is..

3 in 1

1 in 3

each distinct yet each the same

Father

Spirit

Son

Community

Love

Dance

Relational

Revealing

Creating

Grieving

Celebrating

Giving

A presence

Always present.

Who is God and what is God like?

The image I keep returning to when I think of God

is of a water jug

tipped over

with fresh water

flowing from it

constantly emptying

constantly refilling

Who is God and what is God like?

What would you say?

This is an excerpt from a sermon preached at Athelstone Uniting Church on Sunday March 11th 2018

Change of season

Here in Adelaide winter has settled in. Cold mornings, rain, floods, king tides and rumours of snow in the Adelaide hills.

I too find myself in a new season. On my first day of holidays I can look back at the last few months and reflect. I can look forward to this next week as a time to catch up on study and start sorting through my paperwork mess at home. I can look forward to a relaxing time next week with Paul on the Murray in a houseboat. And I can look forward to a new season of ministry when I return in a few weeks.

Reflecting back, along with the BCUC community, we have experienced a season of shock and grief, following the tragic news of the death of the son of my colleague Matthew Bond (and his wife, my friend Ruthmary Bond). For 3 months we  journeyed together as a congregation grieving with the Bond family and continuing the ministry of Christ, uncertain as to when Matthew would be ready to return. 

In recent weeks Matthew returned, beginning a time of transition as he settled back in to ministry life and I tried to bring him up up to speed on what had been happening. His description of this time was insightful. He described it as trying to jump onto a moving train. 

I am so grateful for the love, support and prayers I have received from the Uniting Church Presbytery, my supervisor, BCUC leaders and congregation members, Uniting College faculty and staff, close friends, family and most of all, my husband Paul. So many people have offered support and have prayed. For this I am so thankful.

What have I learned from the season? 

I learned that we are made to be in community and it is through the community that the Spirit moves and that we are blessed. 

I learned that effective missional leadership in a time of crisis calls for much prayer, high communication, deep honesty and vulnerability, modelling and encouraging a slower pace and focusing on peace, drawing on the resources of the body (through the local congregation, the presbytery, supervision, colleagues and friends), and constant re-evaluation of Christ's call on his church at this time and in this place.

Now, after 4 intense months of ministry, it is time to hit the Pause button.  

I'll be reflecting on the 23rd Psalm:

"He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul."

Ahhh.. :)

breathe

breathe!

no, not that fast,

slowly

breathe in the Spirit

drink it in

the gentle refreshment

the empowering

the peacefulness

slow down

breathe 

Walking on Country

Nunga! Last week I had a wonderful experience, walking on country.  Uniting College has developed this immersion experience for candidates for ministry and others. 

I just blogged about it for the Burnside City Uniting Church newsletter.  Read more here:

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=681546955306494&id=21790802167039