Weekly summary - signs of the kingdom

Reflecting on the week and on what I'm beginning to perceive about where God may be at work in my life and the life of the communites I am part of. (If you read the instructions here you will notice that I am not quite following them properly yet - perhaps next week.)

Personally, thinking more consciously about kingdom signs, small flutters of something new happening, helps me stay in touch with some of the emotions and contradictions of being a believer who would like to be more of a disciple. I'm not comfortable always speaking or writing about the personal ways I perceive God - after all why should God be over concerned about a rich, fat, forty-something woman worrying about the meaning of life. At sometime this week - maybe around my birthday - I briefly recognised that being down on myself is not a sign of the kingdom - but perhaps that recognition was a tiny flutter! Meanwhile I started the week by preaching about how precious each of us is for God. Occasionally I should perhaps listen!
Sometimes at work we joke as to whether Protestant or Catholic guilt is more difficult to cope with. Reflecting on looking for signs of the kingdom I realise I spend alot of time feeling guilty - that I haven't done enough to save the world, be a better person, follow the way ... Be my guilt confessional or ecumenical it's not a great motivator or energiser and can make me over-judgemental of myself and others. Christ's message is pure grace and acceptance and I find it hard to receive that sometimes.
But thinking about things from a kingdom perspective has made me realise also that the continual weaving of stories of hope is essential to my being. Hope has been planted deep within me and I give profound thanks for that.
As I reflect on kingdom signs more communally, I see hope - in church and civil society pressure leading the German printing company to finally stop supplying Mugabe's government with more and more worthless paper money; in the colleagues gathering week in week out to share about what is happening in Zimbabwe itself; in the small groups which meet for prayer in the congregation; in the person who has taken in the 17 year-old son of a friend who has died; in the music-makers gathering to sing even when their voices are not many; in the letter writers who try to assure prisoners of conscience they are not forgotten ...
And as a work team we came together to celebrate community in the pouring rain in a cold tent and one colleague who couldn't be there carefully prepared lollypops for all the children, that spoke of warmth even as the wind blew and the rain streamed and the barbecue took forever to heat up.

Advocacy for the people of Zimbabwe - continue to pray

ENI has reported on the German government having brought pressure to bear on the private company which had been providing the bank notes fuelling Zimbabwe's rampant 164,000% inflation rate:

"We are delighted that the printing company Giesecke & Devrient has taken into account the concerns of ecumenical organizations and civil society," the Rev. Michael Wallace, general secretary of the WSCF, told Ecumenical News International on 2 July. "The money printed had been helping to prop up the ruling elite of an illegitimate regime, who are using it to crush ordinary Zimbabweans." Wallace said that the action of the company showed how Christian groups working with civil society could play an effective role in bringing about justice."

Meanwhile Simon Barrow has an excellent piece in his latest Wardman Wire on how politics needs grace as well as power. It ends with some of his reminiscences of visits to the WCC Assembly in Harare ten years ago by Robert Mugabe and Nelson Mandela:

"During Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations in London and elsewhere, many people shared moments of encounter with him that made a lasting impact on them. I will conclude with mine. Ten years ago I was in Harare, Zimbabwe, attending the 9th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches. Two figures were mandatory for the occasion, conducted in a large assembly hall holding five thousand people. One was a speech by the president and the other was a visit by Madiba, as Mr Mandela is affectionately known by his people.
Mugabe arrived with a phalanx of armoured vehicles, and an air of great self-importance as he marched to the front. He was greeted with restrained applause (polite, verging on the cold) and proceeded to give a lengthy, humourless, haranguing speech. It went down badly and neatly summarised the demagogic tragedy that was already well and truly enfolding Zimbabwe.
Nelson Mandela arrived, at the beginning of the session, with a couple of modest bodyguards. He chatted and greeted people informally as he walked down the aisle and was received with a standing ovation, whoops of joy and spontaneous singing. He spoke for around 15 minutes, but somehow made everyone there feel that they were being personally addressed. He said that he was grateful to his missionary educators for instilling a sense of justice in him and to the WCC for its strong commitment against apartheid. He would, he said, have come to give these thanks earlier, “but, as you will understand, I was unavoidably detained” – a reference to 27 years on Robben Island.
“When I came out of prison”, he said (I am quoting from memory, rather than from a text), “an attractive young woman came up and threw her arms around me. Then she stood back and looked hard at me. ‘Madiba’, she said. ‘You used to be young and handsome. Now you are old and not so attractive!’ … I imagine that you may well be thinking something like this too, as I stand before you many years after I had wished to. But I am sure you will be a bit more polite, and not express your feelings so directly!”
It was a delightfully self-deprecating (but also rather knowing) moment. The journalist sitting next to me, who could not usually be accused of lacking cynicism, leaned over and observed, “If more leaders could have just a fraction of this naked humanity, politics might feel very different.” Quite."

The Lutheran World Federation, whose general secretary Ishmael Noko comes from Zimbabwe have issued a very strong statement at their recent council meeting in Arusha Tanzania:
"We especially denounce the systematic, organized, politically-motivated intimidation and violence whereby the current government has sought to retain power. We note that the perpetrators of that intimidation and violence have not hesitated to target church leaders and clergy, as well as opposition party leaders and members, media representatives, academics, specific groups within Zimbabwean society, and anyone thought to have voted for the opposition in the 29 March elections. The attacks on Zimbabweans for exercising their right of democratic choice are directly contrary to the purpose of the struggle for Zimbabwe’s liberation from colonial rule."

The LWF is also calling on its member churches to have a day of prayer for peace with justice for Zimbabwe and its people this Sunday July 6th.

The photo shows campaigners at an ecumenical prayer vigil for Zimbabwe at the end of June outside the UN in Geneva. Copyright (c) Peter Williams/ WCC.

Geneva rainbow

Tonight was the night of the communications barbecue. The heavens opened, the temperatures fell. We were able to wash the fruit and tomatoes in the heavy rain - but it was not great for playing frisbee or keeping warm. Then just as we were clearing up the skies cleared and we saw this in the skies - a perfect double rainbow.

Sign of the kingdom ~ Be still and know that I am God ...

Perhaps a strange quote as I reflect on a day of champagne, sunflowers, croissants and silly cards from family and friends.
One single perfect pale pink pentecost rose (the literal translation of a peony from French into English) remains from my Saturday market flowers, it perfumes the corner of the room with a gentle, calming scent. Less reserved red and yellow birthday bouquets greet me at home and at work lighting up the space with colour and vibrancy.
In the midst of working, doing things and planning these flowers, their perfume and vibrancy, offer me the chance to contemplate and appreciate beauty, to be still and know that God is. (Psalm 46. 10)

From the train traveller's husband

Birthdays and mortality

Yes it's that day in the year again ...

What now for Zimbabwe?

This graphic is from the Kubatana website, you can reach their social activism columns here.
Visit Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights here and Women of Zimbabwe arise here.
Keep praying ... for justice, goodness and what is right.

Eileen Brown OBE

My truly extraordinary mother in law not only goes on the Aldermaston 50th anniversary peace march, sets up charities for children and child health workers in Romania, but is also in today's Daily Mail - she has been reported as saying rather primly, "Not a newspaper I would normally read."
The article is all about her nursing reminisences for the 60th anniversary of the NHS. You can read her full memoirs about training to be a nurse here.

Signs of the kingdom in letting go

So, on Monday I preach about not letting go, about holding on to hope and today I see signs of the kingdom in learning to let go. Fortunately I like being spoken to in this sort of way, I don't see it as contradictory more as a form of counterpoint - like in a musical canon when opposing parts of music are sung against one another but actually create harmony not discord.

Letting go is not always easy for me. I'm a committed and passionate person, I enjoy work and people and details and words and systems and politics ... it's not always easy to step back and take time out. I'm not good at pacing myself.

In recent months I've been dipping in and out of Emilie Griffin's book Doors into Prayer and I keep coming back in recent days to this bit entitled letting go:
"Well-intentioned prayer is not a matter of striving for perfection. Because we have spent much of our lives trying to earn love, to qualify for approval, to deserve affection, we may now have to unlearn our usual assumptions. Now we must relax and let go, to be lifted on an ocean-swell of grace ... authentic prayer begins when we turn ourselves over to God ... this resting in God is not a matter of doing but of undoing."

Thinking about letting go and how hard it is I've also been reading the journals of the Opawa kingdom bloggers, inspired by Steve Taylor's idea to open ourselves up to seeing signs of the kingdom. We are each very involved and tied up in our own lives, yet somehow being open to flutters of the kingdom in however small a way helps to open me up to other realities. It helps me both hold on and let go.

Regina is journaling here; Phil is journaling here;Judy is journaling here; Viv is journaling here; Allan is journaling here; and beyond New Zealand Eleanor is journaling here; Dan is journaling here; Steve's outline can be found: introduction here, instructions here and here

Living letters goes to Germany and blogs on overcoming violence

The biblical inspiration behind the living letters visits of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence is clearly "and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." (2 Cor. 3.3 NRSV)
There's a link here to a blog written by two members of the Living Letters team currently visiting Germany.
The idea of a letter as an image of the church is one I like - perhaps this would need to be translated for today as an email, blogpost, facebook or twitter update ... now I wonder what the Greek for facebook might be?

Signs of the kingdom in doodles and cartoons

The doodle or cartoon is by Andre Jordan from his book "If you're happy and you know it".
I love how hope could just slip through your fingers here in the picture, somehow although hope floats above us and causes us to look up from our lives it needs us holding on to it to remain earthed and truly hopeful.
Don't let go.
"Tenemos Esperanza" was the theme of our prayers this morning - hold on to hope.
This doodle helps me do that, hope is fragile and easily lost but there are many, many people out there in terrible situation who continue to hold on to that line of hope.
As we prayed for Chile, Peru and Bolivia this week we also sang Tenemos Esperanza and used this final affirmation from the beatitudes, saying the biblical parts in Spanish and the responses in English:

Blessed are the poor…
Not the penniless, but those whose hearts are free.
Blessed are those who mourn…
Not those who whimper but those who raise their voices.
Blessed are the meek …
Not the soft but those who are patient and tolerant.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice …
Not those who whine but those who struggle.
Blessed are the merciful …
Not those who forget but those who forgive.
Blessed are the pure in heart …
Not those who act like angels but those whose life is transparent.
Blessed are the peace-makers …
Not those who shun conflict but those who face it squarely.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for justice …
Not because they suffer but because they love.

(copyright P. Jacob, Chile, from Wisdom is Calling pp.263-264 ed G Duncan)

Prayers here and sermonette here btw.

Managing change and transformation - from Desert Island discs to new church constitutions

I've been thinking alot since the most recent weekend of my course in Rome about the issues around managing change and transformation. The language of transformation seems to be ever-present in current church and theological talk. Theologically the emphasis seems to be on the power of the gospel to transform society - yet we seem so reticent to do much more than just take the language of transformation into our own ecclesial structures.

Listening to Ara Darzi talking about how he had to work to change the culture of surgery in the British National Health Service in order to get acceptance of keyhole surgery, I realised what a huge task bringing about change is. Speaking on Desert Island Discs, Darzi, who is a surgeon and now government health minister in the House of Lords, said that up until the advent of keyhole surgery surgeons would pride themselves on being able to make the biggest cut possible. Trying to change that culture, those vested interests - all the training and skills aquired up until then called into question and needing to be revised. Darzi is also proposing controversial changes to the structure of the British NHS this week for its 60th birthday.

So are we really willing to be agents of transformation in the world and within our own structures or do we just talk about transformation while expecting the status quo to be maintained? Sometimes I feel that in the churches we point to the transformation societies need to make without seeing the desperate need for change at home.

Kingdom signs - prayer vigils and uncomfortable pews

Watch and pray
The local ACAT group set out candles to symbolise the bars of a prison cell as we met on Saturday night to pray for prisoners of conscience and victims of torture. This simple creativity helped focus our prayers especially given how uncomfortable the pews were after 4 hours!
The way each member of the group had prepared a prayer or a situation to focus on during the vigil spoke to me deeply of how the kingdom brings together the contribution of all and offers something that is more than the sum of all the parts. It was good to feel part of a prayer vigil taking place throughout France and to know that our tiny local group was part of something much bigger.
Sustained time for silence and prayer at the end of a very busy and emotional week was a real gift and spoke to me about the kingdom not being about continual striving but also about sabbath values of rest and recreation.

Signs of the kingdom - Mayenziwe

For 10 days we have been singing Mayenziwe 'ntando yakho as a response at our lunchtime prayers of lamentation for Zimbabwe in the chapel at work. The three words of the song simply mean "your will be done" but late in the week a colleague from Malawi who like me was humming the song at the salad bar mentioned that the the word 'ntando is used to translate both will and love - "Your love be done".
This revealed something to me about the mystery of what God wants, what God wills, for the world and for each individual. God's will is completely about love. When I pray for the kingdom it is actually prayer for God's love to abound.