Writings From the Grassroots

A Sabbath Rhythm: If God Will Send His Angels

This week for a Sabbath Rhythm I chose a song to remind us that Sabbath is for connecting, perhaps even experiencing rest from the anxiety and restlessness in our lives.  In a time of unrest we want rest.  In a time of war, peace.  This song speaks to me in profound ways.  I hope it will for you too.

Here are the Lyrics. 
Nobody else here baby no one else here to blame
No one to point the finger...
It's just you and me and the rain
Nobody made you do it, no one put words in your mouth
Nobody here taking orders when love took a train heading south
It's the blind leading the blond
It's the stuff the stuff of country songs

HEY IF GOD WILL SEND HIS ANGELS
AND IF GOD WILL SEND A SIGN
AND IF GOD WILL SEND HIS ANGELS
Would everything be alright?

God has got his phone off the hook
Babe would he even pick up if he could?
It's been a while since we saw that child
Hangin' round this neighbourhood
See his mother dealing in a doorway
See Father Christmas with a begging bowl
Jesus sister's eyes are blister ...
THE HIGH STREET never looked so low

It's the blind leading the blond
It's the cops collecting for the cons
So where is the hope and where is the faith ... and the love?
What's that you say to me
Does love... light up your Christmas tree?
The next minute you're blowing a fuse
And the cartoon network turns into the news

HEY IF GOD WILL SEND HIS ANGELS
AND IF GOD WILL SEND A SIGN
WELL IF GOD WILL SEND HIS ANGELS
WHERE DO WE GO

Jesus never let me down
You know Jesus used to show me the score
Then they put Jesus in show business
Now it's hard to get in the door

It's the stuff it's the stuff of country songs
But I guess it was something to go on

HEY IF GOD WILL SEND HIS ANGELS
I SURE COULD USE THEM HERE RIGHT NOW
WELL IF GOD WILL SEND HIS ANGELS
WHERE DO WE GO...

A Sabbath Rhythm: Hope

FORGIVENESS

Many of us at some point in our lives feel the need
to be forgiven and to forgive ourselves. Yet it is
easy to feel trapped, unable to get past mistakes
we have made and the scars they leave with us
and others.

At the heart of the Christian tradition is forgiveness
- forgiveness from God and God’s help in allowing
us to forgive ourselves and to change.

This exercise uses our breathing to help us to
accept God’s forgiveness and to forgive ourselves.

Breathing exercise
Find a quiet place where you can sit and relax.
Take a moment to quiet yourself and to breathe
deeply. You may find it helpful to light a candle
to remind you of the presence of God.

Begin to take notice of your breathing – as you
breathe in and as you breathe out.

Focus on the issue which you feel is burdening
you. And then as you slowly breathe in and out
pray these prayers. Think of the burden when you
breathe out and God’s forgiveness and acceptance
of you when you breathe in.

Breathe in love
Breathe out hate

Breathe in acceptance
Breathe out separation

Breathe in forgiveness
Breathe out blame

Breathe in peace
Breathe out anxiety

Breathe in life
Breathe out death

Breathe in gentleness
Breathe out tension

Breathe in God’s presence

Breathe in God’s acceptance and forgiveness

A Sabbath Rhythm: Seeking

This then is what it means to seek God perfectly; 
to withdraw from illusion and pleasure,
from worldly anxieties and desires,
from the works that God does not want,
from a glory that is only human display; 
to keep my mind free from confusion in order that my liberty may be always at the disposal of His will; 
to entertain silence in my heart and listen for the voice of God; 
to cultivate an intellectual freedom from the images of created things in order to receive the secret contact of God in obscure love.

(taken from New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton)

A Sabbath Rhythm: Tourists to Pilgrims

TOURISTS TO PILGRIMS

If you are searching for something more than temporary spiritual relief, then Christian spirituality is a source for a deeper life. We are all seeking depth, meaning and fellow
travellers to share the journey with. Our highly consumptive, technological culture has produced a generation of spiritual tourists who pursue a deep place of rest, but have no perceivable destination. Buying a new car, clothes or gym membership gives temporary relief but doesn’t bring lasting rest or centeredness. Even with our relative wealth, we still have a deep inner poverty.

The ancient narratives of Christian spirituality offer renewed, contemporary wisdom into this context. Exploring and embodying the teachings of Jesus through prayer, contemplation, and the practise of community, helps us become more truly human.

Life is a journey of ‘human becoming’, within which we shift from being lonely tourists to fellow pilgrims whose destination is God in whom we find rest.

Encouragement
Wisdom sayings from Jesus:
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Prayer for the Journey
Christ be before me,
Christ be beside me,
Christ be all around.
May the peace of Christ go with me, wherever God may send me.
May God guide me through the wilderness, protect me through the storm.
May God bring me home rejoicing at the wonders God has shown me.
May God bring me home rejoicing
once again into our doors.
Amen

This is another one of the dekhomai postcards.

 

A Sabbath Rhythm: The Hammock

This week for A Sabbath Rhythm is a poem.  Enjoy.

The Hammock

If Sabbath were a thing
I'm convinced it would be a hammock
It swings in a sacred cadence
side to side

In the shade
Under a tree

In it you can stop to listen to the sounds that surround you

In a hammock there is no room for a tv, computer, or cell phone
Just you and the stillness

Perhaps it’s the closest you get to flying
Getting off your feet and be suspended in mid air

Almost like being cradled in the perfect embrace of safety
God

In a hammock we stop trying to be someone we are not
and acknowledge who we are

We dream,
We wonder,
We believe,

We are embraced.

A Sabbath Rythym: Prayer

"Prayer is the bridge between my unconscious and conscious life.  Prayer connects my mind with my heart, my will with my passions, my brain with my belly.  Prayer is the way to let the life-giving Spirit of God penetrate all the corners of my being.  Prayer is the divine instrument of my wholeness, unity, and inner peace." (From Henry Nouwen's A Sabbatical Journey pg. 5)

A Sabbath Thought

"The art of keeping the seventh-day is the art of painting on the canvas of time the mysterious grandeur of the climax of creation:  as He sanctified the seventh day, so shall we.  The love of the Sabbath is the love of man for what he and God have in common.  Our keeping the Sabbath day is a paraphrase of His sanctification of the seventh-day." (from Abraham Joshua Heschel's The Sabbath)