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Nothing Lasts Forever

This is the beginning (and ending possibly) of Sunday's creative moment. It's not yet the finished article. The idea works for me. The words themselves don't yet and bneed lots more work. So please chip in. Seriously. It's vital someone edits this. It's a prayer of confession based on the idea nothing lasts for ever even as we thought it might except the Love that is God. So while the world collapses round about us, it's not the end. Ever.

Provide a large box on the communion table. Inside should be bread and wine, a bowl of water and a Bible. Outside the box are objects that symbolise the ideas we thought might last forever represented by a brick, the Financial Times, and a set of chains. During the prayer of confession, readers place the appropriate item in the box and wait behind the table and during Reader 4’s words remove the appropriate items from the box that are symbols that represent what will last forever.

Reader 1	Forgive our hubris, for we believed our own kingdoms would last forever: we built up our temples, our pyramids, our walls, believing we would outlive everything, that we were the greater power. But temples have fallen, pyramids have crumbled, walls have been dismantled, and in the place left by our pride, We are filled with simple humility. God says: Nothing lasts forever. Trust me through the changes. Place the bricks in the box
Reader 2	Forgive our vanity, for we trusted our confidence would always be on the rise. We built our markets and shares, trusting things would always come out on our side unaware of what we did not know, believing we were in control, that we saw the whole picture. But global crisis came, recession hit, numbers we had never imagined became common language, countries fell into a generation’s worth of debt, and in place of confidence, we were left with dishonour. God says: Nothing lasts forever. Trust me through the changes. Place the financial times in the box
Reader 3	Forgive our nerve, for we trusted our ways were for all time. We built slave trades on the word of God, apartheid on biblical texts, the subjugation of women, of Jew, of the poor on base theories. But emancipation became a way of change, freedom became a value for everyone, new understanding became a shaper of the faith, and old established chains broke, new generations with new ideas brought life, and are still doing so today, leading us to questions what past generations have taken for granted, and in place of certainty, we are left with new theories. God says: Nothing lasts forever. Trust me through the changes. Place chains in the box
Reader 4	Yet after confession one thing is certain: Nothing lasts forever. Except one thing: the love that is God. Beyond the building of empire, God builds with unconditional love, and this will last forever. (remove Bread and wine from the box) Beyond economic growth and financial markets, God grows the economy of the Kingdom, built on grace, and this will last forever. (Remove the bowl of water from the box) Beyond the bondage of prejudice, God unbinds the word and brings life, and this will last forever. (remove bible from box) These things alone will last, and they shall not be overcome by famine and earthquake, wars and their rumour. Nothing lasts forever except the love that is God alone. In that shall we live. O God may we trust in you through every change.

 

Different ways to remember

This is for the moment as we lead up to silence:

There are different ways to remember:

There’s the remembering that comes from a photograph: or words shared and moments lived together that bring both tears and smiles.

But ours is not a remembering like that.

There’s the remembering that comes from research and learning, knowing how things work, the remembering of words and ideas and theories.

But ours is not a remembering like that.

There’s the remembering that comes from everyday life, the lists we need the language we use the circle of friends we have.

But ours is not a remembering like that.

There’s the remembering that comes from someone else’s experience: a story passed on that is important enough and vital enough to become our own story even as we did not live it. This is our remembering.

It’s not because war in every time and place and in every guise is the worst we can do to each other though that is true, but because in amongst it all, people turn towards a hope that this will be the last, that this will be never again. It is this hope that they will to be passed on. This hope has been bought at huge price. It’s not the facts we remember nor the image, but the cost. It is expensive to remember. And if we do not accept that cost, and recognise the price, then our hope is selfish. This we cannot avoid. This is our remembrance.

An Act of Confession

A contemporary thing which is an act of confession for tomorrow;

The communion table has six strips of white communion cloth laid across it. After each stanza, some music is played: When I needed a neighbour, which is a time to reflect and confess and renew ourselves. During each stanza one of the communion cloths is wrapped round the appropriate object representing what we want to confess.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and you’re your neighbour as yourself.

Let us wrap up those times we have not loved our neighbour. We use the communion cloths from last week for they speak about sacrifice and grace, about forgiveness and hope, about renewal and a transformed future. The cloths themselves are a symbol of confession transformed as we confess our neighbourliness.

(Hold up loaf of bread and then wrap)
Let us wrap up those times we do not love our neighbour
When we do not break bread with the hungry

(Hold up goblet of wine and then wrap)
Let us wrap up those times we do not love our neighbour
When we do not share the cup of suffering with those who suffer

(Scoop up pile of earth and let fall through fingers and then wrap)
Let us wrap up those times we do not love our neighbour
When we imagine we are separate from creation and that is does not need sharing

(Hold up candle and blow out, then wrap)
Let us wrap up those times we do not love our neighbour
When we do not notice the stranger and offer a place of welcome

(Tear pieces of paper in the air, let fall, and then wrap)
Let us wrap up those times we do not love our neighbour
When we find division in our diversity rather than unity

(Scoop up nothing and let it go, then wrap)
Let us wrap up those times we do not love our neighbour
When we hold silence when we ought to speak out

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and you’re your neighbour as yourself.

Hear our confession

The great commandment

Gathering words for Sunday

it starts as the smallest flicker
an imagining inside you
a hint that pulls towards justice
and like a heartbeat it never goes away

and is grasps you
your whole soul
heaving with the longing
the deep intent for justice and life

and then the thought
the working out
the decision to choose
the mind wrestling with the longing

which leads to the movement
the action that turns longing into an event
that pushes you out with strength
and makes God into a verb

and all this is for neighbour
neighbour
which is the other word for God

come now all God’s People
to love with heart and soul, mind and strength
and neighbour as self
and set God loose in the world

Communion

A few requests for this. This was the institution for our all-age communion today. You'll need to pick a Sanctus to sing through it at the appropriate times and then incorporate it in the Thanksgiving prayer.

Once God wrote a song and when the world was made, the Spirit sang it in celebration and as she sang world’s were made and life was brought together and humans began walking the earth and she passed the song to them to sing. But very soon things began to go wrong and eventually the song fell silent with no one wanting to sing it. It was a beautiful song, a sad song, a happy song, but it’s music was never heard, so it remained silent for a long, long time.

Every so often someone would find a verse and sing it, Holy, holy, holy God of power and might but people didn’t want to hear that kind of song because it called them back to God and challenged the way they lived and so they threw out the singers, these prophets, and the song died away and fell silent again for a long time.

One day a man who lived in the desert found the song and began to sing it. He was a baptizer and would sing the song loudly and coarsely calling people back to God: Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Some people listened this time and joined in the song. (2^nd) Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. But many more decided not to sing it and turned away.

Then there came a man who picked up the song and sang it his whole life. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. He was a gentle but strong man, he was a healer and rebel, and when he found folk who had no friends he ask if they’d like to be his. Hosanna, hosanna. When he found people who were ill he’d go over to them and touch them and help them (1^st) hosanna in the highest. When they were hungry he’d feed them, when they were sad he’d love them, when they had done wrong he’d forgive them (2^nd) Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.

Then came the time when he shared his last meal with his friends, the special 12. The song that was sometimes happy, was tonight sad because he took a loaf of bread and told them it was a picture of him, and he broke it and let all the crumbs fall and said: this is what is going to happen to me, but never forget me. Holy, holy, holy. and he took a cup of wine and said this is a picture of me, I am going to die, and this wine is like my blood. When you drink together never forget me, God of power and might.

His friends all wondered what he meant and they were sad because they heard the song and it was sad. They knew a terrible thing was going to happen and as they left the meal the song lingered in the air sad and lonely. That night their friend was taken by leaders and was punished and killed, but the song clung on and as the friends wondered what to do now they listened and heard the song change from sad to happy as if there was another bit of the story to tell, as if the sad ending wasn’t the end. Holy, holy, holy and it got stronger and stronger God of power and might. And only three days later, when the friends went to where their friend was buried the tomb was empty. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. The song was practically laughing now because right there in the place was their friend Hosanna, hosanna, and he was laughing because he was alive again (1^st) hosanna in the highest and the friends shouted: Jesus you are alive! And Jesus said: Yes, and I’ll never ever leave you again. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest And the song hasn’t stopped being sung since.

Communion Blessing

A wee all-age communion on Sunday. Here's the blessing, perhaps...

May the bread always break open with heaven for us,
   And the hands that break it be hands that embrace us.
May the table always be a place of justice for us,
   And the hands that set it be hands that welcome us.
May the community always overflow with love for us,
   And the hands that hold it be hands that hold us.
May creation call our name sand celebrate our worth,
   And the hands that created it, embrace us within it.

 

A Gathering

Been away for a few days up north and out west. Glorious. But the desk is back and so is the preparation. Here's a gathering for Sunday for three voices. Probably a big chair, empty, with a couple of lesser ones at the side with readers 1 & 2. Third voice from the congregation. Back on lectionary.

1: Right hand
2: Left hand
1&2: In the glory and kingdom with Jesus

1: Right hand
2: Left hand
3: Hungry in the bread queues with Jesus

1: Right hand
2: Left hand
1&2: Sitting at the side of Jesus

1: Right hand
2: Left hand
3: Sitting with the homeless Jesus

1: Right hand
2: Left hand
1&2: A place of honour beside Jesus

1: Right hand
2: Left hand
3: Forgotten beside Jesus

1: How lovely is your dwelling place
3: Passed by on the roadside side
All: with Jesus

Honey Bee Harvest

It's all set for Harvest tomorrow. Colany Collapse Disorder and the Gospel: an insight into both. We've got seeds, films, music, dedication, gifts, flapjacks. It's really everything a harvest should be: thanksgiving with an edge. Here's a wee something from the service, a statement of faith called 'Spelling it out':

We believe in spelling it out:
we believe faith is spelled R.I.S.K.;
we believe harvest is spelled J.U.S.T.I.C.E.;
we believe creation is spelled C.A.R.E.;
we believe God is spelled L.O.V.E.;
we believe life is spelled S.H.A.R.E.;
we believe bread is spelled J.E.S.U.S.

We believe in spelling it out:
that people of faith are risk-takers;
that God’s harvest is founded on justice;
that creation is a way of caring for each other;
that God is love and love is God;
that life is richer when shared together;
that the bread we share is simply Jesus Christ.

We believe in spelling it out:
godly living is Hope-filled;
heaven’s justice is always Anticipated;
a loving community is Responsible;
God’s creation is Valuable;
where neighbourhoods welcome Everyone;
and life on this planet is Sustainable,
Transforming, Trusting, Together.
We believe in spelling it out: H.A.R.V.E.S.T.

Harvest Prayer

Getting down to writing my bit in the harvest festival on Sunday. The theme is bees and here's the first wee prayer, just to whet the appetite. Here after the bees take over...

God of honey and harvest
of grain and grape
of ocean and orchard
This harvest time
May we both praise and pray
praise you for the abundance
and pray that this harvest is not just shared
but shared justly

God of beehives and breadbaskets
of living webs and the weaving of life
of ecosystems and economy
This harvest time
may we both praise and pray
praise you for the wealth of the harvest
and pray that this harvest is not just a promise
but is full of promise for all

God of bumble bees and blue whales
evolution and environment
ice-field and star-field
This harvest time
may we both praise and pray
praise you for the sheer wonder of the world
and pray that this harvest is not about our wealth
but the wealth of our generosity

Psalm 19 again

Here's the contemporary reading from today. Not startling but some nice phrases to soak into. A wee bit of a lean towards The Message but not much. Voice 1 is the King James version and Voice 2 is original.

Voice 1	The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork
Voice 2	God's glory is unfolded across the sky in the deepest azure blue and all the heavens from horizon to horizon reveal God’s love of starlight and galaxy.
Voice 1	Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
Voice 2	As the day turns into night and into day once more, the silent, rising praise is spoken through sunrise and sunset. Oh, that you could hear the alleluias that are wrapped up ready for the day to break and the glory held in sacred whispers at midnight
Voice 1	There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Voice 2	No language yet exists that can contain the praise of creation. It is in the silence that the truth is spoken. Listen in, tune in, wait in, the pulse of silence for it is the voice of the creator.
Voice 1	Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Voice 2	The blue of heaven is so vast it fills one horizon to the next and has become the play pen for the light: a great dome of light that starves the darkness and has been named Sun.
Voice 1	Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race
Voice 2	Like a newly married groom seeing the world with new eyes, leaping into the day with new energy and enthusiasm and with great steps crosses a thousand acres of sky running the race called Day
Voice 1	His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
Voice 2	Beginning in the East and sinking into the west this it the path of the light, burning away all that stops it, warming the earth for life, and hearts for faith.
Voice 1	The heavens are telling the glory of God.
Voice 2	The whole sky reveals the size and mystery of creation