abbotsford.org.uk

Help needed

I'm looking for about 5 people to read a tiny wee thing tomorrow and then enjoy themselves with some food. If anyone would be willing then you can email me or I'll just jump on people unsuspectingly in the morning. Don't come early if you don't want to be invovled!

Hint for Sunday

How do you make bread?
Not this way
with a dribble of oil
and a handful of flour

How do you hide a prophet?
Not this way
creating a rumour of resurrection
and waking the dead

How do you flee from your adversary?
Not this way
into your enemy’s land
and a foreign widow’s home

Yet in just this way
in the wild story of God
God works miracles
and revises our expectations

How do you transform the world
In this way
with doubting followers
and a crucified saviour

Time...

You may have heard last week on Radio Four (I presume everyone listens to Radio 4) of a priest in Reading who was handing out egg timers to folk trying to get them to slow down. Each egg-timer was three minutes and he was suggesting to peple to sit down on for those three minutes but most didn't ave the time.

So what say thou? What would it take to slow down life a little? I presume more than an egg-timer. Maybe if I typed long enough, the length of time to read this post would be your three minute down-time, but you really ought to have some quality down time of doing nothing for three minutes. Possible? I suppose there is also the ten minutes of sermon time...

Something else to do

Tomorrow the G8 leaders meet in Germany. Avaaz.org have a petition you may wish to sign to help the numbers a bit. Anything i worth a try. Reading it it seems that it may add something to the global initiatives that may result. Anyway, I've signed it. If you wish you can too.

Big Taster Day

Big Day coming up for CAOS our community arts project. 23rd of this month we have another big taster day. We have a samba drummer and storyteller coming along so far along with some hands-on art stuff. We have food and we hope to have two other things going on too. Saturday 23rd 10.30am -1pm and it is going to be great.

CAOS has suddenly come on leaps and bounds. We've stuff back from the Charity Regulator which was very positive and now I am just about to send the forms to Company's House in Edinburgh which should take a couple of weeks and then we hopefully will be open to some more money and stuff.

Of course, hot on the heel of the Taster Day we have the month long CAOS summer event two nights a week for the whole of July. We're looking for volunteers, not to run the event but to come along and help out, or show us how to knit, sew, bake, photograph, paint, etc. Anything at all because all of these things are becoming very cool to be able to do. We're not entertaining anyone but constructive play, integrated approach to life and learning and community, supporting each other, and a whole lot of really important things for communities and people. It's fabulous. So there's two dates for your diary. You'll find out about the later at the former. Taste first and then the entire feast.

Communion Cloths

So any reaction about the communion cloths of lack thereof this morning? I heard nothing.

Any reaction to environmental themed communion? I heard nothing.

Any reaction to hymns? I heard nothing.

Any reaction to organic cranberry juice particularly among those on morpherin who should be drinking cranberry juice (about half the congregation). I heard nothing (and haven't been called to the hospital yet)

 

Any reaction to the number of birds flying about the place today (you had to be there). I heard nothing.

It's been quiet!

Chocolate Teapots for 10th June

Okay, you've got enough flour and oil to do you one more loaf and this wild guy you've never met before comes to your door, looking a bit hungry, as asks to share your bread. What do you do? He's a prophet and running away from the king. Obviously a bit dodgey and certainly not someone to have a cup of tea with, let along your last loaf. Add to the mix that fact the woman is a widow (no support) and has one son. But of course, as nothing is straighforward with God, the son dies. The mad prophet bloke then does some weird magic stuff you probably don't want to know about and the son walks down the stairs alive and well.

So yet again, God is found out on the fringes of society: a land where Baal is worshipped, a widow, a dead son and someone so poor she can't even make more than her last loaf of beard. Good grief, God doesn't even give her the dignity of sharing the last piece of bread with her son on their own to say their good byes before they die.

So what songs and symbols would help speak into this story? Any movement, or creating the worship space? What one thought do you have with this story? What would you want to say to someone about it?

Oh, by the way, the bag of flour and the jar of oil are refilled again, just enough to last another loaf for the next day. And then the same things happens the next day and the day after that. Get the pattern? Just enough. Now there a lesson on sustainability, but hey, that was today's theme.