This Thursday we ate our meal in silence before moving onto our night prayer. It was a tranquil and reflective experience. So amazing watching how peaceful the children could be. Thanks to everyone for going along with it.

Here are some comments from the evening…

• in peace we are allowed to be
• love the noises usually drowned out – cutlery on plates
• praying to God thinking about new life
• more togetherness and cooperation – less noise and less of the unnessecary
• be still and know that I am God – Psalms
• words are the net that hold us together but without the net we can swim free in the sea
• when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut the door, pray to your father who is in that secret place, and your father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. Mt 6:6

…

Then the lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:7

…

“God has given to the earth the breath which feeds it. It is his breath that gives life to all things. And if he were to withhold his breath, everything would be annihilated. His breath vibrates in yours, in your voice. It is the breath of God that you breathe – and you are unaware of it”

Theophilus of Antioch

Make space

To hear an ancient rhythm
Learn a well loved dance
Sing a cherished song

Make space

Discover a wisdom filled story
Entertain generation old tales
Illuminate neglected images.

Make space

Explore the mysterious familiar
Study the hazel nut lines
Stare in disbelief at natures intricacy

Make space

This is my attempt to summarise our Greenbelt conversations on Thursday and Saturday. Please let me know if i’ve missed anything you felt I should have included!

The bible readings we looked at were Genesis 16, Genesis 21 and Mark 5:1-20

Reflections

• Everyone has been an outsider at some point
• Desert and sea are places where people don’t exist any more – no connection to the rest of the world no sense of identity
• A river is an outsider, going somewhere but doesn’t belong anywhere
• Ishmael is given an identity  – a name and a skill to identify him
• Element of insanity in being truly an outsider
• “go back to your community” – the Gospel legion story sends the outsider home.

Outsiders and the Eucharist

• Jesus becomes an outsider and in doing so redeems the outsider honour + shame honour must be sacrificed
• “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”
• Being an outsider can be cool and hip – but being forsaken is being truly an outsider. Not cool at all!
• Forsaken by all but God?
• Inside vs outside of God’s will forcing it our own way.
• Outsider Beatitudes – blessed are the refugees

Ideas

• Blank labels given to lose identity
• Blank labels covered with newly written labels
• Sand drawings or sculpture – photographed and showed at eucharist
  Throw a ball of wool to each other to create web – then cut it to create outsiders
• A giant animosity bracelet
• Balloons – have an inside and outside
• Graffiti – outsider’s art
• Stencil art
• Art where a surface layer is removed to show something
• A hoop with labels on the outside. Labels 2 sided with positive and negative words on different sides. Flip the labels over (into the hoop and inclusion) to show positive. e.g. Victim => Survivor.
• All labels dissolved and form home made paper – (is making paper a bit complex?)

mayBe shared cake + conversation with the community of All Saints Convent who generously allow us to use Bethlehem Chapel for our worship gatherings from time to time.

We were inspired by their commitment to each other, to prayer, and to sustained engagement with the needs of the wider community around them, particularly children + young people with life shortening conditions + rough sleepers. It was a privilege to join them for vespers and we hope this is the beginning of a deepening relationship between our too very different communities.

by Sam

On the Saturday of the mayBe camping adventure at Cuddesdon, the community spent some time considering ourselves using the Diocese’s “Living Faith” vision.

http://www.oxford.anglican.org/living-faith-for-the-future/

This vision or model identifies 5 areas of Church. They are:

• Making disciples
• Shaping confident collaborative leadership
• Creating vibrant Christian communities
• Making a difference in the world
• And throughout all this…sustaining the sacred centre

We looked at each of these areas and considered how mayBe practiced these ideals. Do we embrace them well or could we do better? Below is a summary of some of the comments that came out of the session.

Making disciples

• We encourage each other to grow in faith
• We have a go, each trying to write resources and contribute to workship.
• Serving the fringe – many of our community  have struggled with main stream church
• Out from under the bushel
• Simple & strong
• Challenge each other

Making a difference in the world

• Encouraging others in their actions
• Prayer
• Website spreads our vision and makes connections globally

Shaping confident and collaborative leadership

• Everyone contributes
• Ratio of member participation very good

Creating vibrant Christian communities

• All ages
• Trusting
• Caring
• Impromptu events

Sustaining the sacred centre

• Prayer
• Through being
• Free to be
• Guardians
• Meeting outdoors
• Imagery and photos
• Godly play
• Labyrinths

As a now grown-up fantasy-role-player it was with some trepidation that I offered a week on using fantasy in prayer to mayBe.  Perhaps they would feel the need to cast me out of the group…  Perhaps they would all just laugh or, worse still, just not get it…

Foolish fears – everyone willingly suspended factual reality to enter another type of belief, opened themselves up to encountering God in their imaginations, and shared the richness of their fantasies with each other.  Small children allowed themselves to be quietened by the process and even joined in.  What can I say except it was FANTASTIC!!

Sam

At our last community conversation we discussed prayer and spirituality. How can we be a community with a glowing spiritual centre? How can we encourage prayer at our gatherings and also in our daily lives? It would be good to have some practical ideas on this. Email your ideas and suggestions and we can post them here.

Here are some ideas to start with….

• A night prayer for a cycle: Write a night prayer to end our Thursdays. This prayer could change with each cycle. (If we don’t write a prayer we could use some published Celtic night prayers or something similar)

• Reflective breaks between activities. e.g. silence between conversation and prayer on Thursdays. Or more use of breathing.

• Do more Godly play. It’s reflective and child inclusive.

• The other week when Tracey and Rich were hosting the Saturday session at the Mish, they put some stones and candles on a mat and made a little altar in the pool room bit off the main room to make some quiet prayer space. Then, one at a time, we took turns going in and having some quiet prayer time while the others looked after our children. As you know, quiet time on your own is at a premium when you have children, but I think other people might find it helpful too.

What should the theme of our next cycle be? Your ideas below!

• The Holy Spirit – Ending with Pentecost

• Trinity – For Trinity Sunday

• Emotions – Anger, Happiness, Fear etc…

• Eternal Life or Time – with “time” for prayer, expressions of thought about eternal life in ways other than talking!

Possible Cycle breakdown…

1) Ideas about time/eternity – Philosophical ideas (linear/ circular)

2) Ideas about time/eternity – Time and the mind

3)  Ideas about time/eternity – Time travel (science and time)

4) Phases of life – birth, youth, middle age, elderly (what does progression of time/ age mean for us spiritually?)

5) Eternal life  – what do we think/believe about this?

At the Thursday community meal in our Prayer Cycle yesterday:

Physical aids for prayer were considered thanks to Ginny (and baby Tabitha) and examples passed around including the mayBe prayer figures. Ezra showed a strong preference for Thomas the Tank Engine whilst others had a go a making and then using some prayer beads. We had 4 beads each with 3 knots between them and used them to pray together for the world, mayBe, ourselves and something/someone on our minds/hearts. The knots gave us a trinity shaped prayer (our father, jesus prayer, come holy spirit) for each of the 4 prayer foci. Doing it together was really supportive and created a prayerful space between and within us. And there were chocolate biscuits!

by Sam