Christmas celebrates a birth. Birth is the time of greatest pain and greatest joy. Is there anything really good that comes without pain? I'm not so sure. They seem to be interwoven.
I know a lot of people in pain this Christmas. I'm in a bit of pain myself. I don't know where I'm going and I feel a bit lost without having clear direction. I am seeing others in pain and it hurts. So now i choose - do I numb the pain or allow it to change me? That means feeling it first.
This Christmas prayer is for everyone in pain this Christmas.
You have searched me and you know me. You are in my pain, you know what it is to be wounded. Please transform my wounds into healing love. May our pain birth your love this Christmas. Give me the strength courage patience and energy to live this prayer.
Merry Christmas.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Actions and words
Two things happened this week that kind of nail it for me in terms of my own Christianity. The first one is Penny Wong had a baby with her wife. Not only is she a gay mother, she is a practicing Christian. Many christians exploded into the media condemning the idea that a gay woman could be married, have a child or be a practicing christian.
And then out of the most unexpected quarters, a blog by Andrew Bolt gently praises the amazing, quiet, under the radar work by an army of Christian volunteers, the Red Frogs. The Red Frogs turn up to the most frequented schoolies locations every year, at their own expense, and pick up drunk kids, give them water, listen to their stories of regret and get them home safely. and give them red frogs (yes the jelly lollies - buy a pack for your next hang over). They do it in response to God's call to love one another. I know one of the red frogs, and he personifies love, gentleness, fun, compassion and servant leadership.
My own experience is that in the presence of unconditional love, the question of right and wrong becomes a secondary consideration. The more I listen to and respond to God's call, increasingly my response to the question "Who's right" is "Who cares?". I don't know whether the fundamentalist christians are right, but what I do know is in the experience of giving and receiving unconditional love, many things that once seemed foreign are no longer a threat. We all need unconditional love, Penny Wong, the drunk teenager, the fundamentalist. In this we are one.
For me, the impact of the Red Frogs is evidence of God. Love like that does not come out of a well planned thought. It comes out of the deepest creative stirring of the heart, and the outcome of acting on it is that humans connect, experience love and are inspired to share the story. Look not only to the impact on the teenagers they work with. The lives and actions of the Red Frogs have even moved a cynic to express his deepest gentle heart.
And then out of the most unexpected quarters, a blog by Andrew Bolt gently praises the amazing, quiet, under the radar work by an army of Christian volunteers, the Red Frogs. The Red Frogs turn up to the most frequented schoolies locations every year, at their own expense, and pick up drunk kids, give them water, listen to their stories of regret and get them home safely. and give them red frogs (yes the jelly lollies - buy a pack for your next hang over). They do it in response to God's call to love one another. I know one of the red frogs, and he personifies love, gentleness, fun, compassion and servant leadership.
My own experience is that in the presence of unconditional love, the question of right and wrong becomes a secondary consideration. The more I listen to and respond to God's call, increasingly my response to the question "Who's right" is "Who cares?". I don't know whether the fundamentalist christians are right, but what I do know is in the experience of giving and receiving unconditional love, many things that once seemed foreign are no longer a threat. We all need unconditional love, Penny Wong, the drunk teenager, the fundamentalist. In this we are one.
For me, the impact of the Red Frogs is evidence of God. Love like that does not come out of a well planned thought. It comes out of the deepest creative stirring of the heart, and the outcome of acting on it is that humans connect, experience love and are inspired to share the story. Look not only to the impact on the teenagers they work with. The lives and actions of the Red Frogs have even moved a cynic to express his deepest gentle heart.
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
It's mine
I grew up in a musical family and I love singing. I can sing, but recently I decided I am probably getting a bit past it. My voice sounds raspy to me.
On Sunday I was at singing practice before church with two other singers. I listened to us practicing together and realized we were sounding good together. I also realized we would be inaudible in the midst of a congregation. I had a deep sense that we should be heard, because that would lead and lift the congregation. I also wanted to say, "dont be audible, be humble, be quiet". My ego is masterful at disguising itself as humility.
The very gracious music leader accepted my suggestion that the three of us use microphones so we were audible. The singing that day went off! It was amazing and it lifted the roof.
A woman came up to me at the end and said, "You have a beautiful voice." I felt my heart stir. I remembered that I was about to write my voice off, I had given it a performance rating and it wasn't up to scratch. But that is not why I was given a voice. Not to be measured, assessed, compared or rated. That's my ego on overdrive. I realised it was not about me, my voice could be used to bring life into the lives of others.
My voice? No, it's not really mine after all.
On Sunday I was at singing practice before church with two other singers. I listened to us practicing together and realized we were sounding good together. I also realized we would be inaudible in the midst of a congregation. I had a deep sense that we should be heard, because that would lead and lift the congregation. I also wanted to say, "dont be audible, be humble, be quiet". My ego is masterful at disguising itself as humility.
The very gracious music leader accepted my suggestion that the three of us use microphones so we were audible. The singing that day went off! It was amazing and it lifted the roof.
A woman came up to me at the end and said, "You have a beautiful voice." I felt my heart stir. I remembered that I was about to write my voice off, I had given it a performance rating and it wasn't up to scratch. But that is not why I was given a voice. Not to be measured, assessed, compared or rated. That's my ego on overdrive. I realised it was not about me, my voice could be used to bring life into the lives of others.
My voice? No, it's not really mine after all.
Monday, 5 December 2011
Advent
Normally when my ten year old daughter comes in to my room first thing in the morning she is full of beans. She wakes up happy, bright and full of anticipation. But yesterday she came in worried. "I have to write and illustrate my story by tomorrow. I forgot about it. There's too much to do. I can't do it!"
I know how she feels. We are right in the middle of Christmas preparations. In the religious calendar, this is Advent, a time of anticipating and preparing for the arrival of Christ's birth. But the way I do Christmas would be better described as Event - one every day in December! Dont get me wrong, I love Christmas, both the religious and secular festivities. The carols, the advent readings, the presents, the warm weather, the end of year breaks ups. Yet like my daughter the enjoyment and meaning can be swept away as I think "There's too much to do, I can't do it!"
So in my meditation and quietness, I listened. Here's what I heard the other voice say.
Here are 5 ways to avoid stress this advent, so you can experience Christmas fully instead of counting the days until it is over.
1. Ask for help. It's a time to experience community.
2. Don't try to impress anyone. Not with gifts, with activity or with cleverness.
3. Give generously. Time and money.
4. Take it one day at a time, each day is a gift, not a task.
5. Don't worry about forgetting things. You won't forget anything important.
Just hearing these has lifted a burden off my shoulders and already I am experiencing the day more fully.
I know how she feels. We are right in the middle of Christmas preparations. In the religious calendar, this is Advent, a time of anticipating and preparing for the arrival of Christ's birth. But the way I do Christmas would be better described as Event - one every day in December! Dont get me wrong, I love Christmas, both the religious and secular festivities. The carols, the advent readings, the presents, the warm weather, the end of year breaks ups. Yet like my daughter the enjoyment and meaning can be swept away as I think "There's too much to do, I can't do it!"
So in my meditation and quietness, I listened. Here's what I heard the other voice say.
Here are 5 ways to avoid stress this advent, so you can experience Christmas fully instead of counting the days until it is over.
1. Ask for help. It's a time to experience community.
2. Don't try to impress anyone. Not with gifts, with activity or with cleverness.
3. Give generously. Time and money.
4. Take it one day at a time, each day is a gift, not a task.
5. Don't worry about forgetting things. You won't forget anything important.
Just hearing these has lifted a burden off my shoulders and already I am experiencing the day more fully.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Trust
This week the walls came crashing down. Setting up the food business from home seems impossible with council regs, and leasing a premises too expensive and risky without testing the business model. I became overwhelmed and panicked. I said "It's not going to work" and decided I needed a plan B. Being Organised and self sufficient, I'm good at inventing plan Bs.
This morning I went for my bike ride with my neighbour. When I got back, my husband had been praying. He relayed to me that he had sensed God saying that I had stopped listening, that I had reached the limits of my trust, and I had stopped putting my trust in God. It was true. Yet hearing it did not leave me feeling condemned, it was freeing. I felt loved, encouraged and strengthened to try again. It connected us again. We both heard a creative new option, which I will now explore.
If this is all in my own head, how come it connects me so deeply to love and to another human being?
This morning I went for my bike ride with my neighbour. When I got back, my husband had been praying. He relayed to me that he had sensed God saying that I had stopped listening, that I had reached the limits of my trust, and I had stopped putting my trust in God. It was true. Yet hearing it did not leave me feeling condemned, it was freeing. I felt loved, encouraged and strengthened to try again. It connected us again. We both heard a creative new option, which I will now explore.
If this is all in my own head, how come it connects me so deeply to love and to another human being?
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