Word in the Hand

Matthew 2:1-12 After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east. ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews?’ they asked. ‘We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.’ When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem. He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ‘At Bethlehem in Judaea,’ they told him ‘for this is what the prophet wrote:And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah,for out of you will come a leaderwho will shepherd my people Israel.’Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared, and sent them on to Bethlehem. ‘Go and find out all about the child,’ he said ‘and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.’ Having listened to ...

Gospel  Luke 24:13-35 Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped short, their faces downcast. Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked. ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth’ they answered ‘who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole ...

O, Divine have mercy Heal me with compassion And swaddle me with your love I fear to be in your presence knowing how many times I have turned Treating life as a dead-end street Whilst you waited for memory to return Take me again in your arms, O Divine With hyssop, purify me as a holy place As bright as the mountaintop snow   As a tabernacle of scented blessedness  O Divine create within me, a new song  A rhythm of heart beating truth Let the breath of your Spirit renew me  And my days bear the joy of your word All I can offer is me, O Divine  All the sorrow that cannot be carried The brokenness that won't hold any longer And a heart that cries out to be held O, Divine have mercy Heal me with compassion And swaddle me with your love wordinthehand2015 1 7  10 

wordinthehand2011

A moment of reflection for the desert journey of Lent

With Lent in mind and the struggle of many 'Martha's to find a minute -

A moment of mindfulness

Inspired by a sunrise at Holy Island wordinthehand2010

Lindisfarne Having just come back from a retreat where the group was invited to make a commitment to several hours of silence and realising how unique and demanding an experience this became for some; I have spent some time thinking about what it was we were asking. Paradoxically, we hear a lot about silence these days. In a world full of multi-sensory experiences, both actual and virtual, silence has become something of a panacea for the over-stressed and often overwhelmed psyche. Courses, classes, retreat centres even tv programmes promise silence as a cure for the busy-ness of life. People seek the perfect silence –but our own physical presence creates sound – heartbeat, breath, blood rushing through veins. Noise, it seems, is part of the human condition; proof of life. If noise is the human condition does this make silence divine? Is this why we regard it as something outside our natural abilities, that, in some way it is accepted as an ‘unreachable star’? Is this why w...

Mindfulness is not about simply being quiet or still. It is about finding a centre within you and filling it with grace. Then, just as a glass tumbler filled with clear water becomes a magnifying glass so this grace filled centre becomes a way of seeing the world through God's eyes. It concentrates the gaze and gives a sparkle and a unique lightness to everything it sees,no matter how small or mundane. When you are quiet or still; this is simple to achieve with time. The trick is to take that tumblerful of clear water and start carrying around with you wherever you go; using it to concentrate your vision; to see within.  And there will be distractions but don't worry too much about spilling it; especially when the droplets become tiny lens themselves finding treasures of their own. And remember it is there for you to drink from, should you need to; with an eternal invitation to return to the Source to be filled again. wordinthehand2010...

On Holy Island I listened to a man reading from the Song of Songs. He read it wonderfully with no concern that he spoke of lying on the Beloved's breast et al. And I remembered a man saying that women should have a more intimate relationship with Jesus because he was a man - and women.... Not sure I agree, but if nothing else I guess it gives women permission to write about him that way... Women's Prayers Lord, God of my life I stand before you, head bowed Naked and ashamed Bound in my sadness For I know that I am not worthy. Your gaze is upon me Your hand touches my cheek And lifts my eyes to yours Eyes offering forgiveness Mouth smiling Love You take me in your arms Mercy wrapped in Mercy And I rest Clothed in You Lord, God of my life I sit at your feet, head bowed I have given all I have My treasure and my tears Tongue-tied with sorrow For I know I am not worthy Your hand in my hair Your words redeem me I lift my eyes to yours Thanks, echoed with thanks Love with Divine Lov...

A smattering is the idiosyncratic parlance of the Met office. A smattering of sharp, cold, ice white flakes dancing in the easterly wind ; a dusting of sparklingly bright crystals fallen from a heavy pink clouded sky; outlining the angles and convolutions of the landscape; catching the eye again –‘Look, look’. This was a sudden smattering, and, as such, has had a dramatic effect. The radio warns of hazardous driving conditions and recommends only necessary journeys, sports events are cancelled, shoppers with empty pockets, still suffering from the Christmas excess, decide it is a day for the fireside. God claims His Sabbath back as a day of rest. Later in the day only a hardy few regard a walk in the frozen countryside as a ‘rest’; and are favoured witnesses to a pageant of stark beauty – browlines of skeletal trees outlined against the hard china blue sky – a pictogram of ‘Winter’. Walking among the trees, the suffering is apparent; bark turned ashen grey, evergreen leaves tinged wit...

Reflection It’s funny how some things that the Lord tells us seems to mean more to him than others. Surely, more important to where the Gospel writers are coming from; everything the Lord says must be important you would think? Yet even Jesus seems to have his favourite subjects. Jesus is watching a woman in the Temple; one of the little ones; the poor ones; the ‘don’t really matter’ ones and perhaps, as he is watching her, he is reminded of his own mother. Perhaps he is reminded of the scrimping and saving that she had to do before and after Joseph’s death. After all; there was no likelihood that they were a well-off family. Joseph was no more than an odd-job man and their place in the community is suggested by the comments of those who hear Jesus preach – ‘this is only the carpenter’s son’, ‘only Mary’s son’ – with the veiled addition of ‘who does he think he is?’ Yet it seems that Jesus is certainly brought up to be a good Jew; to know about the traditions of his faith; to know them...

Reflection Recently, we have been talking about becoming less – less of who and what we want to be; less of what the world expects; less involved in ambition or climbing social ladders. As we give away more and more; how should becoming less and less make us feel? As we give up more, we become poorer, and what does that mean? What it should mean, and certainly why anyone would want to do it, is that we become happier and more centred in who we are. Once we have turned the idea of less being a negative we can start to appreciate what it is we are doing. We all know that there are ways where ‘less’ turns what seems a negative into a positive; we can lose weight; we can become less stressed; we can de-clutter our houses and our lives. Once we start discarding what we don’t really want we can start to focus on what we do really need. Like martial arts practitioners, climbers or even fishermen we can pay attention to what is important, to what the goal is. I wonder if that is why Jesus star...

Reflection One of us I was told on good authority this week that there are now over 60,000 ‘Christian’ denominations in the world all claiming to know the Truth. Only a few years ago it was 30.000; what is happening to the Truth? It seems that, like beauty, Truth is in the eye of the beholder and if you don’t agree, then you are not one of the chosen; not one of us. People are being exiled or founding new churches on the strength of a translation, an idea, a tradition, a taste in music or prayer. As had been mentioned recently we are in danger of becoming church-ians. How dreadful; how human. Jesus warned us that our faith would mean that we would be criticised and persecuted; that our faith would set brother against brother but did he mean within the faith itself? Surely not? What happened to the communities of the early church who lived wonderfully together? When did being a Christian mean judging other Christians? It seems since forever; as the disciples did it; Paul’s communities ...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Kings 19:4 ‘I have had enough’ Reflection Enough This is one of those two-tone phrases that you can read so much into. You imagine that to have enough is to be satisfied – to be without need – a good thing; but not always. When I was a child - ‘I have had enough’ told me and my brothers that we had overstepped the mark. It is the phrase my nan and my mum would shout out as the final straw descended. As children we knew it was time to grow up a bit, and to try to make ourselves as invisible as possible! It was a phrase that could make my nan actually physically, truly, disappear. My nan, had the minuted routine of the woman of the fifties – Monday – Washing; tidying; shops – Tuesday- ironing; beds and upstairs carpets. Everything done by hand and on foot and woe betide anything or anyone that got in her way – until ‘I have had enough’. Then carpet slippers changed for court shoes, the wrap...

O pening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Matthew 22:21 ‘give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his’ Reflection How much do you give to God? I only ask because I know that all of us have a busy life, a really busy life. My life is so full of priorities that when I am advised to list them from 1 to 10 they are all a one, I don’t even have time to think about the 2’s, 3’s and 4’s. Can’t imagine what a 10 would be – washing my hair? And then what am I supposed to do? Except dash from one to the other and spend the last minutes before sleep trying to plan a tomorrow that will get it all done. Trying to keep everyone happy. Trying to live in this world. Trying to give Ceasar what is his. And where is God? Sitting at home like a maiden aunt who is always forgotten in the Christmas visits, looking at photos of us and reading old letters. Of course we make time to visit on Sundays and maybe when He can do us a fovour but otherwise…...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians 2:14 ‘in Christ, God leads us from place to place’ Reflection You have to ask yourself; what would you do if you had just risen from the dead? After all you had gone through and suffered –then to return to those people you thought were friends; who had said that they would stand by you and didn’t. Who had seemed to understand and didn’t. Would you be walking in the dust and dirt of a country road; would you be eating fish; would you be cooking fish? Almost the absurdity of this proves that Jesus is not just human – our pride, our ego would not have allowed us to do this; our feeling of superiority would have got the better of us. At the very least, we would have floated gracefully above the ground, a banquet would have been magicked out of thin air. We would have looked like the god we though we were. But if Jesus had done this; if the Christ that he became ha...