Who is your mother?

Although we have already celebrated Mothering Sunday here in the UK this year the modern world of the internet makes us very aware that friends around the world celebrate the role their mothers play in their lives on different days of the year and today in the USA and Canada they are celebrating today (Sunday May 13th 2012).

I have been thinking a lot about mothering ever since I found out on the British Mothering Sunday that my own daughter is pregnant. This has changed the way I see mothering my daughter and is giving me glances at the new experience of being a grandparent to a child from before their birth as long as I am around to do it... When your own child is becoming a parent I have found that your relationship with them shifts as they become more of an adult and yet may need more care and support at the same time...

Then on Facebook I noticed that many of the posts about Mother's Day were about those who mourned the passing of their mothers and wondered how they could get through the day without being able to celebrate, thank and hug their mothers in the flesh... I do not have this experience as both my parents are still with us, although I can do no more than send my mum a card and/or give her a ring since she lives a drive away... I can't begin to imagine what it would be like not to have my mum around in this way - for all our differences at times! - and I have been really struck by some of the things that some people said in trying to comfort those so bereaved...

Some recommended a turning to Mary, mother of Jesus, as Jesus is shown in the Gospel of John as asking His Beloved Disciple (that's us folks!) and His mother to care for each other after His death. This is the way that the Roman Catholic Church has allowed for a feminine model of love to be included in what tends to be a very male model of God. Mary Theotokos (:Mother of God) is certainly a way that helps many to access this necessary aspect of human and divine love.

Some others talked about how mothers have a unique unconditional love that stretches back generations and that is certainly something to celebrate. I always want to be aware of those for whom this unconditional love from a parent is not a reality or who received it from someone other than their biological mother. This is one of the reasons why I am not happy to confine my description of God as Father - for some their father was a critical, harsh parent - or worse. For this reason the use of Mother as an alternative on its own is equally difficult. This is one of the reasons I love Rosamunde Millar's Mass of the Mother where, despite its title, God is referred to as Father, Mother and Holy Child. This Trinity allows us to look for those who have been our true family, those who have loved us with that unconditional love that is the best mirror of the love that we will feel embraced in the Divine Love.

May you be blessed in an experience of unconditional human love that accepts totally and wants only the best for you and know that this is only a shadow of the unconditional love of the universe for each and every one of us...



Don't worry - pray! The First Sunday in Lent

Today's Epistle reading (Liberal Catholic Liturgy) gives us some indications as to what we must do to be accepted by Christ, which has to be a good starting point to someone like me, looking to find my way back into a more active ministry, looking for the way forward.

Give no offence in anything, in all things approving yourself by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.

II Corinthians 5

I have had a couple of days of reading scripture (coming to my phone in a daily portion from an online reading plan) without attempting to write, as my daughter came home for the weekend and it is pretty hard to get any undisturbed time when she's here! And so far, the message I seem to be getting is two-fold... One is that whatever I do needs to be based on prayer...

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. 

Philippians 4:6-7 (MSG)

 

Now this is the one thing that I have continued during my illness this year, trying to be an active prayer warrior (for want of a better term) presence on Facebook, praying for everyone who has asked for assistance. And, especially because I suffer from depression and anxiety, I need to keep placing all that I do in God's light, and to ask others to pray for me, that I may feel an increasing sense of God's wholeness, rather than worry, as I move forward on this new path...

 

I do have some ideas where my efforts would best be directed, as, as well as doing work the LCAC may ask of me as Episcopal Vicar in the North-east of England and serving on the faculty of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Seminary, I had been approached by someone to begin an LCAC parish here in the NE before my illness. Previous to that I had said Mass in my home and welcomed anyone who wished to attend, but this had not attracted many visitors. Now I have someone to work with who is keen to build something, which seems as good a sign as any that God now wants me to work in this direction as it fits the second part of what I feel I am being told - to work with the poor:

 

Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them...

Philippians 4:5 (MSG)

I have always felt called to work with those on the margins; of society (we live in an infamous street on a council estate), of the church (I offered for ordination through MCC). Now I have a chance to do both. The people who want to work with me feel rejected by mainstream churches because of their sexuality and/or gender indentity. Many also live on benefits due to poor health, disabilty or "simply" the lack of work here in this deprived part of the UK. Those that do work receive the Statutory Minimum Wage. I know what that is like as I now receive disabilty benefits and my partner is on carers benefits since losing her job due to cutbacks, in September.

The good-hearted understand what it is like to be poor; the hard-hearted haven't the faintest idea.

Leadership gains authority and respect when the voiceless poor are treated fairly.Proverbs 29:7,14 (MSG)

So, we are not a rich group; we are all the voiceless poor in one way or another, but we are motivated by love of God, of each other, and of catholic christianity. I have seen churches where many if not all of us would not be accepted, so I feel privileged to say that over the next months and weeks we will begin to work together to see what we can build here in the NE!

And I will try not to worry but to pray - I hope I can rely on your prayers for me and for us...

Stay blessed!

PS If you would like me/us to pray for you, please leave a comment or contact me via our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/LCACNEEngland

When I Say, "I Am A Christian"

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I'm not shouting "I am saved."

I'm whispering "I was lost";

That is why I chose this way.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I don't speak of this with pride.

I'm confessing that I stumble,

And need someone to be my guide.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I'm not trying to be strong.

I'm professing that I'm weak,

And pray for strength to carry on.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I'm not bragging of success.

I'm admitting I have failed,

And cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I'm not claiming to be perfect.

My flaws are too visible,

But God believes I'm worth it.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I still feel the sting of pain.

I have my share of heartaches,

Which is why I speak His name.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I do not wish to judge.

I have no authority;

I only know I'm loved.

[ Copyright 1989, Carol S. Wimmer -- from Trudy Fuller.]

When I started this Lenten blog yesterday, I did not have a clear idea of where I would get my spiritual reading from each day, I had decided to be open to the Spirit, as befits my Quaker upbringing. After all, yesterday's readings also show Jesus as having said:

 

"The wind blows where it wills, and you hear its sound but you cannot tell where it has come from or where it is going; so it is with everyone that is born of the Spirit."

 

And today, doing my usual trawl through Facebook I found the poem above, posted by

 

https://www.facebook.com/stchristopherscommunitychurch.

 

And it answers many, though not all, of the issues that I get asked about when I say I am a Christian - or worse still, a priest! Being a Christian has such a bad press nowadays that many people keep their light under a bushel. Because if you say you are a Christian (or even worse a priest!) people make so many assumptions about you... In so many cases they align you with the Bible-belt of the USA and assume that you will be creationist, homophobic, take the Bible literally and have certain beliefs about issues such as abortion, contraception, euthanasia, etc etc. And if you say you are catholic, they add on anti-women, child abuse by priests and the Pope for good measure!

 

And yet, the christian community is a whole rainbow (excuse the rainbow reference there, I can't help myself!) of people, holding all kinds of views on all these issues.  When I was doing my A Levels in 1982 I had to change from a paper on Buddhism to one of John's Gospel due to a change in school and I probably held all the above prejudices... I was so surprised to learn about biblical criticism in my lessons and amazed at the outcry caused by Bishop David Jenkins - after all these were the things we had learnt in class!

 

I was brought up not only as a Quaker, but as a universalist one, as my dad, in particular, saw himself as an ex-Christian. We were taught that all religions were roads up a mountain towards God, as it were, with Christianity no better than any other... In fact, my dad's experiences had led to attitudes that meant that he would probably have been happier if I'd become a Hindu or a Sikh than a Christian! Imagine his shock when I joined the Roman Catholic church in 1986.

 

So, this poem, for me, reminds me of why I personally, made the decision in May 1985, to walk forward at a Billy Graham meeting at Roker Park in Sunderland (yes a catholic priest who was a BG convert!) and say yes to Jesus! As the years have gone by many of my thoughts on issues mentioned above have changed - I like to think I have matured! - but the fundamental reason I am a Christian is because of a personal relationship of love between myself and God, as shown in the life of Jesus as we have it recorded...

 

We could discuss doctrines of atonement, transubstantiation etc etc but to me, all those are less important than love!

 

Stay blessed!

Beginning Lent...

I am beginning this Lent (2012) recovering from an operation which I am hoping will result in me feeling well after over a year of very poor health... I have never been very much in favour of giving things up for Lent, as I think this could too often, for me at least, become an exercise in something else, like losing the weight I need to, or getting more healthy, or just lead to feeling guilty...

So, I have decided to commit to writing a blog during Lent, not necessarily every day, but on a frequent basis, to help me feel plugged back into where I want to be in my spiritual journey: knowing what I should be doing next in my personal journey and in my work with the LCAC in the North of England - more of that another day...

One thing I have signed up to is the Tear Fund's Carbon Fast:

www.tearfund.org/carbonfast

https://www.facebook.com/events/114307468691921/

which will give me something to think about in addition to the spiritual reading I will be doing... This is a great activity to join in with - I invite you to join me...

The reading from today's Gospel (Liberal Catholic Church - alt) begins:

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

Amen. I say to you, unless a person be born again, they cannot see the commonwealth of God.

This seems very appropriate to me as I hope to be born into a life of health and energy, where I can serve God in a way that I have not been able to over the last year...

Hears to re-birth!

Compassion?

I have really struggled with the comments over the releasing of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi by the Scottish Government.

One reason is that it seems as if many, especially politicians have waited to comment, as if testing the waters for fear of saying the wrong thing. We now seem to be facing a swell of outrage that a man, convicted of a crime, may be released on compassionate grounds due to his suffering with terminal cancer.

I have every sympathy with the families and all those involved with the crash. I cannot begin to imagine what it must feel like to have lost a loved one or to have worked at clearing up the debris left by the crash. But revenge is not a good healthy way to treat each other and I do not think those who are bereaved should expect to override the principle of compassion.

Nor am I happy with the idea that it is OK to release a man about whom there is some doubt about his guilt. I do not know the details of the case, but if it could be faulty then it should be dealt with through the law. So those who say, well he probably wasn't guilty anyway, so we were OK to release him have deprived those who need to know who was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.

The Scottish Government have stated that he has been released out of compassion for his terminal cancer. This makes perfect sense to me. He is a dying man who wants, as we all would to be near home and family at the end of his life. If we refuse to show compassion, like those who suggest that he doesn't deserve compassion , having shown none to his vitims, we are no better than those who do murder...

We must not sink to that level, but show the Love God has for all of us, whatever we may have done...

May we all be blessed with compassionate hearts for all of God's creation.

Naivety

I am reading an excellent book called "I Heard The Owl Call My Name" by Margaret Craven, about an Anglican priest sent to an American Indian village in British Columbia. I have found it so engrossing I have read the first half today.

I have found myself touched by the following quote:

"'There were two kinds of naivety' he said, quoting Schweitzer; ' one not even aware of the problems, and another which has knocked on all the doors of knowledge and knows man (sic) can explain little and is still willing to follow his (sic) convictions into the unknown.'" page 29

While I would not claim to have knocked on all the doors of knowledge, I do feel that the more I have studied, prayed and experienced, the more I am aware of how much I do not know.

This may well be one of the reasons I am so happy to have found my way into a church which describes itself as non-dogmatic. There is room here for me to journey into the unknown; not having to sign up to statements that use language I am not comfortable with; and to have fellow travellers who are naive in this way - knowing that we cannot know all the answers, especially about the mystery that is God.

Blessings

from

Amma Bridget

Burnout...

Ministry burnout....

an interesting article:
http://www.christianitytoday. com/le/thepastor/soulspirit/survivalskills. html

Any comments?
What is your list?

Blessings
from
Amma Bridget