by emma | Dec 5, 2008 | Musings
There are these meta-narratives in my life: words, ideas, concepts that swirl around constantly looking for something to grab hold of, to have flesh put on them.
Words like
love,
hope,
community.
I can talk the talk, but do I walk the walk?
The past few weeks have been up and down for me, whether due to work, personal, or relational issues. Yet I go to work and put on a mask. I go to church and put on my mask. I go out with friends and put on the mask.
Time to take the masks off.
We live in a society that tells us we should be self-sufficient, that we don’t need anything or anyone else. Independence is held up as the ultimate goal.
The truth? It’s all lies.
We were made to live in community.
We are meant to be interdependent. In the beginning of the Bible, a man asks the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”. So often we ask this question incredulously, as if to say, of course not! The very next verse challenges us: “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” We are our brother’s keeper. We are meant to live in community. To ask the difficult questions of each other. To wrestle and struggle and laugh and cry and celebrate and mourn and play alongside each other.
We are a broken people, and it is only when we honestly, courageously, and often painfully, face our junk head-on that we can begin to live into all that we were made to be.
“You were created to love and be loved. You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you’re part of a bigger story. You need to know that your life matters.”
[TWLOHA]
I can only know myself as deeply as I am willing to be known.
by emma | Dec 5, 2008 | Advent
If you’re like me and haven’t managed to get a chocolate-filled advent calendar yet, how about trying out Paperless Christmas? It’s a visual advent calendar, with movie clips & sounds every day until Dec 24. It’s a lot of fun!
Visit the website here: http://paperlesschristmas.org.
by emma | Dec 3, 2008 | Social Justice
I got the opportunity to attend the inaugural Magnus Magnusson lecture on Monday, at Glasgow Caledonian university, which was given by Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and dubbed “Banker to the Poor”, is recognised as one of the world’s greatest social entrepreneurs. He was awarded a Nobel Peace prize in 2006 for his efforts to create a world free of poverty by developing the concept of micro-credit, which supports entrepreneurs who are too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. By providing small loans on suitable terms Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that with the right support even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own social and economic advancement.
His lecture on Monday was titled “Alleviating Poverty: Microcredit & Social Business”. I made a minimal amount of notes, but here they are all the same…
“Peel off the layers of fear…”
Grameen Bank works with 97% women.
Looked at how conventional banks did it, then did the exact opposite.
Poverty is created by the systems that we built.
Bonsai tree example – stays small because it’s planted in a pot, fills the space its given to grow in.
Charity money has only one life – investing in social business has many lives.
Poverty belongs in the museums.
The time is now.
The greatest crisis is the greatest opportunity.
Integrated crises – we can’t ignore the current food crisis just because it isn’t affecting us while the financial crisis is.
by emma | Dec 3, 2008 | Advent
I’m tracking along with Mars Hill Advent Bible Readings this year… and I’m so excited about them. I need a little structure to help me along the way, and this seems like a good thing for me. It all comes back to faith, hope and love…
These daily readings were chosen to help capture four main Advent themes: hope, peace, joy, and love. Be encouraged as you read, knowing many others in our community are reading and reflecting on these themes with you.
WEEK 1 – HOPE
Nov 30 – Isaiah 40v1-5
Dec 1 – Psalm 42
Dec 2 – Romans 8v18-27
Dec 3 – Isaiah 11v1-10
Dec 4 – Hebrews 6v13-20
Dec 5 – Psalm 33
Dec 6 – Isaiah 35
WEEK 2 – PEACE
Dec 7 – Isaiah 40v9-11
Dec 8 – Philippians 4v4-7
Dec 9 – Jeremiah 33v7-16
Dec 10 – Isaiah 42v1-9
Dec 11 – Zechariah 9v9-17
Dec 12 – 2 Corinthians 1v2-5
Dec 13 – Isaiah 52v7-10
WEEK 3 – JOY
Dec 14 – Habakkuk 3
Dec 15 – John 16v5-28
Dec 16 – Isaiah 55v9-13
Dec 17 – Psalm 66
Dec 18 – 1 Peter 1v3-9
Dec 19 – Psalm 96
Dec 20 – Isaiah 12
WEEK 4 – LOVE
Dec 21 – Zephaniah 3v14-20
Dec 22 – Psalm 89v1-4
Dec 23 – Ephesians 2v1-10
Dec 24 – Isaiah 9v6-7
by emma | Dec 2, 2008 | Advent, Words
Slightly late I know, but advent has begun! Welcome to the season of festivities…
If you’re looking for an alternative to the credit crunch and the busy yuletide shopping season, how about signing up to Christian Aid’s Advent-inspired email? The handy hints, which will be emailed daily from the 1st December until Christmas Eve, are designed to help you save cash, cut carbon emissions and have some Yuletide fun. You can sign up for them here.
I came across this stunning piece of liturgy a couple days ago on Stewart’s blog, written by Roddy Hamilton…
let us go out
with quiet boldness,
tender daring,
simmering anger,
impatient justice.
let us go out with provocative peacemaking
into advent,
enough to crack open the moribund and dry faith of the world
in it’s spent and necrotic cravings.
let us go out with a message
that disturbs the world with restless whispers
about god and incarnation,
goosebumps and justice.
let us go out
and muffle our laughter
behind an unnerving truth
heaven-shaped
sharp-edged
waiting to crack it all open
and let the glory through
with a living word:
jesus
Beautiful… may we come to know the God of goosebumps and justice more this Advent season…
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