by emma | Nov 10, 2012 | Design, Faith, Words
“Art is about discontinuity and contradiction, which is how grace is experienced in the world, as an alien intrusion into a world that deceives us into believing that we are defined by what we do, not by what Christ has done. And so we are compelled to prove ourselves, to make something that justifies our existence. But art is not just doing and making, it is also receiving, and hearing. It is not just an achievement; it is a gift. It is devoting one’s life to something so futile, inefficient, and in many ways useless, that it becomes a means of grace. Cities, with their concentration of doers and achievers, full of those obsessed with going from good to great, can pose challenges to cultivating a passivity that is absolutely necessary for art.”
[Mako Fujimura, in Christianity Today]
by emma | Jun 10, 2012 | Faith
“The best style of prayer is that which cannot be called anything else but a cry.”
[Charles Spurgeon]
It’s the end of an overnight getaway, and I’m half way through the journey home when this little church on the banks of Loch Awe captures my attention. I pull over at the side of the road and start to explore. Walking around I feel the weight of history: the saints who have worshipped and prayed in the place continually for over a hundred years.
And then I see it.
The sight that brings me to my knees.
A kneeling board, used for prayer, worn away.
Years of prayer.
Of crying out.
Of longing for God to move.
Answered. Unanswered. Big. Small. Significant. Insignificant.
Every prayer heard by the Father.
Every prayer a doxology in the darkness.
“To be grateful for an unanswered prayer, to give thanks in a state of interior desolation, to trust in the love of God in the face of the marvels, cruel circumstances, obscenities, and commonplaces of life is to whisper a doxology in the darkness.”
[Brennan Manning]
by emma | May 23, 2012 | Faith
“The evangelical culture ties together faithfulness with extroversion. The emphasis is on community, on participating in more and more programs and events, on meeting more and more people. It’s a constant tension for many introverts that they’re not living that out. And in a religious world, there’s more at stake when you feel that tension. It doesn’t feel like ‘I’m not doing as well as I’d like.’ It feels like ‘God isn’t pleased with me.'”
[Adam McHugh, as quoted in Quiet by Susan Cain]
I can’t stop thinking about this since I read it last week.
Do you agree? Disagree?
Does an “emphasis on community” have to mean an emphasis on extroversion?
How do we make more space for introverted forms of worship & connection in our church cultures?
by emma | Apr 30, 2012 | Faith
Recently I read Kester Brewin’s book, Other, for the first time – it’s a great book, but it’s deep and philosophical and going to take me a few reads to really get my head around.
I can’t stop thinking about something he wrote…
“While these are obviously commendable, the danger of them is that they create a dynamic among the rest of the congregation that ‘care for the other has been taken care of’ – and thus people end up abdicating their responsibilities to care for one another.”
Which got me thinking about something Shane Claiborne wrote a while back…
“There are many people who are morally “pure” but devoid of any life, joy or celebration. For some, this “purity” means that we do not touch anything that is “secular”, and for others, it means that we don’t eat anything that is not “organic”. But if it is not born of relationships, if it is not liberating for the oppressed and the oppressors, if it is not marked by raw, passionate love, then it is the same old self-righteousness that does little more than flaunt our own purity by making the rest of the world see how dirty they are.”
If my actions aren’t coming from a place of deep care for the relationships around me, they mean nothing. As followers of Jesus we’re called to live life in community with other people – but it has to be real. We are the “pastoral team”. We are our brothers keeper.
by emma | Mar 30, 2012 | Faith, Social Justice
Last Saturday’s Just Generation event inspired and challenged me. Andy Freeman shared some thoughts, along with a few interesting workshops in the afternoon, and a delicious lunch provided by the Elephant Juice Soup Company – if you get a chance you MUST try their haggis & sweet potato soup, I promise you that you will not regret it!
Some thoughts and reflections…
God’s big idea is us. We are the plan.
God never moves backwards, he works with what we’ve made.
Church as foretaste of heaven – could you walk in a say ‘this is what heaven’s like’?
Laugh first an then work out the theology.
Benedictine Rule – treat everyone who comes into our home like Jesus.
Maybe our task is to communicate to the poor, the peacemakers, etc that they are blessed?
by emma | Feb 27, 2012 | Faith
I’m a big fan of dreams.
I love letting my mind just wander and concoct all the crazy ideas it can, because some of them will be amazing. Many will be terrible, and the work is in deciphering which is which. Which dreams to throw out, and which ones to hang on to.
I’m pretty sure God’s a big fan of dreams too.
There are dreams to rebuild temples, free a people from slavery, and prevent famines.
Still, dreamers always got the bad rep.
“Behold the dreamer cometh!”
[Gen 37:19]
Look at this guy! Who does he think he is that he can really make a difference? It’s a lost cause. There’s no hope.
That’s not how God sees it though. There is always hope. This weekend I was reminded that you haven’t missed what God is calling you to unless you’re dead.
Are you dead?
Then neither is your dream.
There is a danger, though; one I’ve been prone to.
Your dream is not your own.
God gave you that dream.
It’s his.
You’re just entrusted with it for a little while.
Whatever your dream, God wants it to come to pass even more than you.
But you cannot chase the dream so hard you forget to chase the Dream-Giver.
He is greater than the dream.
The Dream-Giver is all.
Don’t get so caught up in chasing the dream that you forget to chase the Dream-Giver.
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