In this church all is still,
but for the clock’s tick;
the bell ropes hang
waiting for the ringers’ tug.
The pews wait for restless worshippers
or tired travellers;
the windows send threads of sun
along the pews’ edges
and silence waits to be filled.
Something coalesces –
is it the presence of God?
or is it my racing pulse
slowing to the pace of reflected memories?
In the space,
in the silence,
in the need,
in the waiting,
there is room for God.
Posted in church, faith, poetry, prayer, spirituality | 1 Comment »
In my head,
my jogging becomes a run,
bounding over ditches
and crossing the finishing line
well ahead of the field.
In my head,
my waistline diminishes,
I watch only the news on TV
and always work effectively.
In my head,
I think creatively,
wait patiently
and love constantly.
In my head,
I practise relentlessly,
exercise regularly
and pray constantly.
In my heart,
the butterfly flits,
distractions distract
and the compass needle spins.
In my heart,
sloth slides onto the sofa
and tomorrow never comes.
Lord, renew my heart
and direct my thoughts,
through Jesus Christ my Lord – really…
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God of the journey,
you call me to follow in the way of Jesus
and you walk with me each step of the way.
Guide me when I am lost,
strengthen me when I have far to go
and refresh me when I am weary.
Pick me up when I stumble,
carry me when I faint,
and bring me to your resting place of love,
through Jesus Christ
my companion and Lord
Posted in discipleship, faith, pilgrimage, prayer | Leave a Comment »
David G. Benner Opening to God: Lectio Divina and Life as Prayer
Downers Grove IL, IVP 2010
It was one of those moments of delightful ‘accident’ or serendipity. I was browsing a small bookstall in a retreat centre recently and came across this little book by David G. Benner. It is a book about prayer but it is so much more: it offers practical guidance while also giving psychological insight and glimpses of profound theology.
Benner is a Canadian writer on spirituality with a professional background in clinical psychology and the teaching of spirituality. He argues that prayer is primarily an expression of our relationship with God. It is more than ‘saying prayers’, it is ‘being with the Beloved’, a relationship which spills out into the whole of life and leads to personal transformation. There are many practical suggestions about the ‘how’ of prayer in this book, but the author begins by arguing that prayer is not something we do but something God does in and through us. Prayer is the act of breathing in the love of God and then breathing this same love back out into the world.
The evangelical roots of this author are in evidence as he shows the importance of Scripture in nourishing the life of prayer. The traditional method of lectio divina (spiritual reading) is explained and then its four stages are used as a way of exploring the many dimensions of prayer. So lectio (reading) leads to ‘prayer as attending’, meditatio (meditation) leads to ‘prayer as pondering’, oratio (prayer or speaking) leads to ‘prayer as responding’ and contemplatio (contemplation) leads to ‘prayer as being’.
Along the way, Benner explores the importance of silence, honesty and imagination. He explains clearly such forms of prayer as the examen (the prayerful recollection of the day), the Jesus prayer, pondering art, journaling, conversational prayer and centering prayer.
A key concern is that prayer should be holistic. In part, this means that, whatever our personality or spiritual tradition, we should broaden the repertoire of our praying. But holistic prayer also means that our prayer activity should move beyond our times of prayer to transform the whole of our lives.
Prayer that is reduced to technique or discipline seriously misses the fact that first and foremost, prayer expresses a relationship between us and God… [for] we are his friends, not his servants (John 15.15)… It is to this friend’s presence in our life and our world that we attune our self when we offer prayers of attending. It is with this friend that we offer prayers of pondering, responding and being. (p150)
This is quite simply the best book on prayer that I have read. It’s first reading will excite and encourage and re-reading will offer rich reflections and practical guidance. On a scale of one to five, I give this book six stars!
You can check our David Benner’s blog and some of his other books at http://www.drdavidgbenner.ca/blog/
Posted in prayer, scripture, spirituality, theology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Lord Jesus,
waiting is hard.
Help me to wait with you now:
in the garden of your painful praying,
on the way of your stumbling,
beside the cross of your dying.
And beside the tomb of your lying,
help me to wait for your rising
and to pray for your coming
to make all things new.
Crucifixion
by Graham Sutherland
in the Vatican Museum.
Photo: Chris Ellis
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Remember
‘Remember in the dark what you learned in the light’
Darkness folds in and smothers hope:
directions disintegrate,
perspectives perversely shift,
space spins,
thought telescopes
character crumbles.
The fish limp in poacher’s bag,
gagged hostage, foetal-folded,
bundled in the boot;
the scanned patient stripped and still,
torn between truth and mercy;
the unsleeping sleeper staring
at the unfriendly ceiling.
When nothing can be seen,
but fears dance like shadows at the stairs’ turn,
when action melts into gearless stare
and plans dissolve into passivity.
Now is the time:
when there is no looking forward
and the present is ominously stalled.
Now is the time to look back:
to remember daylight,
shafts of light casting clear shadows,
sparkles of sun lighting dark textures,
the search of memory bringing echoes of faithfulness,
of wisdom explored,
promises kept,
love’s embrace.
To remember the light
and wait for the light;
when pathos becomes patience,
when terror becomes trust,
when darkness dazzles with wonder and grace.
Christopher Ellis
Photograph: Sunset in West Bridgford 15.1.12
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In early December I staged an exhibition of a dozen paintings which I had completed since my Italian journey earlier this year, together with a handful of earlier works. The show was exhibited at West Bridgford Baptist Church, Nottingham.
As well as the oils and pen and wash paintings, I included a number of photographs, a display of the books I had read and the sketchbooks which I had used while travelling. This was an attempt to feed back to the church some of the work and benefits of my sabbatical study leave – someone even read my sabbatical report!
Here is a gallery of the paintings and few pics of the exhibition.Click on an image and use the arrow keys or a further click to take you around the show.
I will also have some paintings in an exhibition in Nottingham in January. Here are the details -
COLOUR
OF MONDAY
New oil paintings from
Nottingham Art Studio
14th – 20th January 2012 10am – 4.30pm
Nottingham Society of Artists Gallery Friar Lane, Nottingham, NG1 6DH
Posted in art | 2 Comments »
