Dear All,
Tomorrow is the Feast of Christ the King. Our reflections look at what Christ’s Kingdom is – where it is, whether it is something for the future or something in the here & now.
We are moving towards the end of the Church’s year & next week we will be into Advent. We will be doing some special ‘zoom’ reflections on the Sundays of Advent. We hope you will join us for these – see here for details.
Today’s blessing is Libera’s Gaelic blessing, ‘Deep Peace’.
With our love
The Kingdom is Near
by Kathy Galloway
Here,
among the pots and pans,
Now,
kneaded and rolled into apple pie
fragrant and warm and spicy.
Here,
around the kitchen table,
Now,
present to all the hurts and injustices.
Here,
in the dance,
weaving patterns of conviviality and resistance.
Now, open house, open hearts.
Here,
listening, respect, encouragement,
Now,
right relationship is not postponed.
Here and now.
Only this.
It is enough.
It helps now and then to step back
and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection,
no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No programme accomplishes the Church’s mission.
That is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realising that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter
and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between
the master builder and the worker.
We are the workers, not the master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are the prophets of a future not of our own.
Amen.
Living God, Friend in Christ, Spirit of Hope, here is the place
where the lost & forsaken can find a home,
held in the palm of the creator’s hand.
Here is the place
where the blind & the lame can find new life,
affirmed as Christ’s friends.
Here is the place
where young & old, rich & haughty, proud & strong
can be enlivened by a new hope, born again to holiness.
Living God, here is the place.
So, here is the place
where faith is mixed up with doubts,
friendships falling short, hope not completely understood…..
Here is the place
where all people can rejoice
as a Creator God taps us gently on our shoulder,
and says ‘I can make you a new creation’ ….
as Christ the Friend whispers softly in tender love,
and says, ‘I believe in you’….
as the Enlivening Spirit wraps us in an embrace of hope,
and says, ‘I need you now’.
Living God, here is the place.
Here is the place where forgiveness is real,
and hope is ours & light shines again,
and the kingdom is a little clearer,
and the whole people can rejoice.
Here is the place, Living God,
and now is the day for courage to sustain us, for God is good.
Here is the place, Christ our Friend,
and now is the time for the people together
to know that they are the people of God.
Here is the place, Spirit of Hope,
and now is the moment
when your purpose & our commitment
gently or cataclysmically collide
and lives are changed, and worlds are turned upside down,
and fires of love take hold.
Creator,
Friend,
Spirit with us,
here is the place,
this is the day,
now is the Kingdom…..
Living God, here is the place.
Amen.
Adapted from Tom Gordon