Author: mrgsponderings

Heaven in Ordinary

A new tweet from my friend Joyce Smith. She makes this important observation.

This little bird reminds me that in looking for the exotic and colourful, I often overlook the wonder in the ‘ordinary

God can be found in our ordinary lives.

TERESA of Avila  was sometimes referred to as ‘God’s Gadbout‘ because she spent a lot of her energy in founding convents of nuns throughout Spain in the 16th century.  She was forever on the move and yet she is remembered best for her teaching about Prayer and particularly about Contemplative prayer which requires stillness.  No matter how busy she was – and she was very busy – she made sure her heart was constantly fixed on God, whom she referred to as Your Majesty, though not always politely! God for her was very near.  Indeed she coined a famous phrase – ‘God walks among the pots and pans’. We find God in the ordinariness of life, and if we train ourselves to recognize that, we shall meet Him in the everyday events of our lives and in the people we meet.  This is about finding Heaven in Ordinary.

Teresa believed that God was within us as well as beside us, and here she took up our Lord’s own teaching that the Kingdom of God is within us.  We encounter Him in the silent depths of our hearts.

You know that God is everywhere, she says, which is a great truth; wherever God dwells there is heaven, and you may feel sure that all which is glorious is near His Majesty.

Then she refers to St Augustine who sought God in many places and at last found the Almighty within himself.  We don’t need to go to heaven to find God, she says, We are not forced to take wings to find Him, but have only to seek solitude and to look within ourselves.

She calls this seeking God in solitude within ourselves the prayer of Recollection – or Contemplation.  In her work Interior Castle she develops this using the imagery of a King in his Palace.

Let us realize that we have within us a most splendid palace built entirely of gold and precious stones – in short, one that is fit for such a Lord – and that we are partly responsible for the condition of this building, because there is no structure so beautiful as the soul full of pure virtues, and the more perfect these virtues are, the more brilliantly do the jewels shine

What we find in this Palace is the mighty King who, she says,  has deigned to become your Father and Who is seated on a throne of precious value, by which I mean your heart.
Realizing this took her quite a while.:

Had I understood always, as I do now, that so great a King resided in my soul I should not have left Him alone so often, but should have stayed with Him sometimes and not kept His dwelling place in such disorder.

For Teresa, then, it is when we enter into silence and spend a little time with God in our hearts that the soul makes progress in the prayer.  God becomes the centre of our being, always to be found when we still the voices of the world that claim so much of our attention.

Teresa says that it is only through silence that we can encounter the love of God and receive it into our hearts. 
God is very near.  We should seek him within. He is much closer to us than we might imagine.
We are not ordinary to Him who loves us to be near to His heart.
Of course, it is when we recognize this that we are actually quite extraordinary!

The Sparrow knows the answer!

Even if it fell to the ground our heavenly Father will notice! See Matthew 10:32. and Psalm 84:3 where the sparrow and her mate, the swallow, find a dwelling place in God’s house where they may quietly and safely lay their young.

That’s why the sparrow is a long way from ordinary. Just like us!

[Joyce & Mr G]

Tulip

My friend, Gill Henwood, sent me this photograph of what I think is called a parrot Tulip,
which is certainly very beautiful and unusual. It encouraged me to write this poem.

Tulip

I bear witness to beauty, joy and loveliness
in a world besmirched by ugliness, anger and hatred;
a world where words snarl, tear and destroy,
blackening the tongue and emptying the heart of light.

I shine with colour,
dazzling to overshadow dullness;
lives tarnished by pain, emptiness,
harshness of spirit.
I am painted with the palette of joy:
dazzling hues of bright reds, pure white,
swirling greens.

Care and fear are marked out in drab grey,
muddied rust,  blackened dust –
shades of brokenness, distress, disease.

Crying out for attention, the uncared for,
unloved and unserved lose hope,
vainly seeking a vision which eludes them.

But there is still life,
still hope,
still signs of better ways.

My petals dance and swirl in a gentle breeze,
blown from the God who painted me,
filled me with capricious creativity
and pure, pure love.

Open then souls meant for singing,
dancing, loving, serving,
sacrificing for others,
as air rushes in, filled with renewed light.

Breathe.

Be filled with amazement, purpose,
wonder, awesomeness,
love.
With… ah!  
God.

Mr.G. May 3rd 2021.
(with advice from P.N.)

Jesus as the Greater Jonah

Resurrection, one of three paintings on the subject by Indian Christian artist, Jyoti Sahi

During Lent, Holy Week and Easter, our church was challenged to respond to the times. Some of the ministry, outreach and teaching were delivered, along with so many other churches, via Zoom.

The Pandemic has had one side result. Many of us have become more competent at embracing technology and the power it brings to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ in new and often innovative ways.

One of the things we did to meditate and learn about the Passion of Jesus is that once a week we gathered on zoom and looked at aspects of the Passion through the medium of art. Each week, two members of our church community chose a painting which expressed one of the events of Holy Week. Things like anointing Jesus’ feet with costly ointment at Bethany; Jesus in Gethsemane; Peter’s reaction to his own denial and so on.

Whoever was presenting a particular painting introduced the artist and then the painting.
They had been asked to present three questions for discussion and the participants were placed in a number of breakout rooms to consider how the painting affected them and then they tackle the questions. The groups were deliberately small in order to encourage participation. After a period the groups reconvened into the main group for a general feedback. Then the second painting was introduced and the  sharing continued as before.

A final plenary and a prayer ended the meeting.

We found that zoom was particularly ideal for us all to see the detail in the paintings and to share our insights, learning from both the painting and each other.

There were lots of what I call, ‘God Moments’ !

We found it such an helpful way of considering the Passion story that we have now continued gathering together, this time choosing paintings with the Easter themes in mind. People are finding it an enrichment of their prayer and reflection.

I suppose it’s a modern way of using stained glass windows, though zoom means we don’t have to climb ladders or look at our subject!

I’m sure we are not alone in making use of zoom in this way and we can already see other things we can study together via zoom meetings. We can study images in a much more creative way.

Another advantage we have found is that those who can’t get to church for whatever reason – housebound, looking after children, being unwell etc, can take part. It can be a lifeline in keeping Christian fellowship going.

One of the paintings we looked at this week, can be seen above. It is by an Indian artist, Jyoti Sahi. Jyoti was born in 1944 and is regarded as  one of the most important Catholic Christian artists alive today in India, and has been called ‘the theologian with the brush. … He uses his art to create a dialogue between Hinduism and Christianity.

The painting is one of three paintings he did of the Resurrection and it is called Jesus as the Greater Jonah. From the title you might guess what Old Testament theme inspired him! But there are so many images and symbols to discover. In keeping with the way we structured the evening, should you wish to do so, I simply ask you to spend time quietly looking at the painting and let Jyoti speak to you through his art as God speaks to him in his creativity. Then, perhaps consider the questions that Rosemary, who chose the painting, set for us.

All creatures welcome revisited.

Vicarage foxes revisited. Photo | Lynn Hurry
A second fox has arrived at Latton Vicarge garden because foxes know where a ready welcome awaits. They are not, however the only guests at the Hotel Splendide for the animals in need of love. Below is ‘Mrs Tiggywinkle’ of Beatrix Potter fame, who on arrival reminded the hotel manager, Lynn: (It was 1am in the morning and the Vicar of Latton was crawling along the lawn clutching her camera!) :
You know what they say: clean feet make friends, dirty feet make a mess.

Ponder that to your heart’s content!

or think about these words by the American poet, Wendell Berry,

The Peace of Wild Things - Wendell Berry | Wendell berry, Meaningful lyrics, Poetry words

Mr G.

‘The peace of wild things’, is available as a Penguin book. A reviewer has written of it:
If you stop and look around you, you’ll start to see.Tall marigolds darkening. A spring wind blowing.
The woods awake with sound. On the wooden porch, your love smiling. Dew-wet red berries in a cup.
On the hills, the beginnings of green, clover and grass to be pasture.
The fowls singing and then settling for the night. Bright, silent, thousands of stars.
You come into the peace of simple things.