last post for Becoming of G-d

I've finished Ian Mobsby's The Becoming of G-d, and though I still have difficulties with some of the language we inherit for speaking about God as Trinity, with Father sending Son and Spirit (quoting Edgar p. 141) or the Spirit following Jesus and acting as mediator between God and us (Taylor quoted on p. 110) when the Biblical witness is clear about the presence of the Spirit right from creation, and at the beginning of the incarnation of Jesus and all through his life, teaching, healing, resurrection ...
Mobsby hints at language more reflective of the mutuality he speaks of within the Trinity in a quote from Jean Vanier, who speaks of the love of the persons of the Trinity poured out for one another ( The Broken Body quoted on p. 126). If it is love that flows within the Trinity, then we can more readily speak of mutuality - because if Jesus is begotten and then sends the Spirit, it is difficult to complete the circle and have the Father begotten or sent. But love, well, that gives and receives doesn't it? And it is harder to find a starting point, so that we can say Wisdom loves Spirit loves Creator loves Wisdom loves Creator loves Spirit loves Wisdom, and it's mutual, it's not a hierarchy or chronological pattern or even a circle, it's more the perichoretic dance Mobsby and others have spoken of.
However, the hierarchical language still enters the dance if we, as Mobsby does on p. 117, can't resist naming Creator as leader of the dance - why does there have to be a leader of the dance? Or why must there be only one? Can't we see through the Story of God as revealed to us by God that at various moments in the story each of our understood persons of the Trinity leads the dance.
And then, my final debate with the doctrine of the Trinity is that it really isn't biblical - pause as I wait to be struck down by lightning - nope, I'm OK. It's much more fluid than that in the Bible, our understanding and experience of the nature of God. God is revealed as Wisdom dancing at creation, leading us on a path back to the heart of God, incarnate in Jesus as God with us in the most profound act of love and reconciliation. God is revealed as Creator, lovingly crafting a universe, and this earth on which we live, in all its delicate intricacy and offering humanity the invitation to partner with God in care of this earth. God is revealed as Spirit, hovering over the waters before time begins, a pillar of cloud, a fire in a bush, a dove, flames, healing, mysterious inspiration for wonder and miracle. We can see fatherly and motherly traits to this God of love and nurture and discipline. We know this God through word/Word, story, song, law, teaching, poetry, prophecy, proverb.
God is more than just three natures or persons or elements. And the Father / Son / Holy Spirit language comes from a particular time serving a particular need for survival of early communities of Christians, and is shaped by men in a patriarchal society.
However, through Mobsby's exploration of the gift of a Trinitarian understanding of God which is more about community, mutuality and love than about the names and nature of each 'person' of this Trinity, I can see the beauty of this gift. To understand the nature of God as about community, relationship, profound mutuality and the deepest love is true to humanity's experience of God. And if we shape our communities of faith inspired by such an understanding of the God of our faith, these will be communities that do indeed 'love people into their potential' (p. 118). And this is what relationship with God is all about, for me - it is a path to the fulness of our humanity.

A Shakespearean view of Australian politics - Eureka Street

I enjoyed this article reflecting on the comparisons made between politicians and characters from Shakespeare's plays. Particularly liked the description of Shakespeare as a 'master observer of human behaviour' - so true.

Once again, I am so pleased to see the arts offering us a different lens through which to observe humanity and to make meaning.

A Shakespearean view of Australian politics - Eureka Street

gathering around the Sacred Story

This monday The Esther Project gathers for supper and conversation around the Sacred Story.

Our portion for August is Isaiah 5:1-7, in which Isaiah takes a traditional song of the wine harvest and reinterprets it to speak of God's relationship with Israel and Judah.
In the gospel account of Luke (and Mark and Matthew), this interpretation is reinterpreted in a parable about wicked tenants.
How might we interpret these stories to make meaning for our lives today?
What might these stories lead us to discover about God's relationship with us, with our world in our time?

Enter the Story, enter the Song, Monday 2 August 7.30 pm at the Effective Living Centre, 26 King William Road Wayville.

The Esther Project welcomes people from all faith traditions and none to share in the life of this community of faith, of story, of creativity – especially those who may be looking for
new ways of being church.


The Esther Project
community – creativity – sacred story
contactus@estherproject.unitingchurch.org.au
www.estherproject.unitingchurch.org.au

hospitality vs money

my netball team decided to change to a different centre recently. we had become disgruntled with the new management at our previous centre, and after our first game in the new (to us) centre, i think i can name what the difference might be.
hospitality
the new centre has one less court, but more room around them for players to gather without falling on top of each other - the old one squeezes as many courts in as possible to make as much money as possible.
the new centre has plenty of chairs on which to sit and wait for your game, watch a friend's game, chat after a game ... the old centre has few chairs and teams are on top of each other at the switch over of games.
the new centre has clean, new, well kept bibs that are comfortable - the old centre has old bibs that need new elastic, and for which you need to hand in a set of keys at the desk because the centre staff don't want to have to gather bibs in or tidy up.
when i rolled my ankle at the new centre last night by the time i was off the court, the staff had seen that i had fallen and would need ice and were already at the freezer getting it ready - at the old centre, the staff may or may not have been behind the desk, would not have been at all interested in the game, especially if it was netball because they showed an overt preferential treatment of the cricket teams, and would have reluctantly, eventually, got you some ice once you had hobbled over and asked for it.

for me, the difference certainly is hospitality. at the old centre it was clear that the managers were concerned about money, were difficult to talk to about any issues we had, and were not at all hospitable. i do wonder if, since we have left, and several other teams before us have also left, in the worry about the financial success or even viability of the centre, the managers will actually be costing themselves money. the intangibles of hospitality can't be measured, but the absence of hospitality will impact the measurable bottom line, of that i am certain.

centre for public christianity

I've just discovered the Centre for Public Christianity (or CPX). Others have obviously known about it for a while, however.

I found this blog post from March on World Poetry Day pertinent in the light of the recent week of retreat, seminar, poetry spaces with Mark Burrows at the Effective Living Centre.

Looking forward to making more discoveries on and through the site.

Campaign of caricatures - Eureka Street

here's an interesting depiction of the politicising of the issue surrounding assylum seekers ...

Campaign of caricatures - Eureka Street

from the State Theatre Company on facebook

Plenty of talk about the election, but no statements yet from either party about an arts policy. To cast your vote for the arts, head to the ABC's online poll about policy areas you'd like to hear more about.http://www.abc.net.au/thedrum/polls/

a story of balance

there seems to be a bit of a theme running through the past few days for me - that of balance, of the Mary and Martha sides of our being.

what do i mean by that?

in our lectionary journey through the biblical story the portion for this sunday was one of the stories of mary and martha, sisters of lazarus whom Jesus raises back to life after four days of being dead. the story this week was from luke's telling of the gospel, and has Jesus arrive unexpectedly for dinner. martha fulfills her duty and busies herself preparing the meal. mary sits herself at the feet of Jesus and listens to his stories. martha complains to Jesus, who appears to scold martha and say that there is only one thing to do, mary is welcome to sit and to listen.

i've always been led to understand that when Jesus scolds martha he is saying that the busyness is not worthwhile, and the only thing to do is to contemplate. but reflections this week, in with love to the world (uniting church lectionary based daily studies) and in worship at blackwood uniting, lead me now to see that perhaps Jesus is commending balance, in our individual lives and in our households / communities. we need, in community, the people who will take time to contemplate, to discern, to be still in the midst of the busyness. we need, in community, the people who will prepare the meals, organise the fundraising events, actively busy in the world. we need both, for the fullest participation of our communities in the mission of God in the world. we need stillness and contemplation in order to attend to the voice of the Spirit calling us on; we need action and practicality in response to that call.

the book I've been reading, the Becoming of G-d, talks about this in alternative / emerging communities of faith (p.125), drawing on the lives of monastics throughout history for inspiration: 'the Monks and Friars of the pre-modern period were very involved in practical projects with the poor and needy.' I think sometimes we forget that the contemplative life isn't about sitting around navel gazing only - contemplating the Divine must always lead to responding to Divine grace, to the gift of life, by living!

this is just as true for our individual lives, and it is good to be reminded through the telling of this story to attend to the stillness or the action that is not our first inclination, for the fullness of our own engagement in God's way of love in the world.

then last night at The Esther Project gathering, it occurred to me as we heard a song from Trish Watts 'rest and wait', that there is an intentionality about entering the stillness - it's not about doing nothing, but actively attending to, waiting on, the presence of God. and this is an activity that requires great concentration, dedication, commitment. sometimes all the activity with which we busy ourselves might actually fill up the time and the space so that there is less available for God.

but i am one who needs to hear this story of mary and martha as one of balance, of moving out of too much stillness which too often becomes inactivity. i need to be more intentional in my time of contemplation and more ready to respond in action.

contemplating prayer

this prose poem emerged in response to The Esther Project contemplative gathering last night.

when you ponder prayer that names God you wonder what name shall we use? you consider the “Father” problem and wonder if “Mother” fixes anything after all. you explore the nature of naming and the gift it is to give your name – the handle it offers to another to understanding, knowing some part of who you are

when you ponder prayer that honours this name, whatever name you choose to utter, you see that part of the honouring is the acknowledging of the inadequacy of any name we could ever ascribe to . you realise that when we think in all our cleverness that we understand God as Father Son and Spirit, or even Creator Redeemer Sustainer, we in fact know very little at all. and you begin to wonder could we return to a way of existing within the mystery depicted in the stories of the ancient followers of God.

when you ponder prayer that asks and seeks and knocks you recall times when we have taken these words so literally that we have misunderstood their meaning and been deflated, disappointed. you lament the damage that we do when we try to explain the mystery of God’s hearing and God’s answering. and you hope that we might do better with our persevering, and our trusting, and our looking for the Sacred in the midst of all our living.

when you ponder the prayer that asks forgiveness as it affirms our forgiving you are humbled and in all honesty confess we find it so very hard to forgive – the fighter pilot in war and the enemy shooting at your plane – minority groups oppressed by dangerous fundamentalist regimes – citizens whose leaders enter your country into a war you don’t want to fight. and you get to talking politics in light of the election, the leaders you have no time for and hope they will not be returned, the leaders you respect, who you want to thank and thank God for them, and to whom you offer a challenge to get some more things right – honouring the humanity of assylum seekers – treading more lightly on our planet – integrity and wisdom – the pursuit of freedom for all.

when you ponder praying the kingdom of God, you realise that all along that’s just what we’ve been doing, gathered as followers of Jesus who teaches us to pray and shows us glimpses of the reign of God among us.

when you ponder how to pray you find yourself in prayer and cannot help but praise, in humility, returning once again to grace, for all creation and humanity, and you catch a glimpse of mystery – a kingdom prayed into being, prayed in love.

Sarah Agnew

an evening of prayer

do you wonder about prayer, pray often or not at all, are not certain anyone is listening when you pray, are sure you've had a prayer answered? - you are welcome to an evening of prayer with The Esther Project - tonight 26 King William Road Wayville, 7.30 pm, supper provided

Christian sect's gay snub - Eureka Street

Found this article today, critiquing the way some Christian groups and organisations treat gay and lesbian people. I have many friends who are gay or lesbian and even if I didn't, I'd still be incensed at the un-Christlike way others bearing his name behave towards people. Our call is to be witnesses to a God who is profoundly committed to the fulness of our humanity, and I don't agree with people who think that homosexuality diminishes anyone's humanity.

Eureka Street is a great site with fabulously thoughtful and thought provoking articles on all manner of things. check it out.

Christian sect's gay snub - Eureka Street

still searching

continuing my reflections from this morning as I read The Becoming of God - the problem with our language for Trinity is that it is linear. So one thing must follow another. This is my issue. We say we understand the relationship of the Trinity to be one of mutuality, but we always speak of the flow from Father to Son to Holy Spirit. Which is what I was wondering about in my previous post - what if we started somewhere else sometimes - would that help us to see the flow as circular, as depicted in Rublev's icon, rather than linear from Creator to Wisdom/Jesus to Spirit to creation. 

Which leads me to the later part of Chapter 6 of Mobsby's book, where we have the language of the Gospels themselves which describes the Holy Spirit as the companion that Jesus will send after him, the friend that will follow Jesus. Well that doesn't sit with me either. The Spirit broods over the deep before creation. The Spirit is present in the encounters between the people of Israel and God as described in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. the Spirit is actively involved in the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus, and present throughout the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Am I reading too much into this? Reacting too strongly to language that is unhelpful in some ways but not necessarily in all? The language seems to imply that Jesus sending this companion Spirit is a new thing - like Jesus will go and then the Spirit will come. But the Spirit has been present throughout. So it seems to me that Jesus doesn't send the Spirit - the Spirit sends Jesus (into the wilderness to be tested for one). Or do they each send each other, in the mutuality we all talk about but never adequately describe? 

And I have a problem with language that describes the Spirit as mediator - which implies (for me, maybe I'm the only one) a third party type role, and diminishes the Spirit to a place 'below' God but 'above' humanity, a go-between is neither one or the other, but between. Now that isn't pneumatology that raises the Spirit in our estimation. It's a hierarchy that has Father and Son and the what - highly trusted almost part of the family personal assistant H. Ghost?? 

I am still searching for the language around the Trinity that truly moves beyond heirarchical, linear, limited inadequacy and better esteems the mystery and mutuality of a Trinity that inspires the community and sacramentality celebrated in emerging churches and as described by Mobsby in this book. 

State Theatre Company presents romeo&juliet

dancing more circles around Trinity

So I am back to my Trinity problem.

Here's the thing. The language in which we speak of God / Trinity always begins with Creator / Father, and often equates God with this 'first' person. Which is immediately to privilege one element of the Divine as happening first. But how can we even speak of one person of the Divine as 'first', when God exists outside of time?

The implications for our language about Jesus - well here I'll probably get shot down for heresy, but I'll say it anyway. By speaking of Jesus as Son of God, here's where we equate (it seems to me) God with Father/Creator/first person. But what if Jesus, as the human incarnation of the Divine, a unique being, is Son of the Divine, Son of the Holy Three? That would make the Triune God, all three persons, Parent. In my mind it seems that Jesus is the incarnation of Word/Wisdom in particular, given life and sustained by the energy of the relationship between Creator and Spirit and Wisdom. And Jesus, Reconciler personnified, reconciles all creation to God as Jesus himself is reconciled into the communion of God in the resurrection.

Another thought: what would it be like to speak of Trinity naming Spirit first? Spirit broods over the formless void, is present before the Word is spoken by the Creator ... so just as we can name Creator as 'begetting' Wisdom/Word, perhaps we can name Spirit as breathing life into Creator?

I'm not sure how it would work to name Wisdom first, and all this playing with language needs to happen acknowledging that the Divine exists outside of time so did one 'person' really exist before the others.

Then the thought occurs to me to be grateful that the Holy One Holy Three chose to create us at all, and then, most radically, to enter into time and creation for love.

It all comes back to love, however you think of Trinity – to think of the Divine in terms of loving relationship invites us into loving relationship with God, with each other, with all of creation, and is the path to life in all its fullness. I am reminded of this and the implications for radical reconciliation between people of different faiths, not to mention all our other differences, reading Ian Mobsby's The Becoming of G-d (I'm in Ch 6), exploring Trinity and emerging church, which continues to be rich food for thought.

Finally, I wonder (because what more can I do?) at the beauty of the Jesus event: to have entered creation through human incarnation must have changed God profoundly, if change can happen when One exists outside of time ...

the restorative power of the arts

Ah, there is something mystical and magical about the power of the arts to heal.

Friday night I was angry, I mean really pissed off, because of another delay with the repairs to my car - it's now been two weeks at the garage because of mistakes from the suppliers of the parts.

Anyway, I had been invited to bring my clarinet along to the lecture on poetry at The Effective Living Centre that night, one of the events in the Minding the Spirit week with Mark Burrows I've already blogged about.

I would have enjoyed, in a masochistic kind of a way, wallowing in that anger and frustration, but I am glad I had that invitation.

Even as I got the clarinet out of its case, I could feel healing washing over me. And then we played, Glenyce on piano and Jenni on flute, and as I entered the music and opened myself to the Spirit the anger melted away. Melted away.

What a week of healing. Thank God for the restorative power of the arts.

catching dreams, finding hope

Today was a wonderful day of poetry and song, stillness and silence, food for the soul as John put it. The Effective Living Centre has Prof Mark Burrows as its guest this week, and he lead, with Trish Watts, a retreat day today. We were reflecting on what poetry gives us as leaders. I found this so refreshing in a climate in our church that prefers a more coporatised model of leadership, even though we are giving much support to fresh expressions of church, which, to my mind at least, demand a different style of leadership.

We were reminded of the need for space to ponder, wonder; space for dreaming, for reverie (the picture is a collaborative 'dreaming' in paint). Communities of faith, said Mark, are places for dreaming and for pondering, believing as we do in something beyond the narrow confines of the self. And I took heart, because this is what The Esther Project strives to be, to do - to invite people into a space of wonder, of imagination, of dreaming.

The implications of privileging dreams is that dreams don't want to be talked about, they want to be lived. This is true also for parables, an important way of teaching utilised by Jesus. But this is a messy, unpredictable, uncontrollable way of being, to allow dreams, stories, to be lived, not explained. Mark wondered if Jesus appreciated the children so much because they had not yet been educated to the outside of the parables as adults have been - if you are inside the parable, you understand the deep often unspeakable in words meaning of parables, of the realm of God.

Catching the dream is hard work, and we are not always in a place to be able to catch the dream, and that is OK. Alongside this thought, however, is Mark's insight that the dream happens among the broken ones - which is so true.

Jesus happened among the broken ones

The realm of God unfolds among the broken ones

Spirit lives among the broken ones

Pieces of myself shattered and scattered in recent difficulties began to reassemble today. And I reconnected to that hardest love we carry - hope.

Year of Matthew

September is shaping up to be a very busy storytelling month for me. 

I have already begun the shameless promotion of the National Biblical Storytelling gathering happening from 24 - 26 Sept in Adelaide (all you storytellers should come if you can!). 

Earlier in that week, I will be leading a workshop at a two day conference on the Gospel of Matthew. The keynote speaker for that one is Alan Cadwallader, who is well worth spending time with, and if you're more interested in spirituality or pastoral care and the Gospel of Matthew, there are workshops on those elements also. Download the flier here. 

Why not come to Adelaide for the week and attend both, setting yourself up with some rich resources for 2010-11, the Year of Matthew. 

why poetry in trying times?

I've just been at an evening of poetry. One of my favourite ways to spend an evening, that. 

We began our time together pondering: why poetry in trying times? 

Our guide through the poetry, Prof Mark Burrows suggested that one response might be: what else should we do? (this is part of a week long program, Minding the Spirit, at The Effective Living Centre). 

Poetry took us out to the Hills Hoist and back to childhood games, from the wisdom of two year olds to songs of prayer on the wind - and so much more. 

When Mark said that we are all poets, whether we write poetry or not, because we all practice language, we are all attentive to language, I wondered - are we? I wonder if we are, in fact, all attentive to language. I remember being astonished at the limited vocabulary of fellow university students whose every noun, verb, adjective, adverb, imperative and expletive began with f and rhymed with luck. I wonder if we are all attentive to language - my suspicion is that we are not, and that's why we need poets, to pay attention and call us to attend to the music and the beauty of language. 

And to help us to name the ugliness and find the beauty and the hope in the midst of it, which brings us back to the original question - why poetry? Well, as Dennis Wild said introducing one of his poems this evening, we can be angry, but that doesn't ultimately lead us anywhere. What a gift it is, then, to be able to move from anger to write it in a poem - creativity is one of the alternative paths we might take. Poetry is a path we can take towards what is true - for Dennis, poetry leads always to what is true, and especially for the poet ever towards one's own truth. 

It was interesting to hear, in light of the question of the night, how many poets reflected on finding poetry in the midst of the turmoil of life. In times of great upheaval poetry became, not therapy, but an invitation to stillness, to healing, to joy. 

Why poetry in the midst of trying times? Poetry helps us to name the trouble, the darkness, the pain; poetry offers a path towards meaning making; poetry, creativity - art - leads us back towards life. 

art & space

Found my way to this article on art museums and space from Craig Mitchell's blog. Is an interesting conversation - and interesting times in which to live. 

To what extent does the platform matter for the artwork? It changes the way we experience a film, painting, sculpture, concert - but does it diminish the experience? As part of the transitional generation, I am still inclined to think the experience of a movie designed to be viewed in a cinema is diminished when the movie is watched on an iPhone. But, perhaps it is, after all, merely a different experience. 

Trinity reflections: interpersonal community and implicit sacramentality

Continuing through Ian Mobsby's The Becoming of God, I come to his suggestion that 'the Holy Trinity is beckoning the emerging church to model a way of being a spiritual community that reflects the very nature of the Trinitarian Godhead' (p. 68). He bases his reflections on this idea around the ikon by Rublev, which he has observed taking a central place in the lives of various emerging churches / fresh expressions in the UK in particular. 

Mobsby goes on to explore some models of church that flow out of this way of being a spiritual community, including a mystical model of church and a sacramental model. I like the way that neither is painted as the be-all and end-all, fail safe model of being church - we're human, no one model will ever be perfect. But there are life-giving elements to ways of being spiritual communities that reflect the trinitarian nature of God, and I really like this: that 'church is more of an interpersonal community than an institution' (p. 70). It strikes me, as it strikes the author, that this is a particularly timely gift to the institution from fresh / emerging expressions of church. 

In a sacramental model of church, Mobsby observes that the sacramental nature of life is highlighted, and people are encouraged to see the Sacred in the world around them. This observation is enhanced by the regular celebration of the sacraments, in particular of Eucharist / Holy Communion. This articulates again something that has become evident for me in reflections on the life of the Esther Project: we are attentive to the presence of the Sacred in the world around us, but we are not making the most of this because we are not celebrating the sacraments of Christian spirituality. It is time to address this missing element of the life of our community so that we don't lose the gift that is the implicit sacramentality of life to which we do attend. 

The Becoming of G-d part II

I continue to enjoy reading Ian Mobsby's The Becoming of God. I am in chapters two and three. 

Some thoughts I have noted without going too deep in reflection: 

'Trinitarianism preserves the ineffability and mystery of God, asserting that God cannot ever be fully known ... the implication is ... that God can change, and we see this in the differences between the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.' (pp. 49-50) My question is how can God change if change requires time and God exists outside of time ... is it God who changes in response to changing creation and humanity, or as humanity changes, so does our understanding of God change? 

The creeds are a point of contention for some who struggle with the language of the time and people of their shaping, which for me feels overly patriarchal, limited and limiting in its expression of our understanding of God. Another point of contention I had not considered before is that the creeds jump from the birth to the death of Jesus without including any statement of affirmation for the life, teaching, healing, radicality of Jesus. Mobsby quotes Stuart Murray (Post-Christendom, 2004) here: 'Christendom was comfortable with a divine Jesus - and with belief that Jesus was also human - but struggled with the challenging reality of that human life ... Jesus was worshipped, but not followed. This has left a lasting legacy ... Jesus [as human] was consigned to the margins.' (Mobsby pp. 54-5). And later Mobsby comments: 'In the words of the Redeemer we find direction as to how we should live, consistent with a radical yet loving form of discipleship that has a high view of justice and inclusion' - taking inspiration from the communal life of the Triune God. I think that's a spot-on set of observations, and helpful for unpacking how our Trinitarian theology has become less helpful in our context. 

Then on page 58 Mobsby has been talking about the flow of love and being within the Trinity, and always this discussion begins with the Parent/Creator: 'the Kenotic 'pouring out' of God from the Creator to the Redeemer and the Spirit ...' I don't know, I'm still not sure about the Creator as 'first', giving to the others without, or with only a very hidden implicit, receiving from Redeemer and Sustainer. Isn't this still hierarchical but in different language? I am hoping to come across language that will better express the mutuality that is trying to be described here, but it feels like so far the author hasn't got there. 

I'm interested to hear your reflections as I ponder these things in response to Mobsby's writing ...