sarah tells stories

these clean flannelette sheets smelllike the cupboard in which they satthrough the warm months, waiting,and remind me of her house – not her sheets, for they were storedin the taller cupboard on the other sideof the wall – but of her house, and thusof her. this cupboard sat in the entrancehall beneath the art deco mirror, facingart deco glass front doors off the artdeco semi-circle porch – remembering,now, I understand my favour for that era. [...]
Read the full poem on my new website: sarahagnew.com.au
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for Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest  Curated by Rev Dr Sarah Agnew  with Andrew Wright (story and reflection) Jules Wright (video for the story) 
Set your table with some bright colours, reds especially! This is a day of celebration. Have your Bible open to Acts 2, light a candle, and have the images printed or on screen for reflection.


For wind catching paper crafts you’ll need
paper – wrapping or coloured craft paper, or plain paper to decorate
crayons, textas, paint, to decorate your paper if you choose
push pins and pencils with erasers on top (works fine pushing pin into pencil itself, just harder work)
string or ribbon
scissors



As always, engage with this worship outline in whole or using whatever elements will be helpful for you.

May the Spirit inspire and delight us as we pray and reflect on the Sacred Story.



Beginning Opening Prayer – ‘Fly to us Spirit Holy’ (Acts 2:1–21)


sarah tells stories · Fly To Us Spirit Holy
Fill our rooms with sound,
with wind, with rushing;
bo…

I mentioned in a recent post that many who experience Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are almost entirely debilitated by it: the effort to get out of bed is enough to send them straight back to bed for the rest of the day, or perhaps they've enough energy to get up and do the basics of personal hygiene and feeding, but not much more than that.



Confession time: I sometimes find myself wishing that my experience of the illness was that bad again, if it can't get better and get gone. This is because it is an extra source of exhaustion, the managing of the condition so as to be able to function at the level at which I can function.
I have mostly been in the 'high-functioning' category of those who live with Depression, for the past 20-odd years, too. Living everyday life still, achieving stuff like writing poetry and producing books, performing poetry and stories, turning up to work (except for a few months at my first job, when my bosses had to sit me down in their office to tal…

'I am at the curled-up-in-the-foetal-position-unstoppable-crying stage of lockdown.' This was my social media status update several Thursdays ago.


Your response  Friends, acquaintances, members of my dispersed and local communities – you did not judge. You did not flick platitudes my way. You did not tell me to snap out of it.
My people, you simply responded with love, with presence, with solidarity. Thirty-odd comments saying 'love', 'hugs', 'thank you for sharing', 'thank you for your honesty', 'I feel it too'. You reached out across the distance to 'touch' me when I was feeling alone.
One brought flowers. Others sent messages. Mum said 'I'm here, call me if you need to.' (and I did – need to, and call her)
When I told you how I was feeling – that it was a rough day and I was sad, lonely, afraid – you sat down with me in the muck.
That is what I needed.

Thank you. 

My response  I am an insatiable learner, so of cours…

Worship at home – 17 May 2020 – Easter 6 - Wesley Uniting Church, Canberra
curated by Rev Dr Sarah Agnew
with Jules Wright and Brendon Lukin


Gathering We are still in the season of Easter, so continue to feature colours of white and gold in your table settings.
Light a candle to represent the light of Christ in our midst.

Opening prayer: 'to the God we do not know' (Acts 17:23)



God, we do not know
how you made the earth,
sun, stars, planets, galaxies;
whales, rhinos, ants, butterflies;
us – by speaking love –
yet we trust that you did,
and we are grateful.

God, we do not know
how you maintain patience,
good will, grace, and humour
with our wandering away,
our efforts to replace you –
yet we trust that you do,
and we are grateful.

God, we do not know
how you are with us,
human, Divine, Spirit, flesh;
how we are the body
together that Jesus once was –
yet we trust that you are, we are,
and we are grateful.

God, our God, we do not know
you, but we know ourselves
known by you, …

It's a day of weariness and pain today. They're becoming more frequent. I may need to brave the outdoors to return to the chiropractor for the network spinal treatment that has been so helpful in managing this illness. In the mean time, today I came to a standstill, then found a way to move forward, gently. 


It's been a practice I developed with the help and encouragement of the first network spinal practitioner I saw, in Adelaide: not to stop entirely, but to keep moving forward, so that even resting and pausing is a moving forwards, a nurturing of growth and life. 
Today I slept in a bit, stayed in bed for a while longer, out of bed being cold, and muscles feeling inflamed and achy. I got up eventually to have my fruit smoothie breakfast part one, and sat in my chair listening to the daily short cut to the news podcast, The Squiz. 
After a while, I realised I had not moved from my armchair. I was browsing social media sites, replying to emails, but not really engaging in…