Back to school

Back to School

It has been a long time since I posted anything! The summer seemed to be a whirl of visiting family and friends and trying to keep on top of a very productive organic allotment - jam, chutney, freezing etc.

Since then I have been drowning under a pile of emails and requests to put dates in the diary. My son, Joel has also started high school which has involved lots of journeys to and fro and quite a bit of parental anxiety (Joel has got on just fine). So when Ken Sehested kindly circulated a litany for labor day (which is celebrated in the US and Canada) it seemed a good moment to pause and do some thinking, which naturally led to writing, which ended up with this reflection/Eucharist for September and going back to school. It'll be a while before I can get this on Dancing Scarecrow so I've copied it here.

Back to School Reflection/Eucharist

There’s a decided nip in the air

As the sun increasingly struggles

to get out of bed as dawn breaks

And the cooler nights begin to draw in

Balmy days of summer give way

To sudden downpours or endless drizzle

And the traffic on the old road

Crawls dejectedly towards its destination

As the rain leaves puddles in the ditch by the kerb

The sun breaks through with sudden brightness

As we ponder whether to take a coat

And umbrella just in case

The mobile phone alarm rings out its annoying tune

and John Humphrys reports yet another disaster

as we drag ourselves, bleary eyed from sleep

and stagger to the kitchen for much needed coffee

For in the cycle of the seasons

September is here

A time to think about

Work, rest and play.

Yet this is the time of new starts

And getting back to the familiar routine

The pattern of working 9 – 5 days

or irregular pre-determined shifts

This is the time to learn to tie a school tie

To pull on new, shop–starched uniform

Blow dry freshly showered hair

And search for that illusive PE kit

As we race against the ticking of the clock

We grab a quick bowl of cereal or slice of toast

Stuff books and pencil cases into school bags

And panic over packed lunches still to make

Scrunched up letters to be signed,

Lanyards with photo cards to be topped up,

Work papers to read and pack with lap top

Must remember to charge the mobile phone.

For in the cycle of the seasons

September is here

A time to think about

Work, rest and play.

And yet in the excitement of starting a new school or job

or of meeting old friends and colleagues

back at school or office or construction yard

and sharing stories of summer exploits

Help us to stop in the chaos of the morning rush

And give thanks for the work that gives rhythm to our days

Work and school that give a sense of purpose and meaning

Of achievement and well-being.

Help us to pause in the midst of the excitement and stress

And give thanks for work that sustains our lives and communities

And school that gives us knowledge and skills

And the promise of a career to come.

Help us to rest at the end of each day

To give thanks for tasks completed

the new things we have learned and accomplished

the challenges we have overcome

For in the cycle of the seasons

September is here

A time to think about

Work, rest and play.

And we give you thanks for your work

Of creating our world and the cycle of the seasons

For the abundance of veg on the allotment

And the squirrels hording chestnuts in the park.

And we give you thanks for your work

Of creating humankind and our diverse community

For the people around us in whose faces

We catch a glimpse of your myriad of feelings for us.

And we look around us and realise

that not everyone is rushing to get to school or work

and we remember those who have no work

or nothing to get out of bed for

And we look around us and realise

That others are overworked trying to provide for their family

or struggling with disabilities that make travel difficult

or learning and uphill task

For in the cycle of the seasons

September is here

A time to think about

Work, rest and play.

For we think of the person of Jesus

Who balanced itinerant work and the demands of crowds

With withdrawing to quiet places to rest

And time to enjoy eating and laughing with friends

For we think of the person of Jesus

Who challenges us to think about the work we do

To pay a fair wage and treat colleagues with dignity

To live sustainably on the earth

For we think about Jesus’ stories of the righting of injustice

Of the relationship between land owners and labourers

The need for acceptance of tax collectors and prostitutes

And the inequality between rich and poor

And we confess that we are part of a system

That perpetuates injustice and supports the bully

That encourages work at the expense of family life

And prefers burn-out to longevity.

And so we remember that on the night

before Jesus’ work was brought abruptly to an end

he took the bread made by human toil and human hands

gave thanks, broke it and shared it with them

[break and share bread]

And so we remember that on the night

Before Jesus’ work was brought abruptly to an end

He took the wine of celebration and community

Gave thanks, poured it and shared it with them

[break and share wine]

And so we commit ourselves

As the new school year of September unfolds

To use our work or rest or play

Labours paid and unpaid

To work for the common good

To ensure that all may find work

That pays a fair wage and brings fulfilment

And enables us to live in harmony with the earth

And so we commit ourselves

As the new school year of September unfolds

To use our work or rest or play

Labours paid and unpaid

To balance our work, school and home life

To enjoy time with families and friends

To take the rest to which your Sabbath calls us

To walk in the rhythm of your Shalom

For in the cycle of the seasons

September is here

A time to think about

Work, rest and play.

© Clare McBeath, 2010

The spirit and the book

Revd Mike Smith, in this week's Baptist Times attacks the recent review of the SPCK Book of Prayers and the whole notion of a 'book of prayers.' Smith attacks written prayer as un-Baptist, arguing that in attacking the Book of Common Prayer our Baptist ancestors were insisting that only extempore prayers were a genuine expression of the Holy Spirit. He ends his attack with a resounding call, "Don't let the written text crush the Spirit."

It is easy to respond with caricatures. I am sure that some people genuinely have a talent for extempore prayer and are able to express their deepest desires in eloquent words worthy of the creator of the universe. But even Mike Smith must admit that many - most - do not. Extempore prayer is, for the most part, dull and repetitious. Tired formulae are trotted out week after week, while intercessory prayer degenerates into a shopping list of unachievable dreams and platitudinous generalities. If I pray "God bless Mummy and Daddy," it will be impossible to prove whether God has answered my prayers or not, so I won't have to deal with the awkward silence of God.

Prepared prayer has the advantage of containing the author's crafted words, sculpted and shaped to fit the precise meaning and context out of which the author is writing. When it works, written, poetic prayer can take on a life beyond that intended by the author, just as any work of art takes on a meaning beyond that intended by the artist.

A collection of written prayers - such as the SPCK one, or, indeed Dancing Scarecrow, seeks to capture this and make it available beyond the confines of the context out of which it was written.

Mike Smith seems to deny the Holy Spirit any role in that process, limiting the Spirit's work to the unthought out and spontaneous. I beg to differ. The Spirit works beyond the confines of human imagining. Folk use the prayers on Dancing Scarecrow in contexts very different to our inner city Openshaw context and find that the Spirit gives our words new meanings beyond those we put into them in the first place. Most people choose not to use our material, but for some it is meaningful and helpful. That surely is the work of the Holy Spirit.

In attacking the Book of Common Prayer, it seems to me that our ancestors were not attacking the notion of written prayer. Rather, they were attacking the power and control which insisted that everyone had to use the same worship material. In publishing their Book of Prayers, which I confess I have not yet read, SPCK seem actually to be moving us away from this kind of control, giving us even more resources to choose from, to interpret and to use in our own context. Whether or not I find this particular collection helpful, I welcome its publication.

Summer

Strange feeling today, when I would normally be looking at readings for next Sunday, to realise that I won't be leading Sunday worship again until 12 September! I probably won't even be attending church during that time.

At many levels, of course, I will miss it. Even though I am increasingly frustrated by traditional models of church, I do still feel that the church is where I belong. A couple of weeks ago, at an Inner Manchester Mission Network event, we reflected upon why we gather together for worship. The group I was in was dominated by clergy, and the overwhelming message was that worship was something which was intrinsic to who we were. It isn't something about which I have any control. I simply have to worship - because that's what I do. It is where I belong.

The question as to whether I enjoy worship is, therefore, a redundant one. Even if I hated church (which I frequently do!), I would still belong there.

So, even if I take a break for the summer - and let's face it, I am burned out at the moment - I will still be back because this strange, bruised and often bewildered little community in Openshaw is where I belong.

None of which should be interpreted as saying that what we actually do when we worship is unimportant. There is little in contemporary church practice which will attract the 96% of our population who never set foot in a church. Watching a programme like Rev, it is increasingly clear that the media - and therefore the population at large - have little idea of what the church is - or what it is for.

When September comes around, then, you should find the Scarecrow refreshed and able to dance with a lot more vigour.

Atora Suet and Robertson's Jam

So, Clare and Andy are at the Larmer Tree Festival with their children. Our girls are at grandma and grandad's plotting and scheming, and Joan is away.

So 'church' this morning was just David, Deborah and me. I did have a plan, but we just got chatting about the local area and how it is changing. Which led - naturally enough - to the fact that the Robertson's Jam factory has now been completely demolished (now there's a site for a new church building! Shame it's not actually in Openshaw). From there, we started wondering who owned what. Which led us to Duerr's - which is also a Manchester firm. Then David remembered a photograph of a bull cart, used to advertise the local suet firm.

And lo, and behold, it turns out that Atora Suet began life less than half a mile from our front door on Ogden Lane.

All of this over a cup of tea and an internet connected laptop - culminating in a prayer from Urban Expression's values booklet, focussing on our inter-connectedness. And we even persuaded David to stay for a jam butty - although the jam was Clare's homemade strawberry, which is, if I dare say so, much nicer than Robertson's!

You couldn't do that in a church of 500 members!

Imogen's Prayer

God’s Spirit

This prayer was written by Imogen who is 8 who, on hearing we were going to have a Eucharist meal the other Saturday evening, announced she had an idea for some words for Eucharist and disappeared to work on my laptop. We used the prayer that evening as the two families gathered to break bread, Imogen decided who would read what and broke bread and shared the wine with us at the end of the prayer.

I have reproduced it here virtually as it was written but have reduced the font size somewhat!

You can never escape

from God’s spirit.

You can never escape

from God’s spirit, in

the day or the night

You can never escape

From God’s spirit, in

the day or the night,

in the light or the dark.

You can never escape

from God’s spirit, in

the day or the night,

in the light or the dark.

in the noise and silence

in the city or the countryside.

When there is chaos God is there.

When there is happiness God is there.

God is there in space and on land .

God is there in the sea and in the air

You can not escape from God when you are running.

You not escape from God.

© Imogen McBeath, age 8, 2010

Building the City

We're working our way through Urban Expression's Praying our Values booklet. Today we came to the story of Nehemiah setting out to rebuild Jerusalem, so, after praying, we set about re-building our Lego city.
We're still doing it, so I can't be certain how the "service" will finish, but both David, Joel and Rachel who all seemed rather out of sorts when they arrived have all engaged in worship with enthusiasm.

The plan is that we will use a prayer which Imogen wrote for Eucharist last night. Hopefully, I'll put that up on Dancing Scarecrow tomorrow.

Dancing Teddy Bears

So we're looking at Naboth's Vinyard at church tomorrow. A passage very dear to my heart.

Naboth tends his ancestral vinyard, but King Ahab wants to extend his organic, sustainable allotment over the vinyard. Queen Jezebel taunts him with his lack of power, and they plot and scheme for Naboth to be killed so they can take the vinyard. Elijah arrives and proclaims God's judgement on Ahab who comes to a very sticky end.

All well and good, but Naboth is still dead!

So many layers of meaning and theology. But how to explore this in a way that includes both adults and children?

With teddy bears.

We've invited the congregation - we're at a neighbouring church - to bring their old, precious Teddy bears (or other toys). We'll share stories of teddies and what they mean to us. After which I will offer to swap them for a Steiff teddy (worth about £150) provided I can burn their teddy. Hopefully no one will take me up on the offer!

Then for our prayers, I have just finished making a batch of teddy bear shaped biscuits. We've got some tubes of writing icing, so they can ice their concerns onto a biscuit then swap their biscuit with another member of the congregation - a sort of non-eucharistic offering of love.