Have you ever wished you could ‘turn off’ your brain, silence the thoughts which whizz around your head all day long? I have - frequently. But today I saw something which made me think again about that idea. I was browsing the excellent embody site and came across the link to this video clip in which brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor describes how she had the dubious privilege of observing left brain shut down at first hand when she suffered a massive stroke. Jill describes with clarity, energy and creativity the differences between the way the left and right sides of the brain allow us to experience the world around us - the right brain collecting sensory information in the present, and the left brain processing it by attaching it to experiences in the past and ideas for the future. She describes the process of having the stroke as being as if someone had pressed a button on a remote control. All of a sudden there was silence in her head, and she was able only to experience the present, with no sense of being confined in her body or of being able to direct her actions. What is amazing about her is the way she has turned a frightening and dangerous experience into a positive and life affirming talk - concluding at the end that if we were all more prepared to connect with our right brain thinking (through meditation, rather than having a stroke!!)  the world would be a much more peaceful place to live. Her conclusion, reached through scientific observation of her personal experience, sounds like a recommendation of Sabbath for the brain. If you’ve got time to watch the clip, I’d love to hear other people’s reaction to it. I think the idea of the left and right brain opens up all kinds of questions about how we connect with God.

I have been thinking quite a bit about Su’s posting on the beatitudes. It has got me thinking about how I view others when they are poor in spirit, and struggling. I have been wondering recently if another word for that in todays age is stressed?. I try to be compassionate but find my self becoming dragged down by it, entering into that stressed/ poor in spirit zone. I have gone back to look at the beatitudes or ‘Your blessed’ as the message calls it and been reminded how challenging it is, I don’t think I really understand it. I am struck by how counter culture it is. I was particularly struck by ” your blessed when you care. At the moment of being care-full, you find yourselves cared for”. This made me think of all those people I know who are carers, particularly  to those who are ill, elderly, disabled. So many carers feel exhausted, drained, depressed and alone. It seems hard to see how they are being blessed in that situation. Does any one have any insights?

Have just posted the service sheet for last week’s worship in the resources section - I’m going to try and do this a bit more often as I am a bit ashamed to see that the last thing I put up there was from Greenbelt last year!!

“The three divine persons delight in one another and therefore give to each other.  But delight isn’t only the reason why gifts circulate within the Godhead.  It’s also the reason why God’s gifts flow to the creatures.  God delights in us, and therefore Gives.  Divine delight in creatures is a bit like our delight in our own children - we delight in their feats, their triumphs, or their good looks, but even more basically, we delight in the sheer “that-ness” of their existence.  That they are delights us.  That we are delights God.  So the divine giver gives - and delights in our delight as well as in our being.”  (m volf)

miroslav’s book is, at times, and oracle to the God of grace.  he expands on the nature of God - the whole book is apparently on one theme.  basically i wanted to share this with you, and am praying for the waking of my heart to this aspect of God.  i also hope to get some comments back, either about your experiences, or to share your thoughts.  cheers

Apparently there is a new revival hitting the world- so says some woman in BCC. I was reading and listening to a link for BCC from asbo. Now I have some questions!. There is something about ‘revivals’ that bothers me, and I have been trying to understand why!. I think there are a few aspects that concern me:

1. the hype- is it just me or do others also see the similarity between the hype in some services and seriously ill mental health patients?- maybe i have spent too many years visiting mental health hospitals (for my mum not as a patient) but there does seem to be similarities- the repeating of words, seeing and hearing things, rocking, pacing up and down. I have witnessed those behaviours for years in my mum and in others and I’ll be honest it scares me. It certainly doesn’t help me feel closer to God!

2. - The certainty - It appears that many people who go along and embrace these services are so certain that God is there, is moving is speaking etc. how do they know?, I am left doubting, questioning, wondering  and yet this is percieved as being negative, not trusting in God, not believing.

3,- The loudness, the lack of control of people’s bodies!!( that probably says a lot about me!),the public showiness, this all bothers me!. I don’t find god in those places, I can’t see him/her. But I did encounter god  recently, in my garden while watching a small scraggy robin that we have that visits everyday, picking at bugs, on the windy, grey beach in northern France last week, through the beauty of pink fish in a huge aquarium. For me god was in those places, in a still, quiet, small way. Are these encounters of god any less important?, I don’ think so, do they cause me to ‘burn with fire for god’ - no, but i don’t really know what that means!. I’d be interested to know what other people think.

The strange story of Jesus’ Transfiguration on Mount Tabor describes what we would call ‘a peak experience.’ The three witnesses, Peter, James and John, are bowled over by the sense of exaltation, light and happiness. Peter wants to build a tent there. He wants to keep it this way. ‘Not so’, says Jesus. Actually it can never be so. Down the mountain they must slide. The transfiguration is a reminder that nothing in this world is static or permanent. Living beings change and move.

I found myself feeling slightly shaken reading this on Sacred Space, as though my view point was being shifted.

Its as though I guiltily feel I’ve failed as a christian, because my life is not up there in the clouds (well maybe lost in the clouds, but thats a different matter).  reading this, I realize Jesus knows we don’t get to see the transfiguration daily, neither does he demand we get there, - few!

]]> http://sanctuarybath.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/a-quick-peek-experience/feed/ su http://sanctuarybath.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/my-mother-in-law/ http://sanctuarybath.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/my-mother-in-law/#comments Wed, 14 May 2008 07:40:58 +0000 subo http://sanctuarybath.wordpress.com/?p=141

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Why, God bless that man! God hasn’t quite walked out on us after all! He still loves us, in bad times as well as good!”

I just wanted to share with you the tender story of Ruth, a tale where tragedy, mystery and down-to-earth love meet.

you can find this story on: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=8&chapter=2&version=65

it’s a great tale, but I just love the way one persons simple commitment to doing something good snowballed, even Jesus is descended from Ruth.

I wish I could believe Ruth’s faithfulness would still work in our world, where many other qualities are celebrated above her’s, and indeed Ruth might find herself criticised in our culture for her willingness to put herself in difficult situations.

does anyone have any experiences of bringing love and hope to situations in this way? - I’d love to hear how you’ve coped in difficult times.

http://www.christianitymagazine.co.uk/features/men%20women%20and%20god.aspx

“What is the difference between men and women? …….. While campaigns for equality in the 60s and 70s stressed the equivalence of men and women, in recent years there has been a swing back to exploring and trying to define the differences between the sexes. Much of that has been helpful, leading to better communication and increased understanding between men and women. But is it all good? Or is there a danger that rigid definitions of difference, particularly ones with a Christian veneer, can actually perpetuate stereotypes, stifle diversity and drive us further apart?”

I very much enjoyed Jenny’s article, but have to say am perplexed by the news in this magazine that some churches are going to quite some lengths to try to establish a more equal male/female ratio.  Another article talked about setting up a men’s camp in the wilds of Suffolk, whilst it sounded great fun, it’s also sounded painfully self conscious - do men really need this kind of ’special treatment’?

I feel blessed, having read this to find I belong to Christian groups where the male/female ratio isn’t very obvious, but I can’t help wondering if this debate isn’t a deflection from the real issue, that is, that church services are often excruciating, over long, irrelevant and weird? (- not that that says much about women, are we being too tolerant?)

anyway, Jenny’s article is worth a read, and it would be good to hear your views - should we make church more like a football event?

Hiya folks, just posting Naim’s writing here as he is talking about his own longing for the Kingdom, I sense a connection somewhere with others views and feelings, though not sure what it is. x su

The Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?” He said to them, “The kingdom of God is among you (and within you)” (Luke 17:21). When he said this, the land and people were not experiencing paradise on earth. Most were under occupation. Violence and terrorism were everywhere. Yet Jesus could announce the fact that God’s kingdom is breaking in.

In the midst of domination structures, we must follow the example of Jesus when he was living in our country. He had a radical obedience to God’s reign. We must continuously declare the ultimate sovereignty of God over every sphere of life.

I am aware that this is exactly what the Jewish religious settlers are saying. They are in those settlements because they believe they are obeying God. In fact, they are ready to disobey their own government if need be in order to remain faithful to God.

The litmus test that we must use in such cases is based on what it means to love our neighbor. The Hebrew scripture, our Old Testament, mentions the dictum “love your neighbor as yourself.” To live under the reign of God is to have full loyalty and obedience to God, tested, judged, and defined by our love and concern for the well-being of the neighbors, even if they are our enemies.

Such loyalty to God alone forces us to unmask the powers that oppress us. One is the evil of racism. Arab-Palestinian Israeli citizens have been suffering as a result of this since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Closely connected with race is the mask of nationalism. There is a place for a healthy patriotism so long as it does not undermine or infringe on the rights and feelings of others. But extreme forms of nationalism threaten Palestinians as well as Israelis.

Another form of the powers that oppress us is security. We all cherish and need security. But in Israel it has become an idol. In the name of the god of security, the Palestinians are today humiliated, dehumanized, and oppressed.

We also need to unmask the ideology of religion. Religion must set God free. This is, unfortunately, one of the worst masks that we have in the Middle East. We are all guilty of it. Jewish religion sees non-Jews as the strangers in the land, without rights. Islam’s term for non-Muslims is Ahl-Adhimma. Similarly, Christians have narrowed and limited God’s activity outside their own tradition. I cannot adequately express to you how important it is to unmask the ideology of false religion and religiosity everywhere, beginning with Christianity here in Palestine. We must unmask it and move from religion to genuine faith.

The most radical political action we can take is when we speak and testify to the truth. The full armor of God that the writer of Ephesians talks about begins with truth, then includes justice, faith, salvation, the word of God, and prayer. These are our nonviolent means of resisting and struggling against the domination system of the state of Israel and the powers behind it. Jesus Christ, living in our country as a Palestinian under occupation, offers us a different model of power.

Naim Ateek is director of the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. This is excerpted from an address he delivered in February to Sabeel’s international conference on peacemaking.

A question for people! Why is it that so often evangelical speak comes across as being so patronising, judgemental, and as if they know it all?. I have a had a few encounters recently of this, unfortunatly it has a really negative effect on me- my main response is to tell them to F*** off- very un christian! it then leads me to  question do I have the same believes as you, it seems we are coming from such very different places. Why is this?, maybe it’s just me and I have lot of repenting to do!!