Progressive, affirming, questing in Warrnambool, Victoria
God’s provision requires living within creation’s limits. As Western consumers, how can we build a relationship with such a God?
In the passage from Exodus there is a playoff between the idea of what people think is comfortable and what God is trying to show them is comfortable. Nothing like a good flesh pot. Yum yum. Nothing like Maccas, Coles, or a tin of baked beans.
The ancient story of a wilderness-wandering people invites us to ponder how God sustains us during shutdown. (Listen.)
Day after day, week after week, month after month, we have been walking in the wilderness of shutdown. School has changed. Work has changed. Church has changed; and so has everything else. Most of us are still spending time with too many family members and not enough friends; many of us are lonely, anxious, exhausted, overwhelmed. Babies are being born; children are growing; grandparents are ageing, all without loved ones attending every step. Significant milestones are passing by without our usual rituals: Birthdays. Graduations. Anniversaries. Even deaths.
I’ve been wondering how to help households have more conversations about faith, perhaps while driving together in the car, perhaps over the dinner table. So this is a little experiment, the idea being, if you have five minutes, you can pull out your phone, pull up a cartalk / tabletalk, and do it with your kids. If you give it a go, please let me know! This time, we’ll look at the reading we just heard on Sunday, when Abraham welcomes some suprising visitors. Continue reading “Cartalk / Tabletalk: Some surprising visitors”
I was delighted with our first Zoom service. So many of you participated in the liturgy, and there was such good conversation both before and afterwards. And your feedback has been strong: that many kids stuck around; that the prayers for the world showed a high level of engagement; and that the tech made some of you actually feel closer and more connected than ever. So that’s wonderful! Continue reading “Why we won’t be sharing communion via Zoom”
Our Year of Luke is winding down, and I’m more in love with Luke than ever. Maybe it’s because Luke’s account is written for people like us: educated, professional, cosmopolitan, the sort of people who buy coffees out and who can confidently navigate a big city. The joy of Luke – and there’s a LOT of joy – is found when we allow God to confound our expectations and turn the world on its head. Hospitality is a big deal, and Luke teaches that we experience God’s hospitality when we welcome the stranger. Guests become hosts, outsiders know grace, the poor are blessed, and resurrection life can be experienced in this life now. Continue reading “Proclamation, parties and praise!”
One of the things we do at our house is say grace at dinner time. Generally, we take it in turns to pray, yet every now and then, when we are super excited about what’s on the table, we break out the ‘Superman Grace’! Continue reading “A simple prayer of radical love”
Tonight we reflected as a group upon Jesus’ teachings not to be anxious; to strive for God’s kingdom; to know that it is God’s good pleasure to give youse the kingdom; to share what youse have with those in need; and to make for yourselves treasure in heaven, for where your treasure is, so is your heart (see Luke 12:29-34; and yes, Jesus is speaking to his disciples as a group: every occurrence of ‘you’, ‘your’ etc. is plural). So together we wondered what our common treasure is, where our common heart is, and how we might have already received the kingdom … and given it away. Questions and responses follow. Continue reading “Group Reflection: Sanctuary’s Treasure”
When I was growing up, my mum would make a roast for lunch most Sundays. She would put the meat and potatoes in the oven before we left for Sunday morning church, then come home and do the greens and gravy, and somehow it was always perfectly timed and home-made delicious. Continue reading “The Sunday Roast”
It’s National Reconciliation Week and, in keeping with this year’s theme, I am trying to ground myself in truth. What this means for me is finally reading Convincing Ground by Bruce Pascoe, who has Bunurong and Cornish heritage. His book invites us to learn and acknowledge the truth of the frontier wars and genocide on which the modern nation of Australia is founded, much of which took place in our region. It’s hard but essential reading for those who want to face up to the truth of who we are, and for those who wonder why reconciliation is so important, or proves so elusive. Continue reading “#GroundedinTruth: Reconciliation Week 2019”
Then Jesus took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’ (Luke 22:17-20)
‘You know,’ Swami Jeff told me once, ‘God couldn’t care less about the church. We don’t understand the Eucharist, or that bread and wine live within us, so we ritualize the things that hold the mystery. We focus on the container and formalize the mystery. But you don’t have to do that.’ Continue reading “#38: Take this cup: #40ways40days”
Sanctuary 