ee it were grand

We went 'Up North' to visit my sister in Richmond and had a great break. On the drive up we kept seeing signs saying 'The North' never quite sure when we had crossed over from 'the South'. But we had a great time.

A day trip to York, walking along the Gates. window shopping and book-buying; a 2 hour guided walk lead by a voluntary guide around the medieval walls, and finishing off the day by attending Said Evening Prayer (BCP) at the Minster.

We also visited Easby Abbey a lovely walk from the restored Richmond Station, which is now cinema, art gallery, shops and Restaurant. we even bumped into people there we'd known from Karachi days - amazing.

But it is the simplicity of the countryside that was so evocative. Even in the cold and damp. The mist and biting winds. Autumnal colours and pristine beauty of the moors and cottages. Sheep and dogs. Maybe on this trip it was summed up best by Peter Boook's art which I 'discovered' for the first time even though I've seen the prints in my sister's house before.

It is well worth visiting his online gallery

Peter Brook, the Pennine landscape painter, was born in the winter of 1927. He taught art at Sowerby Grammar school before becoming a full time artist in his 40's. Peter has painted many areas of the British Isles including Scotland, Cornwall and the Potteries but his first love is the Yorkshire Pennines; often in winter. His paintings depict a vanishing world; a world of farmhouses on the moors, of mills, of people who inhabit the area etc and include an element of humour, which is so much part of Peter's character. Peter Brook married Molly in 1950 and they have two children. They live in West Yorkshire near his beloved Pennines and favourite woods. The Smithy Gallery

ee it were grand.

Playing for change : One Love

I have been totally inspired by a You Tube video 'Playing for Change'

Do check it out. Promoting 'peace through music'

For me it expresses something of a vision I have had for a long time from a summer school back in 2000, a dream or vision of CMS as:

‘A feast, a celebration, a multi-cultural event of ‘world music’, a rich variety, kaleidoscope, mosaic, tapestry, with colour and variety, great diversity and various harmonies. Cultural differences being apparent and exaggerated eg African drums, Irish Bodhran, Indian Tabla and Pakistani Nal/Dolak . But still a Unity : One world - a praise song expressing the ‘Love of God’ and celebrating a common humanity. An increasingly energetic drum beat (like the Millenium Song: ‘A Perfect Day’.) One song with many manifestations: With people from the margins at the centre of the song’ (‘addicts’, ‘criminals’ ‘prostitutes’,’ unemployed’, ‘disadvantaged’ as part of this great recovery movement)

That was written abck in 2000 and as you can see, 'Playing for change' really connects with that vision:

Playing for change have a new film out and suggest that people host a 'peace through music' party. Go for it !

Holy Ground

a space to encounter God Self and others in silance, reflective activity, creativity, community

'Holy ground is work in progress and will be shaped by those who come .... hosted by Trinity Methodist Church .... open to spiritual travellers from any church or none'

I went to the first evening (11th Oct) entiled 'In the Presence of the creator: reflecting on the wonder and worry of creation'. The next evening is Waiting for the Light: how do we wait in hope when darkness is all around. reflections for Advent in music, images and words (29 Nov)

for more details see their website

The centre piece was a creation table and the reading of the Genesis creation narrative.

Very simple and very moving.

then 4 activity stations

Chaos - newspaper clips and cuttings pinned onto a board

Order - laminated images cut up and as puzzles to be put back together

Creativity - clay modelling tro draw out individual creativity

Blessings - a 'mind map' of words of blessing around community, family, friends

Ambient music and reflective space

The evening was finished off with poem and (Cain) blessing

deep peace, pure white of the moon to you

deep peace, pure green of the grass to you

deep peace, pure brown of the earth to you

deep peace, pure grey of the dew to you

deep peace, pure blue of the sky to you

deep peace of the running wave to you

deep peace of the flowing air to you

deep peace of the quiet earth to you

deep peace of the shining stars to you

deep peace of the Son of Peace to you

Crossing the bridge between St Paul's & Tate Modern

Jonny Baker shared an image at our sacred:space on Saturday that connected with me very much. He spoke of the millenium bridge in London which crosses between St Pauls at one end and the Tate Modern at the other. He suggested that alt. worship is such a bridge, an attempt to cross between the institutional historic church and modern contemporary art and culture.

I seem to remember when the Millenium bridge was first opened it vibrated and swayed when people walked on it, and felt very unstable, and had to be closed and strengthened. Let (s)he who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches !

The challenge in worship is encountering Christ, the 'enfleshing of God', through our cultural lens 'on the inside of our culture'. Alt worship, like good mission, is both incarnational and contextual.

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Grace is a community that has been running for over 15 years, experimenting with various forms of worship, visual, liturgical, creative, social, communal, experimental. All they do is framed by 4 key words which represent their values as a community

• create
• participate
• engage
• risk

They see liturgy rather than a consumer activity run by professionals, as 'the work of the people', 'something we make together' It is an adventure of the imagination.

We finished the evening by participating in an act of worship - led by Jonny and Jenny - a communion service around the theme of 'wounded in all the right places' based on the song by 'One Giant Leap' Flikkr has an album of pics from a Grace service on the theme

Nanum house of sharing Seoul

some pictures from Nanum house of sharing Seoul Korea