#LoveFast during #30days of #Ramadan

I am currently running a social networking campaign called #LoveFast  as part of #Mahabba #30days of prayer&action during #Ramadan

Join us for 30 days of Christian prayer and action during Ramadan (similar to Stewardship’s #40Acts Generosity campaign during Lent). 

This will run alongside the #30Days of Prayer for the Muslim World campaign. http://www.30-days.net/>  

There is a Twitter feed; Facebook page; information on MahabbaonTheCity & MahabbaNetwork website. www.mahabbanetwork.com

And there is an opportunity for you to interact with your blogs, responses,  ideas, pictures, stories. We want you to be able to get involved with prayer and action during the Muslim month of Ramadan….

Come and join us…     

LINKS
Twitter feed @MahabbaNetwork  

Facebook page  MahabbaNetwork https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mahabba-Network-LoveFast/491171160963192 ;
Mahabba Network website https://www.mahabbanetwork.com/
The 4 page leaflet/brochure - full of links to youtube etc to get started - can be downloaded via Drop Box  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7993360/%23LoveFast_Final.pdf 

Christo Redentor

CRISTO REDENTOR (Lisa Gerrard - Devotion) 

 

I came across this song on YouTube sung by Lisa Gerrard, who sang the hauntingly beautiful songs in Gladiator

 
You, oh Christ, are the Kingdom of Heaven
by Symeon the New Theologian
English version by George A. Maloney, S.J.
Original Language Greek

You, oh Christ, are the Kingdom of Heaven;
You, the land promised to the gentle;
You the grazing lands of paradise;
You, the hall of the celestial banquet;
You, the ineffable marriage chamber;
You the table set for all,
You the bread of life;
You, the unheard of drink;
You, both the urn for the water  and the life-giving water;
You, moreover, the inextinguishable lamp for each one of the saints;
You, the garment and the crown and the one who distributes crowns;
You, the joy and the rest;
You, the delight and glory;
You the gaiety;
You, the mirth;
and Your grace, grace of the Spirit of all sanctity,
will shine like the sun in all the saints;
 and You, inaccessible sun,
 will shine in their midst and all will shine brightly,
to the degree of their faith, their asceticism,
their hope and their love,
their purification and their illumination by Your Spirit...

the little bird and the big fire

I attended an interfaith meeting at Willow Grange - the Bishop of Guildford's residence. Only about a dozen of us. We were thinking about how we remain faithful in such troubled time ... with so many stories of conflict around the world, and so much pressure on interfaith relations in Britain

Dr Naqvi, the Imam of the Shia Mosque in Woking,  told a story about a little bird that tried to put out a fire with a  drop of water.  It became a metaphor of the small efforts we make on the local level to try and change the global picture. In the face of some many difficulties and so many negative stories, how do we maintain hope ?  by contributing our little drops in an ocean. As Mother Theresa once responded:  The Ocean is made of many drops ...... 

I later looked up the story of the little bird on the internet and found this version: 

Once there was a little bird (Ababeel) that lived during the times of Prophet Abraham (Hazrat Ibrahim AS). When Prophet Abraham (pbuh) was thrown into fire by the enemy of faith, King Nimrod, a little bird saw what happen and decide to put out the fire to help Prophet Abraham (pbuh). The little bird starts scooping up few drops of water in her tiny beak from the nearby river. The larger birds in the vicinity watched and laughed at the little bird and they said, "Where are you carrying the water?"
The little bird said, "To put out the fire around Prophet Abraham (pbuh)." The larger birds continue laughing. "How could you put out such a huge fire with such a small amount of water? It is pointless and useless."
Do you know what the little bird replied? "I am sure Allah (SWT) will not asked me whether I manage to put out the fire or not. But Allah (SWT) will ask what I have done to stop the fire."
Hearing the answer, all the larger birds are silenced.

We often think that our effort is the one responsible for our success. This is wrong way of thinking because Allah (SWT) is the One. If he says we succeeded, we will succeed. Our effort is just a sacrifice that we are willing to make. Similarly little bird knows that with few drops of water, fire will not extinguished but it is his responsibility to contribute whatever it can in anyway with his capability.

greenbelt: travelling light

Travelling light.

A Poem by Irish poet & bridge-builder
Pádraig Ó Tuama on Greenbelt’s theme:

Because sometimes we

travel heavy

and those heady times we

can barely

imagine the freebody

movement of

dance.

 

Because sometimes we

travel dark

and from those hard paths we

can’t even

conjure an image of

sunrise

or moonrise

or starlight

or fire.

 

Because sometimes we

travel solo

and those lonely times we

forget all the others

we’ve travelled with

lovingly

travelled with

home.

 

Because sometimes we

need to be

travelling lightly

because sometimes we’re in need of

regular reminding

that light comes in circles

and waves

and small moments

and light

comes to find us

and light comes with hope.

message from holy:;ground – Everyone is welcome to tag along to Greenbelt. No Holy Gnomes this year but we will be involved in Site Worship. Bring your own tent….  and book through the greenbelt website (details under calendar and event list on the holy::ground website