Pen and Ink Reflections - Pen and Ink Reflections

look twice at your eggs

4/12/2020

When you see an egg, do you see the risen Jesus? This is what Christians have done from the earliest times. There is an Armenian picture from the eleventh century that shows the angel and the women at the tomb with a huge egg inscribed with the words ‘He is not here. He is risen.’

So why an egg. Well firstly eggs are elliptical in shape – they are infinite, having no beginning or end, and so are symbolic for God. There is no end to God’s creativity, God’s love, God’s compassion.

Secondly an egg symbolizes the potential of new life. In some sense it is a microcosm, a miniature version of everything that is. It reminds us of the potential that each of us has for new life and a new beginning, today on Easter Day and every day.

Thirdly, for a chick to emerge from an egg, the shell must be broken. This symbolizes for Christians the rolling away of the stone from the front of the tomb, so that the risen Christ could emerge. It reminds us that for the new to come, the old has to be fractured and let go – an important message in these days, where so much of what is familiar to us has to be left behind.

Eggs tell us that God cannot be contained; that resurrection is possible and life is stronger than death. In recent memory Christians living under the severely repressive Albanian government, used to dye eggs red for the blood of Christ in the Orthodox fashion, and then take them out in the dark of Holy Saturday night and place them on the steps of town halls and places of government. By doing so they asserted the power of love over hate.

So, what do you see when you see an egg? Take a little time today to contemplate an egg and ask God to help you see there the reality of new life even in the midst of death. And look twice – for it can be a messenger of hope and resurrection to you today.

Penny Jones, for Easter Sunday 12 April 2020

the cross as nonviolent atonement

4/10/2020

Today on Good Friday we affirm the infinite Love of God displayed in the crucifixion of Jesus - not as a metaphysical transaction to change God from punishing us (as if), but as a witness to the love of God for us at all times, even when we have gone astray or are caught in webs of evil. Sadly too many Christians speak of a punishing God, with disastrous spiritual and practical consequences. That is partly understandable from some past inherited thinking in Christian traditions. It is however a partial way of looking at the cross which is not only destructive but wholly unnecessary theologically.

The Franciscan tradition - not least through the great theologian John Duns Scotus (c. 1266-1308) - is in contrast one which has always encouraged us to focus on the infinite Love of God, displayed in the cross as in all other aspects of creation and salvation. As Richard Rohr among others has recently reminded us, if God “needed” a blood sacrifice to love God’s own creation, then God was not freely loving us. For the Franciscans, 'Jesus was not changing God’s mind about us; he was changing our minds about God. If God and Jesus are not violent or vindictive, then our excuse for the same is forever taken away from us. If God is punitive and torturing however, then we have permission to do the same. Thus grew much of the church’s violent history.'

W.H.Vanstone put this beautifully in his great poem and reflection on 'Love's Endeavour, Love's Expense:

Drained is love in making full,
bound in setting others free,
poor in making many rich,
weak in giving power to be.

Therefore he who shows us God
helpless hangs upon the tree;
and the nails and crown of thorns
tell of what God’s love must be.

Here is God: no monarch he,
throned in easy state to reign;
here is God, whose arms of love
aching, spent, the world sustain.

May we know God's Love more deeply this day, and may it transform our lives for the good.

by Jo Inkpin, for Good Friday 10 April 2020

see further: Richard Rohr's reflection - A Nonviolent Atonement

washing - Love's gift

4/9/2020

We are all washing a great deal at present aren't we - especially our hands!- singing happy birthday twice and counting our twenty seconds! Often on Maundy Thursday we concentrate on the gift of the Last Supper, the communion of bread and wine. But at this time it feels like the washing is the greater gift. Washing does three things - it cleanses, it comforts and it creates new life.

When Jesus knelt down and washed his disciples feet, he was turning all their expectations on their head. Instead of behaving like a king he was behaving like a slave and telling them to do so too. It was a beautiful, sensual and sacramental activity and we can remember it every time we wash our hands. Every time I take my bar of soap and lather up the suds, I feel more grounded, more connected to myself and to God. The water washes away the dirt, the germs, but it is deeper than that. There is a cleansing of soul that is possible too if we are open to it, as we let go of what we do not need and allow the water to take it away.

But the washing does not just cleanse. It also comforts. We all know the comfort of a warm bath or shower to tired muscles. The touch of water on skin is immensely comforting. Jesus knew he was soon to die and leave his disciples bereft. Yet he promised he would not leave them comfortless, but would send the Spirit, the Comforter. And on that last evening he gave them an experience of that comfort, in the gentleness of touch as he bathed their feet. We can feel it too as we pour water over our hands and experience its gentleness.

And finally the washing creates new life. As we know from washing down the leaves of our plants, washing helps them get the sunlight they need to grow and thrive. The same is true for us - when we are cleansed body and soul we are better able to receive the Light and our relationship with God grows. Jesus is the water of life and when we receive that water we are revived in hope and joy. So one way to do that this Maundy Thursday, is to wash your hands slowly and mindfully, relishing the cleansing, comforting, life-giving water and re-connecting there with the God who loves us and with everyone who is doing the same thing at this time.

by Penny Jones, for Maundy Thursday, 9 April 2020

what is OUR donkey?

4/1/2020

It is Palm Sunday – the crowds are cheering and waving their palms in the air, and Jesus is riding along on the back of a donkey. Now a donkey is not a horse. It is not an animal that signifies power and authority – and though possibly the donkey in Shrek has done something to rehabilitate the donkey as a figure of wisdom, they are still often ridiculed. Victorious Roman generals rode into Jerusalem, through the other gate, on the backs of tall stallions telling the world of the power of Rome and its generals. Jesus by contrast chooses the humble donkey, beast of burden and the Biblical equivalent of a modern day ute.

The donkey was not glamorous, but my goodness it was useful. Have you ever wondered what the disciples would have done if the owner of the donkey had said ‘no’ to the request to share it? Their ‘yes’ was almost as important as the ‘yes’ of that other faithful disciple, Mary, without whom Jesus would not have been born. And why did they agree? - because they were told ‘the Lord needs it’.

‘the Lord needs it.’ That is a beautiful phrase and one that we should sit with this Holy Week. For we do not often consider that God needs us. We know very well of course that we need God. But God needs us too and cannot accomplish what needs to be done without our co-operation and that’s especially true in such a time of crisis as we now face.

I believe that every single one of us has our donkey – that thing, that possession, that talent, that set of connections, that nest egg of money, that calling that God needs. It is the thing that God has given uniquely to us and that God asks of us. It is our ‘donkey’. At some point – maybe at many points – God is going to say to us ‘I need that now.’ And we need to be ready to say to God, ‘Yes of course, here it is, do with it whatever you need.’

So, between now and Easter, let’s talk to God about our donkeys. Let’s ask God, “what’s my donkey? What’s the thing that I have, that you need? Show me how and when to offer it” And if we all do that God will be able to do all kinds of amazing things among us.

Penny Jones, for Palm Sunday, 5 April 2020
(photo by Daniel Fazio for Unsplash)

new life, here and now

3/26/2020

Our Gospel reading today (John 11.1-45) is the extraordinary story of the raising of Lazarus – a story of resurrection not just for the future, but into every day, earthly material life. I want us to concentrate on the three commands that Jesus gives in this story. Over the coming week you might like to ponder each in turn for a couple of days, and see how God speaks to you and the circumstances of your life through each one.
The three commands are these:
Take away the stone
Come out
Unbind him and let him go...

baptism in a Covid-19 world

3/22/2020

Today a very few of us (in line with current health guidelines) gather to baptise Charlotte. And we do so in the face of perhaps the greatest global crisis we shall see in a lifetime. Yet, in some ways, what better time to baptise someone! What better time to remember the great themes of baptism, water, life and light...

COVID-19 - an Enforced Sabbath?

3/17/2020

Today a significant event in my work and social calendar was cancelled due to concerns over COVID19. It is I am sure an experience shared by many of you. Mingled with disappointment, regret and some anxiety about the consequences of this decision down the track, came a different emotion – relief. Not just relief that a decision had been reached and that the safety of myself and others was being helped; but relief also that suddenly in what is normally a packed diary a space, a ‘sabbath rest’ had appeared.

It is very easy in this circumstance for other things simply to rush in to fill the space – a sense of obligation to contact those affected by virtual means; a sudden urge to cleanse the entire house with disinfectant; an earnest searching after other means of communication, like writing this article?!

Yet the quiet voice in my soul says something different - that this extraordinary time is about being not doing; about rediscovering who we are and what is truly important. Our world and church have become extraordinarily activist. We fill our agendas with often frenzied activity. The balance of action and contemplation has tipped decidedly in favour of action. So perhaps this period of enforced inactivity may go some way to redressing that balance.

Sometimes a space where there was supposed to be activity can feel intimidating. It is not easy to move from helter skelter business to stillness and silence in one step. So, if you are wanting to use this time with grace, but uncertain how to begin, I am suggesting adopting the technique created by Sybil MacBeth called ‘Praying In Colour'. If you Google you will find the essential steps readily enough. Essentially it uses doodling and colouring as a way to get still and listen to God. While the hand is occupied, the mind can come to stillness. And if we all hold our world, and those affected by COVID19 tenderly before God in this time, we will surely come through this crisis with a deeper faith and a greater intimacy with God and with one another.

In this time of distress, may you still find blessing; in this time of anxiety, seek gratitude; and in this time of enforced sabbath, sing (and draw) praise to God.

reflection by Penny Jones, 17 March 2020

God our keeper and a great woman's message from plague times

3/7/2020

I wonder if you have ever pondered the difference between having and keeping? It’s all about relationship. We have a computer, but we keep a dog. God does not have us. God keeps us. As the Psalmist puts it: 'The Lord is my keeper' (Psalm 121) For Psalm 121 is what is known as a pilgrimage psalm – the prayer that a devout Jew would offer on their way to Jerusalem to attend one of the three great annual religious festivals. The author is asking for help on their journey and identifying that that helps comes from God. Travelers are always at risk – those on pilgrimage on foot risk falls, or attack from bandits. Today those of us contemplating travel by air may be more worried about the coronavirus speeding its way to us through the air -conditioning vents. Travel is always a somewhat hazardous exercise. In our present time there is much to make us feel helpless and insecure. But this psalm says the opposite. It urges us not to fear, but to know that we are being ‘kept’. So, what exactly does it mean to be ‘kept’?

test or gift?

3/1/2020

Who likes tests? When I was at junior school I did – that was because I was a smarty pants and enjoyed getting all, or at least most, of the answers right. I even enjoyed testing myself. I was probably really annoying to some of my peers! Time goes by though and the tests get a little more exacting and sometimes even scary. Academic tests are one thing – or even exams in music or dance – but life throws tests at us that we had not expected and for which it is much harder to prepare – sickness, unemployment, the break -down of relationships. These test our character and the strength of our relationship with God.

One of the meanings of the word temptation which appears in our reading today is ‘testing’. But just what is being put to the test and why?

leaping forward

2/29/2020

As some of you know, I enjoy a practice called Interplay. Interplay is ‘a creative, active way to unlock the wisdom of the body. It is a group activity that uses a number of ‘forms’, physical, verbal and musical, to enable connection with our selves and our community through play. There is a variant of one of these forms that goes like this... Participants are encouraged to choose a place in the room and move towards it with great intent, but moving only very slowly, heel to toe. This is how we often move in life towards goals on which we have set our hearts. But as we all know, life has a way of disrupting those kinds of plans and movements. So, there is another variant of this form, in which participants are invited simply to move slowly as before and just see where they end up and when it seems right to stop. This goal-less movement reflects something of what actually happens in life when we thought we were doing something else. A final variant of this game, invites participants to move slowly and just occasionally take a leap forward, perhaps celebrating that with a whoop. It is great fun, and illustrates how often we forget to celebrate our leaps forward and how much pleasure can be derived from celebrating, even when we do not have a particular goal in mind, and only recognise after it has happened that a leap forward has occurred. Sometimes indeed we may find that the leap has not been forward, but perhaps sideways or even backwards and no less a cause for celebration...