Beauty and Prayer. Part 2

This follows on from the previous post.

Prayer

What is prayer? I like this definition from the internet 'Prayer is, at root, simply paying attention to God' (Dr. Ralph Martin, The Fulfillment of all desire). John O’Donohue calls prayer ‘A bridge between longing and belonging’.

I have thought a lot about beauty recently and now I have moved on to prayer. In many ways they are connected. Each is an expression of something desirable, something put right, something aesthetically pleasing. Each welcomes the desire to improve one's emotional balance. Each draws upon the soul to look outward into the world seek change.

Journal Notes

It is early on a late September morning and the sun has yet to break over the houses at the end of the garden. The sky is gradually brightening - an expanse of blue with a few high wisps of salmon pink clouds in the distance. It should be a bright day and I plan to go and spend a couple of hours just sitting on a local hilltop. A sort of mini retreat, and I will see what happens. I have no expectations. Being in Nature requires the suspension of expectation. I just need to let it ‘be’, for I cannot make anything happen. I am there to just let go and find a place from in which I can receive. I am not too sure whether I can really learn from Nature as such, but I feel I can definitely receive from a place that accepts my presence.

Prayer can possibly be said to begin with the placement of the self in the universe. The first thing that happens is that you acknowledge yourself. It is you that forms the starting point, you are the centre of what will follow. You are the initiator.

Can prayer happen without your presence? Can Nature pray in your absence? Imagine an empty cornfield. Where or when does prayer happen? I started to think that an empty field cannot pray but once I stand in that field then prayer will happen. It needs me to be the initiator and the focus or does it? My intention for the prayer is what matters. How does that prayer leave me and how does it affect the recipient of the prayer? How does what I am thinking about in that field touch something else? Can it? Will it? What are the factors that decide if, how and when a prayer will work?

What are the boundaries between my imagination and prayer? I could easily pray that a teleportation device would suddenly appear and by pressing a button I could be instantly transported back to my homeland. This is unlikely to happen and is this just wishful imagination? So does prayer then have to be something that could, in reality happen? I could pray for Alice in Wonderland to appear with a wonderful tea party accompanied by lots of English speaking animals. Well, this could happen, but not in the form that I imagine it. I could come up here one summer with my daughter with a few of her cuddly toys for a picnic. But then is there here just a wishful imagining of something that is based around a collection of varied subconscious thoughts that I have picked up over the past few weeks?

Prayer must be an idea about something that will manifest itself in someway though how it does so may not be quite as we expect it to. If there is a perceived answer to prayer then is it not just our consciousness taking note of something that may have actually occurred anyway? Is it just random whether prayer works or not? Is it just an over positive, intense emotional moment that affects us psychologically and alters mental processes in ways that could be construed as being attributed to a ‘spiritual’ moment.

Prayer is about me having particular thoughts and directing them at something. How can my thoughts influence something - say, internally for healing or externally to people or situations? And what about a group of people praying?

There is a hope that by praying there is a supernatural element that can change the ways the universe is. We pray because we want to change things around us that are unjust, unwell, painful etc. We have an emotional attachment to wanting to better our lives.

Back to the illustration of the field, I am in Nature, if I believe that Spirit is around me then I am not alone and I am part of a bigger picture and somehow I connect with that. I was born in to it and it sustains me. I cannot survive independently of nature.

Prayer is being in touch with beauty.

Notes made amongst the trees:

I've cycled to one of my regular haunts a wooded hill top where sycamore birch and ash form an open, spacious area. The tall slender trunks reach upwards to the high enveloping canopy. As a progression from the earlier thought of praying in an open field, I wondered how I would feel being in amongst the trees. I have enjoyed the freedom that is presented by open fields and hilltops before. Sometimes the liberated feel of the body away from any physical restriction is the right place to be in. Now I am exploring this patch of trees and wondering the following: does prayer exist here when there is no human present?

If I and nature are imbued with the same spirit then although I have a conscious mind and can entertain the concept of prayer, could not the trees around me also, in some way, be part of Nature's way of prayer - their presence being part of the eternal evolution of life on this planet.

In a place like this is am surrounded by objects of nature. Trees, grass, moss, fungi, nettles etc. Each is present as a thing of natural beauty and creation. When an empty field is transformed into such a tangible expression of creation, this is where life exists in proliferation. It is in our nature to fall in love with the trees and see them as a thing of beauty and as a multi-faceted resource. It is here, amongst the trees that I think the concept of prayer can be heightened.

In churches prayer is often expressed in groups of people. Here I am surrounded by other living non-persons, but could they not actually form the same function? Together with the trees I could pray. I could uses their symbolism and presence to help me form my prayers.

Here are some thoughts from Nimue Brown’s book (see Beauty and Prayer: Part 1)

'Essentially it is about entering a mystery, not getting a result.' John Pritchard, How to Pray, SPCK 2002.

'Prayer is, in essence, an attempt to start a conversation with something.’

'Much of the prayer work suggested by religious leaders, regardless of tradition, has nothing to do with petition. Prayer is more about entering into a relationship with the divine, being open to the voice of the spirit; open to direction and inspiration. Prayer is an invitation to the numinous to enter your life.'

'The important thing ... is being open to, and aware of, something beyond us. We break down the privacy of the world inside pour skulls, a little. Something else is then able to get in ... The actual existence of things beyond us. We might then learn to empathise with that which is not us, and start to care about it.'

'Everything we do brings us in contact with other living beings ... Everything we do automatically engages us with other manifestations of spirit. Everything is about such relationship and it all brings scope for meaningful exchange. If everything we do becomes prayer, then we should be listening to what is around us, with the intention to walk more lightly, cause less harm, use less, and live more harmoniously.'

What to pray for? Nimue sees much petition prayer as inappropriate because of the way it excuses the prayer from taking responsibility for their actions; it can be just an ego boost and a desire for a quick-fix, much like the modern consumerist culture we live in expects of us. We should pray more respectfully for:

Gratitude: our existence and expanding out to every part of our lives. That which hurts and challenges us can also help us to grow... these are the things that shape us. Look for what seems especially good, beautiful or precious... Seeing the good, responding to it, praising, appreciating and supporting, all help to make life that bit better for ourselves and others.

Strength and gratitude: although with petition prayer, if the solutions are given to us then we do not learn or grow, this can be useful. Asking for strength to endure, and the means to do the necessary work, is not about getting off lightly. It is about developing a quality of self.

Inspiration: as with the above, this is not a petition to get out of something. Inspiration solves problems, but does not take them away. Inspiration reduces insurmountable obstacles to hills we can feasibly climb. Inspiration allows us to look properly at the rock and the hard place, and respond by growing some wings.

Relationship: a way of seeking connection. We can pray to reach out, from a desire to experience, understand, learn and be changed by what we encounter.

Healing: prayers that seek to find a good way through. May be more effective than those that assume we know what the best method or outcome should actually be. Sometimes the most useful thing to do is to seek insight, not solutions.

Awen
There is a concept in Druidry of the idea of Awen which I like. I feel I can more easily identify with it as a Holy Spirit concept because it talks in a language that I identify with more easily. It is less paternalistic and personified (I am not a people person as such so this is more comfortable in my mind) and more in tune with a sense of creativity, inspiration, mystery and beauty. Here are a few random definitions from the internet:

‘Awen is the wisdom, truth and most of all the inspiration, Awen is Nature, the universal power behind life, yet it is never born and shall never die. Awen is a force or energy forged from an indivisible source that is the power behind the physical and non-physical or spirit forms Existence, and distinction between the natural and the super-natural becomes meaningless, as both are the personification of Awen Every link which is a part of nature, be it a man, animal, plant or elemental force, each holds its own little piece and together make up the whole chain which is Awen. Awen is the spirit of Druidy itself, it is knowing, sensing and feeling it in your essence and true being, it is the freedom to accept ones nature.(http://www.freewebs.com/nexusdruids/awen.htm)’

‘Loosely translated from Welsh, it means flowing spirit, or flowing inspiration. We know that it is a flowing spirit, a kind of life essence, a source of spiritual strength, prophetic insight and poetic inspiration.’

‘It is an awareness, not just on a physical and mental level but on a soul deep level – an awareness of the entirety of existence, of life itself.  It is seeing the threads that connect us all.  It is the deep well of inspiration that we drink from, to nurture our souls and our world and to give back in joy, in reverence, in wild abandon and in solemn ceremony.’

Beauty and Prayer. Part 1

Over the past few months I have been journaling as often as I can as part of a self-initiated healing programme to help me overcome anxiety issues. Two recurring themes seem to have presented themselves to me: the concepts of beauty and of prayer. I have come to see these two as being intrinsically connected to each other and what follows is a brief exploration of this.

The following books more eloquently expand various ideas and philosophies regarding beauty and prayer and have been helpful to me on this journey:

‘Timeless Beauty’ by John Lane, Green Books Ltd, 2003 (An artist takes a philosophical and cultural look at beauty)
‘Divine Beauty’ by John O’Donohue, Bantam, 2004 (A Catholic Scholar explores the human desire to belong)
‘Eternal Echoes’ by John O’Donohue, Perenial (Harper Collins), 2002 9(A Catholic Scholar explores divine beauty)
‘When a Pagan Prays’ by Nimue Brown, Moon Books, 2014 (A Druid takes an interfaith look at prayer and wonders why it works. An interesting look at prayer from a sceptics viewpoint covering prayer meaning, function, ethics, practice etc. I may not agree with all of it, but it was a refreshing look at prayer from a different and often useful perspective)

Some quotes to start with:

‘The human soul is hungry for beauty; we seek it everywhere - in landscape, music, art, clothes, furniture, gardening, companionship, love, religion and in ourselves. No-one would desire not to be beautiful. When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming. Some of our most wonderful memories are of beautiful places where we felt immediately at home. We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul. ..... The Beautiful stirs passion and urgency in us and calls forth from aloneness into the warmth and wonder of an eternal embrace. It unites us again with the neglected and forgotten grandeur of life.’ John O’Donohue, Divine Beauty.

‘For whatever we believe, beauty-beauty ‘whereof one cannot speak’-remains unchallenged as a fact of everyday experience. We can see it, we can feel it, we can know it as a sensuous reality that accompanies us throughout life. It is something we encounter on street corners, in public buildings, waiting for a train or looking up from a book. We can also know that there is nothing so inspirational, nothing so transfiguring, nothing so noble, nothing so elevating as transient beauty. But its origins, its significance and destination must remain a mystery. ... For a century or more it seems that we have been running away from silence, stillness and beauty. For all that time, modernity has engendered a culture that trivializes and feeds our discontent .... it is too seldom that we pay attention to the beauty of things. In the frantic unending hustle of contemporary urban life, it is easy to become unaware of the possibilities of acceptance-a total acceptance- of things as they are-just life as it is. .... We need to practice a new way of looking at nature: not to learn about her, but to learn from her. .... For it is a fact that our crisis is one of the psyche, not politics, nor economics, technology and the environment. It is not only the Earth but we who need to be healed-to become whole again. The quest for beauty can make a significant contribution to that healing. For the love of beauty heals and comforts, nourishes and inspires. It absolves and celebrates. It can help us recover our dignity. It is the bridge between time and eternity, earth and heaven’. John Lane, Timeless Beauty.

Here are some edited notes from my journal where I first started to think about beauty:

... I need to relax into my artwork. I can find it hard to relax and focus on things, there must be a way to do it and I should find that way. Keep it simple and all will be revealed. I wonder what I can draw? I wonder what I can create and I wonder how the elements can fit together? Beauty in the time here writing and beauty in the page before me. Beauty is everything, because beauty comes from God.

God and the beautiful reside together. Is that what I want: to find a connection between beauty, God and my artwork? So what is beautiful? Is God beautiful? God created everything and so created beauty. Thus God must know beauty. God must know the Original Blessing - that blessing was was bestowed amongst us in Jesus - His Son was beauty personified. Beauty and pain, peace and war - the juxtaposition of elements - anything can be beautiful in the right context.

In this place I pray for healing. I pray that as I discover beauty so I will discover healing. Beauty is healing - it is the opposite of pain - and healing can be found in the beauty of pain. Pain can be beautiful as can be the release from that pain. All that I create should be beautiful. When I begin to see beauty within me and in my art then I will begin to see God at work. Then God will be my healer.

On holiday in Wales I was awakened to seeing so much beauty around me and I wanted to reach out and touch it. It wasn’t just the landscape that I liked though. I was more inspired by the way that people find a need to make their surroundings aesthetically pleasing. For me it was a moment of having my eyes opened to this desire we all seem to have - to plant window boxes, to put up pictures and to improve our immediate surroundings. I want to create beauty.

“Recognise the beauty around around you and your pain will go. Recognise that you are a thing of beauty - part of the Original Blessing and thus always good. Find those things that are beautiful to you and use them to inspire your art. Make mistakes and yet persevere in all that you do. Relax into it and see where you are lead.”

I have wondered where one draws the line as to what is and isn’t beautiful. Usually it is matter of perspective by the onlooker. I recognise that there are times when there is deep trauma, pain, hurt and suffering where beauty seems to be absent and this just as to be accepted as part of the great mystery of life and existence. Nimue Brown talks about nature [and therefore I take it that means the whole of the Created world] being ‘good’. This is a challenging concept for it then implies that death, violence, suffering, disease and decay are all necessary parts of nature. It accepts that life includes all of the bits we don’t like. There are no optional things, nor irritations we should be able to get rid of, it is all intrinsic to existence. To ask God to release us from things is asking God for something for nothing. We just want to rely on God to get us out of a situation and to take no personal responsibility for anything that happens. We can do what we like, therefore why care? God will sort it out. Why bother living, I say? She also asks why does God let certain events happen? Well, what about the events God may have prevented from happening that we, no doubt, know nothing about?

When thinking about beauty I realised how similar it was to prayer in many aspects. Both are ways in which we seek the transformation of ourselves or our surroundings into something more aesthetically pleasing or that gives a positive transformation to some person, thing or event. It seems to be something that is ingrained in our psyche. Whether we are brushing our hair, hanging a picture on a wall or admiring a landscape, we are looking for a way of finding an emotional bond with something and increasing our identity and place in the world around us.

Recovering the Artistic Spirit

Creation Spirituality, Matthew Fox (1991):

The mystic, after all, is the divine child in us all wanting to play in the universe. A cosmology allows us to find our place in the universe again. Bereft of a mystical cosmos the past three hundred years, our civilisation has reduced awe to the next anthropocentric invention, resulting in the estrangement of individuals, of the artist, of the mystic. In isolation we turn to the idolatry of consumerism wherein buying replaces making. The recovery of the creation tradition encourages a great mystical awakening in our time.

I Am Still Here

Last week we went on holiday to the Gower coast in South Wales. We had been there last year and this year we went back to stay in Port Eynon, just  a few minutes walk from a beautiful beach.

On leaving, I was surprised to find myself grieving over the leaving of a piece of landscape. I am fond of places in Herefordshire, but I can’t remember finding myself becoming attached to a place elsewhere to such an emotional extent. There is a coast path that leads up from just above Overton westwards along the top of the cliffs towards Mewslade  and Rhossili. I explored the area last year and recall writing a poem about the ‘Edgeland’. On one side of the path are small cornfields with high stone walls and fences that are a reminder of the small scale agricultural history that once covered much of our landscape. Then there is like a plateau of common land -sheep-grazed grass, bracken and gorse that then gives way to the limestone cliffs that drop down to the rocky sea shore below. I had heard about Paviland cave and tried to find it, but as it was tucked away in a location that required a bit of certainty about tides and sure footedness I decided not to risk the search. The cave is one of the best known prehistoric burial sites in the country and so I sensed a deep sense of mystery and history in the area.

I took no photographs of the path, which I now regret but, really, there is not much to  focus on. It is just a wide path that carries wandering souls along an edgeland between the land and sea. It has been a week since I left it, but yet I feel part of me is there part of me has felt a deep sense of belonging to that place. It was a place of peace; a place away from the intense concentration of computer illustration work; a place away from the demands of modern living. A place of freedom. 

I know I have only visited the place on warm sunny days in the summer so my experience of it is slightly biased to the positive, but perhaps carrying this intense memory of the place is a subtle lesson to me. Perhaps there is something I should be learning or remembering here. The words that came to me are “I am still here”.

The tiredness and headaches in the first few days of being back at work are a reminder of how draining sitting in front of a computer screen can be. I spend much of my day focusing in on the digital necessities and interests that fill my life. On holiday I longed to just walk and explore and free my body of the confines of my desk and sketch with freedom and my genuine personal creativity. With little spiritual inspiration around me I have not had much on which to focus and I seem to just be waiting for something to revive me again. “I am still here” is perhaps a subtle whisper from the Nature that inspires me. It held me close for a while and now we have parted. I must not loose sight of things that inspire me and should seek out ways to enliven my spirit particularly now that the summer will soon draw to a close and the year will start to turn to harvest and autumn.

Prayer

Prayer: the bridge between longing and belonging

This is my favourite quote from John Odonohue and I have hardly ever really meditated on it is such but it has been on my mind several times this week.

In the summerhouse I am sheltered from the strong wind that is sweeping over the garden.  It is 10.45 pm and the sky has just got dark though it hardly feels like summer. I’m wearing a padded shirt and a warm coat. I love the sound of the wind, possibly because it is a natural sound and it masks most of the man-made noises that seem to dominate living in a town.

A bridge spans two places and is a form of connection between them. Things may or may not traverse the bridge in either direction. Longing is looking at our desires - our wants wishes, needs, expectations etc. It is about the future. It is about us wishing to change or to understand that which we cannot control or know nothing about. Longing takes us from the present and our memories of the past and seeks to bring the future closer to us. We seek knowledge, answers and more enhanced awareness of what might happen to us. It is about relief from the present - the place we are in, the thoughts we are having, the pain we are in, the problems we face etc.

Belonging is the place where we find our home. It is where we expect to be in a better place of health, security, knowledge and understanding. A sacrifice might be involved in getting to that place. 

In prayer, we build a spiritual bridge through the use of words, thoughts, images or music etc that takes hold of what we long for and tries to form a connection with our desire to be in a place of belonging. We feel we are unable to do this work alone because what we desire is often not a matter of a simple physical task but it involves connections between unknown, psychological and temporal things. It is greater than our ability to do. We have to transform ourselves or be transformed into pray-ers that can begin to do something other-worldly.

Pain, Rain, God is Female, Healing and Resurrection

Pain
Writing seems hard work these days. Too many other things seem to grab my attention and it all seems like hard work and rather a chore to sit down and be philosphically creative. I have to find my own inspiration too, and sometimes I just want to give up and possibly return to private journalling. Work takes much of my energy and I haven't been feeling too well recently. Somehow I feel that life is an uphill struggle and just keeping on top of day to day things is difficult. But then perhaps I just want to do too much. Some people seem to have endless energy - why can't I?


Rain
April showers and more showers - for about a week now. Cold nights and variable days. The soil is now wet and workable. I planted my onions, potatoes and sowed some parsnip seeds and a few other bits and pieces a couple of weeks ago but it has been too cold to get much else going.

Oilseed rape is colouring the landscape yellow and bluebells are appearing. Blossom is everywhere. Blackthorn is fading now but apple blossom will be out shortly. Have seen brimstone, peacock and orange tip butterflies. Chestnuts and hawthorn are well into leaf and tulips look stunning in the garden.


God is Female
There is a good tv series on BBC2 at the moment called Divine Women. It is basically about how ancient cultures were more female orientated and this was swept aside by more patriarchal systems such as Christianity which has continued to the present day.

I like the idea of exploring the more feminine side of God and even perhaps acknowledging there could be a She rather than a He. From a nature based creative viewpoint this is a rather pleasant idea. The universe is all about giving birth to creation; the nurturing of life on this planet; the protection of ecosystems; the caring of people etc. Male paternalism and domination seems exploitative and devoid of the awe and beauty that sustainable and resilient societies need. It may be just romanticism, but perhaps that is what we need to survive these days if we want an alternative to consumerist post-modernism.

Anyway, I have always related to women better than I've related to men. So a female God is fine by me.

 
Healing and Resurrection
My drive for self-healing from the acid-reflux problems I get is high and I was out last Friday morning for a walk before work to get a bit of fresh air that I feel I am severely lacking. I contemplated the idea of the resurrection and prayed about it, wondering how it could relate to me, to healing, to nature, to creation etc. I was walking down a path I hadn't been along before and as I approached a small 'interesting' place of trees and hedges at the corner of several fields I decided to ask for a sign to do with resurrection. To my surprise I came across something unusual and out of place in the context of where I was walking. It was a branch on the ground with some blue twine tied round it. Wood and binding - symbols of the cross and the ropes used to bind Jesus. This was a rather surprising find. Meaning: not sure. I am rather inclined to take the resurrection story as a myth because science, logic and my experience of the world leads me to be sceptical of taking the Biblical account literally. And I don't need to at the moment because I can take its meaning in a more mystical way and see it as a symbol of transcendence. Can I transcend the pain and discomfort I feel? How can I find healing? What is the cause of the burden I carry that I can rise above? Resurrection gave me thoughts to ponder.

Interestingly I then found myself walking directly across the fields to a church and then saw another symbol: a perfect wooden cross in a back garden. Perhaps this was a message from above telling me to repent and go back to church! Perhaps I read too much into what I was seeing as my mind was attuned to a particular line of thought. Perhaps church would be my healing... but this sounds too much like pandering to the Christian mindset I have seen in people and it isn't what would be true to me. But the idea of resurrection is there and needs exploring.

Mysticism

Brief paraphase of articles from the website The Wild Things of God which I came across recently and I liked the style of writing. The end indented paragraphs are directly copied text as it was getting too laborious for me to rework them into my own words.

Mysticism - a spirituality of the direct experience of God. It is a knowing, not a belief, and marked by love and joy but not an emotional experience. Marriage of the soul to Christ just as Jesus and God are one. The mystic should be as fully permeated with Christ as God is being fully human and fully divine (by the grace of God). It isn't all about experiences which can come and go but on the lasting experience of God. The believer is transformed into a union with God (via Transformativa?)

The Bible was written by mystics. How can you read it without preconceived perceptions of language, culture. personal history?

We need to have a religion not about Jesus. but OF Jesus - of his knowledge and unconditional love.

Mysticism is about unconditional love - and that could apply to anyone. (1Jn 4:7)

When Jesus declares "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10.30) - in himself is the union of God and humankind - offered to all.

Starting point for mysticism is encountering the Goodness of God - not a conditional 'goodness' but pure Goodness. (Original Blessing, Cosmic Goodness...) Few of us are able to see the infinite goodness around us... (ongoing Divine Creative energy) What has happened?

We need to be as children - v. mystical.

We have been told to accept the contradiction of God is infinite love vs eternal torture in Hell. So we believe it is conditional of our: salvation, works, prayer .... . Dichotomy of heart and head: child's faith in absolute goodness vs adult awareness, intelligence and incompetence.

Let go, let God.

Beware of pride, fear and holding on to experiences. Also loneliness - and a narrow path (I know it all too well)

The idea that God is love but will also torment those who do not accept Jesus is an impossible contradiction and erronness misunderstanding of the gospel. How could a Father punish his children endlessly? It is pointless as it accepts no rehabilitation or healing.

Greek word for 'Eternal' means 'Age' - indefinite but not infinite. God's eternity is not described in the Bible. True eternity = absence of time. ie is part of creation, but God transcends time. God is in time, but he is over time. God is not eternal, he is eternity. To God there is nothing but the NOW.

"Consider this: did you really know what you were doing when you accepted Jesus? How can anyone know what they are really doing in rejecting him, or more accurately, what they perceive to be him? We don't. Forgiveness has been proclaimed."

"Literally dozens of passages of Scripture say that salvation will be universal. All mankind, even all creation, will be saved. The hills shall jump for joy, the trees clap their hands, the lion and lamb lie down together. The rocks and stones will sing praises."

"Does Salvation Mean "Knowing Jesus?"

No. The teaching that Jesus is the only path to salvation, contradicts the teachings of Jesus himself. In the three earlier Synoptic gospels, Jesus never suggests "believing in him" is the criterion for salvation. In fact, Jesus warns that it is not those who call him "Lord," who will enter heaven, but those who live the Kingdom life of love! (Mt. 7.21) In the Judgment scene in Mt. 25.31-46, (far and away the most detailed description of judgment in the Bible), Jesus says that those who do good works, creating a better world for the "least of his brothers," actually do it for him whether they know it or not, and will be blessed with his Presence, while those who do not will suffer "burning" in the age-long fire which we've already discussed. Throughout these first three gospels, Jesus doesn't even care if anyone "knows" him or has "a personal relationship" with him! He cares instead that people embrace his teaching—Good News—that the Kingdom of heaven is here, that God is "Father," that in embracing selfless love, we lose our false self, but gain the whole world.

On the other hand, the later gospel of John presents Jesus as the "Cosmic Christ," who is one with the Father, and called "Word", "Light", "Water of Life", and "the Way." The emphasis has shifted from the teaching to the Teacher, in light of his embodiment of the love of God. This Love is called Christ. When Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by me," (Jn 14:6) he is speaking of his nature as the love of God made visible. It is only by being filled with Divine Love that we can "come to the Father." By whatever name it is given by followers of whatever religion or no religion, it is the same, and it is "the narrow gate" through which all must come. The human identity of its bearer is not what's important; the essential thing is following his example in loving unconditionally, becoming Christ. As he said: This is my commandment, love one another as I have loved you. (Jn.15.12)

Many passages in the apostles' writings at first glance suggest that belief in Jesus is essential. But the Bible never records the apostles using a threat of "damnation" for not accepting the Gospel. Paul's voice speaks especially strongly about universal salvation. Yet Paul also presents Jesus as the "necessary sacrifice" for sin, implying belief in him is mandatory. The reason for this is found in his letters, where he repeatedly explains his dual mission of presenting the Good News to both the Jews and the Gentiles, and adjusting his message to his audiences, "becoming all things to all men." (1 Cor. 9.19-23). His Jewish audiences demanded to know how sacrifice fits into this message, and so, Paul presents Jesus as the only sacrifice needed, the fulfillment of the Law. To Gentiles, he presents the cosmic Christ, "the love of God made visible," (Rm. 8.39) reconciling all things in heaven and earth to the Father through selfless love. (Eph. 1.10-11). "

"The Gospel of John reveals the "Cosmic Christ," that is, Christ is identified not only as Jesus on earth, but as the whole creative and redemptive movement of God throughout space and time. Thus, Christ is the Word which brings everything into existence (1:2-3), the Light that enlightens all humanity, (1:9) the Bread of God that sustains all life, (6:33) and much more."

"Panentheism and Christian Mystical Spirituality:

Most great truths of Christian faith, and perhaps most great truths, period, are expressed as paradox. God is completely One, and yet, Triune and Infinite. Jesus is fully and completely human, but fully divine, as well. Panentheism presents another one: God is completely transcendent, and yet, immanent throughout his Creation. Like the mysteries of Trinity and Incarnation, panentheism is an ancient theological realization.

The Greek Church Fathers referred to the transcendence of God as God's "essence" (ousia) and the immanence of God as his "energies" (energeia). In 553, at the Second Council of Constantinople, the universal Church proclaimed a panentheistic vision of the Trinity, developed from St. Paul's writing in Ephesians: "There is One God and Father from whom all things are, one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are." God is in all things, for they spring from him, and all things are in God, for they subsist in him, yet he transcends all as well as emanates in all. "

Panentheism and other God-views:

Panentheism offers the potential for greater dialogue and communication between Christians and those of other views. Other religions share with Christianity this apprehension of the simultaneous beyondness and hereness of the Ultimate as well, even though they use different terms. Buddhism, for instance, speaks of "the Unmade," "the Unconditioned", "the Void"-that which is beyond all concepts on the one hand, but of "Buddha-nature" the divine potential immanent within all "sentient beings," on the other.

Furthermore, many people who call themselves atheists or agnostics actually are not; many have a strong sense of a spiritual dimension, but simply find the images of a "personal God" an intellectual hurdle. Often this is because of misunderstandings brought about by poorly communicated concepts of a very man-like God (though with extraordinary powers) somewhere "up above," reacting with wild emotions to events in the world. These simplistic images have offended countless people from believing in God, and countless more from being able to trust him deeply. So millions of Christians find themselves adults with dissonant, childish (and often threatening) images of God, and millions of non-religious people have only seen such images and rightly reject them.

The panentheism of the Bible is quite different: it certainly presents God as relating to persons and thus "personal," but also as infinitely beyond personality. To communicate God's infinity, the Bible describes God in many non-personal images as well. Consider a few: Spirit,(Jn 4.24) Sun, (Mal 3:20) Word, (Jn 1:1) Rock, (1Cor 10:4) Fire, (Heb 12:29) Light, (1 Jn 1:5) Waters of Life, (Rev 21.1) Wisdom, (Pr 1.20) and Love. (1 Jn 4:8) Perhaps we should keep in mind that God's "person"-ality is also a metaphor, for (he? she? it? all pronouns fail when contemplating this magnificence!) is as infinitely beyond being a "person" in the traditional sense as the One who created light is beyond being light.

No view of God is larger than the panentheistic view. All other theisms (deism, theism, polytheism, animism, pantheism, atheism) are fragmented theologies compared to panentheism. This is the ground for an inexhaustible faith-that God is present right now, in every cell of our bodies, in every beat of our hearts, in every person, in every star, in every loving thought, birthing every particle of every atom of the entire Creation into a constant stream of existence, the invisible Nothing and Nowhere that brings forth Everything and Everywhere. God in all things and all things in God invites wonder, and wonder invites all to touch God.

Beliefs are not Reality

It's essential to remember that all of these ideas are metaphors. Doctrines, words, concepts, thoughts and pictures all translate, emphasize, reflect, and otherwise point to reality. But no description of reality is the reality it describes. Words and pictures, ideas and doctrines, are not the things they point to. They are distorted indicators, utterly different in kind from what they point to. You can describe a tree in your backyard to me all day long, but until I touch it with my own hands, I can't feel its bark. If description can't communicate the tree-ness of a tree, how much less can words communicate God!

This is important! Challenging ideas are often vital for breaking up entrenched thought patterns and opening the mind. Yet no concept, no matter how inspirational, is that divine reality we seek, anymore than Magritte's pipe is something you can pick up and smoke.

We need to remember that God is the name we use for the Unspeakable. Simply put, the Source of everything is beyond all names. The “Trinity” is a conception of how the Infinite One relates to the phenomenal world of beings, matter, and time, which we call Creation. “The Fall from grace” is another. Other religions have their concepts as well—lila, nirvana, maya. But to latch on to any one of these as “the Truth ” instead of a helpful pointer to truth, is to miss the point entirely! It's like several people pointing to that tree in the backyard and arguing whether the tree has three parts or fifteen parts—or arguing if the leaves are dark green, forest green, or olive.

God cannot be divided. God simply is. The Universe simply is. What is simply is. All our thoughts and concepts divide Is-ness in our minds, and divide our minds from Is-ness.

Awakening is the transition from "religion" with its firm answers, perspectives, and experiences, to realization, the awareness of what IS. Even more important is “Real-ization,” the embodiment of that awareness. The important things in mysticism are not concepts, thoughts, feelings, or even experiences, but the questions and questing for nothing else but this One we call God. Beliefs—in the sense of concepts which must be protected, are not part of Christian mystical life. In this sense, you must not “believe” in God. Instead, just rest in Being. And in being, and being with Being, you rest with God, the Ground of Being. Don't “believe” in the Trinity. Trust the holy and wholly indescribable Reality in whom you “live, move, and have your being”.

The Greek word pisteo is almost always translated “belief” or “faith” in the New Testament. However, it also means trust and is better translated as such. Dare to move from belief to trust.

Slowly, joyfully, lovingly, destroy your concepts and mental images into the burning furnace of just being with the One. Just love what is, seen and unseen. Don't name it. Don't label it. Don't even think about it. Just do what Jesus said: Come as a child.

The Druid Christian

I have been pondering on whether my term for there being a 'Christian Druid' was inaccurate and, as I have come from a mainly Christian upbringing, so perhaps the term 'Druid Christian' would be more helpful.

But I hate labels, even though they help to form an identity around who or what you are. It is like having a coat hanger upon which you can hang all your favourite bits and pieces so that they don't get all scrumpled up and dusty at the bottom of the wardrobe.

To all those who have commented on my previous blogs about Christian Druidry I give a big thank you. I really ought to sort some stuff out and try and build a proper framework around the subject - as I have probably implied, it would not be Druidry as such, nor Paganism but fairly general and holistic view of a practical natural spirituality.

We all want identity, we all want hope, we all want security; some of us need the 'spiritual'. But the 'spiritual' has to be real to us. It has to be real, authentic, trustworthy, boundary-less and true to our soul. It may well have to be kept private if we are not in a secure place of sharing. I find it hard work, mentally and physically, to embrace a lifestyle that I perceive would be true to my spirituality. Some people may find it easy to walk their chosen path, but I don't. But that spurs me on to learn more and to try and incorporate something practical in my daily lifestyle.

It is a place of mystery when art, poetry, music, writing, nature and the desire for the 'other' meet and explore in creative playfulness. It is a place of unknowing where the unexpected may happen. It is a place of prayer when you reach out from within into the space of the otherness. It is a place of slowing down, when the time of our world meet that of the earth. It is a place where fear of darkness or the unkown lessens. It is a place where your inner soul finds strength and belonging.

I don't know what to write
I want to explore with words
I want to touch the cool leaves
I want to run through the fields
I want to sense prayers that call
to the unseen and receive the
gifts of the mysterious.

I want.
How unfortunate a phrase
typical of our unsustainability.

I am what I write
I am exploring with words
I am touching the cool leaves
I am running through the fields
I am sensing prayers that call
to the unseen and receiving the
gifts of the mysterious.

"Beauty lies in the places where there is seemingly nothing"

The above title is a quote from an article entitled "The Space Between" by Suzy Murphy in Resurgence, No. 251, November/December 2008. Contained within the article were a few other pieces of writing that I wanted to remember:

'... the Ancients [various writers and artists] ... their belief in the spirituality of the landscape, where Nature takes on a God-like presence.'

'When God created the
Flowers,
It was not the
Flowers
That were important,
But the spaces
Between'


'The Ancients believed that the landscape was the Bible resurrected. For me the landscape is a vista poignant with spiritual meaning.'

'...when you understand what is meant by the 'spaces between the flowers' you understand that there is beauty in the ordinary...'

[Art/creativity (?) should be] 'A Diary of everyday life lived and felt, and the spirituality it contains.'

Birth and Cycles of Change

Deciding a few thoughts to write about: Birth from the world and continuation of life; Work ethics and balance; Creative play; Is it just escapism?; Difference between appreciating nature and a deeper ecospiritual living; ...

I am catching up with some reading at the moment and keep dipping into three or more books and so getting quite an amalgamation of thoughts.

I came across the concept that we are birthed from the world and not in to the world. I am just a continuation of the creative process that is unfolding on the earth. I didn't appear from outer space and land one day in a tiny patch of Worcestershire. I was the product of the combination of the flesh and cells of my parents formed by the metabolism of the food they ate and the air they breathed. Their food was grown in the earth and so perpetuated the long cycle of creation and decay that characterises the development of life over millions of years. My window on the world is so infinitesimally small compared to the big picture, and perhaps that is one of the failings of our modern society. We live in a world that divorces us from the reality of the big picture of creation and nature. Are we really just like fleas on a dog's back? We can see the big picture because we have the ability to stand back and view the world but the perspective we chose may not be from an ecological view.

Although I feel encouraged to live in the present and not worry about future, I think it must be important to somehow recognise the past, the customs, the people, the culture and the natural world that has been part of my creation to this point. From what I gather, that is what Halloween is traditionally all about - celebration for the end of the summer and its provision for the harvest; a time for realising that the darkness of winter is ahead of us and that the closeness of death is ever present; and a time for remembering the people who have brought us to this place so far from our past. I realise there may be some darker aspects to it in some cases, but as that is not something I relate to or wish to discuss I will move on to something else.

Nature is always birthing even in the depths of the cold of winter. As the winters here have got warmer over the years this is becoming very noticeable. Buds forming on trees, spring bulbs pushing up though the grass - even a hibernating mouse is alive and slowly breathing and growing. Even a pile of dead leaves changes through the growth of fungi, micro-organisms and bacteria. Cells pass from life to death to assimilation to life in a never ending cycle.

(Now here's a challenge in connectivity) Jesus... as well a being human, and so part of this great natural creative cycle, had the skill to transcend the normal prespectives of his culture and see a bigger picture of the past, present and future. His ability to be a cultural and social philosopher was probably grounded in a deep connection to the earth, though I have to assume this as biblical language isn't always very ecocentric! He must have been very much like the creative thinkers today who want to see changes to the economic, consumer driven and unsustainable lifestyles we lead. When I read Resurgence magazine I am sure many of the writers there are, in what may be a heretical thought, Jesuses - people who are visionary, explore alternatives to the norms of society and seek changes to better the world around them.

Celtic Prayer

The Path of Celtic Prayer
by Calvin Miller, IVP 978-0-8308-3504-1, 2007

I have just read this book which I borrowed from a friend. I made quite a few notes, but realised much of what was doing was just copying directly from the book. So, in order to respect copyright, I have re-written my notes in more of my own words with my own thoughts added. Some text is retained as written in the book, in quote marks. It may be a bit disjointed as I only picked out the parts that I feel spoke to me. It was very good book exploring Celtic Christianity and the author was, I felt, discovering it from a fairly charismatic evangelical viewpoint which at times felt a bit claustrophobic. But the underlying sense of discovering a more ancient and creation based spirituality was very strong and I liked the style of writing and the sense of discovery and journey within nature. The book was an easy read and so didn't always present a greater depth of exploration where I would have liked. If it had been my copy I would have been writing things and underlining bits all over the place.


The Celts (Greek keltos for stranger or alien) are a people of somewhat unknown origin, possibly from middle Europe, who found their way to our land somewhere between 1500 and 500 BC. The Romans drove most of them to the outer western edges of the British Isles where remnants of their ancient languages can still be found. Various missionaries such as Patrick and Columba then bought the gospel to them and so Christianisation of the Celts began.

Like most people the Celts prayed in ways that were appropriate to their lives and the context of their society, environment and culture. Their gods were drawn from the natural world which was to be expected. They were outdoor people, a concept probably that was meaningless in their time, as that is what everyone was. Nature was too big for them to grasp and so they naturally sought help from the gods from the land and sea and sought to manipulate them through prayers and incantations. When Christianity was bought to this pagan landscape so the Christian God became the King of Nature. The Celts may have confused their Christian God with nature but for most Christians, God is always greater than and separate from His creation. Nature can therefore be allowed to inform spirituality but you couldn't say God IS nature. I have a sneaking feeling that there is an alternative view. God is present in nature, it is His creation, in it He is constantly creating and evolving and thus there need be no separation.

At the heart of Celtic devotion there is a force called neart or nirt which is the Divine spiritual and creative energy behind all living things and it comes from the Trinity. Prayer is a way of tapping into this energy and the triune God. In praying to the Trinity we are praying to the full Godhead that creates and pervades the natural world and thus there is no separation of God, Son and Holy Spirit. As the Celts only knew the natural world they worshipped and prayed to a God who surrounded them just as the natural world did. Very Psalm like. God was not an icon fixed in a temple, but could be found amongst the rocks and bushes. "YHWH was the breath of the God of storms, whose wind (ruach) created, threatened and gave life."

Christians often pray to one part of the Trinity. God deals with all the big stuff; Jesus the personal; and the Holy Spirit just makes them feel good. The Trinity is expressed in the knotworks of neverending patterns of sovereignty and foreverness. In praying to the Trinity we can truly commune with it - we are taking God in His completeness and therefore we are complete. God has given us the earth's resources to meet our needs, but the whole Trinity is invloved in both our creation and sustenance.

The Celts were poetic people using ornate phrases of praise direct from the heart that weren't spontaneous but carefully formed. In "Megachurch 'entertainment evangelism' Jesus can be trivialised as a congenial host who smiles alot". The spoken word was believed to be more powerful that words frozen to a page. "They saw the Bible not just as God's word that should be applied, but as literature born on the high ledges between this world and the next".

The author warns about taking the Bible and fitting it to meet our own needs and something about needing to be careful about confusing the important biblical and doctrinal distinctions of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. No further expansion on this was given and, although I think I know exactly what he meant, I am not sure I agree with his frame of thinking.

Praying scriptures out of doors is to be encouraged as then we are surrounded by the grandeur of God as exhibited and enhanced by nature. Try these passages:

Outdoors - last chapter of Job, Psalm 19, 23, 46, 90 : Mountains - Isaiah 40 : Harvest John 4 : Christmas - nativity : Epiphany - Matthew 28, Luke 1 : Seashore : Jonah, Galilean passages beginning at Matthew 4 : Sheep - John 10 : Evening - Passion narratives : Mid-morning - Sermon on the Mount : End of day - Romans 8, Philippians 2

The word Lorica is often used for 'breastplate' prayers: prayers that ask for protection as they journeyed to an unknown future. The cross is a bridge between this world where we live temporarily and the higher world where God reigns. We can never rest in a place of faith. In it we travel and learn of heaven and hell, life and death, sin and the gospel and the triune God. Each adventure we have becomes a metaphor, a new way to teach us about nature, the power of the Trinity and the gospel of Christ. When we live on the edge then pilgrimages are born.

I wonder if nature worship encourages a less self centered desire to pray and worship?

To the Celts, the forces or evil and death were very real with sickness, pestilence and enemies part of Satan's weapons. Lorica/breastplate prayers were their protection. Do people who look out for the work of the evil one actually attract it to themselves...? I personally have yet to be convinced fully of the presence of Satan (or even Jesus if I dare say it!), even after 20 years of being in an evangelical Christian environment, though I will acknowledge a 'dark side'. But that is a discussion for elsewhere.

The Celts took confession seriously because they took God seriously. If you believe in God then you see yourself as both sinful and needy and confession gives us the ability to escape all false opinions of ourselves. It is about a desperate longing for God, agreeing with God that our sin is sin, and serving God in the world. Yes, I agree to a point, but I could see things from a different perspective if persuaded...

Creation and redemption go hand in hand and at the end of the age He will recreate heaven and earth. Well, again, it depends how you see things...

Nature Prayer
This was the juiciest part of the book and I have saved this bit until last.
Nature encompasses a far greater world than can be observed and it is the place where mere mortals become God's servant of praise. With the Spirit flowing naturally though the entirity of life it must therefore permeate the worship of church. With God sustaining creation, in order to know the Creator you must seek him though creation. The Eucharist can be an excellent example of the concentrate of God's presence in all things. When in nature we automatically want to praise and if we allow our environment to deteriorate we have not only disobeyed God but we will have no place in which to praise and worship. "We can easily paste nature over supernature so that it becomes mere scenary. We so separate nature and faith that it can seem that would be essentially unchanged if creation were to cease to exist. Not so with the Celts (or the Bible)." Everywhere the Celts looked they saw creative love and the almighty nature of the holy Trinity. "...we must break through the cold, hard walls of our institutionalized worship and reach for the soft, warm reality of God that is found outdoors. It is impossible to imprison God within the walls of a church and yet claim that Christianity brings light, growth and life. We need to open the windows of our souls to admit God's creative energy..."

"Nature must not forget the Christ that died to redeem it from its great destroyer - Satan". To me, I feel that it is us humans who are ultimately nature's great destroyer. Perhaps... is there a 'satan' within us all that creates the dark side of humanity. Perhaps we are our own evil. We create it from with our own psychology. We are nature's satan. Not sure, don't know.....

The Celts had an holistic worldview, a world where faith and reason wound seamlessly together as the natural and supernatural worlds are intwined in their artwork.

Reflection

Having just ploughed my way through Resurgence No.249, July/August 08, there were just a few things that paused me to ponder.

• I am surrounded by music in life, yet do I create any of it myself? We are often obliged to listen to music whether we choose to or not. It may be in shops; from neighbours next door or even many gardens away; passing cars or perhaps even mobile phone ring tones. I do often listen to music at home or at work - it can be for many reasons, such as to hide from background distractions or for the pure enjoyment of it. But should I sometimes create music myself? I stopped playing the guitar many years ago because of the problems with RSI I had. I enjoyed it, but never really quite got beyond a certain level probably through a lack of will power. I am going on a drum making course in December for a day which I am looking forward to. I think it will be my Christmas present to myself. Sometimes perhaps we need to have a place where we can make music in whatever way we want to. With complete freedom of expression and no fear of doing it wrong.
  
  Does music happen when I paint a picture? I wonder what the pencil markings, erasings, paint brushings, brush stirrings and ink bottle shakings would sound like as a piece of music, or even an orchestral score? How could it be interpreted?
  
  How can you interpret nature as music? I love Nigel Shaw's music. Do I find it beautiful just because it touches me emotionally, or does it have an innate sort of belonging to the landscape which inspired it and which draws me in? It is so easy to bring landscape pictures to the mind when I hear it. Many composers have attempted to bring nature into the realm of humankind through the language of music, there is obviously a need within the human psyche for many people to do so.
  
  Is there music in the movement of a leaf in the breeze?



• 'The earth can only survive if we develop the pursuit of poetry and mysticism. Free ourselves from the anthropocentric myth of the Apocolypse and adopt the mystics path of identifying with the cosmos.' (From a review of John Gray by Mary Tasker).
  
  Being mystical in a life that has to be practical or functional doesn't always come easily. For me, it almost has to take a concerted effort to switch to the mystical/poetic 'me'. I feel like I keep stepping off my 'path' to deal with daily issues that seem to 'get in the way': need to fix this, mend that, go to work, be with family etc. I know that everything I do is part of my path, but it isn't always easy finding inspiration or space to do so, and without it feeling as though it is being forced. I've just rearranged my room at home and put an armchair in it. Now I can at least sit down in my own space in a comfy chair without always having to go into the cold summerhouse in the winter and squinting at a book or sketchpad by candlelight.



• How is my personal sense of belonging being eroded by giant corporations? (From Reviews, by Tony Juniper)
  
  This is something else to think about when I want to blog about local/global issues and isolation from the environment etc.

Here's another quote I want to remember:

In Nature's sheme of things, there is little concern for the individual plant or animal. The well-being of the commmunity is most important.
(Interpreting the Environment. Sharpe, G. W, John Wiley and Sons Inc, 1976. London).

I love the Grey

Oh, do it write this or not, or am I just revisiting old problems.....? Pooey, here goes...

I am finding it hard to be positive about this but I was with a group of people recently and to say that I got rather stressed by the situation was an understatement. Now, I'm not going to say who they were or divulge the fine details of the evening as they were a fine bunch of people and I wish to try and maintain a diplomatic and balanced perspective.

But, you know, for some people there is only black and white. They know what they believe and, although they seem to be accepting of different perspectives, the underlying psychological pressure to believe their black and white is intense. For a 'Grey' person, who has a more Holistic outlook, you just have to sit there and stew in silence feeling unable to draw upon deep theological knowledge to back up any of your arguments and knowing full well that any divergent ideas would be met with the unswerving Christian 'only one way and we have it' response (verbally or in thought).

I tried to be hugely positive and was deciding whether to say something or not. Being outspoken before has got me into trouble so I pondered long before politely thanking them for the evenings study and saying "I love the Grey".

I have written before about the Celtic idea of accepting the "Maybe". Perhaps I am liberal, perhaps I am always sitting on the fence, perhaps I am always avoiding conflict - but, hey, that's me.

There is much concern in the Anglican church at the moment about the Ordination of women and homosexuality. I see traditionalists and modernists fighting and causing division. Each has their own deeply held theological standpoint. So, in a sense then, each is right, for each claims ultimate 'biblical truth'. To me it almost reinforces the idea that there is no 'one way', there can be different paths, but people somehow get bogged down in their own states of belief/conditioning that it causes tension and argument. Is this a frightened response that shows their insecurity in their own faith? What are people afraid of loosing? What are they holding onto?

Now, I am not saying that I am pro-homosexuality, anti-Jesus or anything like that. I am not saying either that I don't have black and white ideas about somethings.

I am learning, developing, absorbing - and sometimes SCREAMING with frustration too! I have my cross to bear - like those who are facing tough times in the church.

And what can I do about it.....?

And why is this subject in particular so able to wind me up?

Conflict. Perhaps that is it. And also fear that I could be making a huge mistake. But that is the risk I take on journeying.

Blearaearggghhhhh!!!!

Nature: Living Bible

A note in my sketchbook. I'm re-reading Original Blessing by Matthew Fox and his ideas on Creation Spirituality. It's premise is basically that the earth was made originally good and the fall/redemption ideology has distorted the concept of the Divine creative energy that God imbued in creation. It is quite a liberal theology but I love it. I'd like to expand on it more here at some stage but I don't really was to just repeat large chunks of the books here. I'd love to study it further as it does actually want to make me take a deeper look at the Bible, but getting my head around deep theology isn't easy.

It is hard for us to understand the entirety of the created cosmos. I am not a creationist (literal 7 days to create the earth) and quite happy with idea that the earth has been around for millions of years quietly getting on with the process of creation. Hmm, perhaps Creation is a better word for Evolution as I am not sure that the latter fully encompasses the entirely process of Earth's development. From that perspective the recent Christocentric time frame within we seem to place much of our history and development seems almost inconsequential. If God's creative energy has been at work for so long in forming the earth that nourishes plant roots, the butterflies that dance in summer sunshine and clouds that bring rain to the mountain streams; then are we humans not the most arrogant, self-centered and destructive life forms to walk upon this fragile land?

Can Nature be my Living Bible?

How can I enter a truly authentic mystical faith that draws up nature and Creation for its Being?

And, possibly more interestingly, how can I find people that share similar ideas? The internet is fine as a starting point but it lacks proper personal contact. I am not sure I am ready to return to our church yet so I do feel a bit isolated. Perhaps i should start a group... or do something... or just scream with frustration!

On Prayer

If you pray, things may happen, or they may not;
If you don't pray, things may happen anyway, or they may not...

Contents:

Introduction and First Questions
God in the Mystery of Belief
People Finding Prayer
Writing Prayers
Jesus and Prayer
Grounding in Truth and Prayer
Prayer and Reality

Introduction and First Questions
At a recent Urban Saints staff conference I joined a session on the subject of prayer and how would it be possible to raise the prayer life of staff within the organisation. Some of the key points that stood out for me, or that I thought about, were:

• What am I grounded in? (me: bible, nature....)


• How much can you really change things through prayer?


• How do/ you maintain momentum?


• Does stuff just come in seasons (me: cf nature)?


• What is your sacrifice when we are all so busy?


• Can some things only be shifted by prayer?


• Prayer reaches places we cannot know about


• Is people's reluctance to pray actually because they don't have a personal philosophy/revelation of what prayer is? They may know it all, but somehow it just isn't a day to day reality to them that is grounded in their faith


• Perhaps people are frightened to pray - when some very strange stories are told about what can happen when you do pray - spooky/supernatural or whatever (I know I do because it is outside of my daily experience of what I can understand). We may be conditioned to be scared of the 'supernatural' as it then comes close to being perceived as 'occultic' - and how do we deal with that?


• "Pray to Jesus". Yes. "Pray to Nature". No. But... if you have the perspective that God is embodied/emspirited within Nature, then, if that is where you connect with God, you could have a slight problem (in general Christian circles) unless you can produce a convincing argument to back up your possibly perceived liberal and way off ideas....

God in the Mystery of Belief

Much spiritual literature and prayer around the world tells us that we can find God deep within the world and even with ourselves. Christians call this the mystery of incarnation; spirit and matter as one thing. ... Environmentalists and visionaries today face a similar task: to return spirituality to the Earth, grounding our spirituality and spiritualising our ground." ('Pray to Gaia' by Thomas Moore, Resurgence March/April 2008 No.247)

I have been surprised at how much "prayer" (talking to God, Divine connection or what ever you call it) happens in other religions, amongst pagans etc. now that I have become more aware of other ways of viewing the God. I do not want to say that a Christian's prayer IS the same as a Druid's invocation (or whatever you may call it) but a Holoist would probably argue that the difference is just cosmetic.

"In a tradition such as Druidry, the spell is a prayer: a respectful invocation that opens the soul and presents to to the gods and spirits of a situation's environment a request for inspiration, so that a solution can be found." (Orr, 'Living Druidry')

As it is perfectly possible for Druids to have a belief based the idea of a monotheistic God, I have no hesitation to draw some of their ideas into my writings. I have mentioned before that I rather like the idea of a Christian Druid though I might hesitate to actually call myself one - it does though bring me interest from other people searching the internet on the subject. Anyway, I am probably digressing, but this is my blog and I'm allowed to!

When I go to church and end up encouraged to worship Jesus, but then hear of a friend holding a women's drumming evening in her garden to drum for Tibet or some other big world issue, I wonder where I would rather be... Is "Being with God" actually what God would want from me or is being with people "praying" for suffering and injustice the place I should be... Who is right? Eeee, it's tricky stuff! Both are. Sort of. I think I am getting a bit bogged down again, so let's get back on track.

Prayer is...
Here are some quotes from John Odonohue about prayer (in Eternal Echoes):

Prayer should always develop the habit of delight.

Prayer should be the wild dance of the heart.

Prayer is an ancient longing, it has a special hunger and energy.

Prayer is an attempt to enter into harmony with the deeper rhythm of life.

Prayer issues from the threshold where soul and life interflow; it is the conversation between desire and reality.

Prayer awakens the soul and opens doors of possibility.

Prayer always brings transformation.

The unknown is our closest companion, it walks beside us every step of our journey. The unknown is also the place where each of us has come from. Prayer helps us build an inner shelter there.

Mystical prayer teaches us a rhythm of seeing that is dynamic and free and full of hospitality.

Each individual expresses and incarnates a different dimension of divinity. Each of us comes from a different place in the circle of the Divine. Consequently each of us prays out a different inner world and each one of us prays to a different place in the Divine circle. This is the place we left to come here. This is the empty nest in the Divine where the secrets of our origin, experience and destiny are stored. When we pray, we pray to that space in the Divine presence which absolutely knows us.

The magical thing about prayer is that it creates spiritual space. In spiritual space there is no distance.

It is a beautiful gift to draw someone into the shelter of your circle of prayer.

Prayer is the voice of longing; it reaches outwards and inwards to unearth our ancient belonging. Prayer is the bridge between longing and belonging.

I had written these out a couple of years ago and re-typing them here just lifted my soul. Here is, for me anyway, a way of seeing prayer that goes far beyond the "Jesus heal my cold" sort of thing. I am alsohappy to leave the strong intercessory and warrior-like prayers to other people - previous blogs have talked about my thoughts on the perception of a Warrior God. For me, prayer is almost like tuning into the essence of life. The whole attitude with which you face your existence in connection with the Divine is almost a constant prayer. You tune into intuition and a connection with everything around you. I like a language of poetry in prayer, the language that John Odonohue used in his writings touches many people following many different paths. It adds mystery to prayer and one's relationship with God. When some people seem to be so in tune with God you can feel utterly left out, bewildered and frustrated - because you don't connect at that level and yet it is 'expected' that you should. I'm not thinking of anyone in particular either. It is just the way that some people genuinely do things. If, one day, I reach that point, then I may be able to look back and see where I went wrong. Today, I can only do what I can do, within the parameters of my perspective. I can only pray with honesty and truthfulness that way. Anything else is just posing. I just feel I connect differently.

People Finding Prayer
So, how do you motivate people to pray? Perhaps modern society isn't designed for us to pray in. For the past 20 years or so I have heard the same messages about Christian prayer. Does anything change? Do we somehow need to step away from distractions of work, tv, family, eating, the internet etc. and seek time to be alone with God. Is it about sacrifice? Is it about getting the grounding right?

"Prayer is a bridge between longing and belonging" John Odonohue

People need to know who they are. They need to have a framework in which they can place their "God". They then need to build a bridge to help connect them and their God. Bridges need foundations, strength, a direction, ends and, of course, something to cross over. Prayer needs to be a bridge.

Writing Prayers
I really like to write prayers. You create them into existence and then they have permanence; a voice or whisper does not have that enduring quality. A prayer written in a book lasts long after it has been written. I believe it continues to have 'power' for as long as required. I was also wondering about poetry and wondering whether there was a deeper link between poetry and prayer - are they the same?

A couple of years ago when I was facing redundancy I wrote a prayer on a small piece of canvas and placed it amongst some trees in a wood not far from home. I liked the idea of prayer flags, and this was my 'prayer flag' - offering a prayer to the wind that could sort of reach out into the world seemed a good idea to try. In my sketchoo/journal I often write small prayers or try pictorial/drawn prayers.

Jesus and Prayer
I wondered if Matthew Fox had anything to say about Jesus and prayer:

Jesus is also lover and pray-er of nature. Mountains, deserts, parks, lakes welcomed him for days at a time as he suffered his fame and his loneliness and his beauty and his decision-making in all these sacred temples. His biggest and most innovative decision was the manner in which he chose to preach. He chose the way and the life of the story teller, the parable maker who fashions a new creation out of the holy materials of the only creation we all share in common: the birds, the lilies of the field, the fishes caught, the fig tree in bloom, the sheep verses the goats, the leven in the bread, the mustard seeds of the world, the rains that fall on unjust and just alike. His reverence for nature was so great that the creatures of nature were indeed his teachers, his professors, who he recognized instinctively were looking "on him with affectionate looks and with truth to tell.

In his prayer he learns to pray to a creator God as "Abba", or "Papa" thus personalizing as no religion ever had the intimate bond between creature and Creator. His panentheistic Father/Mother God is forever a personal God". ('Original Blessing', Matthew Fox)

Grounding in Truth and Prayer
I like the previous quote and Fox touches on a point that will be the basis of some further blog study by me: how can Nature be a teacher? I come across the idea many times in my readings but would like to explore it further. Can Christian Truth be found in nature? I was asked about the idea of fundamental Truth a couple of years ago and didn't really have an answer. Perhaps it's out there... in the trees... in the soil that Jesus walked on... in the things that inspired Him... This goes back to the subject of grounding - in what am I grounded? Prayer should be part of the outworking of your grounding.

Prayer as Reality
Prayer can be dull, hard work, unrewarding and sometimes seemingly pointless. And anyway, how do you decide what thoughts are prayer, and which are just, well, daily thoughts that our minds present us with every minute of our woken day? If I spend a few minutes thinking about a particular situation that needs 'prayer', does it have any less value than offering it as a particular prayer in a set 'prayer time'? If my life is truly a sacred experience in walking with God in all I do, does that mean I don't have to pray specifically?

Prayer should be a reality. A connection with the seen and the unseen. It should embrace mystery and the unknown. It should build love, compassion, trust, respect and passion for life. It should seek to bring inspiration and understanding to situations. It should be accepting of uncertainty, but it should have direction, meaning and the energy to expect change. It should be a reaching out to the unknown, an attempt to reach the source of our longing for meaning and existence.

Prayer should "Be". It should be there, be around you, be amongst you, be within you, be in your doing, be in your resting. Not always just the calm, chilled out "Be", but a strong dynamic, purposeful "Be" too.

Does it work? Well, do you need to ask the question? Does it matter if it does or not? As long as you are building a bridge you are building a connection between soul, spirit and the Divine.

Do I practice this? I feel I have a long way to go...

Autumn Morning

Journal writing from this morning
The autumnal mornings close in with an enveloping mist and coolness that brings the knowledge of coming darkness, cold and woolly jumpers hiding in the wardrobe. I see the orange sun rising in the east above the darkening trees whose leaves are about to change to rainbows and tumble in the wind. This becomes a time of year of dewdrops and enlightened cobwebs. I welcome this time of sleep when the landscape seems to melt into the earth. Where does everything go? The plants, insects and birds seems to just dissolve into nothing around me. Lignified decay becomes the browning landscape.

And yet how can I celebrate this passing of warmth, colour and plenty and almost waken to the song of the increasing winds and drammatic cloudscapes? The earth cools the soles of the feet and breath clouds the air. Will this winter really be a winter I wonder, or will it just be another long autumn?

In the business of life it is so easy to loose presence.

I am awaiting the touch of something - and yet rarely do I sense the touch of anything like the 'other'. Human perception and emotion clouds the knowing ... I am only able to stand in the awe and wonder of Nature - to touch her earth beneath my feet. Sure, I have been in the presence of times when others have experienced things, and I won't deny that perhaps subtle things have influenced my life and guided my path. But I am unsure how its all fits together.

I am not sure I can TRY and have an experience that is other-worldly, or to have dreams and visions that reach into the Other - and would I want to? Some would say "look to Jesus" other would look elsewhere. Each claims their ground, even church on Sunday was unwavering in its focus.

Is Nature like that? Creation is so diverse in its manifestations. The truth is in the experience of the clouds, the eweather, the earth, the stones, the landscape. And the manifestation or experience of nature is in the diversity of the wildlife and ecology and habitatas. Each is right in its own place, but does anything seek global domination? Man does. In the same way man seeks to control Nature, so man creates religions that seek to control his fellow humans.

Man dominates Nature
Religions dominate Man

PRAYER
Prayer is touching a leaf and holding it in your hand.

The Mists of Creativity

There are two areas of personal creativity which I would like to explore. Both seem to be rolling around in the mists of uncertainty and I feel I am feeling my way though a deep mist, not knowing quite if they will emerge into something or not.

Tribal/earthy eco illustration
I am slowly developing a sort of tribal nature based illustration of charcters/landscape. I find much pagan artwork a little depressing, scary and uncomfortable - if you know what I mean. When the Green Man, or the anthropomophisms of trees is created I often feel they lack something joyfull, positive and light. My sketchbook is filling up with a whole range of ideas for images that I am trying to work up into something lighter, more 'fun' and more in-keeping with my sort of Christian-pagan ideas. I want my art to reflect a deep human-Nature based relationship which will help me spiritually, emotionally and creatively. Art that can reflect basic principles of walking barefeet in grass, touching trees, holding stones, belonging in the landscape etc, but without associated links to the ideas of fairies, nature spirits etc. I don't work on that level and I don't want to paint images that reflect what I do not perceive.

Liturgy
I would really like to collect or write liturgy based on green/nature principles. I have come across samples on the web, and need to search more. One problem is that I have slightly stepped out of an environment (church) in which I could develop something like that usefully. I could create my own book prayer/ritual/worship. Like with the artwork mentioned above, I would like something holistic, that can be used in many situations, that was almost neutral and didn't make assumptions as to whether you were talking to Jesus, Mother Earth, a Goddess or anything else. Just simple prayers to help people think, relax, meditate or perform simple rituals for whatever. I really need a situation in which to use and explore such ideas with people. I'll just begin to collect some ideas and see what happens. I have the confidence to do something with people if I had the right format and words.

Praise

Reflections on Psalm 118:6, 28-29 for a prayer meeting in 2006.


‘The Lord is for me, so I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever!’

Praise acknowledges the other (who or whatever you are praising) for its beauty, presence, trustworthiness, love, self-sacrifice and faithfulness.

Praise has to come from the soul. Without your soul behind it, it is empty of meaning. You don’t usually give praise without something deep within you being touched and wanting to express something that has an emotional attachment.

Praise is an acknowledgement, thanksgiving and positive affirmation of someone’s actions or qualities.

You need to have a motivation to praise - to give praise demands sacrifice of self and raises the value of the other.

You impart some of your energy to build up the other, so you must be willing to do it. It takes you to another place, you have to be willing to move and lay open your ‘self’ and be vulnerable.

We can praise other, we can accept praise, though we may find that hard to do. We sometimes want it, but when it does come our way we don’t always know how to accept it.

Praising the Divine can take many forms. For some it may take the form of exuberant worship as this passage suggests, singing worship songs with others at church or some other positive uplifting personal sacrament. For others it may be more subtle - a quiet personal prayer with a candle, playing music, planting a seed or touching a tree.

Give praise where due and your act of self-sacrifice will be honoured.

Wisdom and Understanding

Notes for a prayer meeting in 2006

Wisdom: experience and knowledge, insight and practical judgement.

Understanding: perceive the meaning of, nature of, cause of; know how to deal with, agreed upon.

In this passage there is a sense of creation, not in the physical sense, but I a more psychological one - a sense that seeks meaning behind the action of creation. It is not suggesting answers to the great questions of creation, but asks us to accept what we see and try and sense the spirit in which it happened.

The more knowledge and wisdom you have does not always imply you can solve problems. More may remain unanswered because you have to accept that ‘the more you know, the less you know’. It may take you to a place where you are more happy because you have to accept the many unanswered mysteries - the world will remain a place with the unknown.
Wisdom and understanding implies that a time has to be spent living through a period whereby these qualities are fed by experience and learning. You have to go through the past in order to be in the present. You just expect ‘to get it’ in a microsecond - we all have to live and learn. The greatest period where Divine Wisdom and Understanding was birthed is beyond our small comprehension of time and space.

Receiving wisdom and understanding:
We have all been inspired by someone, taught by a teacher, mentored by a friend, followed the example of Jesus etc. And so we become a reflection of that person in some small or greater way as we aspire to their path and vision. If the earth has received Divine Wisdom and Understanding then it, too, must reflect that back. In all that we see around us we must see or sense a reflection of the Creator. It should tell us something about the creation process - about the pain and struggle, the beauty and wonder.

It should draw us nearer the Creator.

But can you hug trees or carry a stone in your pocket?

I walk out into the coolness of the garden after a warm spring day and kneel down on the soft grass to take in the fragrance of the wallflowers that fills the darkening sky. How can something so simple create such a beautiful presence?
I look around. Wisdom and understanding is all around me - an ancient spirit that entwines all things, long before our greedy souls clung to this fragile earth and devoured it to feed our selfish lives.

The possibility of the 'Maybe"

Can't remember where this note came from I wrote several years ago, but ever since I have been struck by the power of 'Maybe....'

In the ancient Celtic law and faith everything happened in threes. Thus when the Christian religion came, with the trinity concept, it was an easy adaptation. Now we can appreciate that it allows for more freedom than the dualism of the East, the yin-yang of black and white. The Celts allow for gray also, for yes no AND maybe.