It's been a long week, and I have one task still to complete today - then it will be time to relax for a while.
Outside the sky is blue, the air is crisp and cold, and it's good to be alive.
Over the past few weeks we've journeyed with Jesus as he grew up, and it's been fun (for me anyway) to imagine what might have plugged the gaps of scriptural silence. Another silence is what he did (other than pray) when he took time apart to rest and be refreshed... like him, I'm going to take some time (tomorrow is my official rest day) simply to 'be'...
A busy, busy week, and I did more than OK, so now it's time to relax...
It has been one of those weeks where 'minister as chameleon' is order of the day... every day has needed me to 'mode shift' at least once, and sometimes two or three times.
All kinds of everything along the way, from the mundane and routine to the occasional and privileged.
The photo is part of the floor in the Hindu Mandir at La Belle Place, Glasgow, a building that I had previously entered by the back entrance and the church officer's flat, where my grandparents lived - and I was about 10 years old. I was there for an Interfaith Burns' Supper, a curious event, where a mixture of Burns poetry and songs was interspersed with a haggis-free meal (all of which was laden with chillies and peppers, so I ended up eating boiled rice!) and an opportunity to attend/witness the nightly aarti ceremony. A real mix of stuff, great hospitality, good conversation and cultural diversity.
I think it sums up quite well the feel of this week - which has been demanding and rewarding, with the sublime and the ridiculous and everything in between... with something of everything each and every day!
This afternoon we gather to pay our last respects to, and celebrate the life of Miss Irene Allan aged 100. A long life, lived in faithful service of her Lord and Saviour, at great personal cost both literal and metaphorical.
I hope the weather does not deter those who would wish to do so from attending the service, and I hope as she peeps down from heaven, which she is convinced will be open for her to allow her to observe, she is pleased with what we have created for her. (My own, since teenage, intuitive theology has been that we attend our own funerals, no matter what orthodoxy might claim, so I am sure she will be there one way or another).
It is a privilege to conduct the services for this saint of God, and I pray that as we celebrate and commemorate her life, we find encouragement and inspiriation for our own continuing lives. (Yes, that's pretty much a paraphase of one of the standard funeral prayers I will use later today!)
Yesterday this photo landed in my in-box. It's a photo of my model of the future of BMS!
I'm sure it's not as metaphorical/symbolic as the facilitator might have liked but hey ho, it was fun and it enabled me think via a different expression... Apparently 70% (or was it 80?) of our neurones link to our hands, so we can 'think with our hands' because 'our hands know stuff'. Fascinating!
Can you see a tiny translucent red brick at the back? To one side is a man of colour wearing a hard hat, and to the other a rainbow tower with a person standing on the top of it. We were asked to place the small red brick next to some part of our model that we felt was essential for BMS going forward.
My little man in the hard hat (who I took down from his seat on the elephant so he could stand next to the red block - cheating but don't tell anyone) is Jesus, a worker-Christ, a Christ-of-Colour, a Christ who gets his hands dirty in the midst of a messy and messed up world. The tower is a rainbow, with all that rainbows signify, from Biblical hope to LGBTQI+. The point of the tower with the person on the top is that BMS is willing to act as a voice for those who have no voice, those on the margins, and the multi-coloured tower is more than a rainbow, it is a way of expressing diversity-in-unity that all cultures, all people, can learn with and from each other and are stronger together. Think Magnificat; think Nazareth manifesto.
All the other characters/animals/objects have meanings that are part of what BMS is/should be about - and all of those arise from central concept of the multi-ethnic worker Christ who listen to those on the margins and, learning from and working with all peoples, and helping them learn from and work with each other.
Isn't this just beautiful? A Christ with a rainbow-nimbus (halo). A gift from H & G, an expression of spirituality of a Christ who includes, embraces and identifies with those who are LGBTQI+, a Christ who embodies hope and the promises of God, and undoubtedly a whole lot more. Worth sitting with and reflecting upon. For now it is on my bookcase, but I need to get it framed and hung properly. A simple gift that speaks volumes. Thank you.
Isn't this just fun? A gift from L & G, a book of cat poetry that is laugh out loud funny and conveys deep truths. One to dip into if I need cheering up, or reminding not to take myslef too seriously. One that, for now, sits on my desk, alongside Bibles and commentaries, hymnbooks and theological tomes. A simple gift that brings me joy. Thank you.
Sublime and ridiculous, beautiful and bonkers, serious and silly... I love how these two contrasting gifts express the diversity and unity of our church. And I love that people love me enough to give me such wonderful gifts. Thank you.
