If you can imagine for a moment that we are all living in the future, not too far in the future, but far enough that you are adults, in fact most of you are older than what I am now. The years have passed by and some terrible things have happened in the world. Climate change was real and the world is suffering from food shortages. Oil is running out and it is too expensive for most people to have cars and power has become very expensive.
People are finding it harder and harder to find the basic necessities of life – clean water and food. In fact people are so worried about feeding themselves they hoard their food and don’t tell anyone what they have anymore.
A traveler comes into the small community you are living in and everyone looks suspiciously at the person as he asks for some food. (Name for the person) Instead of sharing the frightened people go back into their homes away from the man worried about the little bit of food that they have.
So the man takes out his big pot and fills it with water and begins heating it over a small fire in the middle of the houses. People peer out of their barred windows to see what he is doing. From his bag he brings out a stone – just an average looking stone – sniffing at the stone a smiling he places it into the warming pot.
Humming to himself he begins to stir the pot, occasionally tasting the contents. Curiosity sets in and slowly a few of the people come out from behind their closed doors and gather near the man and one eventually asks what he is doing. “Oh”, he says, “I am making some stone soup. Would you like to share?”
Looking dubiously around one of the people (name) says “It looks a bit bland, I’m not sure it would taste any good.” The man says “I suppose you are right, it could do with some saltiness.” One of the people volunteers timidly, “I think I may still have a little salt.” “Yes that would be good,” says the man, so they person goes off to fetch the salt.
After adding the salt the man exclaims “Oh yes that’s better! But it still seems a little bit lacking, usually my stone soup is much tastier.”
Another of the people says I have some bones left from the chicken I cooked last night, so quickly they are brought and added to the boiling pot.
Another of the people watching the chicken going says “I remember loving chicken and corn soup as a child; I think I may have an old tin of corn inside.” This too is added to the soup.
Gradually one by one others of the community volunteer more ingredients noodles, onions, carrots, herbs and so on. One person even brings out bowls and spoons and a loaf of bread to share with the soup.
Soon the people are gathered around the fire laughing and enjoying the best meal that they have had in ages and one of them remembers what they had learnt in Sunday school about what the early Christian people did sharing all things in common and giving to everyone who as any had need.
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Still Waters: Restoration for the Soul
Peter Lockhart
In John 10 Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd and so makes a particular claim on this Psalm. It is Jesus the shepherd who provides for our wants and invites us to relax and be restored and to find hope, even in the face of dark and evil times. Psalm 23 is undoubtedly a Psalm of comfort seeking God’s restoration for our souls.
In our contemporary Australian lifestyle our lives appear to be getting busier and more frantic even though we live in a world that appears bright with lights. But the light is artificial, neon and fluorescent, and whilst it may cast away the shadows the darkness lurks underneath. People are feeling overwhelmed in a rapidly changing environment as our souls are consumed in the business.
The amount of information which we are exposed to is immense, especially if we spend time on our computers surfing the net. Opening web pages and blogs has become an assault on our senses with a multitude of images and even sounds bombarding us with information.
TV’s occupy prominent positions in households tutoring us to be consumers, increasing our desire to own more stuff, and indoctrinate us to a lifestyle pursuing individual happiness.
Walking through the streets and in the shops immerses us in the rush and bustle of society, lost in a sea of faces. We can sit alone in a food court with a thousand other people, isolated in our independence from one another.
For families the list of events and demands turns parents into taxi services and children into slaves of the next activity that they must attend to have a well rounded life.
Psalm 23 calls to repose again by the still waters of God’s presence ad to restore our souls. This is about rediscovering whose we are and what is important in our lives. Drawn into the community of God’s presence breathing deeply of the Spirit our lives are reorientated and our souls are restored so that we declare with hope:
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
In John 10 Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd and so makes a particular claim on this Psalm. It is Jesus the shepherd who provides for our wants and invites us to relax and be restored and to find hope, even in the face of dark and evil times. Psalm 23 is undoubtedly a Psalm of comfort seeking God’s restoration for our souls.
In our contemporary Australian lifestyle our lives appear to be getting busier and more frantic even though we live in a world that appears bright with lights. But the light is artificial, neon and fluorescent, and whilst it may cast away the shadows the darkness lurks underneath. People are feeling overwhelmed in a rapidly changing environment as our souls are consumed in the business.
The amount of information which we are exposed to is immense, especially if we spend time on our computers surfing the net. Opening web pages and blogs has become an assault on our senses with a multitude of images and even sounds bombarding us with information.
TV’s occupy prominent positions in households tutoring us to be consumers, increasing our desire to own more stuff, and indoctrinate us to a lifestyle pursuing individual happiness.
Walking through the streets and in the shops immerses us in the rush and bustle of society, lost in a sea of faces. We can sit alone in a food court with a thousand other people, isolated in our independence from one another.
For families the list of events and demands turns parents into taxi services and children into slaves of the next activity that they must attend to have a well rounded life.
Psalm 23 calls to repose again by the still waters of God’s presence ad to restore our souls. This is about rediscovering whose we are and what is important in our lives. Drawn into the community of God’s presence breathing deeply of the Spirit our lives are reorientated and our souls are restored so that we declare with hope:
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Violence and the Bible
by Rev Peter Lockhart
In the story of the walk to Emmaus Jesus helps open the eyes of the disciples by explaining to them the scriptures and how they related to who Jesus was and what he did. As Jesus disciples we are called to share in this task, but this is not always an easy task.
I was teaching year 6 religious education this week and we are looking at the story of Cain and Abel. One of the students asked the question “Why is there so much violence in the Bible?”
In answer to the question I asked the students what the main story had been on the news the previous night. They knew it had been the death of Osama bin Laden. When asked to describe the scenes that they saw they told me that they had seen people cheering and partying and celebrating.
I suggested that whilst Osama bin Laden may have committed some terrible acts celebrating anyone’s death, or the need to kill anyone, reflected the kind of violent world in which we live and so the scriptures explore the kind of people that we are and expose that and challenge that.
I did not have an opportunity to continue the conversation with the children due to time but to interpret the scriptures a little more closely on the point. Maybe the celebration at someone’s death, even a so called bad person, reflects the kind jealousy and hate that occurs in Cain and causes him to kill his brother. But the violence has consequences and they are not good ones.
As mothers, as fathers, as uncles, as grandparents, or simply friends of children our attitudes and ideas about violence and war will be one of the defining building blocks in a child’s life and so reflecting on it spiritually is important.
The challenge for the disciples who were walking to Emmaus was that they had imagined for themselves a Messiah who would seize political and even military power. One who would throw down the corrupt leaders among the Jewish people but even more importantly defy the Roman imperialism.
It is the response of violence with more violence, power with greater power, and there is no doubt that there are parts of the Old Testament which seem to point in such a direction.
Yet Jesus interprets things differently for the disciples asking them, “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”
Jesus, and God’s response, to the violence of the world is not to respond to the violence with more violence but to traverse the way of death and so make a new future for all humanity.
In the story of the walk to Emmaus Jesus helps open the eyes of the disciples by explaining to them the scriptures and how they related to who Jesus was and what he did. As Jesus disciples we are called to share in this task, but this is not always an easy task.
I was teaching year 6 religious education this week and we are looking at the story of Cain and Abel. One of the students asked the question “Why is there so much violence in the Bible?”
In answer to the question I asked the students what the main story had been on the news the previous night. They knew it had been the death of Osama bin Laden. When asked to describe the scenes that they saw they told me that they had seen people cheering and partying and celebrating.
I suggested that whilst Osama bin Laden may have committed some terrible acts celebrating anyone’s death, or the need to kill anyone, reflected the kind of violent world in which we live and so the scriptures explore the kind of people that we are and expose that and challenge that.
I did not have an opportunity to continue the conversation with the children due to time but to interpret the scriptures a little more closely on the point. Maybe the celebration at someone’s death, even a so called bad person, reflects the kind jealousy and hate that occurs in Cain and causes him to kill his brother. But the violence has consequences and they are not good ones.
As mothers, as fathers, as uncles, as grandparents, or simply friends of children our attitudes and ideas about violence and war will be one of the defining building blocks in a child’s life and so reflecting on it spiritually is important.
The challenge for the disciples who were walking to Emmaus was that they had imagined for themselves a Messiah who would seize political and even military power. One who would throw down the corrupt leaders among the Jewish people but even more importantly defy the Roman imperialism.
It is the response of violence with more violence, power with greater power, and there is no doubt that there are parts of the Old Testament which seem to point in such a direction.
Yet Jesus interprets things differently for the disciples asking them, “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”
Jesus, and God’s response, to the violence of the world is not to respond to the violence with more violence but to traverse the way of death and so make a new future for all humanity.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Mother's Day
by Peter Lockhart
In some ways it is strange to have days like mothers day – a day that we remember and give thanks for the place of mothers in our lives. Why strange? Well one would think that if mothers constantly were given the respect and love as human beings we would not need a special day to remember what they have done for us. So maybe part of Mother’s Day is a kind of confession that we don’t always appreciate mothers as we should and maybe also a recognition that it is harder to thank some mothers than others.
This problem of how well we love one another is constantly before us as people and human communities have long invented days of celebration and thanksgiving to remember mothers, fathers, widows, war veterans and the list goes on. The church does this as well in its calendar in the rhythm of the liturgical year as we have celebrations at Christmas at Easter and Pentecost, along with the many other feasts days that we can have. All of these celebrations are about jogging our communal memory as we remember people and events in the history of our lives and of the church.
So, as we say Happy Mother’s Day to the mothers associated with our congregation today we remember that mothers everywhere are people with gifts and graces, as well as faults and foibles, and that as people loved by God mothers are to loved and valued and respected not simply this day but everyday of their lives.
In some ways it is strange to have days like mothers day – a day that we remember and give thanks for the place of mothers in our lives. Why strange? Well one would think that if mothers constantly were given the respect and love as human beings we would not need a special day to remember what they have done for us. So maybe part of Mother’s Day is a kind of confession that we don’t always appreciate mothers as we should and maybe also a recognition that it is harder to thank some mothers than others.
This problem of how well we love one another is constantly before us as people and human communities have long invented days of celebration and thanksgiving to remember mothers, fathers, widows, war veterans and the list goes on. The church does this as well in its calendar in the rhythm of the liturgical year as we have celebrations at Christmas at Easter and Pentecost, along with the many other feasts days that we can have. All of these celebrations are about jogging our communal memory as we remember people and events in the history of our lives and of the church.
So, as we say Happy Mother’s Day to the mothers associated with our congregation today we remember that mothers everywhere are people with gifts and graces, as well as faults and foibles, and that as people loved by God mothers are to loved and valued and respected not simply this day but everyday of their lives.
Friday, 6 May 2011
On the Road to Emmaus
by Peter Lockhart
When the disciples are talking to the stranger on the Emmaus road one of the things which they say to him is that they had hoped in Jesus. What goes unsaid is that now they are hopeless.
“We had hoped”, but now our hope is gone.
This hopelessness is not simply the sense of grief which overwhelms them as they mourn for their friend but a more engulfing hopelessness. For them the promised Messiah was to restore the fortunes of Israel, he would bring an utter and complete change in their lives giving meaning and purpose.
For the disciples Jesus’ death undoes hope, shatters meaning and confuses purpose in life. It means a massive change in perception for them.
Changes in life and the world around us can always have a big impact and when the fundamental building blocks shift, as they did with the disciples, there can be a loss of hope.
For me this means the kind foundation and the building blocks a person constructs their life around are vital.
Today is mother’s day and whilst it is a day to give thanks for mothers it is also always a day filled with ambiguity. Yes, some of us have great memories of our mothers but the reality is that for many people the relationship was strained. For some of you your mother is no longer with you or maybe your children are no longer with you. Whatever your situation the relationship and bond between a mother and child is an important one whether it is a good one or bad one and it certainly contributes to formation of person’s life.
This is a big responsibility thrust on mothers but not them alone, fathers, teachers and other significant role models also contribute to the formation of children into functioning members of our society.
Children come with curiosity and desire for understanding that can be quite blunt and open. They want to how and why and who because they are looking for meaning and purpose and hope.
The question for us on this day is what kind of foundation and building blocks are we to use to give them that meaning and purpose and hope.
When the disciples are talking to the stranger on the Emmaus road one of the things which they say to him is that they had hoped in Jesus. What goes unsaid is that now they are hopeless.
“We had hoped”, but now our hope is gone.
This hopelessness is not simply the sense of grief which overwhelms them as they mourn for their friend but a more engulfing hopelessness. For them the promised Messiah was to restore the fortunes of Israel, he would bring an utter and complete change in their lives giving meaning and purpose.
For the disciples Jesus’ death undoes hope, shatters meaning and confuses purpose in life. It means a massive change in perception for them.
Changes in life and the world around us can always have a big impact and when the fundamental building blocks shift, as they did with the disciples, there can be a loss of hope.
For me this means the kind foundation and the building blocks a person constructs their life around are vital.
Today is mother’s day and whilst it is a day to give thanks for mothers it is also always a day filled with ambiguity. Yes, some of us have great memories of our mothers but the reality is that for many people the relationship was strained. For some of you your mother is no longer with you or maybe your children are no longer with you. Whatever your situation the relationship and bond between a mother and child is an important one whether it is a good one or bad one and it certainly contributes to formation of person’s life.
This is a big responsibility thrust on mothers but not them alone, fathers, teachers and other significant role models also contribute to the formation of children into functioning members of our society.
Children come with curiosity and desire for understanding that can be quite blunt and open. They want to how and why and who because they are looking for meaning and purpose and hope.
The question for us on this day is what kind of foundation and building blocks are we to use to give them that meaning and purpose and hope.
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