Monday 11 March 2024

Werewolves and Werewolf Hunters

 

Werewolves and Werewolf Hunters

 

Imagine the scene.

There is a village.

And it faces an existential threat.

 





















The Werewolf

The village is being attacked by a Werewolf.

There never used to be a Werewolf.

Then one day the Werewolf appeared from seemingly out of nowhere.

Certainly, in the past occasional sheep and other farm animals disappeared but no one ever paid much attention.

But now the village is besieged by a monstrous threat. A Werewolf.

The Werewolf stalks the village. The villagers hear it snarling and see its scratch marks.

It occupies their every waking thought and it occupies their nightmares too.

The fear of the Werewolf effects everything.

The village elders begin to focus all their efforts on limiting the damage the Werewolf causes.

They spend their days building higher walls and withdrawing from the periphery of the village.

The villagers begin to take account of the Werewolf in the decisions they make.

The villagers fly an SOS flag from the church tower, the tallest tower in the village.

The villagers stockpile food and money and resources in anticipation of the day when they can no longer grow anything.

For when they can no longer step outside.

For when the village is no longer safe.

For the day when the very foundation of the village will be torn up and they will be cast into the dark and cold.

The villagers are overcome with fear and they become concerned with one thing and one thing only.

The Werewolf.

The whole village has become obsessed with killing the Werewolf.

 





















The Werewolf Hunter

One day there is a loud knock at the village gates.

The guards sheepishly look out over the village’s high walls.

There below them is a tall figure with a large rifle and a silver bullet.

The gates are opened.

The werewolf Hunter introduces himself to the village elders.

In a special council meeting the Werewolf Hunter describes the village’s woes.

He tells them he knows they are stalked by a Werewolf. He sees all the signs of Werewolf attack.

Scratches on the high walls and the remnants of ruined buildings beyond the edge of the village.

The Werewolf Hunter looks around at the fear on the villagers faces.

He smiles and tells them that he has the cure they have been waiting for.

He tells them that he has a silver bullet.

The Werewolf Hunter tells them that he is no ordinary Werewolf Hunter.

That only he has the silver bullet they need.

That only his silver bullet will kill the Werewolf dead.

The villagers beg the Werewolf Hunter to kill the Werewolf.

The village elders ask the Werewolf Hunter what this silver bullet will cost.

The Werewolf Hunter smiles once more and tells them that the silver bullet will cost them everything.

He reminds them that only he can kill the Werewolf for only he has the true silver bullet.

The Werewolf Hunter explains that once he kills the Werewolf, everything they have will become his.

He will kill the Werewolf, but upon the Werewolf’s death everything will pass to him.

He will take it all, but they will still have their lives.

He assures them with another smile that they will be able to live out the rest of their lives in the village, free from the fear of Werewolves.

 

 

Beware the Werewolf that consumes your every waking moment.

Beware the Werewolf Hunter who promises everything with a silver bullet and seeks everything in return.

 

 ----

I got the images for this made probably about 3 or 4 years ago and have been playing around with the idea of werewolves and werewolf hunters for a while longer than that. But a Zoom conversation today made me finally type up a version of this. If you know me, you can probably guess where this is heading.


Monday 11 December 2023

A Rambling Prayer for Advent, 2,3 or 4.

 

Lord God,

We wait for you.

We wait for you in a world of darkness, of war, of fragility

We wait for you in a world of poverty, despair,

Of fear, of disease, of hatred and anger and inequality

We wait for you gathered around your light

We gather like moths around a flame

We gather and are grateful for your light and the warmth of your love for us.

We gather and wait for your son, the sun of righteousness who casts away darkness and sets us free to live in your light.

We gather because there is nothing else we can do

We wait and watch for signs of peace

Signs of the kingdom,

For the reign of hope over despair,

For freedom from fear, light over dark, redemption over deceit.

We wait

And as we wait we light these candles to remind us that one day you will return.

We light these candles as a sign of light’s resolve against the dark

A sign of light that proclaims we are for hope

We are for the kingdom

We are your people and you are our God.

Lord God we wait with you.

And we wait for you.

For the fulfilment of all things

For that peaceable time to come.

Lord, thank you for the light of faith that carries us forward.

Amen.





Sunday 10 April 2022

An Introduction To The Peace for Palm Sunday 2022

 

Palm Sunday 2022 - Introduction to the Peace

We live in a beautiful world. Yet this world is consumed by violence, war and oppression. We gather in the midst of the chaos of this beautiful world. The violence of this world. The fear and anguish of this world.

We gather to share bread and wine, not separate from the events of this world, but inextricably as part of this world. Just as when Jesus entered Jerusalem he entered a city occupied by the Roman empire. A city caught up in the chaos of this beautiful world.

 

Jesus entered Jerusalem as a liberator, surrounded by the poor, the forgotten. They worshipped him laying cloaks and palm branches at his feet.

The Russian military entered Ukraine at the behest of a power-hungry dictator. The army followed his call and were met not with worship or songs of joy and liberation, but with firm resistance from a free nation.

Jesus entered Jerusalem accompanied by his followers, a rag-tag group of prophets, fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, including those with concealed knives, those with concealed motives.

The Russian military entered Ukraine with planes, helicopters, tanks, armoured trains, mercenaries, soldiers, invaders, including those who believed they were liberating an oppressed people.

When he entered Jerusalem Jesus faced down the vast and expansive Roman empire on nothing more than a borrowed donkey. His weapons were words of hope and acts of love. He spoke uncomfortable truth to power and turned the tables on a system that had lost its way.

The Russian military entered Ukraine with one of the worlds greatest military forces accompanied by a reign of fire and chaos and violence and blood and were met by elderly women bearing sunflower seeds and the guards of strategic islands all speaking truth to power.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem he began his final pilgrimage towards his victory. A victory shrouded in loss and devastation. A victory marked by the death of a political insurrectionist. A victory that looked like abject failure. The victory of death on a cross.

The Russian military entered Ukraine hungry for victory and causing loss and devastation across a whole nation. Looking for a victory marked by the planned assassination of a so called “Nazi” President. This hunger for violent victory sparked into a terror that has destroyed cities, families and led to the most heinous of crimes. Right now we can have no idea of what is a victory or a failure for the Russian military and we can have no idea of the pain of those whose lives have been destroyed by this terror. For the Ukrainian people a victory could be the end of hostilities and the retreat of the Russian military. But in the face of such devastation even this victory will hurt like abject failure.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem he did so knowing that to bring about liberation he would have to lay down his life, that through his sacrifice the deep peace of shalom might finally be pronounced. The same peace we gather to share today in the sharing of hospitality, the sharing of bread and wine, of word and prayer.

When the Russian military entered Ukraine they did so expecting an easy victory, expecting to be seen as liberators of the oppressed, with delusions of bringing peace. But the way of conquest and war is not the way of peace, of shalom.

Jesus entered Jerusalem to heal the hurts and divisions of this world. To speak faith, hope and love over the lies of the world and call people into following the way of peace.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 14:27 (NIVUK)

So now let us share in the peace that Jesus gives us, a peace that is not enamoured with the violence of war, but is instead hopeful and everlasting.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of Jesus’ unfailing peace.

The peace is shared

 

Friday 10 December 2021

Final Hymnal For The Wild released

 The final Hymnal for The Wild has been released, The Far Off Nearby. Delayed due to illness and various other things, the ebook is now available to download from Proost for free.

The hymnal series tried to wrestle and articulate something about the wildness of the call of God and what it means to live out our faith in the places we are.


https://proost.co.uk/news/2021/12/9/the-far-off-nearby






Wednesday 18 August 2021

some night thoughts

 some night thoughts about the news

the terrors of Afghanistan

and Haiti

and Covid

and Climate Change

and the sense that while it seems

that nothing changes

there is always hope (for many)

and no hope (for many)

even if right now

that very idea of hope can't be imagined





The original size image is below





Wednesday 28 July 2021

in your light

"in your light we see light" Psalm 36:9b

I'm increasingly aware of my own tendency at times, to not even notice moments of light in the maelstrom of everything else.

this is one of those verses that always catches my heart when I see it. this is a poet's verse and....

...asks us to do something, to be attentive to our surroundings and to look for the light therein.

but more, the verse gives us the lens through which we will be able to see what is to be seen, to catch a glimpse of something beautiful....

...only through this other light do we see the beauty and depth of the the first light.

sometimes when i witness something of beauty i can barely comprehend it, there is too much going on, so much potential, so much connectivity, like everything sparks into life.....

....through this other lens of light that is magnified enriched and the awe and awesomeness of creation burst into life.

"in your light we see light"




Saturday 24 July 2021

Repent



Not a huge fan of the word "repent" because of the baggage it carries for so many, but the concept is helpful, to turn away from former ways, to turn towards a different path. Peace to you.