Thursday, 1 October 2020

We Are. A poetic reflection from the closing session of the #Cofereimagining conference 2020

The following piece was created during the Cofereimagining conference 2020 by collating lots of phrases from the conference and adding others that summed up conference themes. The final piece was completed while ++Justin was speaking.

We Are (On Pilgrimage with Sanjee Perera, Archbishop Justin Welby and many others)

During her talk Dr Sanjee Perera stated “we are”. She went on to describe Christ’s followers in this way, “we are rebellious prodigals redeemed by grace”

The assertion that “we are” struck a chord. Elsewhere Dr Sanjee described followers of Jesus as, ‘A new tribe baptized and liberated by a new covenant.’

I think this piece would have become a call and response, a litany, had we been together in person, but instead, “we are” becomes the refrain

--------------------


The people round here, the people round there

 

We are…

 

The people together, the people apart

 

We are…

 

You, me, we, - there’s no such thing as “us” and “them”

 

We are…

 

Rebellious prodigals redeemed by grace

 

We are…

 

The called and the sent

 

We are…

 

This new tribe baptized and liberated

 

We are…

 

Followers of Jesus Christ

 

We are…

 

The Church, the body, the bride

 

We are…

Those who listen

 

We are…

 

Hungry for compassion

 

We are…

 

Filled with sighs of longing and the laughter of hope

 

We are…

 

Companions of the just shepherd

 

We are…

 

Those who call for the walls of our hearts to come down

 

We are…

 

Those who call for the frontiers of our minds to be opened

 

We are…

 

Friends of disruption

 

We are …

 

Not locked in our buildings

 

We are…

 

The Hilda’s who will scare the snakes away

 

We are…

 

Those with holy intentionality

 

We are…

 

Consumed by creative questions

 

We are …

 

Working through the gaps between what we think and feel and do

 

We are…

 

Wading through the quagmire of Christendom saturation

 

We are …

 

Fools for hope chiming softly across the land

 

We are…

 

Seeking after the Spirit wherever she is found and celebrated

 

We are…

 

The people asking after the heart of our neighbour’s week

 

We are…

 

Wanderers of wonder in a world wearied by worry

 

We are…

 

Those called further out into the world

 

We are…

 

Proclaimers of the Good News of the Kingdom

 

We are…

 

Willing to walk the wilderness roads

 

We are…

 

Those with soft hearts and hard and holy feet

 

We are…

 

Those who reimagine what it means to join in with God

 

We are…

 

Servants of our communities

 

We are…

 

The people who hang luggage tags of hope and prayer from the branches of trees

 

We are…

 

Those who carry the cross

 

We are…

 

Those who speak up for the despised

 

We are…

 

Those with eyes open to the Spirit

 

We are…

 

People with a willingness to go and act and listen and speak

 

We are…

 

Bearers of the light, speakers of life

 

We are…

 

Witnesses to tiny sparks of possibility

 

We are…

 

Those who are willing to go

 

We are…

 

Those liberated on the road

 

We are.

No comments: