Lectionary poetry no more

This is a post I've been wanting to write for a month or so now, but I've not been wholly sure about it, yet at the weekend, at a Sunday gathering of the community I'm involved with, Restore (more on that later), while studying the Gospel of Mark we had a fantastic conversation about the timeliness of the leading of the Holy Spirit. The time to move on, to change the shape of ministry, to change the place of ministry and the time to lay some things down so that others might be picked up (or not...) At the same time I've been reading Fresh by Volland, Goodhew and Roberts and been reminded of the analogous situation contemporary culture and the church are in, with the early church context. Goodhew makes a great case for the role the Holy Spirit played in shaping the early church, and I feel that I need to heed that.

When I moved house I knew I wouldn't get a few weeks of my regular Lectionary poems written, but I'd always planned to catch up, then I checked, I had six poems to catch up with. This left me wondering, "why am I doing this?" I knew why I had been doing, I knew the reasons:

1. As a way to deal with being in a Lectionary based church, finding a way to grow, to be challenged and shaped by the cycle of readings my church community used.

2. To create something that i hoped would (at times) be a resource for those who engaged with project.

And while the second reason was still valid, the first had gone. And while I still want to resource my previous church community, that's not the appropriate thing to be focusing on. At Restore we are not currently based in the cycle of Lectionary readings, that may change, but it may not and I have no interest in pre-empting it.

One of the challenges with the Lectionary project was the amount of poetic energy, or creative focus it took each week. It was at times a burden, which quite heavily sapped my ability to write other pieces. Since giving up the Lectionary series I've written fifteen pieces for a long-standing collaborative project and that has been good. The pieces have reflected my thoughts about the journey this new community is taking, and the whole thing has been so helpful.

So, I am sorry, for those who have used the Lectionary poems, those who have found them helpful, they may well return, but I think its important to refocus and look afresh at what I'm doing. And if we don't allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in our personal creativity before God, will be be prepared to hold our churches and communities before God and seek the Holy Spirit's guidance for them either...

gaza

hate this disgrace

makes me feel irate

to stand against terror and

be afraid of labels of race hate

when no god is to blame

but the actions of humans

who know better

by the words of the book

mistook and misspoken

pronounced and refocused

turn from this death and look down from the skies

see the fear

the tears in eyes

the burning yearning gut wrenching cries

of children in a school

of families slaughtered

of mothers holding children

of death in the class room

the clock is past noon

and the christ is crucified

no one on earth can justify

why babies die

when the promised land is awash with pain

when tears and fears are forever the same

will the world wake up

will the world react

will the world dare to speak the words

so many have left unsaid

will the world dare to proclaim

that you can’t justify the dead

with statistics

and words and more words

when the only words that matter

are the cries that are never heard

LECTIONARY SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY: Hospitality (Matthew 10:40-42)

Hospitality

Open your doors to the awkward voiced callers,

Serve bread and wine at the feast of the freaks,

Listen to a sermon from a passing by neighbour,

Sit on the floor and kiss the feet of the righteous,

Chance to encounter Christ at the bus stop,

Buy all the Big Issues from the girl from Romania[1],

Prepare the guest room for the travelling hobo,

Cancel the meetings and entertain the seeker of asylum,

Forfeit the services and replace them with service,

Revoke the debts of the street sleeper who owes you,

Buy home insurance from the door to door seller,

Give the church’s silver to the man[2] collecting scrap,

And finally expect a reward that’s utterly unexpected.

---

[1] In Nantwich, our Big Issue seller is from Romania.

[2] It’s gender specific for the reason that in Nantwich, there’s a well known local gent who pushes a huge trolley around town seeking scrap metal.

LECTIONARY FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY: Whispers in the Dark and a Cross on the Horizon (Matthew 10:24-39)

Tarrying onward

Carrying homeward

Dreams and stories

Tales of the past

Following a well-worn course

Stepping into the future with every new morning

Bringing forward words that the saviour has said

Sheltering the hearts of those who cannot take another step

What’s said in the dark must be spoken in the light

And what is whispered in our ears must be shouted from the rooftops

Which paints a painful picture

Of whispered words that must be shouted

Of darkness giving over to light

When all the while, standing there on that horizon is a cross-shaped hole

A cross-shaped hole waiting to be made whole

Following that progression of steps

Not to somewhere sacred but somewhere deranged

Past the place where the well wishers turn away and head back to church

These ways are dark

Inhabited by shadows

And the voice of God

Lay down the facade of perfect sainthood

Bring on the doubts and the doubters and the doubt shouters

The teachers of untruths

Ultimately uncouth will be unloosed from the webs they entangle

Snares broken down and borne away to a lonely grave

Rife with cost

This walk

Tearing families apart

Tears tearing down well-loved cheeks

Tears tracing tracks through tear-soaked pillows

Weep not for what you know

But for what might never be known

Pour out praise for a man who beckons

Onward to your cross

Scatter in red rust dust the dalliances of another day

Turn anew towards a pre-redacted way

Savour sharp flavours on the tips of your tongue

Taste the words that remain in your ears

Speak a truth from within

Just begun

This life

This Son

LECTIONARY TRINITY SUNDAY: Sent (Matthew 28:16-20)

Sorry for the delay with this one. And its based on the passage, not too much on the Trinity!

Sent

The sending out was not an ending

But a beginning

Laden with cost

With its walk towards the cross

On the surface

The simplicity and synchronised

Complexity

Would have been

So very overwhelming

These actions

A new formula

From which to form life

A recipe viewed

And observed

Participated in for

Three short years

Until the family recipe was

Passed on

‘Go’

‘Make disciples’

‘Baptise’

‘Teach’

Even in worship some doubted

Yet all were sent

Carrying hopes

Bearing losses

Dreaming of futures

Imagining crosses

Preparing to live

In a new mode of being

With the faithful teacher

No longer seen

And with aspirations reframed

They went

Sent

To this world lent

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

A quote I read recently, it’s not necessarily something new, the emphasis can be found in Bonhoeffer and many more), but it’s helpful to me:

‘Put simply, to undertake the reJesus project one must first be committed to being marked by Jesus, to submit oneself to being shaped and changed to reflect more and more the lifestyle and teaching of Jesus.’

Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch, ReJesus: A Wild Messiah For A Missional Church (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2009), 35.

LECTIONARY PENTECOST: "Fire of heaven" (Acts 2:1-21)

Fire of heaven ignite in us

You are the Lord, you are the Lord

You are the lord of all

Fire of heaven you call us home

Into your arms, into your arms

Into your loving arms

Fire of heaven open our eyes

To see your glory, to see your glory

To see your glory and adore

Fire of heaven break through all pain

Set captives free, set captives free

Set captives free today

Fire of heaven break out in us

Release your gifts, release your gifts,

Release your gifts we pray

Fire of heaven you deserve praise

We worship your throne, we worship your throne

We’ll worship your throne always

Fire of heaven defeater of sin

Welcome us in, welcome us in

Welcome us into your heart

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

Hi all, just two notes (with 3 extras) to go with this reading:

1. I've not used the gospel - it's Pentecost, it has to be the Acts reading!

2. The idea behind this piece came from a moment of prayer when the words of the first verse dropped into my head,

"Fire of heaven ignite in us, you are the Lord, you are the Lord, you are the Lord of all" 

The words felt like they came with something of a tune/melody and so I've written the rest of the piece to fit with that.

Now, three more things:

A. I'm not a singer or a songwriter in the traditional sense of the words: I don't write formal structured music, I've tried before and found writing words to fit arrangements or melodies is more musical hassle than I have the skills to deal with. I therefore know that in some verses like the third one, there are probably two too many syllables or beats or something - and so it goes on.

B. This felt very much like the potential beginning of a collaborative piece, which might be of use to folk as we approach Pentecost, you might like to add your own verses (whether they fit in terms of beats and syllables or not). I've been thinking about Taize chants for a while (and AntiTaize too - more on that later)

C. in an act of utter vulnerability I've attached a link to Soundcloud where you'll be able to find a one take recording with lots of pitching problems, issues with tune (yes I know) and awful singing, but as I'm not someone who writes music and I didn't want to just leave a "hummmm" track on Soundcloud I've put a vocal recording on there. Listen / giggle / create / ignore - I'm easy.

https://soundcloud.com/beatliturgist/fire-of-heaven-a-work-in-progress

In a further act of vulnerability, if anyone does decide to write extra verses to this thing, please feel free to leave a comment below, or alternatively go do it on Twitter with the hashtag #fireofheaven 

Bless you.

PS
also, if anyone wants to re-record a version that sounds better and actually fits, please do, I'll happily put it on soundcloud and link it here!

LECTIONARY SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER: "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world" (John 17:1-11)

“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world”

“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world”

And in the world they will remain

Called to walk in paths of light

Sent out to preach hope

And embody love

All their days they will walk with God

Brought out from under the shroud of sin

Freed to speak awkward truths

And unpopular words

Bearing on human shoulders

A message of divine grace

Full of the love of the one who sent them.

They will speak when others remain silent

They will remain silent when others speak

They will wait when others act

They will act when others wait

And in their concrete lives lived

Among the people of all nations

The word of hopeful anticipation will go with them

With opened eyes and ears and hands and hearts

They will travel beyond borders

Past unbroken boundaries

Persistence will be their hallmark

And restoration will be their banner

And as all things pass away

Their words and deeds will be solid foundations

On which the kingdom has been built.