Intrusion

After I had cut off my hands
and grown new ones

something my former hands had longed for
came and asked to be rocked.

After my plucked out eyes
had withered, and new ones grown

something my former eyes had wept for
came asking to be pitied.

Sojourns in the Parallel World

We live our lives of human passions,
cruelties, dreams, concepts,
crimes and the exercise of virtue
in and beside a world devoid
of our preoccupations, free
from apprehension--though affected,
certainly, by our actions. A world
parallel to our own though overlapping.
We call it "Nature"; only reluctantly
admitting ourselves to be "Nature" too.
Whenever we lose track of our own obsessions,
our self-concerns, because we drift for a minute,
an hour even, of pure (almost pure)
response to that insouciant life:
cloud, bird, fox, the flow of light, the dancing
pilgrimage of water, vast stillness
of spellbound ephemerae on a lit windowpane,
animal voices, mineral hum, wind
conversing with rain, ocean with rock, stuttering
of fire to coal--then something tethered
in us, hobbled like a donkey on its patch
of gnawed grass and thistles, breaks free.
No one discovers
just where we've been, when we're caught up again
into our own sphere (where we must
return, indeed, to evolve our destinies)
--but we have changed, a little.


— Denise Levertov

Beginners

Dedicated to the memory of Karen Silkwood and Eliot Gralla

“From too much love of living,
Hope and desire set free,
Even the weariest river
Winds somewhere to the sea—“

But we have only begun
To love the earth.

We have only begun
To imagine the fullness of life.

How could we tire of hope?
—so much is in bud.

How can desire fail?
—we have only begun

to imagine justice and mercy,
only begun to envision

how it might be
to live as siblings with beast and flower,
not as oppressors.

Surely our river
cannot already be hastening
into the sea of nonbeing?

Surely it cannot
drag, in the silt,
all that is innocent?

Not yet, not yet—
there is too much broken
that must be mended,

too much hurt we have done to each other
that cannot yet be forgiven.

We have only begun to know
the power that is in us if we would join
our solitudes in the communion of struggle.

So much is unfolding that must
complete its gesture,

so much is in bud.

— Denise Levertov

Expedition Work

We are setting up a ministry in the city
where people of all ages can come and hear about the purposes of God for our world, our city, their lives.

In an atmosphere of sacrificial Love, confident Faith and Resurrection Hope,
people will be able to hear about God’s Loving will, Jesus’ Faithful way, the Spirit’s Ongoing Work
as demonstrated in the Biblical story and illustrated in our own lives.





Prayerfully, this ministry will become a salvation point
for people to find grace and freedom from the guilt and fear of their current situations
and reignite faith for the New Creation of God in their hearts.
It will provide a connecting point
for spiritual families to form and grow,
in which leaders can learn to care for the spiritual needs of those growing around them.
Here, we live out the implications of God’s good news in leading and discipling one another.
It will provide a marshalling point
for new ministries to focus and flourish,
identifying needs and rallying teams to launch visions, gather resources and use their gifts to meet other’s needs.
It will become a sending point
for a new Generation of Christians
who are Spiritual in their Orientation,
Strong in the Word,
Sacrificial in their Service and
Strategic in their Thinking.

Job Description

My Work: Re-present the Life* of Christ
1. Teach the Community to Read and Study the Scriptures as God’s Purpose for our world
2. Teach the Community to Pray and Relate with the Father as Jesus did, by His Spirit
3. Setup and Demonstrate a Rule of Life for Communal Worship and Fellowship
4. Establish Ministries to Serve the different needs in Community.


Our Work: Build a Team to Join me in Telling the Story
THE TEAM'S MISSION:
To Represent the Life* of Christ through Our Arts, Our Homes, Our Skills, Our Projects
until the Uncertain can believe, Believers become disciples,
disciples servants, who can then become Influential Representatives of the Life* of Christ

THE TEAM'S STRATEGY:
1. Story Telling Arm Telling the Story as a Team
2. Church Planting Arm Building Families / House Churches / Households
3. Community Support Arm Gathering Community
4. Mission Arm Establishing Life* in our Society

THE TEAM'S CORE VALUES:
1. Life*: The Love, Hope and faith that Jesus had
2. Relationships: The Means, Test and Reward of our Discipleship
3. Innovation: The Freedom to forge a New path
4. Mission: Saving the World with a story

Moses

Leadership is a ragtag minefield of primitive spells and pits and high tech explosives and trip wires.

It is a game of people’s perceptions, emotions and pleasures. We dangle carrots and sticks. We build walls and bridges. We breakthrough in moments when the Spirit is kindled but then, in that inspired movement, they do what we often are not ready for: they follow us.

And suddenly as the life* of the Spirit wanes, all of the liabilities of the tightrope are magnified infinitely because of the weight, the complaints, the pride, the jealousy, the fears, the comfort of the people now coming out on the rope with us.

Who is the game against? It feels like a fight with the person, with the ‘sheep’, with the impetuous child. A battle of wills? But then, the leader is only there to serve the person. How can it not be the follower’s will to follow their leader?

Surely, the battle is not with the follower. It is not with flesh and blood. The flesh and blood person is desiring to live free, to grow strong, to do good, to invest wisely. But they are tied back by ‘shoulds’ and ‘should – nots’. They are tied back by fears and insecurities and guilt. They are tied back by unaccomplished goals and conquered trophies. And they are clouded by distrust and self – certainty. And these powers exert such a pull on a person that it requires the most supernatural of stirrings and the most godly of leaders to shepherd a person out of the bog.

And the more accomplished and confident one looks, usually, the more tied down we are.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Wholesight

Many of us live one - eyed lives. We rely largely on the eye of the mind to form our image of reality. But today more and more of us are opening the other eye, the eye of the heart, looking for realities to which the mind's eye is blind. Either eye alone is not enough. We need "wholesight", a vision of the world in which mind and heart unite "as my two eyes make one in sight." Our seeing shapes our being. Only as we see whole can we and our world be whole.

With the mind's eye we see a world of fact and reason. It is a cold and mechanical place, but we have built our lives there because it seemed predictable and safe. Today, in the age of nuclear science, our mind - made world has been found flawed and dangerous, even lethal.
So we open the eye of the heart and see another sight: a world warmed and transformed by the power of love, a vision of community beyond the mind's capacity to see. We cannot forsake our hearts and yet we cannot abandon our minds. How shall we bring together these two lines of sight? How shall we use both eyes to create not a blurry double image but one world, in all its dimensions, healed and made whole?

— Parker Palmer, Education as a Spiritual Journey

Monday's Musings

What makes me different, as a Christian to any other person in Melbourne, or in my community?
Clearly, it does not mean that I am any better – morally, socially, judgmentally. Neither does it mean, either by my being better or positionally superior, access to special divine privileges – be it eternally or presently.

Rather, My Christianity is characterised by my Hope and Love that is predicated upon my Faith – which is simply this:
I understand things about my world that many others don’t know, or don’t believe. These things, specifically, the things that the God of the Hebrews has promised to the Hebrews prophets which have been confirmed in the resurrection of Jesus, and which have more recently been confirmed by His own spirit in my own heart, force me to look at my existence, people, this earth, our future – with whole new lenses.
In my busy-ness and my selfishness, I easily forget the extraordinary events in my history. And in that same forgetfulness, I blindly curse the past and stumble into the future.
However, if the Hebrew God has indeed created this earth to be His temple – palace, and if indeed He has come in person, to affirm His own commitment to this work and to personally inaugurate its completion – and if indeed these bizarre intensities that I feel resonating in my own heart is the workings of His same Holy Spirit, then my standing on this terra firma is terrifyingly significant and painfully humbling.


What makes me different, as a Pastor to any other person in Melbourne, or in my community?
Clearly, it does not mean that I have the monopoly on truth, or leadership qualities, or good looks (debatable?), or talent. Although I may have a certain degree of theological perspective, or Biblical insight, or I may have a slight head start in integrating these truths into my life and character, these do not make me any different from the many other insightful, knowledgeable, gifted and often morally upright individuals that surround me. Gifting, heritage, background, longevity surely contribute strength to my role as a Pastor – but these do not distinguish me as a Pastor.

Firstly, I am clearly, one of those on the same spiritual journey as those in my community. I am trusting in the same promises of the same God. I am under the Leadership of the same Jesus and I am learning to submit my will to the same Spirit. Secondly, I am also undergoing the same process of discipleship – abiding, learning, serving, following – myself being taught under the same tutelage of the Word. I am, thirdly, like others in community, serving the needs of those around me, as best as I know how.


Rather, My Leadership Vocation is characterised by my passionate sense of mission and a direction for vision. That is:
I consider it to be of utmost importance, for the sake of the city of Melbourne and our world, that we make disciples of Jesus Christ of all people groups. The hope of our civilisation rests on the people who are able to carry an authentic hope for humanity that does not arise from ignorance or pride.
I can also envision the real possibilities of an authentic disciple – making community in the heart of the city of Melbourne for the world. This community that gathers around Word, Prayer and Sacrament and that scatters in Ministry & Mission already exists within my mind.
Ancient symbols, contemporary delivery. An unwavering message carried by vulnerable peer leaders. Spirituality, Relationships, Innovation, Mission guided by Adoration, Adherence, Cooperation, Consecration. Every gathering a symbolic commemoration of the present reign of the God of all gods; Every scattering a symbolic commissioning of the Kings and Priests of God for the earth. A bunch of friends, on a spiritual journey – learning to follow Christ and to represent Him in the 21st century.


However, my Pastoral Vocation does not arise from my sense of mission and vision. Mission and vision focus the usage of energy and resource. However, the usage of these energies and resources are ultimately to support my Pastoral Vocation. That is:
I have chosen to support, guide, feed, protect – to shepherd a particular group of people until together, we grow into the fullness of the maturity and unity of God’s love. I have surrendered my own life to be used by God to benefit those whom He brings across my path. And the fulfilment of my calling is demonstrated in the fulfilment of their callings. It is my love for these individuals expressed through my shepherding that differentiates me as their Pastor.

Fifty-three minutes

"Good morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning," said the merchant.
This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink.
"Why are you selling those?" asked the little prince.
"Because they save a tremendous amount of time," said the merchant. "Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week."
"And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?"
"Anything you like..."
"As for me," said the little prince to himself, "if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water."
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince Chapter XXIII

Today is a New Day

We believe that in Jesus, God’s future came rushing into the present to meet us.
It isn’t just that we were chugging along a railway line, steadily moving towards a distant destination. At one particular moment we discovered another train coming to meet us from that destination.
At the heart of the New Testament is the claim that God unveiled his secret plan for the world in the person of Jesus himself and supremely in his death and resurrection. Jesus announced that ‘the Kingdom of God’ was bursting into the present moment. It didn’t look like what people had expected. Indeed, to some people it felt more like a train rushing towards them on the same track, crashing into them, and smashing their hopes to bits.
But when hope put itself together again on Easter morning it became clear that this really was what God had had in mind all long. And that’s where Christianity began.
That moment is the one we now look back to as the start of it all. Get it?
God’s future came into the present in Jesus, and so has become part of our past.


All of this is summed up in the brilliant little sentence in 1 Corinthians 11:26. “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,” says Paul, “you announce the Lord’s death until he comes.” The present moment (‘whenever’), somehow holds the one – off past event ('the Lord’s death'), together with the great future when God’s world will be remade under Jesus’ loving rule (‘until he comes’).

Past and future come rushing together into the present, pouring an ocean of meaning into the little bottle called ‘now’.