Thoughts & Walks

The Mystery Worshipper

I received an email from the Deanery this morning referring me to an amazing link. Ship of fools are sending Mystery Worshippers to churches all over the world to report on the comfort of the pews, the length of the sermons, the warmth of the welcome - they may even have been to a location near you! Take a look here. Our cathedral rates a mention......maybe your church does too.

A Thought for Christmas

"The Work of Christmas"

"When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost, to heal the broken, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among brothers and sisters, to make music in the heart"

Howard Thurman

Following is a reflection from Rev'd Dr Sara I Chandler via The answer. St Margaret's Woodbridge, Virginia.

"This little piece is one of my favourites. It reminds me that the real Christmas is not putting up a tree or taking it down, not in decorating or undecorating, not in shopping or in returning things to the store. Rather the work of Christmas is recognising the meaning of Christ's coming for the world and us. To begin to understand that the meaning is to begin to live it out by mending a quarrel...seeking out a forgotten friend.....dismissing suspicion and replacing it with trust....writing a letter...sharing some treasure....giving a soft answer...encouraging youth....manifesting our faith in word and deed...keeping a promise....Finding the time....Foregoing a grudge....forgiving an enemy...listening...apologising if you were wrong...trying to understand...rejecting envy as unworthy....Examining your demands on others...appreciating others...being kind and gentle...laughing a little...laughing a little more...taking up arms against malice...decry complacency...Express your gratitude....Welcome a stranger...speak your love....speak it again....speak it still once more!"

"Free" will vs "God's" will.

What is the difference between "free will" and "God's will"? Ideas anyone....

The Dean's response

Last night at our Parish Council meeting, Dean Graeme Lawrence read us the following quote. I'm not sure whether other members of the PC really took note but it was not lost on me and is a good follow-up from my previous post.

"Pray that none will be offended if I seek to make the Christian Religion an Inn where all are received joyously,rather than a cottage where some few friends of the family are to be received"

Richard Hooker

Creation service

I wrote this letter to The Very Rev’d Graeme Lawrence Dean of Newcastle at Christ Church Cathedral. The picture says it all.

Dear Father Graeme,

I am writing to express my appreciation of the wonderful Creation Service held in the Cathedral on Sunday 19th October. In my work over the years I have had contact with Riding for the Disabled and Pets as Therapy - there is no doubt that animals have a very special and important role to play in the lives of many people. They can often reach and communicate with some people more effectively than other human beings.

The Creation Service provided many people with an opportunity not only to give thanks to the animals in their lives but also to give them an experience of a welcoming broadminded Church that is prepared to open its doors to all. It was truly a remarkable event and whilst at times it was a little difficult to hear the service from the back owing to some barking and bleating members of the congregation I believe all of us present came away feeling uplifted.

Thank you to all involved for making this a truly memorable occasion.

Glastonbury Tor

I first saw GlastonburyTor in 1997. It rises from the Somerset Levels and can be seen from miles away as if beckoning to the traveller to “come hither”. The Tor, also known as the Isle of Avalon (It appears that I am continuing on with the Ecotone Wiki topic of Islands and Place), is a magical place and one I keep returning to whenever I visit England. Centuries of legend and folklore have gathered around the Tor. It is believed that the “veil between the worlds is thin” here. The Tor has a powerful spirit of place - it attracts and fosters all kinds of ideas on nature, mythology, paganism, and Christian legends. For a very good tour of the Tor, visit The Magical Tor.

On December 31st 1999 I returned to Glastonbury to see in the New Year and the new Millenium. There was a choice of activities offered for us from the ecumenical candlelight service in the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey to taking part in a ceremony which involved surrounding the Tor’s terraces with flares and lighting the Phoenix beacon at midnight on the summit Midnight on the Tor. It was freezing with a light misty rain falling, but mystical - I would not have spent this time any other way.

The Tor is a place that has the power to move me even though I live at the other side of the world - it is a place where I feel connected with the spirit of mother earth and celtic spirituality. It is a place where Goddess worshippers and Christians can comfortably co-exist. It is indeed a holy eclectic place - my kind of place.

Places of the spirit - sacred stones

In 1998 I went to visit my sister in Cheddar, UK, for the first time. This trip was special as I was travelling on my own having left the children at home with my parents. (Geoff was off on one of his “spiritually uplifting” holidays - windsurfing with friends in Maui). One of Sue and my favourite pastimes on that trip was to explore the countryside around Somerset/Devon using the Ordnance Survey maps. We had no children to keep entertained and therefore could wander at will...luxury! The Ordnance Survey maps have almost everything imaginable marked on them from houses to ruins to stone circles and tumuli. I was particularly curious about the prehistoric sacred sites and so was keen to explore the countryside on a mission to find as many as I could. We had spent the day up on Exmoor, lunched at Porlock Weir and were driving up the old toll road towards the main road when I noticed a standing stone marked on the map not far off the road - we decided, naturally, to see if we could find it. It was early evening in June - the light was soft and muted. As we walked along the path to the stone we noticed the vegetation had changed to a woodland of very dark, low trees. It was eerily silent and brooding. The Culbone Stone as it is called was standing in the middle of a tiny clearing, completely on its own. It had a wheel cross inscribed on it which seemed strangely out of place. Around its base the grass had been flattened as if people had been standing or dancing there. No one was about and I had the distinct impression we were trespassing on forbidden territory - the atmosphere was “watchful”. This was a place of ancient spirits from a time long ago. We stayed long enough to take a photo and then retreated hastily. It had been a very wierd but nonetheless hugely spiritual place.

While preparing this post I was able to discover that the Culbone stone had been discovered in 1940. The wheel cross was incised around 7th to 9th Century. Apparently it is located close to a stone row which implies however that the stone had once been a prehistoric monument that had been Christianised. Was the surrounding ambience of that woodland resentment perhaps? Click the search button at the Megalithic Portal to read how TimP describes his impressions of the Culbone Stone and includes a photo taken from a slightly different angle. Some people commenting on his photo claim to see a face - check out his article.

Places of the Spirit. At what age do we feel and acknowledge the spirit of place?

Geoff and I have embarked on writing about the topic of places that move the spirit.
Kinsey of Tvindy has referred us to this fascinating article on chimpanzees - a must read. A sense of the spirit of place is obviously not confined to humans. At what age then do we feel and acknowledge the spirit of place? In my past I have vague memories of picnics in the “secret places” my dad used to love to find outside Canberra where I was born. The necessary criteria for these places was that there had to be absolutely no other people - just the bush and us. I don’t recall ever being truly moved by these places - they were just fun to be in. These spots were usually beside a creek - we would have lunch and try to pan for gold. Finding a deserted place when we moved to Cologne (Köln) on the other hand was quite a challenge - we gave up the picnics for endless sight seeing - I remember being dragged to church and cathedral to gaze upon the bones of saints and other treasures. I didn’t find these experiences at age 11 particularly spiritual, in fact, I found the depictions of the crucified Christ (often an extremely bloodied Christ) quite disgusting. Not for me the churches and art galleries - I would much rather have ridden bicycles and horses. At age 12 we had moved to Spain, and it was there that I was truly moved by a place. We had only just arrived in Madrid and in order to get acquainted with the countryside my mother had booked us on a bus trip to Toledo. It was there that I discovered the Church of Saint Tomé. As I entered this church I noticed people were sitting in contemplation - they were not looking at an altar or crucifix but at a painting and I was fascinated. To my mother’s surprise I was spellbound by this painting and by the atmosphere of the building that housed it. It was by El Greco and was the Burial of Count Orgaz. I’m not sure what it was about it that captured my imagination - had it been in the Prado I probably wouldn’t have noticed it - I think it would have lost its impact. The fact that it was still in its proper home - the parish church of El Greco - was what made the difference - the painting was in its context. It was a religious painting but it was not the religion that moved me - it was something more - a sense of the past allowing a glimpse of a different culture and time, a sense of poignancy, wonder and awe. The spirit of this place had the power to make a 12 year old with other things on her mind, take the time to stop, gaze and ponder. At what age have others been caught by the spirit of place?

Where are the places of the spirit?

In her recent post, Jenny writes of places of the spirit. She finds Newcastle Cathedral a peaceful place that nurtures her spiritual sense, but also notes the beauty she encounters as she walks along Nobby’s Breakwater can be even more uplifting.
Where are the places of the spirit?
I think that a sense of spirituality is an innately human quality, and that the desire to fulfil that sense is a basic natural drive present in us all to a greater or lesser degree. Why else would religion be such a universal phenomenon, found in all cultures? You can choose to believe that such a sense evolved according to Darwinian principles, or you can choose to think that we have such a sense because there is something there - God perhaps. Many who don’t like the idea of God have learnt to suppress their spiritual sense. On the other hand there are some spiritually gifted individuals who can find spirituality in the lowest places.
Religions have developed with the purpose of nurturing the spiritual sense and churches were built to have somewhere to do it. Inspiring buildings, ceremony, liturgy, incense, icons, music ...it all helps. And those of us who are less spiritually gifted are grateful for all the help we can get.
Religions and churches however are human institutions, and are therefore subject to many other human drives as well. Not everyone who goes to church is looking for a spiritual experience. Other reasons are social contact, healing, a sense of obligation, to assist the needy, vocation. I am sure some attend because they used to get something out of it and they are hoping for that something to return. Some reasons are selfish, others altruistic. This is just human nature. It is important to not let other peoples use (or misuse) of these institutions distract us from our own experience.
Because the sense of spirituality is innate the spirit can be found wherever we look for it, nature or church. In so doing we are looking for something that is already part of what and who we are.

Places of the spirit

One of my favourite places in Newcastle is Christ Church Cathedral. I am growing increasingly disillusioned with organised religion. I find that I get more of a spiritual uplift from nature than I do from sitting on a pew on a Sunday. The concepts of pantheism and panentheism seem more and more alluring. On Fridays however I volunteer to man a small souvenir shop in the south west porch of the Cathedral. In the last month we have welcomed no less than five people from the US, two from Sweden, three from Japan, two from Germany and six from from the UK. This is not bad for Newcastle as it is regarded as a poor relation of Sydney. Occasionally on these Fridays, no one will come to visit and for a few precious moments I have this amazing building all to myself. It has been added to by past parishioners over 110 years - the work of many hands. For me it is a special place of peace particularly in its emptiness - the atmosphere of serenity is almost palpable. (I guess that illustrates the disquiet I feel when the “community of faith” joins together for services). It is now the first weekend of Spring and each year the Cathedral community runs a Flower Festival to raise money for its restoration after the 1989 earthquake - seen below is the high altar bedecked in flowers.

This time next year I wonder what my involvement with the Cathedral will be? Will I be one of the people walking along Nobby’s breakwater on Sunday mornings, admiring the wonders of nature around me who suddenly catches the sound of bells on the prevailing wind - a person who feeling detached looks up from their contemplation of the sea to gaze upon the building perched on the hill above the harbour, the building that calls the faithful to worship. In bemusement the person wonders what is it the faithful see?

”And if you would know God, be not therefore a solver of riddles.
Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.
And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightening and descending in the rain.
You shall see Him smiling in the flowers, then rising and waving His hands in the trees."

Kahlil Gibran "The Prophet"