Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, big fun in a tiny pueblo, Environment, forest, green pilgrimage, matthew cresswell, sacred woodlands, woods
Following on from previous posts about green pilgrimage, the importance of the environment and the like, there is a very interesting article here by Matthew Cresswell on how religions can help save woodlands, forest and biodiversity; but also the terrible effects we can have, for example in pilgrims leaving vast amounts of litter and (literally) crap along the Way.
And great respect to Rebekah and Keith whose Advent discipline has been to clear up the Camino Frances in Palencia.
Life is a constant Advent season: we are continually waiting to become, to discover, to complete, to fulfill. Hope, struggle, fear, expectation and fulfillment are all part of our Advent experience.
- from the Poor Clares of Malta
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, hope, justice, Kingdom of God, percy dearmer
O God,
Who set before us the great hope
That your Kingdom shall come on earth
And taught us to pray for its coming:
Give us grace to discern the signs of its dawning
And to work for the perfect day
When the whole world shall reflect your glory;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.
- Percy Dearmer
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, camino, Camino de Levante, Camino Ingles, Christ the King, Christmas, generosity, graham greene, gratitude, humility, pilgrimage
Reflecting further on the themes of gratitude and generosity that I have touched on in the last few posts, there is also something about how one is able to receive.
the first sign on the Camino Ingles, Calle de Santiago, A Coruna
It would, I guess be possible to walk a Camino with little or no interaction with people along the way and to receive very little. I’m not sure what this would feel like. I try hard not to impose or to expect things (two exceptions to this being on the Levante, on one occasion when I was lost and made a car stop for advice, and once when I had run out of water and was in danger of heat exhaustion). But I suppose I do try to interact with people I meet along the way as much as possible. My Spanish is limited (and I am determined to be reasonably fluent in a few years) but I try to speak to people, greeting them, asking them the way, if they know where a shop or bar is, talking about the Camino. And people have been unfailingly kind in return. You will find examples sprinkled through my posts on the Levante and the Ingles, although I have tried not to identify individuals along the Way.
I recently read this in Graham Greene’s Stamboul Train:
He was tied by her agreement, by her refusal to make any claim. Before so complete a humility one could be nothing else but generous.
I’m not claiming this for myself, but there is something here about a state of being that helps others to act in a generous way.
On this Feast Of Christ the King, and as we begin to look towards Christmas, there is also clearly something here about the nature of Jesus Christ and how we should respond to him and to other people.
- O Oriens,
- splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:
- veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
- O Morning Star,
- splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
- Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
Dear mother, dear mother, the church is cold,
But the ale-house is healthy and pleasant and warm;
Besides I can tell where I am used well,
Such usage in Heaven will never do well.
.
But if at the church they would give us some ale,
And a pleasant fire our souls to regale,
We’d sing and we’d pray all the live-long day,
Nor ever once wish from the church to stray.
.
Then the parson might preach, and drink, and sing,
And we’d be as happy as birds in the spring;
And modest Dame Lurch, who is always at church,
Would not have bandy children, nor fasting, nor birch.
.
And God, like a father rejoicing to see
His children as pleasant and happy as he,
Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the barrel,
But kiss him, and give him both drink and apparel.
- William Blake
This is a favourite poem. full of insight and challenging love. Good stuff for Advent.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, prayer, simplicity, Slowing Down
This online Advent Calendar looks rooted and valuable as we prepare for Christ.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, icons, ikons, pax christi, reconciliation
A few years ago at St Bede’s we were very fortunate to have the remarkable Pax Christi Icon of Reconciliation in Church over Christmas. Click here for a link allowing you to see the icon in large scale with explanations and prayers.
It is interesting how deeply this Icon and its holy theme of reconciliation has entered my life since. I know that I and my churches and the whole Church are often bad at reconciliation and peace-making justice, but it is a vocation for us that is connected very deeply to Advent and to Christmas. It is vital in this world of ours, and it is a vital role for Churches, particularly those set in places of multiple deprivation. And sometimes we get it right. As there is time over the next weeks – if you are interested – there may be a post or two returning to this. It is a deep part of our pilgrim journey together.
