Category: The Magazine

these weeks before christmas 
we say we are waiting 
for the light 
to be born into the world,
for the first cry,
the infant sigh.
but mornings like this I think 
the light is already here.
we are waiting til we’re ready 
to open our eyes.

There are several fragments which refer to fire, fire as a central symbol of the justice of the universe, of the order underlying all things. Fire is not purely destructive – it tests, and judges, but can reward as well as condemn.

In theory, when everything changes that should be a good time to reflect on what our real and deepest values are, and whether our lives are really directed towards them. In practice, it’s a time when it feels all the more needful to cling on to what’s nearest at hand and provides obvious security, whether financial or psychological. If, when and whenever the stress begins to abate, that may be the right time to think again about whether our practice is really reflecting our ideals in the things we value. Are we spending our time and energy digging for something which in the end we don’t really need or want?

“Rediscovering listening can happen through many routes. It can be mediated by time in an external environment in which we can slow down, or through deep conversation with a friend, or by being still within ourselves in meditation or prayer. The important thing is to find ways of recovering or holding on to that capacity to listen. Only as those who have some idea of what is going on within ourselves, between ourselves and others, and in our external world, can we begin to help each other live well. Only as those who can listen are we given words to speak.”

“For me, the pandemic has made me ask again whether I really believe that the world is genuinely ordered by the God whose face is revealed in the person Jesus Christ. In digging into that question my own faith has changed, in what I believe are good and helpful ways. But it has not been a simple or quick process, and the writing of these fragments is an important part of it.”

“After (many of us) getting so used to travel as a basic form of activity, what would it mean to learn to live in one place? As even the commute into city centres begins to diminish with increasing work from home, how can we recalibrate our lives to have some balance of work and rest? They’re tough questions to answer. But whatever the new normal may be, it would be well for us all to be ready for a life in which we aren’t so much on the move, and to look for the ways in which that can be a cause of joy and not frustration.”

“Heraclitus’ vision pushes us away from a competitive view of our identity, and that’s a significant counterweight to the individualism which so insidiously infects us, whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not. The other is not our enemy, but the one we may need in order to hear the word which will speak to us.”

“What we know now for the first time was there waiting to be seen and grasped all the time. The trivial example of jigsaw puzzles comes to mind; the piece can be sitting in plain sight, but until you see it as the piece for a certain place, it doesn’t have any helpful meaning.”

“The task force was launched 4 years ago. We began surveying deacons under 50 realizing there were fewer deacons in this age group than those [over] 90, which is very problematic for the church. We developed a website and facebook group. We also had some members who did a road trip last year to Episcopal Service Corps sites to tell them about the diaconate. This year we began to focus on resources people can use to help recruit young deacons such as a brochure and a powerpoint presentation. We are encouraging deacons to take this to ministries that have young adults in them in their diocese.”