Step by Step - otherwise known as Child of My Love - by Frank J Exley

This poem was made to those present at the
'A Life of Prayer' event at St Paul's Bakery Hill 
by Sheila Upjohn 

LENT 2014 - ST PAUL'S BALLARAT : 1st SUNDAY LENTEN REFLECTION ON MATTHEW 4: 1-11

Sunset vista at The Nine Mile, Broken Hill.
Photo by Brigid O'Carroll Walsh

T.S. Eliot

 Picture from here

In all my years, one this does not change.
However you disguise it, this thing does not change:
The perpetual struggle of Good and Evil.
Second, you neglect and belittle the desert.
The desert is not remote in the southern tropics.
The desert is not only around the corner,
The desert is squeezed in the tube-train next to you.
The desert is in the heart of your brother.
The Rock

The last temptation is the greatest treason, to do the right thing for the wrong reason.
Murder in the Cathedral 

 

Picture from here 

 

Lent is a time of testing and trials, as well as of renewal, conversion, and grace.

In this first week of Lent, we are called to go into the desert within and face the perennial struggle between good and evil; light and darkeness; etc. To paraphrase T.S. Eliot - 'The desert is in our hearts'.

1. We will always be tempted as Jesus was tempted.  He was tempted to abandon his chosen mission, to be powerful, and to rely not on God but on his status.  But Jesus said not to disobedience, pleasure, power and possession; and yes to love of God and service to others.  In an increasingly secular and materialistic world, we are often tempted to think that we don't need God.  Let us re-affirm our need for God to-day and turn to him in all we do and say.
2. Our temptations may be different, but the reality is the same.  Allures other than the Christian way will prove seductive.  And sometimes our desires lead us into temptation.  What should we do?
3. What are some of the temptations we often face?  How do we respond to them?  Do we choose God over pleasure, power and possessions?  Is God our greatest good?  Can we ask for the grace and strength to be faithful to God to-day, each day, every day?

Let us look into our hears this week and pray for the grace to face up to the perennial struggle between good and evil.  Let us pray for the courage to stand firm like Jesus during times of temptation so that we can choose God over pleasure, power and possessions.  On our own we can do nothing.  Enabled by God's grace we shall do bravely.

And so we pray ...

 Lord, you promise not to tempt us beyond what we can bear.

 Give us grace to-day when we face the struggle within and give us courage to overcome temptations and remain steadfast in our love for you and in our mission to bear witness to your love in our world.

AMEN

From 

Father Constantine Osuchukwu

Parish Priest,

Saint Paul's Anglican Church,

Bakery Hill, Ballarat

Ash Wednesday 2014 - a reflective time - Jonathan Rundman sings "Ashes", William Loader gives us "A Prayer for Ash Wednesday"

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

The darkness asks us questions.
You are out there and we do not see.
You invite us into the night,
the stillness, the loneliness, the desert place.

We cannot see our shadow;
the cold damp of unknowing rises up from beneath our feet.
We tread cautiously, tentatively.

We are afraid,
afraid of ghosts
haunting us with spectres of guilt
and shame.

We would like to run back,
reach the river bank,
swim the Jordan,
sit in the sun by the sea,
mending our nets.
But you have brought us here
- with no bread.

When we look we can see only ourselves,
our darkness.
When we read,
it is invisible words which cannot be grasped,
thoughts we cannot clutch,
hope we cannot capture.

Yet the wild honey remains a taste in our mouth,
a memory for a new day.

Why have you brought us here?
What miracle will you perform for us?

The darkness sighs around us,
dense with your unseen presence,
close to our breathing,
close to our breathing.

O darkness, enlighten us,
embrace us with your invisible love.
Let us see your glory in the ashes.
Take us by the hand that we may trust the darkness.
Minister to us by your Spirit that we may not be afraid.
Jesus, keep the beasts away.

Amen

prepared by William Loader, 15 February 1999

Remembering and honouring Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

Words: Ce­cil F. Al­ex­an­der, 1889.
Music: St. Pat­rick (Stan­ford), CharlesV. Stan­ford, 1902

The lyr­ics are a trans­la­tion of a Gael­ic po­em called “St. Pat­rick’s Lor­i­ca,” or breast­plate. (A “lorica” was a mys­tic­al gar­ment that was sup­posed to pro­tect the wear­er from dan­ger and ill­ness, and guar­an­tee ent­ry in­to Hea­ven.) Ce­cil Alex­an­der penned these words at the re­quest of H. H. Dick­in­son, Dean of the Cha­pel Roy­al at Dub­lin Cas­tle:

I wrote to her sug­gest­ing that she should fill a gap in our Irish Church Hymn­al by giv­ing us a me­tric­al ver­sion of St. Patrick’s “Lor­i­ca” and I sent her a care­ful­ly col­lat­ed co­py of the best prose trans­la­tions of it. With­in a week she sent me that ex­qui­site­ly beau­ti­ful as well as faith­ful ver­sion which ap­pears in the ap­pend­ix to our Church Hymn­al.

This hymn can be a chall­enge to sing with­out see­ing the words matched to the notes, but it is a mas­ter­piece ne­ver­the­less.

---

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

 

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The Gate of the Year

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This post was originally published on The Trad Pad on  2 January 2011.  Happy New Year everyone ... particularly to those who did it tough this year.  Please take on board the thoughts of Minnie Louise Haskins

~~~~~~

Happy New Year! May the year be kind to you and bring you blessings, wisdom, peace, and prosperity!  The last day or two has exhibited some coincidence. Firstly, Hay Quaker published, in toto, the poem The Gate of the Year by Minnie Louise Haskins.

 Minnie Louise Haskins

Picture from here

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied, "Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!"
So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night.
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention.

Perhaps readers have heard this poem, or part of it, before.  It was made famous by the Christmas Speech of King George VI delivered in 1939.  You can hear the actual speech – it is quite moving given it is made at the time of the first Christmas of World War II – here.

Picture from here

Secondly, I decided to get out of the house for the first time since  Christmas Midnight Carols and Eucharist at All Saints, Mitcham and go to see the much lauded movie, The King’s Speech. It is the story of the relationship between the Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue, and King George VI.

The movie is being tipped as a frontline contender for an Oscar. In spite of competition from The Social Network in the bookies’ odds as set out here, it is hard to see how this movie could lose with its high proportion of former Academy Award winning actors.  The UK still produces the best actors – particularly in ensemble work as demonstrated in The King’s Speech – in the English speaking world.  However, it does an Australian heart good – particularly one coming from Queensland – to see and hear Geoffrey Rush mixing it admirably with such a talented cast. To think, this great man of Australian movies was growing up across Brisbane from me in the 1950s!
Those sitting around me in the packed movie theatre were clearly as impressed as I. 
I was however surprised at the ending. I don’t think, in such an historical movie, it is giving away much to describe the ending of this movie.  I thought the movie somehow would finish with the 1939 Christmas Speech. This is arguably the most famous, most remembered, and most quoted of all the King George VI’s speeches.  This doesn’t happen.  The movie concludes with the King’s Speech at the beginning of World War II.

Listen to the original speech here.

Eagle Blessing: the poetry of Judith Ann Henry

Pictures and poem from here.

Eagle Blessing

We are never told ‘when’ the eagle will

touch us nor the way in which the feathers

will enfold all of our lives

We are never told of the softness

and the sounds of the brushing away

of all that is accumulated over the trails

We are never told ‘when’ the smile of an elder

will come to be the reason a day unfolds

near the fire and clasping our ‘ways’

hands to hands as in the sign of friendship

We are never told ‘when’ the sage , shell , and smoke

will bring all of the decades to pass

in the silence of standing ‘still’

and dreaming of the fire and the oaks

and the deer and the elk

and the bear

There is ‘no time’ now

just the soft moccasin step

back and forth

in the snows and near the edges of cedars

‘No time’ in the way the boulders still hold

the leaning trees and leaves of ice

We are never told ‘when’ we will be in life

as fully as when the last aspen of autumn

sings to her cove and the fox appears

again

© Judith Ann Henry

Introducing herself, this poet (Judith Ann Henry) says:

“I live in the Southwestern US and have written poetry of/for/and with this area for the last 25 years. I also have worked with Native communities during these years and am Choctaw for my father's clans and Hungarian for my mother's side.

Blessings from all of the directions, as we say here.”

The Riverina floods: reflection: entering the mindset of O'Brien’s Hanrahan

Grapegrower Steven Barbon, accompanied by Fido 

on his sodden property near Griffith yesterday, 

believes proposed water cuts will destroy regional Australia. 

Picture: Amos Aikman Source: The Australian

See story that goes with picture here.

In Australia, the driest inhabited continent on earth, we have gone from The Big Dry of the ten to twelve years of drought to 2010 and The Big Wet.  Floods again in the Riverina.  I believe we have entered the mindscape of John O'Brien's Hanrahan - and the poem - in spite of its humour - provides much food for reflection both in terms of Earth's current ecological crisis but also our own ability to find our place in the purposes of the planet.

Lockhart, NSW - Photo from here

More pictures and 

Flood infromation from the ABC available here.

SAID HANRAHAN

by John O'Brien 

"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
In accents most forlorn,
Outside the church, ere Mass began,
One frosty Sunday morn.

The congregation stood about,
Coat-collars to the ears,
And talked of stock, and crops, and drought,
As it had done for years.

"It's looking crook," said Daniel Croke;
"Bedad, it's cruke, me lad,
For never since the banks went broke
Has seasons been so bad."

"It's dry, all right," said young O'Neil,
With which astute remark
He squatted down upon his heel
And chewed a piece of bark.

And so around the chorus ran
"It's keepin' dry, no doubt."
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."

"The crops are done; ye'll have your work
To save one bag of grain;
From here way out to Back-o'-Bourke
They're singin' out for rain.

"They're singin' out for rain," he said,
"And all the tanks are dry."
The congregation scratched its head,
And gazed around the sky.

"There won't be grass, in any case,
Enough to feed an ass;
There's not a blade on Casey's place
As I came down to Mass."

"If rain don't come this month," said Dan,
And cleared his throat to speak-
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"If rain don't come this week."

A heavy silence seemed to steal
On all at this remark;
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed a piece of bark.

"We want an inch of rain, we do,"
O'Neil observed at last;
But Croke "maintained" we wanted two
To put the danger past.

"If we don't get three inches, man,
Or four to break this drought,
We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."

In God's good time down came the rain;
And all the afternoon
On iron roof and window-pane
It drummed a homely tune.

And through the night it pattered still,
And lightsome, gladsome elves
On dripping spout and window-sill
Kept talking to themselves.

It pelted, pelted all day long,
A-singing at its work,
Till every heart took up the song
Way out to Back-o'-Bourke.

And every creek a banker ran,
And dams filled overtop;
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"If this rain doesn't stop."

And stop it did, in God's good time;
And spring came in to fold
A mantle o'er the hills sublime
Of green and pink and gold.

And days went by on dancing feet,
With harvest-hopes immense,
And laughing eyes beheld the wheat
Nid-nodding o'er the fence.

And, oh, the smiles on every face,
As happy lad and lass
Through grass knee-deep on Casey's place
Went riding down to Mass.

While round the church in clothes genteel
Discoursed the men of mark,
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed his piece of bark.

"There'll be bush-fires for sure, me man,
There will, without a doubt;
We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."

Around the Boree Log and Other Verses, 1921

This has been republished from the free e-book

available from Project Gutenberg here.

Water in the heart of the driest inhabited continent on earth : Lake Eyre : Where the pelican builds her nest

For me, my country - Australia - is an ancient and mystical land. It is the driest inhabited continent on Earth. There is a lot of Australia to see and I haven't seen all I would like to see. I have not been to Lake Eyre. I have flown over it on flights from Melbourne in the south to Alice Springs in The Centre. I have seen the dry veins which in times of rain carry water to replenish the mighty lake.

For those whose spirituality has a desert quality, I have included two things which stir the traditional Australian heart and spirit: a poem and a video (and associated transcript).

Where the Pelican Builds Her Nest

The horses were ready, the rails were down,
But the riders lingered still
One had a parting word to say,
And one had his pipe to fill.

Then they mounted, one with a granted prayer,
And one with a grief unguessed.
"We are going," they said, as they rode away
"Where the Pelican builds her nest!"

They had told us of pastures wide and green,
To be sought past the sunset's glow;
Of rifts in the ranges by opal lit;
And gold "neath the river's flow.

And thirst and hunger were banished words
When they spoke of that unknown West;
No drought they dreaded, no flood they feared,
Where the pelican builds her nest!

The creek at the ford was but fetlock deep
When we watched them crossing there;
The rains have replenished it thrice since then,
And thrice has the rock lain bare.

But the waters of Hope have flowed and fled,
And never from blue hill's breast
Come back - by the sun and the sands devoured
Where the pelican builds her nest!

Mary Hannay-Foott

Thanks to be to God - and Bless This House

Thanks Be to God

Willow Goldfinch

Thanks be to God for roses red,

For homes and hearths and daily bread

For all the worlds thy hands have wrought--

Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God for surf on seas,

For trilling finches, flowering trees,

For freshness that cannot be bought--

Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God for prophet-truth,

For hands that work for right and ruth,

For every healing act and thought,

Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God who guides our days

From loss to Love, from pain to praise

For Thee, the Gift of gifts unsought--

Thanks be to God!

--Sr. Faith Bowman (Stanza 1 Anonymous)

To be sung to the music of "Thanks Be to God" by Stanley Dickson

(May Hannah Dickson Brahe 

is an iconic Australian composer

 well known for her composition, Bless this House.

  Miss Eagle grew up in Bowen, North Queensland,

and remembers the story John Chamberlain,

conductor and energiser of the Bowen Choral Society,

used to tell about his wife Mary.

Mary used to be involved in a lot of musical activities

for troops and others in World War II.

Her repertoire used to regularly include Bless This House.

John used to say Mary was known as

Mary "Bless This House" Chamberlain.  ...smile...with fondest memories...

PS: Miss Eagle was the youngest member, 

at age 12 years, of the Bowen Choral Society.)

From: Vegetarian Friends

Horns of a dilemma: Diarmuid O'Murchu and The Lord's Prayer

On the horns of a dilemma
(and I don't mean the poor jailed goat)!

Over at Diarmuid O' Murchu's site I found a lovely version of The Lord's Prayer supposedly "based on the original Aramaic - source unknown". I like the prayer. It has struck a chord with me. However....

and it is a big however, Michael Booker at the National Association of Scholars site gives the background to the prayer.

Ah, caution!
I think I should bear in mind what Michael Booker has to say.

But, as a prayer, I think it's not bad. And striking a chord in me - as it undoubtedly does with others - bears witness to our thoughts on the universe, idealistic or psuedo-poetic though they be. So I pass it on here - but without the claims for the 'original' Aramaic.

The Lord’ s Prayer

(modern version by Neil Douglas-Klotz)

O Cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration! Soften the ground of our being
and carve out a space within us where your presence can abide.

Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered
to bear the fruit of your mission.

Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with your desire.

Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share
what each being needs to grow and flourish.

Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us,
as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.

Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose,
but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment.

For you are the ground and fruitful vision, the birth, power and fulfilment,
as all is gathered and made whole once again.

John Greenleaf Whittier: First-Day Thoughts

FIRST-DAY THOUGHTS

In calm and cool and silence, once again
I find my old accustomed place among
My brethren; here, perchance, no human tongue
Shall utter words; where never hymn is sung,
Nor deep-toned organ blown, nor censer swung
Nor dim light falling through the pictured pane!

There, syllabled by silence, let me hear
The still small voice which reached the prophet's ear;
Read in my heart a still diviner law
Than Israel's leader on his tables saw!
Here let me strive with each besetting sin,
Recall my wandering fancies, and restrain
The sore disquiet of a restless brain;
And, as the path of duty is made plain,
May grace be given that I may walk therein,
Not like the hireling, for his selfish gain,
With backward glances and reluctant tread,
Making a merit of his coward dread,
But, Cheerful, in the light around me thrown,
Walking as one to pleasant service led;
Doing God's will as if it were my own,
Yet trusting not in mine, but in His strength alone!

--J.G.W.

Discovered in The Peaceable Table.

At the dawn I seek Thee,

Refuge, Rock sublime;

Set my prayer before Thee in the morning,

And my prayer at even-time.

I before Thy greatness

Stand, and am afraid;

All my secret throughts Thine eye beholdeth,

Deep within my bosom laid.

And withal, what is it

Heart and tongue can do?

What is this my strength, and what is even

This my spirit in me, too?

But indeed man's singing

May seem good to Thee.

So I praise Thee, singing, while there dwelleth

Yet the breath of God in me.

Solomon ibn Gabirol

Translated by Nina Salaman

Unexplored territory

Ben over at Journey Something has a wonderful poem -

Soul: the last wild frontier.

Please go see.

Vernal Equinox 2008

Picture from here

Christine at The Abbey of the Arts has called for poetry and other writing about the Equinox. Here below is my contribution:

VERNAL EQUINOX
UTC 080922 15.44

It happened last night:
AEST 080923 01.44.

It came in southern darkness
To say that summer isn’t far away.
It came in the sleepy midnight
To say that winter really would go
And the sun would come to stay.

This is my true herald of hope.
The depression and gloom of winter go
Replaced with hope and blossoming life
And a knowledge that sun and heat
Will cleanse my soul
And joy it into play.

Great Spirit

Native American Prayer
Author Unknown

Great Spirit,

Give us hearts to understand

Never to take from creation's beauty more than we give,

Never to destroy want only for the furtherance of greed,

Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth's beauty,

Never to take from her what we cannot use.

Give us hearts to understand

That to destroy earth's music is to create confusion,

That to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty,

That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench,

That as we care for her she will care for us.

Give us hearts to understand We have forgotten who we are.

We have sought only our own security.

We have exploited simply for our own ends.

We have distorted our knowledge.

We have abused our power.

Great Spirit,

Whose dry lands thirst,

Help us to find the way to refresh your lands.

Great Spirit,

Whose waters are choked with debris and pollution,

Help us to find the way to cleanse your waters.

Great Spirit,

Whose beautiful earth grows ugly with misuse,

Help us to find the way to restore beauty to your handiwork.

Great Spirit,

Whose creatures are being destroyed,

Help us to find a way to replenish them

Great Spirit,

whose gifts to us are being lost in selfishness and corruption,

Help us to find the way to restore our humanity.

We search and we search and yet find no meaning.
The search for a meaning leads to despair.
And when we are broken the heart finds its moment
To fly and to feel and to work as it will
Through the darkness and mystery and wild contradiction.
For this is its freedom, its need and its calling;
This is its magic, its strength and its knowing.
To heal and make meaning while we walk or lie dreaming;
To give birth to love within our surrender;
To mother our faith, our spirit and yearning;
While we stumble in darkness the heart makes our meaning
And offers it into our life and creation
That we may give meaning to life and creation
For we only give meaning we do not find meaning:
The thing we can’t find is the thing we shall give.
To make love complete and to honour creation.

Leunig

in When I talk to you: a cartoonist talks to God

2004, HarperCollinsPublishers

Seasons of the Soul: Ash Wednesday 2008

THE LONG WATCH

I draw aside to-day:
into the quiet, the reflection
of the pool of life.

I watch the disturbance,
the stone of my being
cast into the timeless pool…

ripples moving outward
from the centre
of the sunken stone…

circular disturbances
of small circumference
enlarging to a fading edge.

The rippling of my life
is energy into stillness
moving beyond its entry point.

The ripples, equilibrium disturbed.
The still centre sinks
under the surface.

Rippling circular to centre.
Never a straight line,
never trajectory altered.

The disturbance continues
outward…
Until, far from its centre,
it ceases.

Brigid O’Carroll Walsh
Ash Wednesday 2008
6 February 2008
© 2008

Advent 2: Daring to Hope

SERMON PREACHED BY REV. JOHN SIMPSON

AT THE CHURCH OF ST THOMAS, UPPER FERNTREE GULLY
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT : DECEMBER 9th 2007

‘Daring to Hope’

What a theme! Hope is when I have a confident expectation that keeps me going, while I wait and work for it to come to pass! Remember the ‘waiting’ message of last week? “Practice creates Miracles”. I wait confidently; yet hope also calls me to dare to do something towards it.

I Practice; take a few courageous steps into the unknown. Like when we decided to have our new (yet old) home renovated and took the builder's advice to do more! Or when I’m on the internet and looking for a site, and at the bottom of my screen the words “unknown territory” pops up. It’s exciting, yet it’s scary! I’m confident and venturing into the unknown.

When I was ordained I had lots of utopian ideas, like those found in the first reading.

Are these great visions of peace and harmony among peoples just a fairy tale? No; they correspond to the deep longings of the human heart and point to God’s ultimate goal for us. Such visions nurture our souls and our hearts. They give energy to keep waiting, practicing and daring.

John Baptizer. Jesus Messiah : The Darer and the Doer.

John dared people to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matthew tells us that the Baptizer was the Voice, the Voice that dares all to “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths”. From his mother’s womb, John’s life was determined by his mission – for he is said to have leapt in her womb at the voice of Mary, the mother of the Doer, Jesus. His call was to prepare us. He did not seek personal fulfilment through his work. He came to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

In our own place and circumstances, we each have a role to play. It calls for some ‘daring-do’. The divine will and purpose, like a link in a chain, depends on each of us obeying the role God’s given to us. Many great things depend on us remembering that we are children of God – that we are divine beings. John Baptizer did what God asked of him – he recalled people to their true nature. He went out daring to do this. Later we are told he did not know Jesus, until he saw a dove descend on him at Jesus’ baptism

And what a result! Allowing for some exaggeration, the whole region around the Jordan and people from Jerusalem and Judea, came out to hear him. Big turn-out! A bit like Christmas Day at Midnight! Yet that was only the beginning. As they heard him, people were said to be, “On the tip toe of expectation”- just what Advent can be for us as we practise our waiting. Many were baptized, acknowledging they’d “missed the mark”, through forgetting they were God’s. John Baptizer dared, and many had a burden lifted – not in the temple or by the priests – but in the desert and by the Voice and baptism water.

If John was the Darer, Jesus was the Doer: he also came to be baptized. Jesus did this to identify with John’s mission and with the people seeking God’s coming. Together they brought Hope into view. Hope became the people’s new Horizon. The Voice did his work. John Baptizer saw the utopian vision beginning – it must have been exciting to see folk coming with a longing to hear the word of the Lord. And doing it for themselves!

How daring was John?

John showed courage when he took on the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism.
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Produce good fruit worthy of your repentance.” They were quick to condemn the non-religious and I think John threatened them with his tongue in his cheek!

“Vipers”! They were slithering down to the Jordan, and John was not afraid of them, even if they were poisonous. That takes some daring-do! Have you ever spoken boldly to someone to make the point? I have a few times. I once told the son of a friend, who was on drugs, that he was on the “road to hell’. He agreed - though his parent’s friends thought I was wrong! His mum and dad did not!

“Who warned you to flee from coming wrath?” Not a concept we associate with Jesus and God. Can God be said to be wrathful, angry with us? John did. Maybe he had a point, that hypocrisy and not loving others, displeases God. Certainly Jesus got angry on several occasions. I prefer to think of wrath as my receiving the consequences of my own actions. “What you sow, you will also reap.” What goes around, comes around.

“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘ we have Abraham as our father’.” In other words, ‘whatever your family tree, you’re on your own, here boys!’ Each one must be responsible for him or her self. This is a strong theme in Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Elijah – the one John is most like, fiery and challenging. You’ve been baptized as children of God – so bear the fruits of this Baptism. Live like the divine beings you are.

Taking responsibility for yourself is what’s being dared here. It can be mighty uncomfortable. It’s almost like shedding your skin, as snakes do, so as to grow into a new one. Yet, Utopia will be made up of those who are responsible for themselves, ready to shed the old skin and dare to do.

Being a Darer-Doer
This is to be a people of hope, followers of the Jesus Way. Courageous and responding to the deep longings God has placed in your human heart. Daring to act from the vision. Courageously taking up the cross to bring new life. Boldly being a voice for the vision of love, harmony and Jesus the Christ. “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone”.


Here’s some ways : “Practise Creates Miracles” So try making these ones!

• Remember each day, say to yourself, “I am a son, a daughter, of the Living God – I’m divine. When upset or distressed, stop and be calm. Remember who you are. And let the life of Jesus flow!

• Speak tenderly whenever you “hear” the deep longings of another person’s heart, they are part of God’s plan, a step they can take to bring more of heaven to earth.

• Speak more boldly than you usually do, when you hear a person going down a road that leads to death, to loss of dignity, of themselves.

• Be in touch with your own deep longings, take a moment each day to think “Have I been true to my hopes?” Share them with us. Ask how Jesus and John can guide you?

• Take responsibility for the things in others, that make you angry. These tell you the matters you do not like in you!

The Bird of Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
Did it ask, a crumb of me.

By Emily Dickinson
(from Sunday Liturgies)

The Prayer of Charlemagne

Charlemagne by Albrecht Durer

The Prayer of Charlemagne

Creator Spirt, by whose aid

The world's foundations first were laid,

Come visit every pious mind,

Come pour thy joys on humankind;

From sin and sorrow set us free,

And make us temples worthy thee.

Attributed to Charlemagne, translated by Dryden

Leunig: The path to your door

Michael Leunig is one of Australia's great cartoonists. Michael is a spiritual man and insightful in his art, his text, his comment. Miss Eagle is currently listening to Billy the Rabbit which the gifted Gyan has set to music. The CD comes beautifully packaged with a little book of the poems which have been set to music. Here is the last, but not least:

The Path to your Door
The path to your door
Is the path within:
Is made by animals,
Is lined by flowers,
Is lined by thorns,
Is stained with wine,
Is lit by the lamp of sorrowful dreams:
Is washed with joy,
Is swept by grief,
Is blessed by the lonely traffic of art:
Is known by heart,
Is known by prayer,
Is lost and found,
Is always strange,
The path to your door.