jonnybaker

you are awesome!

over christmas i read h is for hawk that i have been meaning to read for a while - and really enjoyed it. that got me thinking about the film the eagle huntress so jen and i went to see it a couple of days ago. it's a documentary about a 13 year old girl who wants to learn to fly an eagle. it is set in the mountains of mongolia where she lives in a tribal community. the thing is girls don't fly eagles - men do! it's a delightful film and a powerful story. the girl's dad believes in her and is happy to train her believing that all are equal and he takes on the wider community to advocate for her. i won't spoil the story in case you go and see it (and you should if you can). but there is a lovely moment where he yells out to her in front of all the men 'you are awesome!'. it got me thinking we could do with more people shouting to us that we are awesome.

i have spent time over christmas with family and my granddaughter flo is particularly awesome and so are her parents. harry is awesome! and grace is awesome! and my wider family are awesome. my sister and her adopted son are awesome. i can't begin to tell you how awesome jenny is with her extraordinary courage through cancer - i have loved reading her book which is out today run for your life and i shed quite a few tears as it's so moving...

so without going too OTT on you i hope as you venture into 2017 someone is shouting to you or at least whispering in your ear that you are awesome and that you will be shouting to others you know that they are awesome. and especially do that for any children you know. have a great 2017 - you are awesome!

seeking light - it was dark!

i have been meaning to add this since the last grace but don't know where the time has gone...

anyway it was a lovely grace advent service and i know next year is a way off but you could easily repeat this idea so tuck it away somewhere. grace was inspired by ian adams reflections for advent seeking light - which you can get from proost. we printed them off a3 size and suspended them from the balcony in the church space with nylon thread. we used about 20 in total i think. it was handy that having done an exhibition there before we still had the stuff from that. to straighten them out we just clipped a strip of card behind each sheet.

then apart from a central candle and a few candles highlighting the step at the far end the church space was completely dark - we had moved benches from the main space. a set of tunes played quietly in the dark around the theme of seeking light (see below). then the bulk of grace was 45 minutes where people were given a candle to take into the space and read the reflections by candlelight. they could sit quietly in the space or read through them all as they wished. we simply topped and tailed that with an opening and ending prayer/liturgy. these have been added to the grace archive here . it was very simple. the candlelight really made it a magical evening...

the playlist i think was:

lovebleeps - laura b
incense - andy thornton (from labyrinth)
o come o come emmanuel - sufjan stevens
blackout - heights of abraham
shine - dave gahan and soulsavers
a change is gonna come - the fugees live
anthem - leonard cohen
young death - burial
open the light - boards of canada
gathering light - detriot escalator co
searchlight - jon hopkins
the light - album leaf
a light to guide you - clem leek
near light - olafur arnolds
into forever - eat lights become lights
to believe - cinematic orchestra
jesus alone - nick cave
since i - jono mccleery
lighthouse - patrick watson

i have added this as a worship trick - no 68 in series 4

grace advent service - sat dec 10 - seeking light

join us next saturday for a contemplative grace for advent on the theme of seeking light, inspired by and riffing on ian adams proost resource seeking light (thanks ian!)

the hive

enjoyed getting into zone for christmas by wandering round kew gardens light trail the other evening. the hive installation is rather wonderful...

mark scandrette day - january 9th

i am very happy that we have a day at cms in oxford with mark scandrette who has been a friend for years. i love what he has been up to in mission in san fransisco, his writing and the creativity and imagination and challenge he brings to pretty much everything he does. I first connected with him in the early years of discussing emerging church.

live free is on january 9th where mark will lead a workshop day exploring mission in very practical ways such as how do can you deal with your money and time in such a way as to be free to do what god has called you to. i think/hope it will be a blend of his thinking in the two books free and practicing the way of jesus – both of which are really good. 

details about the event and ticket booking is here.

apollo christmas - new movie on proost

there's a new movie on proost from jon birch - apollo christmas. the latest update from proost has links to various advent and christmas resources but here's what it says about this movie...

This week we launch Jon Birch's wonderful apollo christmas movie.  On Christmas Eve 1968 astronauts orbiting the moon made an amazing broadcast.  With incredible visuals, euphoric electronic music and the words of the three astronauts - this movie takes a different spin on wonder at Christmas.

run for your life

jenny has written a book on her journey through being diagnosed with breast cancer and the ensuing chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and recovery, coupled with her love of running and how that was a big part of her journey. the book is out in a month. it's published with pitch publishing.

i am so close to the story it's hard for me to be objective but i think it's a wonderful book. it will of course be of interest to anyone facing the diagnosis but i think it will also help anyone who knows someone facing that whether friends or family (which is probably most of us). jenny runs a blog and if you haven't read it do. her writing there on the journey is what was the spark for the book...