jonnybaker

soil soul society

alastair mcintosh says that the triune basis for community is soil, soul and society - community with the earth or place, community with one another and community with spirit/self/god. i really like this as a simple framework. johnny sertin first introduced me to it and they have made it the basis of what they are up to in earlsfield. 

anyway all that to say that at grace last night we started the year exploring those themes with a space for each. soul was the labyrinth, and then two other spaces with interactive installations. i loved it and think we're bound to pick those themes up further. in classic foolhardy new year fashion i have decided to try and blog with a bit more intent this year. life is so busy that it is a genuine challenge but i'll start as i mean to go on... so i'll add this as a worship trick and have uploaded the descriptions and a photo of each below in case any of you want to chew over the themes or nick them for you own use.

soil

there were four activities in this space and a poem to reflect on. the four activities are below and the poem was the very thought by gerard kelly

The earth, our home, one tiny planet spinning in space in the vastness of the universe is extraordinary with its wonderful creatures, plants, landscapes, and habitats. To gaze at the ocean’s horizon, to walk in a forest and listen to birdsong, to climb a mountain, to sleep under a starry sky, to hold a newborn baby’s tiny fingers in a hand, to enjoy a freshly cooked meal with friends, all evoke wonder and thankfulness. What a gift life is, what a gift it is to be alive! The Christian story is fundamentally a story about the world, the heavens and the earth that have been made good and entrusted to us as gift to look after with love, tenderness and care.

1. Put your hands in the soil

The Soil by David Benjamin Blower played on loop (I love that tune)

All citizens
Put your hands in the soil
And feel the groan
and can you feel the joy?
And be still

Take a moment to be still.
You are human made in God’s image
Adam was the first human - the word adam means ‘of the soil’
You are made from dirt, from soil, from the stuff of the earth
We are earthy
Place your hands in the soil and be still
Feel the groan of the earth in our times and pray
Feel the joy of the earth in all its beauty and give thanks
And be still

2. Lament for the heat

Have word soil spelled in candles in soil

Te world is too hot. Global temperature is rising due to emissions. The last IPCC report suggested there are 12 years left in which to change and limit warming to 1.5 degrees which, as we are experiencing, is already having dramatic impact. David Wallace Wells in his remarkable book which has over 6 pages of footnotes citing the evidence to back up his writing, outlines the cascades taking place that will only accelerate as we reach that temperature and beyond. He opens the book with the ominous words “It is worse, much worse, than you think”. We all have seen the images of fires in Australia, a sign of our times if there ever was one.

Blow out a candle as a prayer for the world’s fires and warming

We have sinned against you and against the earth
It is too hot
Lord have mercy on us and on the soil.
Cool the earth.
Amen

3. What a waste

Compost is like magic. Our waste is thrown in the dark with other waste. Over time it rots and becomes beautiful rich soil that feeds new plants in the next season.

Take some food waste
What feels like waste in your life
What are you throwing away
Offer it to God with whom nothing is wasted.

4. Drop in the Ocean

The challenges of the world seem so big that it can paralyse us. But as Greta Thunberg says - no one is too small to make a difference. Or as Harry and Chris say

They say it’s just a drop in the ocean
As if that’s a reason to stop
But maybe they’ve forgotten the ocean
Is literally made up of drops

Take a drop and add it to the water

Soil is about connection and community with the land, the earth itself. Our first challenge is to become lovers of the earth, the land, the home in which we live. We are all too easily disconnected from the land. How can you nurture being a lover of the earth, of the land, of the soil?

Write on a drop something you could do that helps you to be a lover of the earth, to be closer to the soil.
Write on a drop something you could do that lightens your footprint on the earth and its resources

society

To be human is to be related. Even God is community!

Add yourself to the web of relationships
Write your name on a card and then connect it to others with a piece of string. Then think about your connections to others. perhaps friends, perhaps groups you belong to whether local or far away. Write them on other pieces of card and build up the web.

Grace is our faith community.
What is it about the community that helps you, that nourishes you? Give thanks to God!
Are there ways you would like to participate?
Are there gifts you have to offer in the year ahead?

Do you ever feel alone?
Do you know others who are alone?
Is there someone you could show friendship to?
Hold them in prayer.

One of Grace’s ethos words is engage
How will you engage in society locally this year?
How will you build community?

soul

this was the labyrinth - i just took a photo on a phone before we started which isn't great. no doubt someone else will have a better one. but you get the idea. we pretty much reused the words from the first labyrinth we ever did in 1999 by the then live on planet earth! here they are...

Take off your shoes...

The labyrinth is a walking meditation. Take off your shoes, pause at the start and then slowly follow the path. There is one path to the centre and then you follow the same path back out. There are others on the journey. Take your time. If you have to wait that is a good thing probably. There is no rush! Taking care and paying attention to your soul, your true self, the you of you is important soul work. Use this journey to give your soul some time. Soul is also about your relationship to God - take time to be with God in this space. Below are some prompts for the journey in, the centre and the journey out. But if you prefer to simply walk in silence and ignore those prompts then that is also good.

The inward journey:
As you move towards the centre of the labyrinth begin by confessing and letting go of things that hinder your relationship with God. This stage is also about shedding images or projections of yourself so that you can be real with God. Let go of what other people think you should be, their expectations of you, their projections. As you journey, empty yourself, peel away the layers - grow by subtraction. Prepare your inner self - the you of you - to meet with God.
Think of hurtful things people have done or said to you. Imagine a symbol or a word to describe this....
Jesus said, if you let go of the hurtful things people do to you - so God will also let go of the hurtful things you do. Think carefully. Are you willing to 'let go' of the things people have done or said to you?
Think of things you do - patterns of behaving that you know are harmful to your relationship with God, others, yourself or planet Earth. Imagine a symbol or word that symbolises those things.
If you are honest with yourself and God, if you really want to let go of these things... "If we confess our sins God is faithful and just and will purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 Jn 1v9) God will help you to move on. Do you want to take it with you? Or do you want to let it go? If you want to let it go open your hands as a sign of letting it go and move on.

The centre of the labyrinth:
At the centre of the labyrinth is that point where we symbolically meet with God. Please spend some time here. Relax. Enjoy God's presence. Meditate on God. Commune with God.

The outward journey:
As you journey back out of the labyrinth take your encounter with God with you. Reflect on how this encounter might affect or change you. John said that God became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood - think about how you might allow God to be made flesh in your life and in your neighbourhood.
What boundaries do you need to pass through?
Which of your abilities are you neglecting?
Look around and notice. Even though they may be at different stages, others are on this journey too.
As you approach the end of the labyrinth think about God who has been the host for this part of your journey. If God asked you to fill in a guest book - what would your comments be?

i have added the photos to a flickr album grace labyrinth - soul + soil + society

i loved the soil section the most - we need much more engagement with the earth, the planet, soil, place, our home and lots of soulful liturgies, prayers, songs, spirituality.

grace labyrinth on saturday 11 jan

join us at grace on saturday january 11th and walk a labyrinth. if you have not walked a labyrinth before it is a lovely prayerful space surrounded by candlelight and ambient tunes. you meditate by walking. it’s a perfect way to start the new year reflecting on what has gone before giving thanks and letting go. it’s a space to be still, to be with god, to place yourself into god's care. and then it’s a journey into the decade that lies ahead with all of its possibility, challenge and adventure. there will be a cafe afterwards as ever with space to chill and catch up. 

this saturday grace midvent

this saturday is midvent (ok that’s something we made up)! but it’s our advent grace which will be reflective and with photos related to various traditional advent readings. here’s the blurb. do come along…

Join us for a mid-Advent meditation, featuring photos by members of Grace that have been inspired by the season’s traditional Bible texts. We will make our own Advent calendars, that we can continue to fill with images up to Christmas.

Everyone is welcome to stay for mulled wine in the cafe afterwards.

the key

this is a photograph I have in the ealing lip group exhibition home which is part of BEAT 2019. it's a group show on the theme of home. this is the key to the front door of a home in jaffa for a palestinian family who had to flee their home in 1947 and have been unable to return. many palestinians who had to flee carried the key expecting to return of course. but now for them and for those whose homes have been destroyed the key has become perhaps both a memory of home and as a symbol of their longing for home. i imagine this is also the case for many who flee home from whatever country. i also took portraits of the friend whose grandparents house it is. but somehow the minimlaist nature of the key photograph was the one i chose. do visit the exhibition which is open every day until 15 sept.

on sat 14 sept i am giving a talk about the photograph and the theme of home at 4pm. i have been thinking about this and am likely if i have the courage to perform a couple of songs from the album backbone which i recorded after visiting palestine in 1998 - they will be acoustic rather than breakbeat versions. 

this month grace have been made homeless because work is being done at st mary's so grace will be coming to that talk, a visit to the exhibition and a meal afterwards nearby. message me if you are interested in coming to the meal and i can send you info. 

home - photo exhibition as part of BEAT 2019

i am exhibiting as part of home - an exhibition by the ealing london independent photography group i am part of. once again this is part of the borough of ealing art trail. the flyer is below which is also an invite to the opening night. the opening is early evening due to the venue being in a park. but i'd love to see anyone who is able to make it. i am also giving a talk/hosting a session as part of it - details below the flyer

blurb for the exhibtion

We tend to think of ‘home’ as a haven, somewhere we can retreat to after a busy or stressful day. It’s where our family, our partners, our familiar faces and favourite things are… where we can feel secure among the bricks and mortar of our domestic bliss. But it can be more complex than that. Some feel tied down by this image of home, with a longing to escape the over-familiar and make new memories elsewhere; for the elderly,loneliness can be an issue… and increasingly, contemporary times suggest other stories; home is a luxury some just do not have. The world is changing and for many the notion of home is changing too. Photographers from Ealing LIP reflect on what ‘home’ means to them.

At The Rickyard, Walpole Park, from 6th - 15th September.

Opening times:

Fri 6th, 12 - 7pm; Sat 7th & Sun 8th, 12 - 6pm
Mon 9th to Thurs 12th, 12 - 5pm; Fri 13th, 12 -7pm; Sat 14th & Sun 15th, 12 - 6pm

blurb for session i am leading - longing for home

For some of us home is a place we take for granted, somewhere we can return to - but for others in the world, conflict or occupation has meant they have had to flee their home and are unable to return. They make home in a new place but still have memories of home from their homeland and a longing or an ache for it. Many Palestinians who have been exiled from their homes carry a key to remember home, and as a sign of their longing. This workshop will be a chance to hear stories of home, exile and longing. Facilitated by Jonny Baker whose photo ‘The Key’ is in the exhibition. The Rickyard, 4pm, Saturday 14th Sept.

 

[united] kingdom come - grace this saturday

grace this saturday exploring our responses to brexit. glad to be part of a community that doesn't shy away from what's going on around us and difficult conversation. the blurb says

Why are we so divided and angry? What are we going to do about it?

All are welcome. After the service you can either Remain for the café, or Leave to look for a better deal elsewhere.

space

everyone is welcome to join us at grace on 9th february for a service of meditation and silences, followed of course by a less silent café! this year our february service falls in a space between church seasons - christmas and epiphany are past, lent does not begin until march, so we find ourselves in an in-between place, a place to pause for quiet reflection.

a worship trick - flash paper

 

flash paper from jonny baker on Vimeo.

grace last night was a rather beautiful evening with a magical labyrinth and stations on themes of gold, frankincense and myrrh. i can't remember where i read about it but i came across flash paper which is a kind of paper magicians use in tricks - when you light it, it flares up and goes up in smoke in a flash. i took a very short video of it on my phone. so if magicians use it i guess it is probably as close to a worship trick as is possible! we used it at the myrrh station where people reflected on things to bury or get rid of or put to death in their life and then they went up in a flash!

grace new year labyrinth

another year of grace begins this next weekend - join us to walk a labyrinth

where will god be born? - advent coming up...

i always love the season of advent. love this flyer from steve for our grace advent service this year which will consist of a series of reflections, prayers, meditations, songs brought by whoever comes. if you plan to come do bring something to share in that way. it will all be followed by mulled wine and stollen. 

and i am not sure i should confess to this but if you look on the grace web site there is a link to a video from 1996 of grace on channel 4 which we dug out for the 25th celebration - it is fairly amusing/embarrassing!

grace silver

we had a wonderful celebration of 25 years of grace last night.

projections - fairy lights - tunes - 4 course feast - communion shared at the table - memories - toasts - stories - laughter - an amazing cake - 25 year old whisky - nostalgia - hope - gratefulness - friends - church - alternative worship - zine - late night

here's a few photos

grace xxv - the zine

steve collins has put together a 64 page zine for grace's 25th celebration. it's free to download as a pdf - we'll probably do a limited edition print run but haven't got oprganised for that yet. but it's a great collection of photos and memories - largely visual - and organised into sections on worship, people, technology, greenbelt, labyrinths, music and ethos. mike and i had fun selecting a few tunes from each year that have been on the grace playlist. who would have thought - two zines in a year?!

#gracesilverservice

grace - 25th anniversary!!!

it's hard to believe but november will see the 25th anniversary of grace. i wasn't there when it started but jen and i got involved when we moved to london in 1995. it has been an amazingly creative group of people with whom to share life and faith as we have sought to follow christ together in today's world. i'll save a longer post for nearer the time but i am so thankful to be part of it.

to celebrate we are having a meal/banquet. unusually we would like to know numbers in advance for the catering side of it so if you plan to come please can you let us know - email or leave a comment. if you have been part of grace's life over the 25 years do see if you could make it along - we'd love it to be a sharing of stories and memories, of thanks as well as hopes for the future as we are not done yet! 

(there is of course a grace service before that in october too)

give me eyes to see like a photographer

i spoke at st mary's ealing on sunday in the context of oblique strategies, a photography exhibition, hanging in the church. i found it a good challenge last year to combine thoughts about photography with spirituality - i guess it is doing a sort of local theology for photographers. this year i used some of the ideas and practices from last year with different photos and passage (of course) and penned a couple of photography inspired prayers. i am guessing the sermon will be recorded and i'll link to it if so because the interviews with sean and edmond were really good. anyway here it is...

In the Guardian last week there was an article on what was termed ‘peoples innovation’ which referred to park run as like church - park run is a weekly run organised by volunteers. But it was likened to church because it is a space in which people find community and friendship in the city in what can be an isolated space. Community groups in cities are really important spaces. I am part of a photography group which is is one such group.

I have invited two members of the group, Sean and Edmond, who were part of the team curating the exhibition that is hanging in the church, to come along this morning and I’d like to begin by asking then a few questions about the exhibition and indeed about photography.

Sean: Tell us about the photography group - what do you do? Why do you go?
Edmond: The exhibition is called Oblique Strategies - what does that mean? What is it about?
Sean and Edmond: Which is your photo? Tell us about it.
Sean: What do you like about photography?
Edmond: I am going to explore in a minute the idea of photography as a spiritual practice. Is there any connection for you between photography and spirituality?

(For the reader - Oblique Strategies is a series of playing cards that Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt designed in 1975. The idea is that a creative person who got stuck in the creative process could draw a card at random and use it as an oblique strategy to spark their imagination in new directions. So for the exhibition each of the nineteen photographer’s received a card drawn at random and had to take a photograph provoked by that oblique strategy. And on the photos you see each strategy written.)

For me photography is a connected with contemplative spirituality because it helps me to pay attention, to see, to really look. I won’t say much about this as I spoke about it last year but there is a tradition of photographers who use words like transcendent for their approach because they recognise that there is something beyond the immediate, a presence that they connect with as they slow down and learn to see - much like people experience in silence, a walk in a forest, or gazing at the horizon on a beach. Today people might call it mindful. Paul Hill, much loved of London Independent Photography describes photography as ‘learning to see’. Here’s two quotes from a book on the contemplative Thomas Merton and his photography that I used last year but can’t really better:

“To become a contemplative one must develop the spiritual eye of attention and what in modern life symbolises more fully and exactly what the life of a contemplative life entails than the camera.” and…

“Solitude and silence are the sine qua non of being a contemplative. In fact a photographer is a contemplative in his/her own right: he/she too must become a master of attention”

I have been thinking about what we can learn from photographers way of looking at the world. You can try this later but I began to write some lines of prayer that begin ‘give me eyes to see like a photographer…’

give me eyes to see like a photographer
that the whole world is shining
to notice how your light falls

give me eyes to see like a photographer
that beauty is in the ordinary and everyday
not in a quest to capture the perfect sunset

give me eyes to see like a photographer
that the world is broken in grief
longing for healing

give me eyes to see like a photographer
that all is gift
and you are the one who draws with light
amen

(the word photo graph means light drawing by the way photo-light graph-draw)

Last year I developed two practices that related to photography and I thought it would be good to engage them as ways of learning to see together

a) visio divina
Lectio divina is a way of reading the bible which has four stages formally known as lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio. These stages can be applied to reading or looking at photographs. I have renamed these four stages as follows:
Look
Reflect
Talk/pray
Ponder

Pick one of the photographs that catches your attention and look at it, then reflect on what it evokes for you, how does it connect with you and your story, where does it take you, then talk to the person next to you about what you see (in lectio this would also be a space for prayer to talk to God about it which you can do later), then sit for a moment and ponder what gift is in this that you will take from the experience.

[Space to do this and discuss]

b) Imaginative reading where you are the photographer
We heard a story about Jesus earlier (Mark 7:24-30). I will read it for you again in a moment. A practice that is really helpful for reflecting on a story like this is to use your imagination to picture the scene and explore it with all your senses and then watch the scene unfold in your mind’s eye. Be playful with it. It often helps to be a character in the scene - a member of the crowd or the person in the story. But the twist is that i want you to be a photographer in the story noticing it unfold and thinking as it does what photos you are inspired to take. It might be worth saying a couple of things to help frame the story - Jews did not view Gentiles as included in God’s story. They are outsiders and from this passage we see they were commonly described as dogs. Jews would not eat with them or go into their homes for example. And Jesus is in Tyre which is Gentile (Phonecia) trying to keep his head down.

[Read passage and then get a few people to share what they imagined.]

Thank you for your seeing of this intriguing story and of course we don’t know what Jesus intentions were. But I have come to see the courage and strength of this woman not taking the script and place given to her in the ordering of the world - she won’t stay in her place and I love that. To even take the risk of finding Jesus and get a hearing which was unlikely in the culture required her to get beyond the voice in her own head saying ‘who do you think you are?’ Many women have this script by the way. I also love that in terms of learning to see, she as the person who is an outsider and of another faith than Jesus is the one who help him to learn to see. What an extraordinary reversal. I really hope we have the same openness to receive the gifts of other faiths and their insights and wisdom as Christianity has its blind spots for sure. That seeing is this - that where God has been viewed as God of the Jews, a tribal God only, God is actually the God of all peoples, the God of the whole world. In Mark’s story Jesus goes on from here to the Decapolis which is Gentile and mainly on the East side of the Jordan (he has been there once in Gadara already - see Mark 5). He heals a deaf man and ministers there and it is followed by the feeding of the 4000. Earlier he has recorded the feeding of the 5000 for Jews and 12 baskets were left over signalling provision presumably for the twelve tribes of Israel. But this time 7 baskets are left over - 7 being the number for wholeness or completeness. So God is the God of the whole world the God of all peoples and Jesus mission is beyond the limits of the Jewish people. Jesus learns to see this through the oblique strategy of a foreign outsider from another faith who presses in with ‘courage’ and banter when she was being turned away. Flipping brilliant - I love her!

Thank you to you the people of St Mary’s so much for letting the Ealing photography group which is a satellite of London Independent Photography use your beautiful church to exhibit Oblique Strategies. It is part of BEAT - the Borough of Ealing Art Trail - over 100 artists are exhibiting in homes, studios and other venues in Ealing this weekend and next. I encourage you to go and visit.

I’d like to end with another prayer I was writing last night whilst thinking about photography. It’s slightly photography nerd territory. But let’s pray

open the shutter of my heart to let the light in
bring out your image in me like film in the dark room
hold me steady like a tripod with my aperture wide
give me a neutral density filter so i can have a long exposure to your love
help me learn to see
amen

 

exhibition opening

Oblique Strategies from Edmond Terakopian on Vimeo.

the opening night of Oblique Strategies exhibition was wonderful. the video above was put together by edmond terakopian and gives a really good feel of the photos, how they are hung and the space. about 150 people came along to the opening - thank you all so much! 

there is a gallery of the photos here where you can also purchase prints in a range of sizes and types of paper.

oblique strategies - i am taking part in an exhibition in ealing

if you are anywhere near ealing do come along to oblique strategies, our latest group exhibtion. it is part of the wonderful local art trail BEAT. each photographer had to respond to an oblique strategy drawn at random from brian eno's card deck of that name. it's fun! if you would like to come to the opening that is next weds night - here's an invite - i'd love to see you there. 

as with last year's exhibition grace on the saturday night 8 sept will incorporate the exhibition and on sunday 9th i will be preaching at st mary's on oblique strategies using the images which could be a challenge!

hanwell hootie

saturday is the hanwell hootie - a festival of free music. grace normally meet on this saturday but we have a retreat day so there is no greace in the evening so will be free to go along. i am actually helping out at a cafe fade to black where there will be djs and a bar so do pop in and say hi if you are between venues.

the table - next grace april 14

next grace we are delighted to welcome friends from the table in southall. the table is a fresh expression of church that fits perfectly into southall's context gathering around the table over food and conversation and hospitality. friends from the table will be coming and  helping lead grace and cooking up some food southall style - one not to miss. don't eat before you come!

because we'll be catering we could do with knowing numbers so let us know if you are planning to come (if possible).

new year at grace

kick off the year with grace next saturday - a chance to reflect and meet others in the cafe afterwards. [i won't be there myself as it's harry and grace's wedding that day which i can't wait for!]

showing photos in artisan coffee ealing in october

it is a fun time in the ealing photography group at the moment with lots of action. we are about to kick off a three-month long exhibition by ten members with three smaller groups alternating to exhibit each month in october, november and december. i am part of the october group and will be showing a couple of photos from my trip to japan last summer.  

Runs 5 October – End December 2017
Open Mon-Fri, 7:30am-5:30pm; Sat 8:30am-5:30pm; Sun 9am-5:30pm

Artisan Coffee
32 New Broadway
Ealing
London W5 2XA