jonnybaker

gathertown labyrinth

gathertown is minecraft or habbohotel meets zoom (take your pick depending on your age). chances are you'll hear about it at some point. i like it - it's fun and whilst i think zoom is great a change is also good especially if you have been on zoom for work. and it especially suits some things - a more dynamic social space for example or an event where you want different things in different spaces. it's also dead easy to use or get started in. you simply login and choose a space - a lounge, bar, conference room or whatever and can then invite some people and hang out. it's easy enough to create some interactivity through the objects. i confess to finding the videos a bit exasperating in the tutorials - i'd rather just have a plain old manual than have to go through loads of videos - that makes me sound old i know! but over christmas i set up a space for family and we met and hung out in it with interactive pictionary and the like. i also worked out how to create a room that was a snakes and ladders board so you  can roll the dice and move your avatar round the board. the grandkids love it (and the rest of us to be fair).

because rooms are designed on a grid it made me think that the labyrinth we created for st pauls back in 2000 would work because that was designed on a square grid. anyway a day of messing around over christmas and i figured out how to create a labyrinth room with interactive stations. so grace on saturday was our first on gathertown. of course it takes a bit of getting used to but it went really well. we had a bar/lounge area and a portal through to the labyrinth so you could do that when you liked. the timing felt good because the online interactive labyrinth version that has been running for twenty years is no more as of this month i think due to flash no longer being supported so it was good to give it a new lease of life. the labyrinth tracks are still magical twenty years on. we invited people in their homes to have various objects that they needed to make it work for the reflections - stone, pen, paper - that sort of thing. 

it's free to create things so you can just try it out and remains free for up to 25 people. we just stayed below that number.

this of course has to go down as a worship trick - no 83 series 4!

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.

the great animal orchestra

there is a fabulous installation at the moment at vinyl factory by uva called other spaces. i have loved all the things of theirs i have seen (chorus, onedotzero, speed of light, momentum). this exhibition has three installations. one is a reworking of momentum, the second a lazer depth of field experience that reminded me of perspective drawings at school (though somewhat cooler), and the third the great animal orchestra. you can read about it here. and i have a few photos here though after taking a couple was asked not to so there are not many. 

the great animal orchestra in some ways is a fitting follow on to my previous post. it is a sort of celebration at the wonder of the world but also a lament. bernie krause has recorded animal sounds in various landscapes. these are played in a dark room with led screens making up three walls. in front of the screens is a pool of dark water which reflects the projections in mesmerising fashion. the projections are digital graphs or spectograms of the sounds. as the sound goes up and down so the lines respond. when a creature's noise first appears the name appears on the screen and slowly moves round the wall. the whole thing lasts about an hour. it's a gorgeous experience (apart from when you either step in the pool or put your hand in it because you don't realise it's there!). the lament side of it is one track before and after where the sound is first played at two points recorded in time. the second is after the landscape has been wiped out or eroded in some way so the absence of animal voices is an immense loss that is brought into the room in its absence. 

the space itself is an like an alternative worship dream! we have got lazy at grace but we used to create three walls to project onto to be surrounded by projected images and have beanbags in the centre as a space for reflection, with ambient music playing. we still do create that kind of space to some degree but this was so well done. i'd love to have use of a space like that. it was a very fitting space to visit during extinction rebellion. and just as poignant as the planetary mass. go and see it if you can - it's free and runs until december 8th.

i would put it down as a worship trick but i'm just not sure anyone else could pull it off in the same way!

there is a second exhibition at the other side of the vinyl factory which is not quite as amazing but does include an installation by doug aitken - one of my all time favourite artists - so it's worth it for that piece called new era. i love his video installations.

labyrinth - a new design

it was a wonderful evening at grace with a new labyrinth designed by adam baxter and made in the afternoon from some cloth and gaffer tape. st mary's in ealing is a wonderful magical space for it and with candles flickering and a playlist of ambient tunes a prayerful meditative evening ensued... if you click on this link and scroll through you'll see some of the labyrinths we have made and run over the years. i think the first was back in 1998 or 1999. this labyrinth web site has lots of info if you're wondering about labyrinths

first grace of 2015 this saturday - improvisation

this saturday chris read is curating grace for the first time - ruah. i'm really looking forward to what promises to be a creative evening with live improvisation and reflective space for prayer - a perfect way to kick of a new year... come along if you are anywhere nearby!

space to think, pray, relax, meditate

at the grace christmas service there were lots of amazing stations. my favourite however was the one that simply invited you to sit and said

this is a space to think, pray, relax, meditate

the photo above is of my feet when i was sat in the space (clearly being distracted). the last three years have been the busiest of my life. i realised at the start of this year that i can't do another at the same rate. i like the start of the year because it is a space to reflect and rethink some patterns. but i know i need to rebalance my life in some way for the year ahead. here's a few things i am thinking about that hopefully will help

rhythm of life. jen and i have found developing a rhythm of life really helpful in the last couple of years. what i mean by this is that we have plotted on one side of paper what our yearly, monthly and weekly pattern looks like. we try and make it a natural rhythm with the seasons of the year. and have then added some things that we want to try and do that are energising - for example inviting people round for meals at least once a month, a termly day of silence, not working more than two weekends in a month, having a weekly meal where we linger at the table for the evening and share bread and wine... we then talk about this every month or so. it's not a heavy thing - it's light touch. and in some ways it doesn't matter what's on there - it just helps create a conversation about it.

retreat. since starting the cms pioneer training, we have asked students to take a retreat each year. well you can't do that without doing it yourself. this is now essential for me. this year i am booked in to an 8 day silent retreat which i am nervously looking forward to.

holiday/rest. the last couple of years i have not managed to take my quota of holiday from work. this is entirely my own doing. i intend to change that this year and have sat down with jen and already diaried things we will do which already feels good. 

art. imagine a world without gigs, music, film, photography, festivals, poetry, books, exhibitions? whenever i look back over the year and thngs that have energised me art is always a big factor - both the enjoying and the creating. and yet it's easy to forget or not prioritise it. 

stop doing some things. i have already shifted one thing in my life this yar and i have a list of others. i realised in converation with a friend that i am my own worst enemy here. i do things out of habit and because i can - some of those i smply need to let go of or let others do. so i will be working on those habits. part of the reason for stopping is that i want to carve out time for thinking and possibly studying a day a week if possible.

prayer. i need and want to pray but find it difficult like everyone else in the world! i am someone who likes change so need to keep it fresh. this year i am starting off by using a book that cost me one pence second hand finding god in all things exploring ignatian prayer along with prayer exercises from sadhana by anthony de mello (which you can also get for one pence), a book i have had for years. i intend to read them both slowly and linger with them trying out the exercises and prayer.

someone to reflect with. i am fortunate to have a great community grace that i journey and explore faith with. if you are not part of a community why not join one or start one? - if you are near ealing come and join us! i also have someone who i meet with 3/4 times a year for some intentional conversation about my life in relation to faith. this is a wonerful thing to have found.

so there's a few of my thoughts on what i am hoping will help me find space to think for the year ahead. i had originally started this post with the intention of reviewing two books. these are two very recent books on finding space to think and pray. i'll recommend them by way of an end to the post because if you are looking for a book to help you these might be ones to explore.

the first is less is more: spirituality for busy lives by brian draper. when this book arrived we had two people living with us and before i had had a chance to look at the book they had both picked it up and read it and loved it. it's a book that explores exactly what it says in the title. it's contemporary, practical and easy to read. the irony is that i was too busy to read it at the time!

the second is return to our senses by christine sine. she is a prolific blogger and creates lovely prayers and liturgies. spirituality is her thing. this is another very easy to read book with very practical ideas and suggestings for prayer using things like gardening or breathing. 

both are the kind of books that would work best if read an practised slowly - even though they are both easy to read. they would also be good books to explore and try the various ideas with others - maybe a book for lent? and they are both cheap to buy which is always a plus.

rembihnutur - thanks bob!

Sigur Rós - Rembihnútur from Sigur Rós Valtari Mystery Films on Vimeo.

bob carlton sent me a link a couple of weeks back to a new video from sigur ros. they have commissioned a series of films to go with the album valteri. this one tied in so perfectly with the wake up theme and service i outlined in the previous blog post i couldn't believe it! we showed this during the communion at the end of the service. i was so hoping that one of the people would open thier eyes towards the end and sure enough...

art in holy week day 6: stations of the kings cross

[this is part of a series of blog posts on art in holy week - see also

• art in holy week day one: the lent cross delarosa
• art in holy week day two: raised in leeds
• art in holy week day three: the create project
• art in holy week day four: the easter story engedi arts
• art in holy week day five: soul of sheffield
• art in holy week day seven: noesis
• art in holy week day eight: the resurrection ]

every year at easter the ancient teling of the story of christ's passion gets reinterpreted in inspirational ways through the stations of the cross. if you're not familiar with it, depending on the version, there are around 15 stations that folow christ's journey to his death. i have blogged over the years about several of these such as -

QR codes stations of the cross

stations on skin (which is totally amazing and new this year)

stations of the corss in hamilton gardens, new zealand which is back on a huge scale this year

twelve stations manga style

ben edson reminded me yesterday of a new one in london - stations of the kings cross. i had come across this before and meant to blog about it but don't think i ever did. this is a simple prayer aid for people travelling on the circle line in london towards kings cross station in either direction. for those of you not in london the circle line is an underground tube line that does what it says - circles. a series of prayers and readings for each stations are on the web site and you can e-mail for a free booklet. with each station is a beautiful print made from a paper cut illustration. here's one example below. i love the simlicity of this and the fact that it is so woven into the life of the city of london. i actually don't know who is behind this though i'm sure i did when i first stumbled across it. anyway thank you to whoever you are who has put this together and offered it as a gift. i am making it worship trick 22 in series 4

prayer for the fallen - worship trick 13, series 4

nick ashman has written a piece of music and created ths movie for remembrance day in memory of his grandad

spirit walk - worship trick 97

ben edson has taken the spirit walk idea and technology from greenbelt and put it into the space of the city of manchester. this is a great idea. it co-incides with the mind body spirit festival where you can collect a set of headphones to use for the walk. the technology triggers the track when you get to the destination. there are 6 tracks in total - download a map guide. it's part of the encouraging move of worship/spirituality into public space.

there are also 3 tracks on the spirit walk web site - i think they are unrelated to the manchester walk.  they are available to listen to or download free. ben is looking for groups in other cities to develop spirit walks related to their context.

i am making it worship trick 97 series 3.

the origial spirit walk tracks - the silent pilgrimage from greenbelt are available on proost

silent pilgrimage and pall singh mini albums available on proost

the silent pilgrimage was a site-specific sound installation at greenbelt that took the participant on a reflective journey around the festival site. you donned a set of headphones and a transmitter meant you could listen to the track at the appropriate place. five groups were commissioned to write the meditations: frunt, molten meditation, beyond, spirit walk and gloopy music. the meditations, of both words and music, provided a unique soundscape for the festival site. the good news is that if you missed them they are available on proost this month in the audio section or in the download area if you are a subscriber. ben edson has also secured some funding so that meditations are going to be used around the city of manchester in the mind body spirit festival which is another move to take alt worship typr stuff into public space - exciting stuff!

also on a meditation/reflective theme pall singh of sanctuary in birmingham has recorded three meditations sanctuary peace in his unique fusing of asian music with alternative worship. again these are available in the audio section of proost...

pentecost meditation - worship trick 89 series 3

mark berry used 3 of the video loops i filmed for VJ loops2 with some prayer/liturgy/meditation he wrote for a pentecost meditation which i am adding to the worship trick series 3

listing - a gem

every so often something surprises me in a delightful way. i love it when that happens. the latest was when chris goan sent us at proost an idea for a book. it's a collection of poems and meditations riffing off lists in the bible - the beattitudes, the fruit of the spirit, a time to be born... i have fallen in love with the book. it really is lovely in every way. of course we said yes! and it's now out on proost this month as of yesterday. chris is part of aoradh - here's the foreword i wrote:

“Maybe the poet is gay but he’ll be heard anyway
Maybe the poet is drugged but he won’t stay under the rug
Maybe the voice of the spirit in which case you’d better hear it
Maybe he’s a woman who can touch you where you’re human”

This is penned by Bruce Cockburn in his song Maybe the Poet, a writer Chris cites as an inspiration when it comes to crafting words. I can’t help wondering if Cockburn had been reading Walter Brueggemann’s book Finally Comes the Poet in which he suggests that it is poetry rather than prose that we need too hear to shatter our settled world to create the way for newness to come.

This book is a little gem, a surprise that came Proost’s way over the horizon from Chris. He loves crafting words, playing with words, chewing over words, creating and re-creating worlds with words. His poems and meditations are a delight, spinning off from and opening up new takes on familiar verses of ancient wisdom from the scriptures.

It’s the second book from Chris on proost. The first is the wonderful meditation he wrote to go along with Si Smith’s images of Christ’s journey into the wilderness ‘40’.

“Pay attention to the poet
You need him and you know it…”          Proost

you can order a copy or purchase a download copy from proost

pentecost movies

pall singh is an amazingly creative guy and has been a friend for years. he is the founder and creative behind sanctuary a community in birmingham who draw on the contemplative traditions of the christian faith but fusing it with contemporary british asian culture. it's truly unique. he is now also a cms mission partner which is great. this month on proost we have three movies from east and west trust who produced a dvd (scroll down this page) a while back of 5 meditative movies which captured the flavour of what they are about. pall was the visionary behind it. natural images mix with the sounds of aradhna - tabla, sitar and so on - around the themes of fire, water and light. we've picked three that seem to tie in perfectly with pentecost. all the movies are around 7 minutes long and make an ideal meditation in their own right or visual wallpaper for the soul as background during worship and prayer.

i had a count up and there are around 40 movies now on proost which surprised me how fast we've built up that number. subscribe if you haven't or download the individual movies...

space and time and contemplative prayer

i have put together a movie with jon birch to go with our track space and time. it's a pretty simple idea - photos of empty seats, chairs and benches to invite the viewer to sit in god's presence and take some space. we made it thinking about lent being a time to focus on prayer. i also thought it would go well as part of my exhibit but having put it next to the photo have decided the photo is more powerful on its own.

jenny is doing a national series of training days for urban saints on contemplative prayer. and so we've recorded three tracks of her leading prayer/meditation exercises - an ignatian examen, a stilling exercise and a breathing prayer. these go to make up the contemplative prayer EP.

these are this month's proost releases and ideal for lent. you can watch and/or listen to samples in the media player. check the list of ideas on the front page of proost for other ideas.

am off to norway tomorrow for the first time for a couple of days to do some youth ministry training. looking forward to it...

molten meditation - movies and tracks

we add new content to proost every month.

this month's new content is molten meditation. robin vincent has been at greenbelt the last two years leading his unique approach to meditation. he describes it like this...

Finding a time and place to meditate and reflect on God's word can be a struggle. So many distractions, so many interruptions, if you do find a moment of quiet all you can hear is the chatter of your own mind trying to contain the day. Molten Meditation wants to help. The music is designed to fill your head, to blow away all the cares and thoughts of the day, and allow you to be immersed in the sound.

Each meditation is between 10 and 15 minutes long during which the world is pushed away and replaced with soothing and uplifting music. The words of scripture are introduced softly within the music, making them easy to absorb and yet leaves plenty of space for your own worship.

This is not background music, this is purposeful, participatory meditation. It's not designed to empty your head, reaching for nothingness, rather this is the thoughtful praying and meditation on the Bible to facilitate an encounter with the living God. We're not looking to be emptied, we're looking to be filled.

we have his album which consists of 5 meditations and two movies accompanying two of the tracks.

so have a look at proost and you can watch samples of the movies and listen to samples of the tracks in the media player. and of course you can buy them... i have said this before and will keep saying it, if you like our stuff then the best value is to subscribe. it gives you access to our back catalogue whenever you like to download stuff and will give you new content every month for a year - all that for just £60...!

cms in free fall

at the official opening of cms house today i was asked to lead an audio visual meditation on the hinge point in the service between looking back and celebrating cms past and looking forward to the future and the changes ahead. a few people have asked where the video etc was from so i am posting it here so i can point people to it...

the video was dayvan cowboy by boards of canada which i did make a worship trick a while back. you can download it from warprecords free or get the dvd free with the EP that you can order from the same page. the text of the piece was as follows. i read it such that the line about looking into the future is before the parachutist comes through the clouds, and the baptised line fitted with him falling into the ocean...

god crossed a border, a boundary
left his world to go on a journey into ours

the word became flesh and moved into the neighbourhood
dwelt among us

we stand in a long line of ancestors
of pioneers
of risk takers
of improvisers
of those who dared to take the adventure
of following christ
to leave their known world
step off its edge
free falling with god
crossing borders
into unknown futures
and new worlds
to share the story of christ
and plant the seed of the gospel

as the father sent me so i am sending you

the story has been passed to us because of those
who dared,
who risked,
who dreamed
who followed,
who improvised

now we stand looking out into the future

will you dare?
will you dream?
will you risk?
will you follow?
will you leave your known world?
will you freefall with god?
will you join christ in the adventure?
will you be baptised into god's mission?
will you rise to surf with god into the future?
will you trust the spirit?

far we have come far must we go
here we are send us

worship trick 2 series 3 - ignatian examen

at the london mind body spirit festival there was a new meditation space. each hour thropugh the day someone would lead meditation. unlike the workshops which cost a lot of money this was free. we were delighted when we (dekhomai) were invited by festival organisers to lead one of the meditation slots for the festival. jenny was on the stand at that time and agreed to lead it.

the room was full (about 30 people) and she led them through an ignatian meditation based on the examen. the theme for the meditation space was unity which is why it has that slant to it. the examen was one of the postcards that we had created for the festival so we were able to give everyone who attended something to takeaway so they could practice the examen at home.

jenny has added the text of the examen meditation to the dekhomai site and i am adding it as a worship trick. there is already one examen as a worship trick but that is an examen reflecting on the previous year.

it went really well. fantastic to be able to lead that in a space like the mind body spirit festival and trust and pray that god will be meeting people there outside of the walls of church where we tend to confine christian spirituality.

worship trick 200 concluding the second series

so the second series of worship tricks comes to a close. the 200th worship trick is a series of dekhomai spiritual exercises. next week we are back in action running a dekhomai stand at the london mind body spirit festival. we will be offering a space for welcome, listening, healing prayer, massage and other ways of praying from the christian tradition. we'll be using the jesus deck for the first time - more about that another time. we have a set of 5 postcards to give away that a few of us have worked on (ian, jen, gareth, me). 4 of the images are my photos which is kind of neat. anyway i am making these 5 cards and exercises worship trick 200. the next question is what next - series 3?! we have also been invited to lead a meditation session at the festival for the first time - jen will doing this on saturday 5pm so pray for her...

the 5 are:

prayer beads

the examen

blessings

labyrinth

forgiveness

worship trick 74 [series 2] - set sail

last week at the cms residential mark berry led a couple of worship/reflections. one was based around his recent pilgrimage inspired by saint brendan. it was fabulous... mark makes all his stuff available free via his blog. various componenets that went to make it up are
deep calls to deep (mp3 about 6mb) | st brendans prayer | st brendan meditation | sir francis drake prayer

together with his filming of the place where brendan set sail mixed in with other things on arkaos this was inspirational stuff... i love the drake prayer and am taking the liberty of pasting it in here so i have a record of it.

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.