discipline

sometimes it just has to be done...
I have to tie those laces, grit the teeth and get out there...
YES! Its pissing down, its only going to get heavier, I am going to get soaked...

but run I must

discipline...
sometimes I wish all of life's disciplines were as easy as tying the laces and pounding the pavement...
then again, I chickened out this morning!

I sat down with my dog, a coffee and waited for god instead.

too much grief...

Can grief, sorrow, guilt, shame debiliate?
I suspect so.

Should it?
I suspect so.

I got chatting with a two guys last week as we recounted a couple of stories from the stolen children; their stories edited by Carmel Bird. Our conversation picked up thoughts about Wadeye, Indigenous communties generally, Australia's history, Government resposes, reconciliation etc etc.

BUT, an interesting point came up. These stories can make us too emotional, too debilitated, too paralised... The shame, sorrow, guilt, and grief becomes to overwhelming that we simply cannot or will not be able to act in any helpful way.

Is this a valid position?

Arguments with a partner, parent, friend, god, child (I suspect), or dog even often leads us into the world of confession, forgiveness and reconciliation. We practice it everyday - or atleast probably have the opportunity too... but how good are we at it?

Who has the power to control the process? who makes the decision to how much is told or revealed... who makes the decision to when the level of dis-ease or uncomfortableness means that the story should be sensored, edited or simply turned off?

In a world that emphatically declares "I'm not bloody responsible" almost as often as we breathe, where is the room for sitting in the pain of anothers story? Enduring our own dis-ease, enduring our own self-centredness, enduring our own desires, to be present, willing, vulnerable, open... that we may experience a moment of transcendence, a moment of togetherness, a moment of where we do in fact reconcile, one with another, one with ourselves, one with our god.

- echoing the sacred - worship installation -

Echoing the Sacred became the name for this first ditch effort in creating a space for uni-type people to reflect on the easter story. The idea behind the name and the installation was that it was a remembering... now if we assume that people must first know to remember, then there also had to be an element of 'telling'... There was a hope mixed up in this remembering that by listening back into stories of faith, we somehow become caught up in the story - the echo if you will.

Echoes as reverberations, resonances, repetitions, ricochets keep coming back, they keep 'bouncing back'... so too are the stories of faith - stories of our souls... It was hoped that by allowing these ancient stories to speak, we would encounter the sacred as we heard them echo through the centuries... A hope, i believe, that was very much realised!

The worship installation was set up at the university of wollongong Mon-Thurs of holy week, april 2006. The space we used was an old fibro cottage adjacent to the main campus. It had 5 rooms which we used to create 5 stations, telling something of the days before jesus died. The installation did not attempt to speak of his death, betrayal or even the promised hope of the whole crucifixion-resurrection narrative. Rather it was a chance to pick up and play with some of the 'ordinary experiences' of jesus before he died. Ordinary experiences that as we reflect pause and ponder we perhaps see no longer as 'ordinary', but rather 'sacred'. As such the stations (in order) were:

1. the anointing of Jesus by the woman (mary?)
2. the woes
3. the overturning of the temple
4. the supper
5. the footwashing

People were encouraged to follow a path of arrows directing them to the stations in that order. At each station participants were invited to interact with the story, and in some cases become part of the story.


after participants moved through the 5 stations, they came to the back balcony of the house. this funnily enough became the surrogate 6th station... a space for chilling out, drinking coffee (fair-trade!) and eating chocolate, & chatting... a community space.

Each station will follow as an individual post

EtS Station 1 - the anointing

the Anointing
(nurturing the spirit)

this station was created in a very plain room - in the centre was a low table, drapped with a red cloth and covered with lavender scented tealights; a large red candle; pot-puri; incense; and bowls of scented oil...

To the side of the room was a lamp with the following instructions:

Are our hands only for work & toil?
What do they say about us, about our spirit, our inner self?

Jesus was anointed before his death by a woman, perhaps Mary. She was criticised for wasting such extravagant and costly oil. Yet it was this action toward Jesus that showed abundant expressions of generosity, love and devotion.

Rub some oil into your hands. Massage the oil along your fingers and through your palms. Smell and feel this act of love.
be generous… be loving… be devoted…

This is the journey of the cross… obedience, devotion, trust…

EtS Station 2 - the woes

the Woes

(hope for a better world)

the second station drew from jesus lamenting and grieving over the hypocrisy he observed. the space was a single bedroom sized room (about 2 x 4 metres). down each of the longer walls hung murals. one with the title 'Woe to You', the other 'Woe to Me'. In the centre of the room was a table with paint, brushes, and printed instructions. on the end wall part of the film Baraka was played (chapter 13 - Yes, the one with the chickens).

Alongside each mural were the following instructions:

On the furthest wall...

Woe to you…

Use the paint to help create a mural calling the world into account.
Write or paint – leave your mark!
Just do something that asks for the world to be a better place.
Who do you wish to say ‘woe’ to?

and on the closest wall...

Woe to me…

Use the paint to help create a mural calling yourself into account.
Write or paint – leave your mark!
Do something that asks more of yourself. What do need to fess up to?
What in your life do you wish to say ‘woe’ to?

Each mural was an opportunity to grieve both outwardly & inwardly ... A prayer of passionate intercession, & a prayer of honest contemplative confession...

On the table the following words were left as an invitation...

Station 2: the Woes

Jesus called the leaders of his day into account for what they were doing – or not doing – not only socially, but spiritually. These people happened to be the scribes and the Pharisees. As people we have the same heart today. Who is it that Jesus would call into account? What are the ‘woe’s’ of our world, what are the ‘woe’s’ of our own lives?

WOE TO YOU

WOE to you scribes & Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you tithe mint, dill, & cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice & mercy & faith.

In these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. You blind guides!

This is the journey of the cross: justice… mercy… faithfulness

WOE TO ME

WOE to you scribes & Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you clean the outside of the cup & of the plate, but inside you are full of greed and self indulgence.

You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

This is the journey of the cross: humility… generosity… openness… selflessness

and the results...