Sat morning at retreat

Over the retreat we reflected on different snippets of the Jeremiah 33:14-16 lectionary text.
Saturday's text was:
In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up from David;

the space was quite simple. 2 differently coloured layers of green cloth under a large old tree stump/branch that i'd picked up years ago from a firends property.

the space on saturday was without the images and newspaper clipings here, which is from sunday. 4 voices of participants led the liturgy below, with the added bonus of Steph leading the most amazingly relevant taize type chant written i believe by Trish Watts:

let your roots sink deep
anchor in abiding love...

[Voices from around the room leading the liturgy speak then place a candle on the trunk saying: ‘come righteous branch' with the respose: 'spring up & shed light on our world.’]

Voice one:

A life that is born, comes to us...

It comes not in the form of might or power, not in lights or bedazzlement, but through the vulnerability of a teenage girl. A mother, younger than you & I, faced with abandonment, isolation, and disapproval. A young woman gives birth, brings life – life to God.

‘come righteous branch: spring up & shed light on our world.’

[Silence]

let your roots sink deep, anchor in abiding love

Voice two:

A hope that is born, comes to us...

It comes not through fear or demands, without prestige or privilege but in the fulfilment of a promise. Hope, the oxygen of the soul, speaks into the stillness, the darkness, the abandonment. Like a glimpse of ever present light, hope is the breaking of dawn.

‘come righteous branch: spring up & shed light on our world.’

[Silence]

let your roots sink deep, anchor in abiding love

Voice three:

A love that is born, comes to us...

It comes not through condemnation or bribe, without condition or demand, but through the humility of a child. A child born like us, in need of nurture, of care, of love. A child who grows, risks, learns, and responds. A child who evokes love, a child who ultimately embodies love.

‘come righteous branch: spring up & shed light on our world.’

[Silence]

let your roots sink deep, anchor in abiding love

Voice four:

A peace that is born, comes to us...

It comes not in a commodity to own or possess, without price or value, but in a movement of the sacred. As a whisper of life, peace weaves her graciousness heartbeat by heartbeat, creating a rhythm for life itself

‘come righteous branch: spring up & shed light on our world.’

[Silence]

let your roots sink deep, anchor in abiding love